A killer lack of knowledge = Burnout

Need to get this off my chest . . . .

Few things bug me more then individual who assume marketing the arts is easy.

Early in my life as a marketing coach (which you could learn more about my clicking here)  I met with the board of a small arts group.

I had one of the Board members tell me:

"I don't see why marketing  (to groups) is so hard, why don't we have our Executive Director (who was an inch away from burnout) call every CEO in town and tell them to bring their employees to our venue."

Then he looked at everyone in the room like he had just solved the secret to cold fusion.

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I still remember the look in the ED's eyes.  She had dedicated her life to making art and she truly felt like she was surrounded by idiots.

I've seen it before.

Artists mad at admins.

Admins mad at artists.

Admins and artists mad at the Board.

A poorly run artistic enterprise can get ugly real fast.

Good hearted, dedicated people can burn out and become people they don't even recognize.

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Here's my point.

Arts marketing is hard.

Fundraising for the arts is hard.

Running an arts organization is hard.

Getting your work noticed as an individual artist is hard.

That doesn't mean you should be in this world, just accept the challenge of it.

But here's the thing, there are plenty things you and your team can do to make your collective lives easier.

There's enough knowledge (free and otherwise) about every aspect of running an artistic enterprise that there are fewer and fewer excuses to not know what you are doing.

That applies to everyone, artists, artists who become admins, whatever.

Because while there are few things more beautiful then a well run artistic enterprise, few things are more horrible then a poorly run one.

Comments

[Ron Evans]

Great post -- I can hear arts marketing folks working in the trenches lift their heads up and cheer at the recognition of their daily frustrations!

Ron Evans

[Adam Thurman]

Ron,

Thank you. I hear it so often in my work that I felt like trying to spark some sort of conversation around it was necessary. Glad it hit home with some folks.

[Joe]

Re: Board Member- Did someone ask him to call all his CEO friends and tell them to come see the show?

Seriously, a recommendation from a friend is pretty much the most powerful force in promoting an event short of passing out flyers promising free beer on a college campus.

Plenty of powerful people call up their friends and essentially imply if they want to stay on their good side, they will make a show of support for a worthy cause.

If the board member doesn't feel that they have that sort of influence, then either they have a high opinion of the executive director's place in the community, or his/she needs to think about what they are asking.

Yes, the staff is being paid to promote the events, not the board. But part of what the staff does is identify the resources most effective in fulfilling that goal. It shouldn't be the default channel, but if one of those resources is the influence of board members, it is a valid option to employ.