Social Media for Development

This is just a thought I've been toying around with for a few weeks now, but I wanted to throw it out there and get a conversation going.

photo borrowed from searchenginejournal.com

I feel as arts organizations have ventured into the realm of new and social medias that they're going in with the mindset of "reaching the audience" and "interacting with our audience", which is an extremely valuable and sensible goal.  Isn't audience engagement also part of the donor cultivation strategy?  Isn't social media a great way to connect with our tech savvy donors (who are actually of all ages because lets face it, most industries are way ahead of us when it comes to technology, regardless of whether they are millenials or boomers)?  Wouldn't a donor feel more connected with your organization if they were directly interacting with you everyday?

If you work for an arts organization, or any nonprofit for that matter, that's utilizing social media in your development strategy I would love to hear from you.  Comment here, tweet me @thecastparty or shoot me an email at aubrie.thecastparty@gmail.com. Let's talk!

The Value of Math



Photo from icanseenewyorkcityfrommyhouse.tumblr.com

 How many people go into the arts because they like numbers?  All of you!? 

In my high school statistics class there was a chart on the wall of about 50 different professions and the different kinds of math (ie geometry, calculus, statistics, algebra).  At the time I was convinced that I was going to be the U.S. cultural attache to some fabulous exotic country, and guess what, my profession totally wasn't on the list, nor was any other arts profession!

I was pretty convinced that I was off the hook and I was never going to need math.  I know all you arts administrators are laughing your hard working booties off right now, and with good reason.  Tracking numbers is a HUGE part of our job.  From building budgets to tracking your audience demographics to the click through rates on email campaigns, numbers can tell us almost anything.  The thing about numbers, however, is that you have to understand them to do anything with them.  So all youproducers and arts managers who don't love numbers, get yourself into a statistics class that's heavy on the excel and I promise it will change the way you do business for the better!

Back to School I Go

"Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it."
J.M. Barrie (Peter Pan)

I'm headed back to school this week, to begin work on an MFA in Performing Arts Management.  I have given up my job, salary, and potential earnings for the next 2 years to work towards a bigger goal. 

I'm incredibly excited about what this means for my career, but also for this blog.  I'll be able to share with you insights to the theater business from a more informed perspective and hopefully be able to come up with some creative ideas of my own.

Here we go!