IN THIS ISSUE: What New Media Means for You | National Arts and Humanities Month | What’s the

Big Idea? | Changing Funding Landscape | Resources for Emerging Leaders | Notes from the Chairman

arts
LINK

Americans for the Arts FALL 2010

THE SOURCE FOR ARTS PROFESSIONALS IN THE KNOW

C Make sense of the avalanche of emerging
technologies and how they can help you
build for the future. Join us at the National
Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) Confer-
ence in San Jose, CA, November 12–15.
Registration is still available online at
www.ArtsMarketing.org/conference.

ENGAGE IS NOT A FOUR-LETTER WORD

by Brian Reich, managing director of little m media,
featuring a conversation with best-selling author and
Principal of FutureWorks Brian Solis
We asked two thought leaders and authors
on technology and new media to delve in
to some of the issues arts organizations are
facing more and more often: how to find
new and different techniques to reach and
engage audiences—online and offline.
T
echnology and the Internet, and
their role in our lives, has changed
how we communicate, get and share
information, the media we consume, and
the reasons we engage with each other.
The effects of these changes are being
felt by all of us, every day, all the time.
At the National Arts Marketing Project
Conference, New Tech. New Tools. New
Times., in San Jose, CA, November 12–
15, I will sit down with best-selling
author Brian Solis for an on-stage con-
versation about the opportunities and
challenges that arts organizations face
when trying to master the art of con-
sumer engagement in connected society.
I recently talked with Solis about some
of the basic things that arts organiza-
tions must understand about the role of
social media in how marketing and public
relations now work—and what all orga-
nizations must do to navigate the new
marketing landscape that exists today.
www.AmericansForTheArts.org
SOLIS The first thing that any organization
needs to do is to figure out exactly what
it is they are hoping to accomplish with
social networks. For starters, they should
look to determine the networks that their
audience members are using. You can start
by using the search box in each one of the
social networks to get an idea of who is
talking about something related to what
you are doing, who is asking questions,
who is seeking more information and to
what extent. That important first step
just garners intelligence, but with that
intelligence you can begin to think about
both a proactive and a reactive commu-
nication strategy. That basic research is
actually one of the less often performed
functions at the beginning of all commu-
nications strategy and planning activities.
REICH Do you think arts organizations
are at an advantage or a disadvantage
when it comes to adopting and using
social media?
FALL 2010 | ARTS LINK | 5
ENGAGE IS NOT A FOUR-LETTER WORD

SOLIS Social media is actually and everyone inside a company is a

QUICK LOOK
more cultural than it is production studio. They just kind of
technical or strategic. That have to get into the business of making
Get Started basic activity of going out, interesting content. Go to the local
listening to the audience, newspaper and try to get attention
G
 raba Flip Cam for about
1

$100 and take some figuring out what they from the arts editor and work with
“backstage” footage of want, and then beginning them on the regular, monthly things
your performance or
to align and adapt how an they put out. Or you might start
event. The key here is to
get exclusive content— organization should respond, reaching out to hyper-local influential
offer video via your requires a fundamental bloggers and get involved with them.
social networks, website,
shift in thinking. This And then the next step is going to
or newsletter.
whole aspect of relationship be to involve social networking. But
Publish the production
2
building, the use of social it’s all driven on this premise that
notes from your show
as a presentation online
research and how it helps I will feed you information, that I
and let your audience add to set up the possibility of am a destination, a repository of
their own ideas. You can engagement, is driven by information. What if your blog or
create a basic PowerPoint
or Keynote file and load it
something people share website became a place where people
up to www.SlideShare.net a passion for, and how an went to learn about a local ballet or local
or www.Scribd.com. Print organization can create art, to get involved, to be part of the
the link in the program and
ask for audience feedback
an opportunity to tap into community? It requires a shift in the
after the show. that passion. mindset. We have to become confident
in the work of both responding to
Foursquare, Facebook
3

Places, and other geoloca-
tion services are one of
the hottest social tools
available right now. Start
by making sure your
physical location, as well
as each of your exhibi-
tions or events, is listed on
these services, along with
substantive, contextually
relevant, and compelling
or entertaining infor-
mation. Offer a private
gathering for your users.
4
Providebackground infor-
mation and context about
what you are performing
and publish it to a mobile
app that people can
access while attending
your show to deepen their
appreciation for the work
that is being performed.
REICH And the arts already
have that raw connection
and shared passion with
their audience. Still, given
the number of challenges
that an arts organization
must address—online and
offline—it isn’t always that
easy. Where should arts orga-
nizations focus their energy,
and where do you think they
would be better served by
spending their time?
SOLIS Again it comes back
to that strategy. Author Tom
Foremski calls it EC=MC,
every company is a media
company. I look at it as every
company is a media company
and interacting with conversations.
Organizations have to begin to address
the 70 percent of the people on the web
who are looking for information that
can’t find it from us because we haven’t
created or produced it.
NOW WHAT?
A successful digital strategy is built
with an understanding of how the
world now works and effectively lever-
ages technology and the Internet in
appropriate ways. Too often, orga-
nizations adopt technology without
embracing the new ways in which they
must operate for those tools to truly
deliver results. To successfully reach,
engage, educate, or mobilize audiences
to take any action, you have to do more
than deploy a set of tools.

6 | ARTS LINK | FALL 2010 Celebrating 50 Years of Advancing the Arts


C Hear more from Brian
Reich and Brian Solis
(pictured) during our
Arts Marketing Blog
Salon, October 5–12,
2010. This concen-
trated, salon-style
conversation will
feature arts leaders
and marketing profes-
sionals sharing their
ideas on the broad
landscape of audience
engagement. Join
us on ARTSblog at
http://blog.artsusa.
org to read the
full conversation
between Solis and
Reich and get in on
the conversation.
www.AmericansForTheArts.org
Technology can help host a vibrant
conversation, facilitate an event, make
the delivery of information more effi-
cient, or store all your data. But it won’t
raise you money, help people listen, or
get people off their couch to attend your
performance. That’s where you come in.
Organizations must understand the
shift in expectations of what we want to
see and hear. The kinds of relationships
and the levels of support we want from
organizations have been redefined. Our
connection to the issues and events
that define our world has been trans-
formed. In order to thrive in the future,
arts organizations must identify how
they can adapt to this shift and leverage
this new landscape to their advantage.
People want to consume and share
good information, participate in com-
pelling experiences, and/or get their
hands on high-quality stuff. As an
organization, you need to commit to
creating good information, organiz-
ing quality experiences, and offering
good stuff to an audience that’s more
connected than ever before. Now is
the time for arts organizations to ask
themselves this question daily: What
are we doing to establish a genuine,
trusted relationship with our audience
and develop a relationship that will pay
benefits over time? In order to thrive in
the future, you must start planting the
seeds of engagement today.
  BrianReich is co-author of Media Rules: Master-
ing Today’s Technology to Connect With and Keep Your
Audience. His work explores how technology and the
Internet change the ways people get and share informa-
tion and the impact of digital media on our society. He
blogs at www.thinkingaboutmedia.com, hosts a weekly
podcast, and contributes as a Fast Company expert.
Find him on Twitter @brianreich.
  BrianSolis is globally recognized as one of the most
prominent thought leaders and published authors
in new media. His latest book, Engage: The Complete
Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and
Measure Success in the New Web, provides a deep review
of the evolution of new media and how to integrate new
technologies and methodologies into everyday activity.
Read more at www.briansolis.com and find him on
Twitter @briansolis.
QUICK LOOK
Resources
Five Must-Read Books:
 The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
 Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky
 Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
 A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
 Socialnomics by Erik Qualman
Online Resources:
 The
Frontal Cortex
www.wired.com/wiredscience/frontal-cortex
 Digital
Influence Mapping Project
http://johnbell.typepad.com
 Creativity
Unbound
http://edwardboches.com
 GetStoried
www.getstoried.com
FALL 2010 | ARTS LINK | 7
1000 Vermont Avenue NW
6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
T 202.371.2830
F 202.371.0424
ArtsLink@artsusa.org
www.AmericansForTheArts.org

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FLASHBACK

Circa 1980
During the 1980 presidential campaign, the American Council for
the Arts surveyed the top five presidential candidates on their
arts positions and published their results in American Arts. The
Americans for the Arts Action Fund continues this work today by
producing the Congressional Arts Report Card and the Congres-
sional Candidate Survey, ensuring voters are well-equipped to cast
their vote for arts-friendly candidates in their communities. Visit
www.ArtsActionFund.org/pages/ask-your-candidate to find out
how your members of Congress voted on the arts and find out key
questions for evaluating the arts attitudes of new candidates.