Power Up Pittsburgh! A guide to increasing marketing capacity in small arts organizations
Engaging Pittsburgh’s Arts Audiences created this manual that is filled like a Halloween bag – allsorts and variety.
It is intended to assist managers of small arts organizations in improving their marketing efforts.
-R
This article comes from Fuel4Arts.com “Price is to blame? Understanding perceptions of value”
Written by Tim Baker,
Director, Baker Richards Consulting Ltd
www.baker-richards.com
United Kingdom, April 2006
“…unless
people value
something,
the price is
irrelevant.”
“… In the UK thousands of young men pay as much as £40 every week to watch
90 minutes of football. Would they pay the same to watch contemporary dance? Would they pay 10, or £5, or £1? For most of them, probably not. But price is not the issue, it’s the value they associate with the experience they’re being offered. We have to face the fact that many people don’t think that the arts offer them anything they value, and in that context the price is irrelevant. For most young men, contemporary dance may never offer value. There could be a case for arguing that the problem is actually that people don’t understand the value they could have from an artistic experience because it hasn’t been communicated effectively. However, the fact remains that unless people value
something, the price is irrelevant. One of the problems could be that those working in the sector tend to under-value what it is they’re offering. This lack of confidence has a number of causes, not least an inability to communicate value effectively, and is compounded by the effect of the perishability of most arts ‘products’: if you don’t sell it by curtain-up, you can’t put it on the remainder shelves. This often leads to indiscriminate last minute discounting, undermining perceptions of value among the people who work in the sector as well as the customers. However persuasive the argument, simply reducing prices will not on its own increase the range or number of people attending the arts. Instead, we need to develop a better understanding of what people value, and better skills at creating and communicating that value to them. If we can do that, a sophisticated pricing strategy can be used to maximise both access and income. “
-R
Here is another excerpt of an interesting article by Alysoun Tomkins, published in Animated in summer 2006. To read the rest of the article, click here.
Historic legacy of ‘community’
In post-war Britain the word ‘community’ was incorporated into titles of organisations used to support people with challenges facing them after WW2. The word gave people a sense of identity with others, attempted to integrate people and helped to replace lost family and neighbourhood networks. Community Education was established in the 1950s and Community Arts developed out of that movement.
Community arts: An English term, coined…for the activities of groups of …artists attempting to work largely with and for local authorities, schools, remedial institutions, and other communal bodies rather than for the art market. Among media commonly used are mime, costume, movement, games, live and recorded music,… (Bullock. p148-149) (3)
Evolving out of community arts in the 1970s, came Community Dance. It was influenced by Laban’s educational dance pedagogy, the arrival of contemporary dance techniques from the USA and adopted the Community Arts philosophy and five principles of:
• social concern
• the development of individual or group creativity
• partnership
• participation
• consultation
Thus the word ‘community’ and, by default, ‘community dance’ has a legacy and a philosophy which describes its purpose and ethos and which requires honouring and respecting.
It may be useful to consider why debate around the term has arisen. Firstly, the issue may be concerned with the quality of the work at the point of delivery. As Mari Martin pointed out in the last issue of Animated, ‘The interest in and demand for dance is here but we simply don’t have enough skilled dance practitioners who can deliver the work to the highest standards.’ (Animated, Spring 2006, p15) (4). If so, it is not the word that needs to be changed. Instead it might be more pertinent to consider ways of raising standards, particularly in the context of setting benchmarks. The development of mentoring schemes, professional development programmes and availability of examples of good practice, are required to support dance artists working in community contexts to progress their work and raise standards.
Secondly, the issue may be whether community dance should review its purpose….
For more, see the rest of the article online.
- R
Here is an excerpt of an interesting article by Alysoun Tomkins, published in Animated in summer 2006.
Recent debates have included consideration of the continuing relevance of the title Community Dance. Is the concept of ‘community’ still appropriate today and does it describe adequately the context in which dance is delivered? To inform this discussion it is essential to revisit the origins of the word and to acknowledge that the word has many different meanings and connotations. However, it might also be interesting to speculate on the fact
that the raising of the issue itself could perhaps indicate a shift in the thinking, or a reconfiguration, of the boundaries of community dance.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
-R
This is an article from the Foundation for Community Dance’s excellent magazine Animated. This is another excerpt from an article by Gordon Curl entitled Aesthetic values in community dance: ‘deal’ or ‘no deal’? in the summer 2006 edition.
Treasure-trove of Values in Community Dance
Ken Bartlett and his colleagues have taken a good ‘look’ at community dance over the years and have discovered a treasure-trove of putative ‘values’ – for which the ‘family’ of community dance might justly be proud. We find claims of: ‘emotional and mental health’, ‘mood enhancement’, ‘stress reduction’, ‘anger management’, ‘energising and revitalising experience’. At a more general level there are designated values of: ‘celebration the human body’, ‘equality of opportunity’, ‘empowerment and human rights’ – as well as ‘the amelioration of social exclusion’, the ‘reinvigorating pride in where people live’, ‘relieving suffering or violence’ and ‘making the world a better place’. (6)
This remarkable list of accreditations for community dance would seem to provide a panacea for all ills! But Ken cautiously believes that we should do a little ‘prodding and poking’ at these widespread claims, by asking: ‘Why are people so keen to involve members in community dance? Surely’, he says, ‘they can be empowered in other ways and could be members of all kinds of groups concerned with wholeness of their being’. (Perhaps, some carefully controlled research would determine whether or not such groups, including community dance, was consistently – rather than anecdotally – capable of achieving such claims). Could it be that in attempting to focus on ‘stress reduction’, ‘anger management’ or the ‘alleviation of ‘social exclusion’ etc., that community dance would itself become emasculated – transformed into such specialised domains as ‘psycho-therapy’, ‘emotional rehabilitation’ or ‘social engineering’ – thus diverting attention away from community dance as an end in itself and thereby losing its integrity as an autonomous aesthetic/artistic pursuit? Maria Ryan cautions us: ‘we have not come to terms with our work in its own right’. (7)
Intrinsic versus extrinsic values
Practitioners know that aesthetic values are intrinsic to community dance – its very raison d’etre; they distinguish it clearly from sociology, psychology, science or medicine. We believe it cannot be pursued with integrity if extrinsic limits are set on what determines the importance of what lies within it. And yet the community dance literature consistently, and persuasively, pays homage to the extrinsic values of: ‘cultural identity’, ‘access’, ‘inclusiveness’, ‘interaction’ – or even community dance ‘created to see what use an art-form might be in relation to exploring social issues in youth work…’ (8) Why such seemingly exclusive interest in the art form’s instrumental values rather than its intrinsic aesthetic values? Could the problem really lie in the ephemeral nature of aesthetic discourse itself – or perhaps the lack of critical dialogue in community dance! Or maybe we fight shy of the explicit mention of more sensitive perceptual encounters with aesthetic objects and activities.
- R
This is an article from the Foundation for Community Dance’s excellent magazine Animated. This is an excerpt from an article by Gordon Curl in the summer 2006 edition.
The Hegemony of Community Dance
Ken Bartlett, in his fascinating article in the Laban Guild Magazine (3), questions the concept of ‘community dance’ by asking: ‘Is every kind of dancing community dance?’ To which he replies: ‘a qualified yes’! If this is the case, community dance (with some qualifications) must hold hegemony over the whole domain of dance – it spreads its tentacles over a vast territory of terpsichorean space – an all-embracing ‘community of dance’!
This embrace may be ‘unifying’, but it does create problems when, as Ken suggests, we do ‘a little prodding and poking’ by asking penetrating questions – in particular questions of concept, fact and value. The concept of ‘community dance’ does not conform to any neat set of necessary and sufficient conditions (its manifestations appear too diverse). Community dance is rather like Wittgenstein’s ‘games’ (4) which have nothing common to all cases. Certainly, the concept of ‘dance’ itself is slippery enough, and the concept of ‘community’ no less elusive (see Donald Hutera and Christopher Thompson in the spring 2006 issue of animated); but the two terms in conjunction constitute a formidable concept which, unsurprisingly, is conveniently called upon to do duty in a wide variety of contexts. It is made to fit (we are told) into a myriad of funding tick boxes (5), and is (and has been) vulnerable to attempted politicisation; (instance Laban’s 10,000-strong movement choir in the Olympic Stadium Berlin in 1936)! ‘Values’, it would seem, can readily be imposed upon community dance and its intrinsic values become victims of corruption!
I recommend membership to the Foundation for Community Dance. Good value, great connection.
- R
Scottish Arts Council commissioned a report from engage Scotland, which was written by Dr Heather Lynch and called Mapping Interpretation Practices in Contemporary Art (published in May 2006). Here’s one section.
What works?
A number of factors were reported as significant in those projects described as successful in engaging viewers, these are as follows:
• The relevance and nature of the artwork itself
• The artist or another artist’s involvement to mediate some of the complexities of the work through workshops, films and talks
• Involvement of the audience either through the production of the interpretation materials or through interaction with gallery staff and resources
• Considered layout of the space for each exhibition
• Availability of a variety of resources such as film, still images and quality writing which gave access to the process.
What didn’t work?
Some of the same categories were mentioned in this section as in the above, demonstrating the complexity of issues involved in the development of interpretation resources, those most often noted were:
• Space, where there was a lack of consideration and/or unwelcoming staff
• Artists’ involvement in areas where they lack skills, such as talks and workshops
• Over reliance on text.
Talk about worthwhile knowledge to take forward in our explorations of audience development for contemporary dance in Canada!
- R
This is a question that is widely debated in Scotland and England: what are the barriers to contemporary dance, and how do we help to overcome these barriers as artists and dance professionals?
Scottish Arts Council commissioned a report from engage Scotland, which was written by Dr Heather Lynch and called Mapping Interpretation Practices in Contemporary Art (published in May 2006). Here’s one section. Check out other sections in this blog also, in particular the post on ‘What works?’
Barriers to contemporary art
Contributors were invited to identify the range of barriers which may obstruct the wider public’s interest in and ability to access contemporary art. Those most frequently mentioned are as follows:
• Arts culture – Contributors described general public perceptions of contemporary art as elitist, inaccessible and irrelevant to most who are not directly involved in the arts.
• Viewer/potential viewer – A belief was expressed by a number of contributors that many viewers lacked previous experience of the arts which resulted in a lack of confidence and lack of knowledge as to how to engage with contemporary art.
• External – Much media representation of contemporary art was seen as damaging. Formal education was believed not to value the arts or visual literacy skills.
• Space – Geographical and physical accessibility were noted as spatial barriers. So too was the layout of the space and the general perception of arts spaces as uncomfortable, where people are unsure how to behave.
Stuff that makes you think… makes me think…
- R
The Scottish Arts Council has this two part report that looks at arts attendance, participation and attitudes in Scotland.
Volume 2 is Underrepresented Groups (including regional)
These were published in 2004, and are found on the Scottish Arts Council website.
Very interesting. How much of this material translates to our context in Canada? A fair bit, I’d say. But we can’t know until we undertake a similar study. Bring it on. We need it.
- R
Scottish Arts Council put out a briefing about dance in 2004/05.
They’re hot on the trail of current social developments, and spin a good web of value, respect, appreciation, and creativity.
Find the entire briefing here. An excerpt to whet the palate:
DANCE BRIEFING 2004/05
“Dance in Scotland is enjoying a period of change
and growth. There are more people getting
involved in dance – at all levels – than ever before,
and audiences for dance are increasing.
Dance is also becoming a more viable career
option with advanced training opportunities, new
facilities in which to create and participate in
dance, and a growing network of venues
presenting dance. So as well as developing and
sustaining our creative talent in Scotland, we hope
to attract back professionals who have previously
had to seek opportunities elsewhere.
Our aims for dance
We play a key role in providing an environment in
which high quality dance can be created,
presented and enjoyed;
We believe that Scotland has the potential to
produce world-class dance – and to do so in an
international context – and we are enabling dance
artists and organisations to achieve excellence.
• Developing the infrastructure for professional
production and performance.
• Encouraging an environment that values and
supports professional development.
• Ensuring that people throughout Scotland have
the opportunity to experience and enjoy dance
as audiences.
• Ensuring that people of all ages and abilities
have the opportunity to learn and participate in
dance and participants have routes available to
them to take their talent through to a
professional level.”
- R
This is an inspiring document, showing a diversity of practice in Scottish Dance. It also demonstrates the wealth of their dance artists, in terms of support as a community. Even in their isolation and competition, they are working together in enviable ways. No, not perfect, and yes, worth investigating and admiring.
Dance in Scotland: Companies and choreographers
Published in 2006 from the Scottish Arts Council
- R
This is posted on the Creative New Zealand website. Sounds great. I want a copy of the November publication! Anyone have an extra one? Know where to get one from?
- R
Creative New Zealand and the Australia Council for the Arts are joining forces to publish an arts marketing resource, “FULL HOUSE: Turning Data into Audiences”.
The book will be published in November and will look at how data gathered through the ticketing process can be used to enhance sales, marketing, fundraising and relationships with customers. It will also include chapters focusing on the New Zealand context.
“FULL HOUSE: Turning Data into Audiences” is an updated version of the 1994 book “Boxing Clever”, published by Arts Council England. “FULL HOUSE” was written by Tim Roberts from Arts, Research and Ticketing Services in Australia, Roger Tomlinson from ACT Consultant Services in the UK, and Vicki Allpress, Marketing Manager for NBR New Zealand Opera.
The book will be launched during a series of lectures and workshops in Auckland (12 December), Wellington (14 December) and Christchurch (15 December). Attendees will receive a complimentary copy of the book.
This is a really interesting perspective on marketing the arts in New Zealand. It’s originally posted on Creative New Zealand’s website.
Targeting first timers? Wow. That’s something we in Canada can learn from…
- R
Test Drive the Arts, an innovative arts marketing programme aimed at first-timers, was the subject of workshops and presentations held recently in New Zealand.
The programme is designed to introduce people to an aspect of the arts for the first time. Creative New Zealand bought leading UK arts marketing and audience development specialist Andrew McIntyre from Morris Hargreaves McIntyre to New Zealand to present the programme to performing arts managers and marketers in Wellington and Auckland in October.
The term Test Drive was coined by the marketing agency Arts About Manchester and is borrowed from the car industry, where potential buyers are encouraged to try a product before making the decision to buy.
Most people can’t assess whether to buy a car based on advertising alone, and Test Drive the Arts acknowledges that in the same way, an arts experience can’t be fully conveyed through advertising or a brochure.
Test Drive has three key stages: the first stage involves introducing people to something in the arts for the first time. The “something” is an arts organisation’s work and the people are likely to be new customers to that organisation, if not to the arts generally. The second stage involves encouraging first-time attendance through providing incentives such as free tickets, discounted tickets or value-added benefits like a free programme, a CD, free drinks, food or transport. The third and most important element of Test Drive, is that the first attendance is seen as a springboard to an ongoing relationship.
Creative New Zealand is providing seed funding to four recurrently funded organisations that will pilot the Test Drive programme next year: Auckland Philharmonia, Auckland Theatre Company, The Court Theatre, and the Christchurch Symphony. The four organisations will work collaboratively to put 5000 people through the programme in 2007.
Test Drive the Arts targets people who are open to persuasion to attend arts events but who are currently not being persuaded. That such a group exists is borne out by “New Zealanders and the Arts” research that showed 84 per cent of people agreed with the statement that “some arts events interest me but I still don’t go much”.
McGauley, in her review of the Canada Council’s Arts and Communities Collaboration Fund, makes some salient points about the state of dance art today, and references many relevant books, articles and publications. The entire report is worth checking out as a snapshot overview of our situation; here is a teaser, and one of my favourite sections of her report:
“A recent internal Expenditures and Program Assessment Review exercise (EPAR), titled Enhancing Public Engagement with, and Access to, the Arts and Improving Dissemination and Audience and Market Development begins:
For a work of art to mean anything, someone must experience it, be moved by
it, even, we hope, be changed by it. The future of the arts lies in its
ability to seek, cultivate, and connect with diverse audiences, whether in
Canada or around the world. The Council has a central role to play as
enabler of these contacts.
Artist community collaborations are proving to be key components in developing infrastructures that support many forms of public engagement and facilitate audience development. When art becomes relevant again to the everyday lives of Canadians, when they are included in the conversation, these connections are more likely.”
For the rest of the report, click here.
Call for Nominations: Canada Council for the Arts 2007 Molson Prizes
The Canada Council for the Arts is seeking nominations for the 2007 Molson Prizes. The Molson Prizes of $50,000 each are awarded annually to distinguished individuals to encourage continuing contributions to the cultural and intellectual heritage of Canada. Nominations and related documentation must be submitted directly to the Canada Council for the Arts. Deadline for nominations is December 1, 2006. For information on the nomination process or to obtain nomination forms, please visit www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes <blocked::”>http://www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes> <http://www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes> .
