The Mission Paradox Blog

Get Away

You need a break.

You've been bustin' your ass for your art for a while.

Go somewhere.  Do something that has NOTHIN' to do with your work as an artist.

Take care of yourself.

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I'm going to follow my own advice.

I'm headed to Vegas.  New posts on Wednesday, July 1.  Want to make sure you get all the posts when I start blogging again?  Subscribe to the blog.

See you soon.

New posts coming on

A Key Principle

The Principle of Priority says:

1.  You must know the difference between what's urgent and what's important.

2.  You must do what is important first.

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Some of us run our arts organizations like the place is rigged with alarms . . . and that our job is just to go running around the place every time the alarm rings.

I have seen organizations ignore implementing changes that would benefit them for years to come because they are so caught up in today's crisis . . . today's most urgent thing.

Today's urgent email.

Today's urgent meeting.

While the thing that is important . . .

That conversation with that up and coming playwright.

That cup of coffee with a potential donor.

Is rushed through because we are all so damn busy.

I've learned the hard way that to make it in the arts (or anything else), you have to remember the Principle of Priority.

 

Can't do it all

There is a lot to marketing.

Branding.  Advertising Strategy.  Marketing Research.  Messaging.  Market Segmentation.  Visual Elements.  Marketing via Technology.

A lot.

You can't be good at all of it.

So pick an area or two that has some real interest for you, or is a weak point at the place you work . . . and develop some skills around those areas.

If you have some time, you may want to get some general knowledge about the other areas, but if you can't . . . that's fine.

Always remember that you can outsource those marketing functions you don't do well, often for a relatively inexpensive amount.

So you can learn marketing research  . . . or hire a firm to do a project for you.

Learn the stuff that goes into an advertising strategy . . . or ask a volunteer to help you at.

Just remember that it isn't your responsibility to know "all things marketing."

Be strong in a few areas is good enough.

Feel The Loathe

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and just knew the person you were talking too didn't like you?

It may not have been the words they said, it was just a feeling you had.  And most of them time, your feelings turned out to be accurate.

People can sense when they are not wanted.

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In the arts, many of us claim to want more or different audiences then what we are getting.

We want diversity in our audience . . . we REALLY, REALLY, want a younger audience.

That's what we all say.

But then we look deeply inside some of those organization's, the truth is revealed:

We want their money.

But we don't really want them.

Why?

Because these different audiences are . . . different.

Different tastes.  Different standards.

And to adjust to those different things would require change on our parts, which isn't something we generally like to do.

But here's the thing . .  . those folks can tell when we don't really want them.

They can feel it. 

Which is often why they stay away.

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We talk so much about the impact of social media and other technology on the arts, but we often overlook one HUGE impact . . .

Social media reveals us.

It makes it harder and harder for us to conceal our true intentions.

Which is why I think a key requirement to building a strong arts organization in the 21st century is, love.

Not just love of the art.

Not just love of your fellow artists.

But love of people.  Those weird, complex, confusing people out there that you need to give your work the strongest platform possible.

You have to high a pretty high regard for them, even when they are driving you freakin' insane with the choices they make.

Because if you don't really care for them . . .

If you are creating work for them with a sneer on your face, or one eye on their wallet the whole time . . . they can tell.

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Perhaps you disagree with that.

You are thinking about all those big organizations that blatantly pander to the lowest common level and seem to do do just fine.

Yeah, if you have a lot of money, people and history you can get away with a lot for a while.

But you don't really have all that do you?

Me neither.

So your path, our path, to the top has to be a bit different.

There has to be some love there.

 

 

 

 

Improve

When's the last time you had a conversation with someone whose intelligence and wisdom scared the hell out of you?

When's the last time you saw a play, or a dance exhibition, or a painting, that made you immediately want to go out and become a better artist?

You need to surround yourself with those types of people . . . because those are the ones that force you to improve.

You need to get better at what you do.

You know that right?

And you know that if the only people you associate with are people with comparable skill level's then it is going to be hard to improve, right?

Find some people who knock you out of your comfort zone and send you flying back to the drawing board.

Those are the people that will make all the difference in your career.

Feel the Fire

A bit of marketing wisdom from the Brains on Fire blog:  Quit Thinking Like a Marketer

Seeking Talent

Today's question to ponder:

Why would a great person want to work for you?

Seriously, think about it.

Imagine I just conjured up a brilliant fundraiser.  She's smart.  Know's how to raise money for any art . . . especially the weird sh*t that you do.

Can you see her in your head?

Alright, now think about the question again.

Why would she want to work for you?

Is it because you provide a professional, positive work environment?

Is it because she can trust that you as the money comes in you will compensate her properly?

Why?

If you don't have a good answer for that does it scare you a little?

It should.

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(Now for something completely different)

Just a reminder that on Monday, June 22 @  5:30 I'll be doing a free workshop at the League of Chicago Theatres (228 S. Wabash).  It will probably be my last free event of the summer, so let's make it a good one.  Here's the details:

The topic will be effective marketing on a limited budget . . . which pretty much applies to all of us.

I'm going open things up with a short presentation.  I'll cover things like:

How to set up your marketing budget

How to balance traditional media and new media.

You get the idea.

The bulk of the time is about the Q&A.  I want your questions.  More importantly I want others in the group to hear your questions . . . because most of them have the same ones.  We are going to figure out the answers together.

If you want in you need to RSVP.  RSVP to Ben Thiem at  ben@chicagoplays.com.   We only have a few spots left before this thing fills up so send your email to Ben today.

 

Expectations

One of the most disappointing experiences I had early in my life as an arts admin was the time I let the financial expectations of a show get blown way out of wack.

You know how it goes . . . you have an artistic event coming up.  The event is going to be expensive.  The donors have given as much as they plan on giving, so now all the pressure is on earned income to make the show viable.

So I made the fatal mistake, I allowed pressure from the artistic staff and the Board to raise expectations around the show beyond all reason.

Then the show happened . . . and you know what, it was a good show.  It was well produced, the audience liked it, etc.

Internally, however, we called the show a failure because it didn't hit it's financial goal.

To be honest, I let that particular show down.

That was many years ago but it still bothers me.

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Running an arts organization is, in many ways, a guessing game.

There is so much information you don't know, or can't really accurately project . . . so you make your best guess at the beginning and adjust along the way.

But the question is, what is driving your best guest?

Is it the ego of the artistic staff?

Is it the facts?

Is it something else entirely?

Think about it.

Because in this line of work nothing is more important then setting proper expectations.

If you don't you can ruin a good thing before it starts.

 

 

The He-Man Woman Haters Arts Club

When I wrote The Open Letter to Arts Administrators, people emailed me asking how I could so accurately represent the struggle they have in the arts  . . .

And most of the people who emailed me were women.

I think about most of my clients, many of whom have plenty of skills, but are really struggling to get their voice heard and respected in the organizations they work for.

And most of them are women.

I think about the structure I see in many arts organizations, where they have a male Artistic Director . . . and most of the support staff (i.e. Development Director, Marketing Director, etc.) are women.

And then I wonder if many of the issues we see in the field of arts administration, low pay, long hours, too much hiearchy, lack of talent management, etc. occur (in some part) because we have so many women in the field that we assume . . . in an incredibly unfair fashion . . . that their love of the art should circumvent their common sense.

And then I wonder if we would be dealing with the same problems if the arts administration field was primarily male?

I wonder if we see arts administration (and nonprofit administration in general) as "women's work" and if that perception causes more trouble then we realize?

Does anyone else wonder that?

 

 

 

A Year In the Books: Lesson Learned

Yesterday closed my first full season as Marketing Director at my day job.  So I figured I should officially let folks know how I did and the lessons I learned along the way.

First the stats:

Single Ticket/Group Sales:  13% over projected goal.

Much of this was driven by the success of Caroline, or Change, but I think most of the shows in our season did fairly well.  In all we had the best year for single tix/groups since the 01/02 season.

Subscriptions:  8% below projected goal.

F*ckin' subscriptions.  :)  We are not immune to the national trend against subscribing.  It's impacting theatre, dance, pretty much any art that relied heavily on such things. 

It is a major problem and if a viable (but perhaps risky) alternative isn't put on the table soon . . . it's going to be trouble.

I'm working on it.

Expenses:  4% below projection

I think coming in with more revenue then expected while spending less is always the ideal situation and we were able to pull it off here.  Most of the savings came from shifting money away from print ads and into things like online ads, street marketing and different forms of email advertising. 

Lesson Learned:

1.  Organizational culture matters - When I first got the job, almost 18 months ago, most of my work revolved around changing the culture in the department.  I needed people that worked fast and were confident in their (already very impressive) abilities. 

I also needed them to have some faith that eventually a few of my dumb ass ideas would pan out.  It took time but I think we all got to the place where we work differently then we did before.

If I hadn't worked on those cultural changes first, none of the other outcomes would have happened. 

People need to enjoy their work.

People need to feel like they have a chance to accomplish their goals.

Without those things, you don't have much.

2.  It's still worth it - I'm not going to lie, it was a roller coaster of a season.  But when it all comes together, when the art and the audience link up and you can see the emotional impact you are having on them, it is an incredible feeling.  But . . .

3.  It's going to be harder then ever - I work at a fairly established, fairly resourced place and it was a rough road for us.  For many groups less advantaged then us the next season is going to be pretty wild. 

You can make it. 

Be smart.

Make informed choices.

Be sure you are working with the right people, i.e. people with the skills and temperment to work in a challenging economic climate.

Do your best work artistically.  It's the best chance you have of coming out of this thing in one piece.  Remember, a lot of arts org had the best year in a while in the midst of the recession.  You can be one of them.