So you have your Facebook friends with a few hundred (maybe a few thousand) friends.
You got your tweeter feed and people look forward to the next tweet from #you.
You're using the web, blogging, the whole nine yards.
Good.
But there's another piece of the puzzle and without this piece . . . you got nothing.
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The web and other related technologies has had it easier to organize people then ever before.
Organization isn't enough though. You have to be able to mobilize people as well.
You have to be able to translate online numbers to real world action. Actions like buying a ticket, donating money, volunteering, joining a Board, etc.
This is where the paradox comes in.
You can organize via a computer, but to mobilize people you have to get from behind the desk and into people's homes, workplaces, etc.
Mobilization is a face to face thing.
That's why one of the first pieces of advice I give to emerging arts organizations I work with is: go forth and talk to people.
Go to the local dry cleaners, the restaurants, the coffee shops, the bookstores . . . go hang out with the people in the neighborhoods you want to perform in.
And for those of you that hate that sort of thing let me be clear . . . this isn't really optional.
If you want to do more then have a few friends and family consistently see your work then you need to go out there and connect with others.
The days of artists preparing work on one side and patrons receiving that work on the other side are behind us.
Now it's a simple choice:
You can engage, or you can be anonymous.
You can go outside your comfort zone and or you can just keep tweeting and hope somebody selects you from the other 1,000 choices they have.
Because at our core, the arts organizations we run are no different then a church, or a grassroots political organization . . . we are only as strong as the people that support us.
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I can imagine what you are thinking:
"Adam, you're saying that I need to produce the best art possible, probably work a day job in the process, AND hit the streets to meet others?"
Yup. That's it.
Is it a lot of work? Absolutely. Is it more work then some can handle? Probably. But if you live in an arts saturated town, how else are you going to get there?
Use the internet to organize.
Use your feet to mobilize.
That's what it takes.
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