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Working Out Those Work From Home Arrangements

by:

Joe Patti

If you have staff working from home or are considering moving in that direction, I recently made a post on ArtsHacker regarding some tips for creating a successful asynchronous work environment.

The post largely draws from some tips assembled by ArtsMidwest about different tools and approaches an organization can use.

As I write in the ArtsHacker post, you may find the tips

…overly structured for the informal work environment of arts and cultural organizations, but there are likely some situations in which a strong framework is useful. It is easier to discard what isn’t useful than to try to fabricate guidelines whole cloth.  

On the other hand, if it feels like things are being accomplished, but in a very much seat of your pants manner, implementing a structure can be helpful. It may feel like you have artificially imposed constraints on the work environment, but once people are able to internalize the process and begin to employ an effective shared shorthand the boundaries may dissolve into the background.

Source
Organizing For Work At Home Staffing

Leadership, Management Philosophy, Working In The Arts

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Pittsburgh Arts Council Employing AI Tools

by:

Joe Patti

In the last few weeks I came across a blog post by the CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Patrick Fisher, laying out the ways in which the Arts Council would be using new technology tools and AI to serve their constituencies.

He wrote about how they would be using AI to create event calendar listings from publicly available sources as well as an AI Concierge service to answer questions artists, organizations, and community members might have about available resources. They are also working to create an online map of resources available in the Greater Pittsburgh area as well as an assessment tool to assess the health of the arts and cultural environment.

This tool will provide critical insights into the financial stability, operational capacity, and overall well-being of arts organizations, enabling stakeholders to make data-driven decisions that enhance the sector’s long-term viability.

Source

Fisher also spends a fair amount of time discussing the ethical considerations about using AI for some of these purposes. I am glad he does, not only because there are definitely ethical issues like bias, representation in the data used to train the AI model, and whether those providing the data/content gave permission for it to be used, but also due to the over arching need to make sure the information being provided is valid.

I had bookmarked the article about two weeks ago to return to write a post on the topic. However, this past weekend we had to contend with a ticket buyer who had gotten a notification that a performance had been postponed to a date in May. The best we could figure out is that the AI sending an alert to her phone had conflated the fact the performer Saturday night had been postponed from an early date with the date of another performer in May to decide Saturday’s performance was now in May.

This moved Fisher’s post to the top of my list of things to blog about. Fisher lists seven ethical considerations for using AI powered tools, lists entry points for use of AI which arts organizations might use to start integrating the tools into regular activities, and then makes the case for why arts organizations should start embracing these technologies.

He encourages a relatively balanced and deliberate approach to their use, writing:

“…let’s embrace this moment with curiosity, courage, and due diligence.”

Source

Advocacy, Arts in an Age of Technology

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New Compliance Requirements For NEA Grants

by:

Joe Patti

There appear to be some significant changes in the grant procedures for the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition to the end of the Challenge America grant program American Theatre Magazine reported changes in the compliance rules that have been recently added.

After listing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination Act, and Title IX, the page includes the following new requirements:

The applicant understands that federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology, pursuant to Executive Order No. 14168, Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.

The applicant will comply with all applicable Executive Orders while the award is being administered. Executive orders are posted at whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions.

The applicant’s compliance in all respects with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws is material to the U.S. Government’s payment decisions for purposes of section 3729(b)(4) of title 31, United States Code, pursuant to Executive Order No. 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, dated January 21, 2025.

The applicant will not operate any programs promoting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws, in accordance with Executive Order No. 14173.

Source

The National Endowment for the Arts will be holding a seminar to discuss these changes and answer questions from 2 pm- 3 pm EST on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. The link to the Microsoft Teams Meeting may be found on the webinar page. If you miss the meeting, a link to the recording will be available on that page as well.

While it is for a different program, news sources are reporting a list of words that will trigger a manual review of papers and other documents submitted to the National Science Foundation and Centers of Disease Control.

Many of the words are ones that arts and cultural organizations have been using regularly for years like advocacy, barrier, biases, community diversity, cultural differences, cultural heritage, disabilities, diverse communities, equity, female, gender, inclusivity, historically, marginalize, sense of belonging, underserved, women.. That’s about 1/10 of the words on the list.

Fundraising, Government Relations, State of the Arts

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What To Say About Your DEI Efforts

by:

Joe Patti

Yesterday someone posted a Harvard Business Review article on LinkedIn dealing with the topic of corporate DEI programs. The authors, Kenji Yoshino, David Glasgow, and Christina Joseph, state that such training programs hold a low legal risk provided they aren’t targeted at a specific group in a manner that creates a hostile work environment.

Public relations-wise it can be a different story depending on the community and customers you serve.

HOWEVER, statements about diversity, equity, and inclusion can carry legal risk if the say too much.

DEI communications create legal risk when a statement suggests that the organization engages in what we call the “three Ps” by conferring a preference on a protected group with respect to a palpable benefit.

Source

They caution against statements like: ““DEI uplifts historically disadvantaged groups to ensure equal outcomes,” because it suggests that some protected groups might be getting preferential treatment.

As alternatives, they suggest:

“DEI removes unfair barriers that prevent disadvantaged groups from competing on a level playing field.”

“Talent is everywhere but opportunity is not. DEI closes the gap.”

“DEI enables people of all identities and backgrounds to feel welcome and do their best work.”

Source

In respect to hiring and promotion, they write:

Another risky statement is “We use diversity hiring to recruit people from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds.” This one could suggest the organization considers race or ethnicity in employment decisions …Alternatives include:

  • “We conduct outreach at diverse colleges to strive for a diverse applicant pool.”
  • “While we strive for a diverse mix of candidates, all employment decisions are made without regard to race, sex, or other protected characteristics.”
  • “We look for candidates of any background who will advance our culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Source

They also advise staying away from any language that identifies concrete hiring targets and instead use aspirational language referencing terms like aspire, strive, aim, and hope.

Much more specific detail on these and other topics in the article, including how to engage your communications team, if any of this is of concern.

Legal Topics, Management Philosophy, Marketing/PR, Working In The Arts

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Butts In The Seats by Joe Patti is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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