momorantings

One of the things that I really love about working at Americans for the Arts is that I get to interact regularly with our numerous interns, most of whom are either in their final year of graduate or undergraduate programs in arts administration. It hasn't been that long since I myself finished graduate school, so I always like to compare notes on what is currently being taught. When I was a theater management/producing graduate student at the California Institute of the Arts, I was required to read The Theatre & its Double by Antonin Artaud . One of the chapters in this book was entitled No More Masterpieces. In this chapter Artuad argues that works from the past "masters" (i.e. Shakespeare, Moliere, etc) shouldn't be produced regularly in current day because they are no longer topical--they no longer connect with current day audiences. In fact, they should be studied for a historical reference and viewed almost as museum pieces. This is how I regard Danny Newman...

Having problems convincing those at your organization about the marvels of new marketing technologies and practices? You might want to check out Seth Godin's blog entry on Thrill Seekers . I think this sums it up, don't you? Let me just go on the record and say that Seth's blog is brilliant. I love his observations. While you are at it, check out his blog entitled Where Do You Park? So now that you have read these two blog entries, which are you: a Thrill Seeker or a Fear Avoider ? Do you park right in front or do you park down the street? Now, overall, what type of organization do you work for?

Back when I was in college, I had to take two years of directing class because I was a theatre education major, and it was well known as a theatre teacher that you would have to direct at least one play a year. I had a professor in my second year that said to heighten the drama, a director needed to increase obstacles which would increase the level of conflict. This approach might work in directing, but the exact opposite is true in sales. I was invited to speak at a graduate arts management class at George Mason University. One of the things I discussed was the concept of eliminating obstacles. It is very important to get feedback from your prospects, because they will tell you all the potential obstacles in their way. Your job as a marketing professional is to eliminate those obstacles. Make the purchasing process the easiest thing in the world. Take every credit card (unless you get killed in processing charges). Have an online box office so that the insomniacs can order tickets at...

If you are thinking about creating a blog for your organization, there is one thing I cannot stress enough: make sure those who will be contributing content have bought into your idea! I have created a couple of blogs for different organizations, and I must say that I have learned this the hard way. Don't get me wrong. I think that blogging is very effective if done right, but that is a really big IF. Many organizations launch blogs and don't do it right, and when the blog fails they blame it on the ineffectiveness of the technology. Readers of a blog don't want to get hit with your marketing messages! If you try a hard sell technique with every blog, of course your readers are going to start tuning out your blog. You need to offer your readers a reason to read your blog, and a way to do that is to offer exclusive content that they can't get anywhere else. This is the reason that while at Virginia Stage Company, I started to post video clips of rehearsal and "behin...

Still having a tough time convincing administration about the use of MySpace? Check out today's article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/arts/04mcel.html?ref=theater

Check out Mark Collier's blog today about content: http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2007/02/company_blog_or_online_brochur_1.html . When I talk to folks about setting up a blog for their company, I tell them to really think about how they craft their language. People don't want to get a hard sell from the marketing department every time they read your blog. They want something interesting. Something exciting. Dale Carnegie, one of America's most prolific writers on networking, once said "the only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it. Why talk about what we want? That is childish. Absurd. Of course, you are interested in what you want. You are eternally interested in it. But no one else is. The rest of us are just like you: we are interested in what we want." Remember that thought when you are writing your company's blogs...

Over the course of the past couple of weeks, I have been giving a presentation entitled New Technologies in the Marketing Mix to several different groups, including the Arts & Business Council of New York. Every time I give this presentation, I warn folks before I begin, that it will look like I am advocating new viral strategies over traditional marketing techniques. In all honesty, they should be complimentary. I would never advocate completely eliminating direct mail campaigns. Those types of campaigns are very effective with certain demographics. What I do advocate is diversification. Just as your stock portfolio should be diversified, your marketing plans should use all the tricks in your bag. In the United States, there are four generations dominating the economy: World War II generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. If you have an established brand, most likely you will have a strong presence amongst the World War II generation and the Baby Boomers. These t...