events
The Local Host Tool Kit will help you organize a successful Creative Conversation in your community. It contains six steps to help you think through and plan your event.
If you need a little help getting started, try these steps:
- Step 1: Think of a good topic and engaging format for a Creative Conversation
- Step 2: Arrange and confirm all logistics
- Step 3: Register Your Creative Conversation
- Step 4: Promote. Market. Get the Word Out
- Step 5: Host your Creative Conversation
- Step 6: Find ways to sustain the momentum
We encourage you to use Creative Conversation logos for print and for web when planning and marketing your event.
Step 1: Think of a good topic and engaging format for a Creative Conversation.
Creative Conversations come in all shapes and sizes. There is no set format or mandatory content. During the past few years, Creative Conversations have taken many forms, including:
- Brown-bag lunches with peers and colleagues to discuss local arts issues and building a career in arts administration.
- Professional development workshops on work-life balance, advocacy, audience development, fundraising, etc.
- Panel sessions and moderated interviews with politicians, funders and local arts leaders.
- Full-day symposia with keynote speakers, professional development workshops, networking sessions and more.
Begin by planning backwards. What do you want to get out of this Creative Conversation and why? What would a successful Creative Conversation look like?
Additional Resources:
- View the Creative Conversation webinar, which gives step-by-step instructions and examples of different kinds of events.
- (Available to professional members of Americans for the Arts)
- See the topics and formats from past Creative Conversations
- Learn How to Talk to Elected Officials (pdf, 42KB)
- Learn more about the Arts and Economic Impact Prosperity Studies, Arts and the Private Sector, and Arts and Civic Engagement
- Check out ARTSBlog and our recent blog salons for topic ideas and trends
Step 2: Arrange and confirm all logistics
Good planning and preparation produce the most successful Creative Conversations. Whether hosting the event as a brown-bag lunch or as a seminar, each event requires coordination and oversight. We have found that the minimum amount of time it takes to plan and host a Creative Conversation is about two weeks. Friday, October 29 is the deadline for signing up to host a Creative Conversation.
Want additional support? Talk through your ideas with our staff or any veterans at hosting Creative Conversations.
Creative Conversation Veterans
- Letitia Ivins- Los Angeles County Arts Commission
- Letia can advise on anything related to Creative Conversations, especially content. She also has expertise in planning a day-long Creative Conversation convening, which L.A. has done for a few years now. (Pacific Time Zone)
- David Seals—Pittsburgh Arts Council
- David has experience in building community collaborations, brainstorming Creative Conversation content and a target audience, and obtaining in-kind donations. He can also guide those interested in using their Creative Conversation as a springboard to starting a local Emerging Leader Network. (East Coast Time Zone)
Step 3: Register your Creative Conversation
In 2011, Creative Conversations are partnering with the Arts Action Fund to generate increased energy around the grassroots movement to elevate the profile of the arts in America. By hosting a Creative Conversation, you will automatically become a member of the Arts Action Fund. You may receive periodic advocacy updates and information by email. While we hope you will continue to stay involved in your local arts community and will join us in the important work of advocating for the arts in America, any future Arts Action Fund emails will also include an option to unsubscribe.
Register your event and submit event details at the Creative Conversation Host Registration page. After Friday, October 28, no new Creative Conversations events will be accepted.
Step 4: Promote. Market. Get the Word Out.
We have developed these templates to help you promote your event locally. Americans for the Arts will promote your event nationally.
- Download our Creative Conversation logos for print and for web
- Use our Swiss Cheese Press Release (doc, 177KB) and Media Alert (doc, 173KB) to alert the media to your Creative Conversation
- Create a promotional flyer to hang on community bulletin boards in coffee shops, community centers, local colleges and universities, grocery stores, etc.
- Use our Customizable Marketing Letter (doc, 102KB) to e-mail information to your listservs and constituent groups, and post your event in the local free community paper
- Use our Marketing Tips (pdf, 182KB) to get the word out in your community
- Tell your friends to tell their friends to tell their friends!
- Send everyone to this website and get them to register now!
Step 5: Host your Creative Conversation
All the details are in place. You are ready to go. If you need to change or update any of your event details, you may do so here by logging back into your account. Make sure to download your final registration list the day before your Creative Conversation, but be prepared for people to show up at the door. Americans for the Arts will also send you additional resource materials like bookstore flyers and Arts Action Fund information which you may pass out at your event.
Additional Resources:
- Call your local art reporter and remind them about your Creative Conversation event. Email over your press release and/or media alert again.
- Post live information about your event through Twitter. Connect to the National Arts and Humanities Month Twitter feed, and start your Twitter post with @nahm and include the hash tags #nahm #AFTAcc. A sample tweet could be @nahm Nearly 75 people are at the Cafe tonight. Great crowd. Kicking off our discussion on state funding in the city. #AFTAcc #nahm.
- At the end, hand out the Participant Evaluation Form (pdf, 24KB). These forms are feedback for you, as host, on how well the event went.
- Don’t forget to take pictures or video!
Step 6: Sustain the momentum through social media and community collaboration
So, you did it. You hosted a great Creative Conversation. There was a good turnout and lots of energy. Now what?
- Share what you discussed on the Americans for the Arts network listservs.
- Write a blog post on your personal or organization's blog. Email a link of your post to artswatch@artsusa.org so we can link to it through ARTSblog.
- Share photos and video on the Americans for the Arts Flickr page and YouTube channel.
- Set up other meetings and events. Perhaps you had enough interest to start a local Emerging Leader Network in your community.
- Attend other national events like National Arts Marketing Project, Arts Advocacy Day, and the Annual Convention to meet more like minded individuals like you.
- Follow the latest arts advocacy news at www.artsactionfund.org or on Twitter with @ArtsActionFund.
- In November, Americans for the Arts will be sending out a Host Survey to collect data on the impact and effectiveness of this national program. Instructions for filling out and submitting that survey will be forthcoming.
These Creative Conversations have been consistently successful in connecting arts leaders who want to make a dynamic difference in their lives and communities, just like you! Thank you again for volunteering your time, energy and creativity to plan a Creative Conversation in your community. If you need any additional information or ideas, please e-mail leadership@artsusa.org or call 202.371.2830.
October is National Arts and Humanities Month
Celebrate by convening arts leaders in your community and connecting to the national network at Americans for the Arts.