momorantings

Look at the recent headlines: Coconut Grove Playhouse Closes its Doors (Miami, FL) Empty Space Theatre Calls it Quits over Debt (Seattle, WA) Charlotte Repertory Theatre Closes its Doors, Lacking Money & Support (Charlotte, NC) Crisis at Papermill Playhouse ( Millburn , NJ) I hope that the current crisis in American regional theater will be addressed at this year's Theatre Communications Group ( TCG ) Conference . Below are my completely unsolicited and biased opinions on what regional theaters (and the marketing professionals working at them) can do to help stabilize the industry: 1. Invest in Education Programs & Market them Aggressively . I truly believe that investing in education programs will prove to have the best return on investment in the future. Consider it an R&D expense (research and development). No Child Left Behind has had disastrous effects on arts education, and one of the very few indicators on arts participation in adulthood is an early expo...

I can read the bible at home. I can download my priest's sermons the week after every Sunday. There is even a Yahoo group for the congregation. If I need anything, I know I can call the clergy and talk to them on the phone. So why do I go to church? It is for the collective experience. I like walking into my church and feeling like I am at home. I get to see friends. Share experiences. Find support. Sometimes get a cheap supper, not to mention the free wine at communion. I like to see my priest deliver his sermon, live and right in front of me. These are things that I couldn't get from a podcast. Or by reading the bible alone. Or by listening to a televangelist at 6am on a Sunday morning. So why is everyone so concerned that the uses of new technology are going to drive audiences away from live performances? This has been on my mind lately as we discuss the concerns that arts organizations will face in the next five years as part of our environmental scan at Americans for the A...

Please participate in Americans for the Arts' Nationwide Survey on the Arts by clicking the image below:

Most of us would like to operate a business or organization that rarely has unhappy customers. However, unhappy customers can become your greatest supporters if they are handled properly. Coming from a performing arts background where I almost always was the final authority on customer service issues, it is really easy to fall into the trap of doing only what you have to, or abiding by the organization's policies no matter what--especially if you happen to be really busy. But I would encourage you to view each unhappy customer as an opportunity to create a lifelong customer. If you go the extra mile for an unhappy customer, they will remember it. It seems as each year passes, customer service on a national scale is getting worse (just check out the airline industry). Set yourself apart by treating your customers like family. For example, how would you handle it if the weather is bad and a single ticket buyer calls the box office to see if they can switch their tickets to another n...

Everyone I talk to is trying to reduce costs while increasing revenue. One of the best ways to do that is through e-mail marketing, but you have to have a good pool of e-mail addresses before your e-campaigns will be successful. So try to capture e-mail addresses in everything that you do. With this in mind, here are some suggestions: 1. Put a "For More Information" button on your home page. When someone wants more information on your organization, they click this button and can sign up for your e-newsletter. In doing so, you capture their mailing address and e-mail. There is debate on how much information you should require. I am a proponent of requiring only two fields: name and e-mail address. The more you require, the less likely people will sign up. However, you should always give them the opportunity to supply more information, such as their mailing address, performance preferences, etc. 2. Do a product giveaway. Many non-profit advocacy organizations use this...

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately, however I have so many things I want to write about so keep an eye out. I have been working on the National Arts Marketing Project Conference , and I am pleased to announce that registration is now open. The theme of the conference: Flourishing in the New Frontier: New Media, New Audiences, New Opportunities. The NAMP Conference team has put together an amazing lineup for you, including a fantastic keynote speaker , several stimulating plenary speakers (including a marketing expert from the Metropolitan Opera and speaker extraordinaire Ben Cameron), a preconference sponsorship bootcamp , and of course many social events to interact with your friends from around the country. We are getting ready to roll out the marketing visuals for the conference. I hope that you all really like what we have put together. Try marketing a conference to marketing professionals... no pressure there. Well we have our secret weapon as well--the conference is b...

A new colleague of mine at work brought up a good point in the past couple of weeks. Before spending a lot of time on exploring new marketing techniques, you should first make sure that you have the basics in place. How many of us are exploring the uses of new technologies in the marketing mix, and ignoring some of the basics? With that in mind, I am going to spend the next couple of weeks talking about a few basics. This same colleague is a direct mail expert. I will confess that although I know my fair share about direct mail, it isn't my favorite thing to discuss. It isn't as sexy as some of the newer techniques out there, but it is definitely something we all have to deal with. I have been reminded lately of two important things when looking at your direct mail campaigns: 1) the success of any campaign is directly related to testing, and 2) although testing is important, make sure you are not too aggressive with test campaigns. I think most of us know something about the fi...