Americans for the Arts

As non-profit organizations, we have a responsibility to represent our communities, and in some cases, our communities have changed or are rapidly changing and our arts organizations just haven’t adapted.

There are two groups standing on opposites sides of the parking lot. Bruised and battered, knuckles taped up, and ready to go at it again. If it’s your first time, you almost always have to fight. This is the fight club that sometimes happens between the artistic and Marketing departments after a production fails to sell well.

What can a church show us about marketing . . . How about a slew of audience development activities that could serve as a model for arts organizations?

The pursuit of cultural equity is a journey of mountains and valleys, someone once told me. It is a series of hard climbs, brief moments of celebration, if you’re lucky, and then the progression begins again. It is the type of work we do against our comfort, because it is necessary.

In most of the arts world, but particularly in my world of the nonprofit arts, there is an understandable desire to bring in a new, more diverse, audience.

How do we defined our best customers and how does that definition change depending upon which department was asked.

With all of the places you can spend time and money to advertise, why go with Google AdWords?

The cardinal rule of communications is “know your audience”.  But on social media, it’s sometimes easier said than done.

Seems simple, doesn’t it? If only we could just make very inexpensive tickets widely available, we’d fill our halls every night, right? Wrong.

It is no surprise that we have an immense and varied culture in the United States. Yet when it comes to the arts, there is no reason why a person with a visual disability must also be culturally disadvantaged.

I say it all the time, but it bears repeating: Our society has changed – dramatically – over the past few decades.

It is not only the fact that audience participation is decreasing among typical audiences, it is also that there are less people who fit that profile in our societies.

Whether that's getting funded, getting hired or getting a yes; you'll be able to win buy-in and motivate decision-makers to care about what you care about if you use this innovative approach to POP! your message in the first 60 seconds.

How are we engaging our audiences, how we are communicating our messages, how we are raising money, and how we are using technology to do it. With YouTube currently ranking as the #2 search engine in the world, this means many of us are using online video as a tool.

For decades, Berkeley Rep has been discussing diversity in American theater.