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Good Monday!

August 22, 2005

by:

Joe Patti

Today was a good day on many levels.

I got to sleep in a little because I was going to a meeting of my booking consortium in town so driving in to the office only to have to turn around and drive back an hour later didn’t make sense.

The consortium meeting was essentially called to provide an opportunity for those who aren’t attending the Western Arts Alliance Conference next month to discuss what types of groups they would like those of us who are attending to watch for.

Many of the attendees at the meeting brought along season brochures for their upcoming season and passed them around proudly. (Including me!) Since many of us are hosting the same performers, it was interesting to see each organization’s interpretation of the same artist.

Ironically, as Mr. Budget, I was looking at the interpretation first. I brought a couple copies of the other brochures back to my graphic designer and her first observation was about the amount of money the other places must have to afford such extravagant brochures.

I honestly thought her simpler design was much more powerful than the more expensive pieces. You get it in the mail, you open the first fold and BAM! the image there is so captivating you want to pay attention to the rest of the information.

The funny thing is, I gave her the same budget as last year. Then I purposely wrote less in my letter to patrons and in the descriptions so that there was more room for images and white space.

She comes back with a design on a much smaller space than last year and I ended up having to cut more text!

On the other hand, it cost about $1,500 less than last year so I edited quite happily.

One of the women at the meeting thanked me for suggesting they put a sampling of the music artists would be playing on their website. (Actually, inspired by Andrew Taylor’s post, I had suggested using iTunes to supplement a season brochure, but I will take the gratitude anyway. Unfortunately, her site is a little rough and it is tough to find the links.)

Next good thing was that I really wanted to suggest bringing a performer from last season back next season. I am still getting comments about how good he was, my radio ad rep keeps muttering about his disappointment over missing the performance and it is the artist’s 40 anniversary season.

But I fear it might be too soon to bring him back.

Fortunately, I don’t have to say a thing. One of my other partners mentions the same thing, I offer some supportive comments and while it isn’t a done deal, it wasn’t a hard sell at all to get the ball rolling.

Then when I get back to the office, I get an email from an agent saying he believes the group he represents would be happy to attend a reception thrown for them by adoring fans. This is great because not only will the fans be happy, but it will help me promote the show. (Though honestly, it is already selling so well we could be sold out before they even start their national tour.)

The last good thing was sort of a mixed blessing. We had scheduled the meeting for 4 hours but only took 1.5 hours to finish our business. Unfortunately, thinking I wouldn’t be back for 3 hours more, my staff moved cabinets and desks into my office so they could clean where they had sat. It was a little hard getting to my desk to say the least.

All in all though, a good day.

Management Philosophy

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Practices that Bring Us Together

August 17, 2005

by:

Joe Patti

Okay this entry is more for your general information and illumination than necessarily news you can use, mull over and apply. Just fair warning for those seeking gems of wisdom. There may be some here, but they will be unintentional.

So 60ish years ago, where I am sitting was just recovering from being battered by a Japanese air attack. Nowadays, the Japanese are still launching airborne attacks and staging landings. This time they are bringing lots and lots of money to pump into the local economy. It is high vacation season in Japan and they are coming to visit.

Of course, there are plenty of Japanese in residence already. So many in fact, they have to celebrate a summer holiday that falls in July all summer long.

The O-ban is observed as part of Buddhist practice around the middle of July. Usually the celebratory aspect is observed at the same time. However, there are so many temples in Hawaii, they take turns holding celebrations every weekend from June through the start of September.

Some how I have managed to attend a festival four out of the last five years. I got started in an unlikely place–rural South Jersey. This is an unlikely place because there isn’t much of anything at all so the existence of a Buddhist temple in the middle of nowhere is rather unexpected. Once you understand the story of how the owner of a large tract of farmland requested the relocation Japanese internees during WW II to his frozen/dried food operation, you can see how the temple ended up down this backcountry road.

The food at these festivals is usually great, but hardly makes it a destination event. The dancing is pretty sedate–people walk slowly around in a circle performing simple steps and hand movements. It is actually a good community building activity because anyone from the audience can and does join in.

I go for the taiko drums though. It is really great to watch a good taiko ensemble practicing their craft. There is so much energy and the sensation of the drums vibrating your entire body is pretty cool. (samples from the group http://www.kodo.or.jp/frame.html here)

No matter where I have attended a Bon Festival though, there is wide community involvement. People of all races, cultures and religions attend, participate in the dancing and even perform. (Though I have to admit, there is an evident poise and discipline expressed by long time taiko practitoners that novices don’t have no matter how serious they try to look.)

It may be too late in many place, but if you haven’t attended one of these festivals, do a quick Google search of your locale and see if you still have time to check the festival out.

General Musings

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Comforting Metaphors

August 16, 2005

by:

Joe Patti

One of the metaphors that has always made me nervous as an arts professional is releated to the need to correctly define what your company does. If you say you make horse drawn carriages rather than that you are in the transportation industry, you will probably go out of business when the automobile rolls around.

In a world where the arts just sort of seem to be lucky to prove their relevance from moment to moment, I think it is understandable if I might wonder if I am working in a horse and buggy industry. The dying industry is usually blind and living in denial about its fate after all so it is hard to tell.

I heard a gentleman speak today at the college’s convocation (I forgot to bring the flyer home so I could credit him. Come back tomorrow for the name.) He was discussing the use of technology in the classroom. I started filing much of what he said away in my brain against the day that I get back in to teaching again.

But he also presented some metaphors which were comforting. One of the things he pointed out was that in the 1800s, ice harvesting in New England was big business sending ice all over the world. However, due to the costs, people in the southern part of the US developed a way to manufacture ice. However, the demand for ice actually increased so much, the New England harvesters actually increased production. In time, of course, refrigeration overtook ice production and yet there is still a need for ice production today (though granted, not through harvesting.)

Okay, so now I just have to worry about not being in an ice harvesting business. Given that the entertainment industry is comprised of movies, cable television, DVDs, etc., it is possible that live arts experiences are the ice harvesting of today. Plenty of demand for many, but not all entertainment forms.

The speaker also referenced the fact that at one time radio was king and then television came along and many of the radio shows were now on television. Instead of withering away, radio changed and started offering something different.

So, okay, this is no big revelation. Changing with changing times is the talk of the industry these days no matter where you go. Blogs talk about it (it was actually one of my first entries), convention speakers talk about it, everyone is saying we should do it.

Question is, how will that happen? Lots of speakers and bloggers have lengthy suggestions about that. However, thinking about things like radio and ice harvesting helps to make a confusing, overwhelming problem seem a little simpler and easy to start tackling. It also gives a point of reference so we can assess in a general way how radio stations successfully made the transition and what sort of thinking lead to the closing of thoses that failed to do so.

Edit: Gentleman in question was Paul Bowers, Asst. Prof. Mass Communications, Director of Teaching and Learning with Technology, Buena Vista University.

State of the Arts

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Art and Vocation

August 15, 2005

by:

Joe Patti

I always like to discover organizations that find a way to offer opportunities for people to realize artistic and “practical” pursuits.

In Providence, RI is The Steel Yard which “offers arts and technical training programs designed to increase opportunities for cultural and artistic expression, career-oriented training, and small business incubation.” So you can go there to pursue welding certification, learn how to weld for around the house chores or explore a new art form. (They also offer ceramics, blacksmithing and foundry casting.)

They also offer lectures, studio space, youth training partnerships and a locker in residence program where you can get access to their shop without being associated with any classes.

Sounds pretty cool. This is the one time I regret not being a visual artist cause they have an executive director position open. Sounds like an intriguing opportunity.

Another similar program is at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. They have an arts and industry program where artists take up residency at the Kohler Company which manufactures plumbing supplies.

This may sound strange, but if you think about it, the company’s products require them to work in ceramics, iron and brass foundries and work with enamel. They put their equipment and materials at your disposal 24 hours a day. Only 4 people are usually in residence at any one time so accessibility to the facilities is more limited than at the Steel Yard. But everything is free to those chosen for the program, including housing, round trip transportation, materials and technical assistance. Plus you get a weekly honorarium.

The most amusing part is that many of these pieces make it back to the washrooms at the arts center. According to the arts center website, there tends to be an invasion of the opposite gender’s washroom to view these works.

Explore the washrooms yourself. It is pretty cool stuff.

Arts in an Age of Technology

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