Home Page

Inciting Incidents

September 8, 2008

by:

Joe Patti

I have recently been reminded that it is often a small incident rather than a major one that coalesces people into action. There is often no way to plan and maneuver these events into happening. Rosa Parks sits on a bus. Surely there were other people who did the same thing and met with consequences. Why then? Why that day?

When our new assistant theatre manager started a year ago, he preferred to work at a desk I hadn’t anticipated him wanting. Because we stored often used files and binders in and around the desk, I have often had to ask him to move while I retrieved it. We didn’t have time to reconfigure things until this summer which is when I suggested alternative layouts a number of times. But he never really seemed motivated to do anything. Then Wednesday I asked for his help in running an internet cable through a hole in the wall. Thursday morning I came into work and the whole office was reconfigured. I have gone into work in jeans the last two days to continue with the clean up and rearranging.

Why was the running of that cable the spark that got things going? I have no idea. I would have preferred this all to happen over the summer when I had more time. On the other hand, it provides a welcome break from reviewing last month’s expense and payroll reports.

I had the same thing happen in an online game in which I help create scenarios for players. My attempts to spark interest with subtle and blatant promises of lurking menace and untold riches have gained limited involvement at times. However a group of organizations decided to talk about setting minimum pricing for their wares and the whole game went up in arms with battle lines being drawn between erstwhile allies. I was flabbergasted at the retributive activities and threats that emerged almost immediately between people who had been friends for years and years.

It is pretty clear to people in the arts world at large that a change in the way we do business is both necessary and imminent. The problem is that no one knows what form the change will take or how to bring it to fruition. This is not to say that people aren’t trying. Arts professionals are thinking, talking and doing all sorts of little things that are hopefully greasing the skids for what is to come. But if the change is going to come from an unexpected quarter, by definition there isn’t a lot anyone can do to control its emergence. Despite the best intentions and efforts to facilitate a transition, it could be a rather bumpy ride if people are concentrating their efforts in the wrong areas.

General Musings, State of the Arts

No Comments

Core Narratives

September 3, 2008

by:

Joe Patti

I try to avoid any mention of politics if it isn’t directly related to the arts but I have to say that the Republican National Convention going on right now is a great illustration of how marketing is the function of everyone in an organization. Members of political parties do this sort of thing almost as second nature but that seems even more reason why a smaller group working at an arts organization can’t mobilize themselves in the same way. It should be easier for the latter group to get themselves on message.

I think the convention activities also reveal the importance of knowing what elements comprise their core identity. Let’s face it, Gov. Palin’s daughter being pregnant out of wedlock diverges from the party’s usual narrative. Let’s not kids ourselves about how it would be exploited by proxies were the shoe on the other foot. However, the party has employed other elements of their traditional narrative to fend off criticism and show how it aligns with other things the party values. How effective it is depends on the listener I suppose.

I have talked about the value of consistently and perhaps somewhat subliminally disseminating a narrative about the arts and ones organization. It is probably no mistake that the last time I discussed this, it was also in connection with a presidential candidate. In cases of obscenity, you probably can’t deflect anger no matter how well you have developed the myriad elements of your identity. Performing artists have been identified with depravity and immorality since before the United States was born (at least from the European perspective). You may be able to blunt the strength of the ire by referencing your core narrative, however.

People being a diverse bunch, members of any group are not going to be able to conform to every ideal the whole espouses. There is always going to be one person who is less committed to recycling than everyone else. There are going to be people who are just a little too rabid about Led Zeppelin for the comfort of the rest of the fan club. And lets not even get into which Star Trek series/movie was the best. But as a whole, the group reinforces all they have accomplished on behalf of the environment and wildlife as outweighing the fact one of their members doesn’t redeem the five cent deposit on their Coke cans.

Never doubt the potency of a single/handful defining image for cementing your entity in people’s minds. When I was in 4th grade a kid who was generally a bully and gadfly was harassing me. I had enough and tossed him 5-6 feet across recess yard aided somewhat by muddy ground. Now it just so happened that my mother was substitute teaching that day and saw what happened on the playground and came running out saying, “Don’t pick on Joey.”

Somehow everyone forgot that my mother came out to defend me and focused on my “victory.” I never got in another fight or did anything to reinforce the idea of my being a brawler except that I was particularly tough to take down when we played Kill The Keeper. Yet in my first week in high school a guy who didn’t start at my elementary school until 6th grade warned people not to mess with me because I threw a guy 100 feet once.

While entertaining, perhaps the heroic tales of a 10 year old aren’t entirely applicable. I don’t really sit around wondering how much my reputation would have grown had I punched a few more people out in elementary school. We all have moments in our lives, where a pivotal moment defines our childhood, high school, college, volunteer, job experiences in our minds. The same can happen for organizations. You can get a lot of mileage out of the reputation garnered as the place Bruce Springsteen did a surprise show 20 years ago leaving dozens of people convinced they can die happy having been there.

You can’t always been lucky enough to have superstars secretly appear at your theatre but you can string lesser events together into a narrative you consistently repeat and reinforce at every opportunity through various media.

General Musings, Leadership, Marketing/PR, Terms and Ideas

No Comments

Well At Least The Musicians And Administration Are Getting Along

September 2, 2008

by:

Joe Patti

This Sunday, Honolulu Symphony principal conductor Andreas Delfs expressed some strong sentiments about the way his organization had been treated by the city. The symphony performs in the city owned Blaisdell Hall and was bumped out last year by the production of The Lion King which did not help their tenuous financial situation in the least.

Said Delfs in the Sunday newspaper article,

“I’ve never worked with an orchestra that was so good and that got so little respect from its city. I’ve never seen a city treat a major cultural and educational asset so poorly. And I think it’s been a long tradition — I don’t want to blame anyone in particular — of taking this orchestra for granted and not realizing how good it is. The people who make our lives difficult don’t really know what we’re doing.”

One of the problems the symphony is facing is that the city is limiting how far out they can schedule dates which the symphony says prevents them from engaging guest artists who arrange their appearances years in advance. Delfs says it is because the city is skeptical about the symphony’s financial stability. Another thing that makes the symphony anxious is the looming threat of another extended run of a Broadway show that might displace them from the performance hall, and in all probability, from existence.

The symphony sent out a letter to its supporters asking them to contact government officials. The letter reiterated most of the details in Delfs’ interview and expanded on their perspective of the situation.

“Blaisdell Concert Hall was always intended to be the home of the Honolulu Symphony.In fact, it was one of the reasons for its construction. The presentation of symphony concerts was a major contributing factor to its architectural design. There are by-laws allowing for the Symphony and other local performing arts organizations to have preference in securing their dates.The City and County of Honolulu continues to negotiate to bring in acts during the Symphony’s prime season. By our rental agreement, the City is required to offer an alternative venue when the symphony is bumped out of Blaisdell Concert Hall.The alternative venue offered to the symphony is the Waikiki Shell which requires amplification, provides no outdoor coverage or protection for audience or orchestra, and is unsuitable for live classical symphony performances.”

However, according to an excerpt they quote from The Honolulu Symphony: A Century of Music by Dale E. Hall, the symphony doesn’t enjoy the same relationship with the city that other symphonies do.

“The Symphony is not a “favored tenant,” a status particular performing groups sometimes enjoy in city charters. According to the standard rental agreement, the auditoriums director “may give preference” to Hawaii-based non-profit organizations, but has “full authority” in scheduling, taking into consideration “a diversity of events” and “possible financial return to the city and the overall benefits.”

This is unfortunately the latest of many problems the symphony has faced since I started writing about them three years ago. It is something of a shame because unlike the recent situations in Jacksonville, FL and Columbus, OH, the Honolulu Symphony musicians, administration and board seem to be getting along okay. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is the first time a principal conductor has gone to bat for the musicians during the difficulties of the last few years. If any have, I doubt they had Delfs’ pluck.

(Though I wouldn’t doubt my Inside the Arts compadres, Messrs. Spigelman and Eddins would be equal to the task, I hope they never have to face this situation.)

I can appreciate the position the city is in. The face a choice between the income from a 6-12 week run of a Broadway show versus the uncertain future of an organization that has been facing an uncertain future and having a hard time paying the bills for a number of years. (Disclosure: They owe my facility money too, though not so much that we would refuse to rent to them once they clear their account.) It has been a long, anxiety filled period for a lot of people. I have a lot of sympathy for them.

Leadership, State of the Arts

No Comments

Managers? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Theatre Managers!

September 1, 2008

by:

Joe Patti

In my last entry I mentioned that I would make suggestions for those who might replicate planning exercise I went through at Performing Arts Center Eastside. You might notice I don’t say I will have suggestions on how to improve the experience. I think it is too early in the process to suggest improvements and as I am about discuss, what did happen exceeded my expectations.

As I was preparing for my trip to Bellevue, WA, my biggest concern was about how the participation of the Emerging Leadership Institute group would be received. There was no real precedent for anyone to base their expectations on. The Bellevue community had been planning this facility since 1988 and even if the majority of the board had only become involved in when the non-profit entity was formed in 2002, that is six years investment in planning and fund raising. How would they feel having a group of people making recommendations after only spending a weekend learning about their organization?

The same with the architects. They have a great record for designing splendid performing arts centers (check out the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.) Would they resent us if we started criticizing their design? With all the information available to people via the Internet these days, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that someone might have fancied themselves an amateur architect and rubbed the building designers the wrong way.

These concerns didn’t keep me awake at night and they really weren’t on my mind by the time we started examining the building design. There was a time during our presentation that I realized that not only were things going a lot better than I anticipated, but there was an unspoken positive, encouraging vibe in the room. Frankly, I was almost giddy with the idea that the process had gone so well because it bodes well for our future and the prospects for replicating this in other places.

Knowing that this might not always be so, I started to think about what things an arts organization could do to ensure things went smoothly if they tried to initiate a similar program. (Other than hiring all those involved at Bellevue, of course!) Probably the best option would be taking a proactive stance and brief all the constituents about what to expect and suggest how to participate most effectively. I have no idea if the people at PACE did any prep with the architects or board members. A comment John Haynes made at dinner made me suspect he hadn’t which speaks well for the open mindedness of these groups. John and Dana didn’t formally do any of the things I am about to suggest with the Emerging Leadership group except provide comfortable surroundings.

So yes, the first suggestion is comfortable working environment with an organized itinerary and breaks scheduled at suitable intervals.

Preparing stakeholders like board members and architects to prepare in a session with a group of advisers can be tough. They can be assured that none of the final decisions are vested in the advising group. Yet you have to go into the exercise intending to value the feedback you receive otherwise you are just wasting everyone’s time. This certainly means you have to be prepared to consider what you might perceive as negative. As people who have just joined the project and aren’t familiar with the intent of every design element they may indeed offend you with what they perceive to be an innocuous comment.

So local constituents should be encouraged to value what is being suggested, try to perceive the basic motivation for advice and respond with a question to clarify that motivation. “So your concern about our plan to have the noon sun fall upon our founder’s bust on her birthday is that it limits the windows, and therefore, natural light in the lobby and creates a dark, unwelcoming atmosphere?” Certainly the board and architects have every right to expect people to back up criticisms with constructive suggestions. Given that the advising group may have only been around for a few days and are not familiar with all options, an answer that they don’t know what a solution might be also has to be respected. This doesn’t mean the concern isn’t warranted and bears additional thought and consideration.

For their part, the advising visitors should probably assume a generally neutral stance. They shouldn’t be looking to evaluate if their facilities and organizational plan is superior or inferior to that of their hosts. We have all met and probably grimaced at the person whose every suggestion is prefaced by “where I used to work, we…” While they have certainly been invited because of their prior experience, that experience isn’t going to define the new organization. Likewise, while improvements a new organization is effecting can lead to a better experience back at the home organization, there are only so many resources available. Again, you can’t define one organization in the exact terms of another.

Nothing I am suggesting here is terribly groundbreaking. They are all based on standard suggestions for listening and responding in meetings. Additional tips for preparing groups to meet could certainly be found in books and magazine articles. Probably the most important suggestion is not to make value judgments about any aspect of the project — “That’s stupid; “The building looks like a warped artichoke” (which I heard about this place); “You are an idiot and clearly have no sense or experience in these matters,” etc., If anything is going to generate resistance and resentment, it is statements in this vein.

My suggestions assume everyone is arriving at the meeting with the best intentions but with the possibility of things going awry. If there hasn’t been buy-in from all involved parties or one party is seeks to use the exercise as leverage over another, obviously there are deeper problems than can be solved by good meeting preparation.

Leadership, Management Philosophy, Terms and Ideas

No Comments