arts & business council

MetLife Foundation National Arts Forums Series

Arts & Business Council of New York
New York, New York

Leadership: New Frameworks for the Changing Face of America
10/23/2008

Panelists:

• Fritz Desir, Principal/Lead Strategist, Fluency, Inc.
• Chris Elam, Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer, Misnomer Dance Theater
• John Lanasa, Director of Account Services, Situation Marketing

The second New York City forum was dedicated to practical solutions for arts organizations and businesses to reach the RenGen. Panelists spoke about their work and how they are communication with the cultural consumer. Following the panel discussion small working groups were created so attendees could leave with constructive ideas that would benefit their own organizations.

Panelist and Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer of Misnomer Dance Theater Chris Elam spoke of creating relationships between his dance company and its audiences. What has been difficult for him is forming relationships with audiences in cities where the company tours as little as once per year. He is currently working on a new online platform that will work on solving this problem by enabling artists and audiences to connect with one another. It will not be the first time he has used the web in innovative ways to create relationships with the Misnomer Dance Theater audience. For example, they allow web visitors to remix their own dance videos and also held a contest to design the company’s costumes.

Panelist John Lanasa also put emphasis on giving audiences opportunities to connect with your brand. His organization’s focus is “collaboration, connection, and creation.” Principal/Lead Strategist of Fluency Inc Fritz Desir said that providing opportunities for customers to connect with brands is not enough. Organizations and companies need to listen to what the customers are saying and use it to leverage change in their brand.

The audience broke down into three working groups which were facilitated by ABC/NY’s Emerging Leaders of New York Arts group. Panelists circled the room joining in on discussions with each group. The groups spoke of how their organizations can reach the RenGen, how and if they already connect to this group, and creative ways to market. Following the discussions, highlights were presented by each group. Each group identified the same three core issues that would have to be addressed internally by their organizations:

• Capacity and resources: permission, time, money
• Strategy: balancing old guard against new guard, power structures, role as leaders and teachers within an organization
• Reality check: letting go of control, copyright Issues, identifying core values and communications

The audience also discussed the importance of listening to consumers and how to generate feedback for their services and products. Specific tactics for generating feedback were suggested, including surveys, focus groups, Twitter, contests and giveaways, and Facebook.

There is a need for organizations to create an open community where consumers can interact and have their voices heard. However, it is the duty of the organization to take this feedback and use it to better their services and products. Consumers today want to interact with a brand in real time; this can be provided by online chats, blogs and post-show discussions. If a RenGen consumer believes in a product they will encourage others to try it. This is why it is important to create relationships with consumers, to make them feel attached to the brand.

ABC/NY continues to work on the message of these two forums. In fact, many of the ideas that were generated are already being shared with the constituents of ABC/NY and statewide cultural tourism contacts. They have also provided consulting services on how to establish relationships with the cultural consumer. As a result of the forum series, the Arts & Business Council of New York is refocusing its programming for 2009 in order to provide more opportunities for learning and discussion about implementing RenGen strategies.