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View From The Other Side

October 8, 2008

by:

Joe Patti

Where Are These People Coming From (And Why Aren’t They Attending My Shows?)

Being around theatres for so long, it is easy to become jaded and forget just how wondrous the on stage perspective of the audience seating area can be for people. Over the last few weeks we have had an inordinate number of tour requests. I have easily given more pleasure tours (vs. perspective rental tours) in that period than I have in the previous three years.

Don’t get me wrong, as I have noted in previous entries, I relish any chance to show the facility and brag about it. I certainly welcome the opportunity to increase awareness of our activities. It has been a great time to have tours due to all the activity surrounding our upcoming production. Actors, props people and carpenters have talked to tours about their backgrounds and what they were doing for the show. Even when no one else was around and I had to go turn the lights on in preparation for the tour, there has still been so much hanging or laying around to point to and ignite imaginations.

So Strange and Exotic

But what has never failed to impress people is stepping out on to the stage. As we move from the scene shop on to the stage people catch sight of the hemp fly system which seems strange and exotic to them. If the wings are filled with props and equipment, they catch sight of this as well and get a chance to see through the illusion of what appears otherwise from the audience.

At some point, they end up seeing the audience seating from the stage and for many, this reversed perspective is the most exciting part of the tour. I usually make sure to take people out into the audience area so they can see how much of what was apparent while standing onstage suddenly disappears from their view. Again the realization of how much of the illusion is preserved by distance and limitation of sight lines is often intriguing to people.

A View From The Bridge

Then there are a few choice groups who get to clamber up above the stage to the loading rail of the fly system, across the catwalks over the audience seating area and up above the lighting gird to look down 70 feet to the stage below. That introduces a whole different set of sensations for many people.

Two years ago our technical director took people up on to the roof of our stagehouse and showed them the expansive vista available from that vantage point. Ever since then one of the tour participants as been looking for an excuse to get up there again. A recent conference he organized gave him that excuse. While most chose not to climb out on to the roof, just about everyone was intrepid enough to climb above the grid. The conference organizer pulled me aside yesterday and told me how everyone appreciated the opportunity and how excitedly they spoke about their experience.

I guess it says something about how interesting the experience is that someone would schedule a break in a meeting include a tour of your facility. With that sort of investment in my theatre, I am going to make sure I keep lines of communication open with this guy so that he is always able to advocate and talk about us whenever he is so moved.

It’s Also Greener Over the Septic Tank I Hear

Certainly it is partially a matter of the grass being greener in your neighbor’s yard or one person’s garbage being another’s treasure. For those of us working in these buildings, the space represent challenges. There isn’t enough room in the wings or on the fly system battens to accommodate everything we need to for the show. On the other hand, we would love if the building were smaller so we didn’t have to go so far to change the lamps and gels in the lighting instruments.

For visitors, ours is a mystical land. I know from conversations with the groups, for many it is their first time setting foot in a theatre much less on or backstage. They hardly have any context by which to process the experience much less recognize the limitations we deal with everyday.

Audience Relations, Marketing/PR

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Marketing Tip- Public Radio Fund Drives

October 7, 2008

by:

Joe Patti

Everybody Wins

There is a helpful marketing tip of which I have been aware but neglected to mention. If you ever have the opportunity, it could be beneficial to appear on a fund drive for your local public radio station. The result can be a win-win situation for both you and the station. I have never been on, but will be this weekend. I have a few colleagues who speak well of the opportunity. I will admit as many times as other have talked about the value of the experience, I didn’t take the initiative to approach the station about the possibility, they called me in this instance. But if all goes, well perhaps I will be submitting proposals in the future.

If you can provide some sort of desirable item or service they can use as a premium reward for listener support and are willing to go on air to encourage people to pledge some support, you will also have the opportunity to talk about your organization. After all, the better your organization sounds, the more desirable the tickets/membership/sculpture reproduction you are offering appears, the higher the station can value the objects or services you provide today and in subsequent years.

All About Building Awareness

Even if the timing of the particular pledge drive falls during your off season so you are offering subscriptions to an unannounced season or to a very popular annual event whose details haven’t been finalized yet so you can’t talk about specifics, the mere act of increasing awareness of your organization is of value. My appearance on the show may not result in any ticket sales but at the very least it creates goodwill by showing we support a program listeners care about.

That is why I refer to this as a marketing opportunity rather than advertising. First of all, public radio stations have restrictions on calls to action in underwriting so there may be a restriction during fund drives as well. Second, this is a much greater opportunity to tell your story and position yourself in the community than is afforded during a 30 second advertising post. The value of the tickets versus being able to talk about my organization for a couple of minutes between songs over the course of 30-45 minutes is a pretty good trade off.

Different Preparation

Having an expanded opportunity to talk about your organization means a different type of preparation than goes into writing press releases and ad copy. As I said, I haven’t been on yet but it is clear to me that as with any public appearance by a organizational representative doing a little advance research and picking the correct person to represent you is crucial. Not only do they have to be conversational rather than woodenly reciting, “Yes, Bob, we have been presenting the finest in polka and klezmer at the corner of Oak and Main for 34 years,” they have to assist the fund drive by citing the value of public radio to the community.

Obviously, what your organization does has to mesh with the programming on the station to some degree. We don’t do a lot of classical music so I am not going to be appearing during any of the classical music shows. But that works out for me because I will be on during the show that is most closely aligned with the performances we do present. It should go without saying it is also good if you sincerely feel the station is a benefit to the community and can speak passionately on the subject rather than just looking to exploit the opportunity entirely for your organization’s gain.

I’ll be interested to see how things turn out and will certainly report on the results.

NB- It occurs to me that I was remiss in mentioning that in the absence of being able to actively chat about your organization on air, you and your staff could volunteer to staff the phones or provide other assistance. I have never not heard the station host praise the organizations assisting with the phones by name numerous times an hour. Again helps generate awareness and good will for your organization.

Info You Can Use, Uncategorized

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Whatever You Want To Call It, It’s Still Bad News

October 6, 2008

by:

Joe Patti

Contracting Contracts

Well, worst fears and suspicions are beginning to play out. The arts organizations in my little corner of the world plan to cut back activities next year due to tightening finances. Planned renovations and constructed additions have be scrapped or postponed indefinitely. One bit of good news is that at least one of my partners has been assured their organization’s line of credit won’t be impacted by any of the changes in the credit market.

The bad news is that given the downturn in entertainment spending, decreased endowment values and the probable decline in giving due to shrinking real estate and stock values, there is going to be a lot of retrenchment going on in the next year or so. At my consortium meeting today, some of the larger groups said they are going to cut back in the number of performances they present and are going to look to artists to accept smaller fees. One person’s board is more closely scrutinizing the choices being made and is requiring more detailed and complete information before committing. (One silver lining, some of us already feel we have previously cut back to about as far as we can go.)

Performers Get Short End

I am afraid that as frequently is the case, the performer is going to be the one that suffers most. It isn’t even a case of if you won’t cut your price, there are dozens of others out there doing the same thing you are who will. There were a handful of groups that we decided today were mutually exclusive. They were so close together genre wise that we could only ask one or the other. There was no talk of having alternatives in case one of them didn’t play ball. I can’t speak for other booking partnerships, but everyone in my group was approaching the decision making processes sincerely and not planning to leverage one group against another.

Fewer Acts Doesn’t Mean Diminished Quality

My concern is that if three out of ten groups approached won’t lower their prices, it will be viewed as all for the best since the organization wanted to cut back in programming next season anyway. So not only will the original artists not make money, but their competitors won’t either. And as far as the arts organization and its audiences will be concerned, the high quality of the offerings were maintained in tough economic times because the other seven agreed to reduce their fees.

Again, I want to emphasize, this is just one possible outcome I am anticipating. Today’s meeting was very preliminary. Most artists fell at or below our traditional fee ceiling and we weren’t looking to reduce the rate if it fell inside our normal comfort level. There were a number of groups that we were hoping would negotiate into that comfort level. Really, this is the case every year. Though I mentioned asking ten groups to reduce their fees in the previous paragraph, that is because it is a nice round number. This year there are probably five. About three we know are longshots and two are reasonable expectations. Most years if people don’t come down, some partners bite the bullet and accept the higher than average fee because they want to present the group. Next season, I am afraid the motivation, and funds, to pursue these exceptional artists will be gone.

I hate to attribute the best intentions to my group and cast others in a negative light, but I would imagine there are others who look to gain every advantage they can muster.

Burden of Promotion

Another disadvantage I could anticipate based on my experience today is that a much greater burden to promote oneself or group will now fall upon the artists. YouTube may provide a cheap way for people to access information about you but there is a cost to putting together a nice quality video of one’s work. We were looking at a DVD today of a well regarded performance group that was very poorly filmed. This wasn’t a poorly shot video by a friend put on YouTube, this was material they were handing out officially to represent them.

Websites have proved to be a great way to distribute electronic press kits (EPK), but someone has to put the kit together. Gathering reviews, scanning them and transforming them into Acrobat documents for easy download takes awhile.

Artists are also hurt by having an unresponsive agent. Problem is, since performing arts centers are talking to agents first, the artists have no idea they need to be bugging their agent to respond to inquiries. Artists, if you feel comfortable doing so, have your very most up to date tech rider on your website. Make sure your agent is sending it out too. I can’t tell you how many times performers show up and say, “Oh you must have the old rider.” Having access to the EPK and rider password protected doesn’t help if you have a non-responsive agent controlling the password.

The reason why all this is important is that some organizations and their boards are examining the saleability of groups very closely. The more evidence you provide that you appeal to the community they serve, the easier it is to make a decision to engage your services. Some boards, I am sorry to say are scrutinizing potential costs very carefully which is why an updated rider is so important. Better they be alienated by a contract before they sign it than to have the organization try to scrimp on costs come performance time.

State of the Arts

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It Isn’t Enough Their Endowments Lost Money

October 2, 2008

by:

Joe Patti

I don’t know if it has any repercussions on arts organizations yet, but the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) reported yesterday that Wachovia Bank had resigned as a trustee of Commonfund, which manages funds for non-profit organizations including universities, endowments, healthcare organizations and performing arts organizations. In resigning as a trustee of the Short Term Fund (which it should be noted, is only one of many funds), Wachovia froze the assets of nearly 1000 universities. At first people could only withdraw 10% of their funds, now it is 26% but access to full funds isn’t expected until 2010.

The problem for colleges and universities is that many of them use the fund for operating expenses, including payroll. There is concern that they will not be able to pay employees or bills in the next few weeks. Financial Week says Commonfund has been having a hard time finding a trust bank to take over given that most of the candidates have either failed in recent weeks or are being bought up by others.

While many arts organizations have had their finances profoundly impacted over the last few weeks, what I have read has mostly been in relation to endowments rather than short term funds. The endowments Commonfund administers are in different funds which are apparently not impacted. Given that colleges and universities had placed their money here on the belief, as Financial Week quotes, it was a conservative, safe move, there is a good chance some arts organizations may have invested there with the same intent to use it as a source of operating funds and are looking at some tough times ahead.

At least one college representative said they were okay for now since they had recent the tuition receipts to draw upon. Unless an arts organization has a good subscriber base or has received a large grant recently, they may not have the same security available. Regrettably, many organizations who didn’t invest in this particular fund may find it difficult to conduct business due to the reduction in value of investments and endowments and, of course, reduction in patronage from groups and individuals who have faced these same events.

State of the Arts

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