Perpetually Curious

From the blurb: "Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not?" Sounds an awful lot like the np arts orgs world, doesn't it? Why is it some theaters succeed, balancing budgets, retaining audiences, basking in critical acclaim? While others stumble along, maybe having a hit or two, always wondering if people can be paid, eventually shuttering rather than enduring more stress? Collins doesn't set out to write about our world (unfortunately. Mr. Collins, if you ever do, please call me to be on your research team.) but his key findings--in all of his books--apply not only to the publicly traded for-profit corporations he studies but to the myriad sized and structured art centered, community building, nonprofit arts organizations we love. The companies he looks at in GbC all have the same traits: their leaders have Level 5 ambition; they have empirical creativity AND fanatic discipline AND productive paranoia; they stick with a SMaC (Specif...

Me and Scott. The awesome level in this room was off the charts. This past week I've been able to meet two of my new favorite authors/speakers locally: Richard Evans, of EmcArts , and Scott Stratten, of Unmarketing . I have been reading their information for around a year now and was ecstatic at the opportunity to meet them both on my home turf. While they would likely find they have a lot in common if they sat down and talked it out, at first glance it doesn't appear that way: one is a researcher in the arts field, the other a marketer. However, both of them share key insights that apply to the new work of engaging customers. 1. Active Participation Richard talked about how marketing for innovative arts organizations is about engaging active participants with both the process and product of art. Scott makes the point that businesses don't define their brands, customers do. In both instances, it's about the value the customer places on our organizations that ma...

I've been invited to participate in the National Arts Marketing Project Blog Salon about marketing the arts, in advance of this year's conference in November. As I'll be leading a roundtable discussion there on Customer Service in the Small Shop Arts Organization, I thought I'd write about how to keep audiences coming back for more. This post is just some thoughts and ideas about the topic, things to remember, or spark questions. -power of a name. How often are you greeting patrons by name, before they tell you what it is? -good service makes the whole event. Crappy service can mar good art. -building relationships takes time. -ask questions, then write down the answers so you can follow up next time. -share information with staff, up and down. -how are you hugging your customers? Once marketing gets them in the door, what actions are you taking to make them raving fans? -do you have a customer service mission? Not a list of rules, but a mindset about how custom...