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Relax, Said The Night Man…

May 19, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

Seth Godin made a recent post about hotel night clerks. He noted that while they often have the highest number of customer interactions, especially with those that may be experiencing a degree of distress, the clerks are generally not empowered with the authority and training to respond effectively. Management probably isn’t soliciting feedback about the comments and complaints they are getting. Nor may the clerks be paid enough to care.

It’s the night clerks that have the most customer interaction–in fact, they’re almost certainly the highest leveraged, most insightful marketing cohort in your organization.

They have information, and if we give them agency, they could transform the customer experience.

Alas, our systems rarely help. Many night clerks are underpaid and underappreciated, and systems around them push them not to care.

When your organization gets stuck, don’t blame them. Instead, find a way to help them become the contribution they’re capable of being.

Some useful questions you might not be asking:

How much does the information we’re not collecting cost us?

What is the customer service cost and brand dilution of depriving our people the freedom to take action?

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The same questions apply to front of house staff for arts and cultural organizations. Whether they are paid or volunteer, have people been trained and empowered to address issues and concerns that arise? If they don’t have the experience or consistency to effect a solution, are they able to summon someone who can help? And can they see that issuing that summons results in a satisfying solution for the customer?

This can be extended to all staff that may encounter customers be it maintenance staff passing through with a ladder or marketing staff returning from a meeting. Is there an organizational culture that rewards people for noticing someone may be lost or have questions and offering to help?

Because we certainly don’t want people feeling like they checked into the Hotel California.

Audience Relations, Building Public Will For Arts And Culture, Business Models, Management Philosophy, Marketing/PR

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Praying For Tickets

May 18, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

Over the years I have written a lot about the various schemes people have used to acquire tickets, resell tickets, scam people by offering tickets they don’t possess. Ticketing sites and governments have instituted digital hurdles and laws to try to limit these schemes and are often able to only create a solution for a short time before someone figures out a way to circumvent those barriers.

One thing I haven’t really addressed is divine intervention.

Admittedly this situation is a bit less problematic than ticketing scams, price gouging, and the ridiculous litany of fees being added to purchases I usually write about. I figured the topic could use an injection of relative lightheartedness.

The BBC recently reported on 9th century Shinto shrine in Tokyo dedicated to the deity Inari. Originally, people prayed at the shrine for abundant rice harvests and prosperity. At one point the shrine was permitted to host lotteries to generate funds to support itself. In time people started to make offerings for success in lotteries of all types.

And that is where the connection to concert tickets comes in.

There is such a demand for tickets to some concerts, fans need to enter a lottery in order to get a chance to purchase a limited number of tickets.

Fans enter for the chance to buy tickets, and can only purchase them in limited quantities if they are selected. The system is designed to make the process fairer, but some fans look for a bit of divine intervention to boost their odds. If praying at Fukutoku is believed to work for winning scratch-off lottery tickets, fans hope it might bring luck with concert tickets, too.

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So many people believe that a show of devotion will boost their odds that the street outside the shrine had to be closed due to the masses who gathered when bands started touring again once Covid restrictions were lifted.

I suspect if I did deeper research I might find there are methods to secure tickets outside of the ticket lottery and praying to kami. From what I have read, there are Fan Club and Pre-Public lotteries where you have to have paid a membership fee or have purchased merchandise of some sort to be entered in a lottery to purchase tickets.

Though many concerts go straight to the Public Lottery phase. While there may be a fee involved, apparently it is relatively small unlike the thousands of dollars people in the US have to donate just to be entered for a chance to buy season tickets to a college or professional sports event.

Audience Relations, Pricing

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Return To Band Camp As An Adult

May 13, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

The Associated Press had a story about adults returning to the band camps of their youths. This is both literally the case with places like Interlochen Center for the Arts where people who attended camp as kids are participating in the adult version, and more figuratively where people are attending adults oriented camps in their geographic proximity.

These camps provide the opportunity for adults of all ages to perform a whole range of music styles from folk, rock, klezmer, orchestral, etc., As well as participate in traditional camp activities like kayaking, yoga, and -erm cocktail hours.

It occurred to me that this might be a niche interest more arts organizations may find success in pursuing. Based on some of those interviewed for the story it appeared many had an interest in reconnecting with their musical practice without the obligations that community orchestras, choral groups, or bands represent.

The camp experience provides opportunities to discuss topics like performance anxiety which one may not feel comfortable broaching in a more formal ensemble setting. Many people also seem to prioritize the social connections over developing a higher degree of mastery.

He notes that the ensemble participation rate for adults over age 60 has doubled from about 150 to 300 people at a local music and arts center he leads. He said he thinks the social connection is key.

“And that’s something missing from a lot of people’s lives these days,” Grazier said. “So any time we have an opportunity to have a space outside of the home where we’re connecting with new people and sharing a common interest, it has remarkable benefits for our health and our aging.”

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That is why I was thinking some form of the music camp concept might be a program option for some arts organizations.

I think back to the TED Talk Jamie Bennett made where he discusses how people who played sports in high school have an easier time seeing themselves on a continuum with professional players than people who perform in a choir every week have seeing themselves as artists.

So if attending an adult music camp helps more people recognize their capacity for creativity, it is worth pursuing.

Art(ist) Education, Building Public Will For Arts And Culture, Business Models, New Initiatives

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Funding Goes Up In Smoke When People Stop Smoking

May 12, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

ARTNews recently noted that Cleveland (OH) arts organizations have benefited from a share of a tax on cigarettes implemented for that purpose in 2007.

In fact, the funding distributed from that tax is almost six times as much as the entire state of OH has received from the National Endowment for the Arts in the same period.

…Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the levy has supported the arts to the tune of $270 million since it was put into effect in 2007. The organization has given out some 4,000 grants to 485 nonprofit organizations, while, in the same time period, the entire state of Ohio has gotten just $48 million from the National Endowment for the Arts,…

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You may feel a little uneasy at the prospect of being in a position to even subconsciously hope people smoke more in order to ensure your arts organization’s financial health. You probably aren’t alone.

In fact, when Arts Midwest introduced their Creating Connection program to Build Public Will For Arts And Culture, one of the parallels they drew was the gradually growing effort to eliminate smoking in public places. Their goal was the opposite — cultivating a social environment in which people gradually expressed a desire for arts and cultural experiences.

Smoking rates in Cleveland, which were apparently far above the national average have dropped from 37% to 19% in the last decade. (Recall the tax has been in effect for nearly two decades.) While the revenue has fallen by half, voters supported doubling the tax on cigarettes last year.

Building Public Will For Arts And Culture, Business Models, Fundraising, Government Relations

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