The old cliche is that word of mouth is the best form of advertising. I would say that if you add “tickets in hand” , it works even better! Our most successful audience development program so far has been implemented by our audience itself. For the last four seasons some of them have bought tickets to concerts that they already had tickets for, to give away as gifts. Here is the method and the results we know so far…..
Ron Spigelman
Jacksonville – Partners in a Business?..or..Partners for a Lifetime?
Drew’s post regarding ownership of a Symphony got me thinking. Those involved with a Symphony in any way be it managers, musicians, board members or audience members are in essence caretakers charged with delivering the orchestra to the next generation and beyond. Also, whilst there is not equal pay, there should however be equal say…..
After the panic…Trust sets in!
Whenever you hear or read about “Midwest tornadoes”, chances are they are talking about my neck of the woods. This past Monday a freakish line of storms passed right through Springfield and if you have never heard a tornado siren sound, trust me, when you are out when it does and your family is not with you, having to cancel a rehearsal is the furthest thing from your mind….
Plugging the Holes before Filling the Barrel – part 1- “Re-programming the Audience”
I am sick and tired of hearing that marketing is to blame when subscriptions fall. We need to be honest with ourselves, if someone is already in a seat in our hall, then if they don’t come back it’s not because of the paper thickness of the season brochure! For whatever reason we are not engaging them by what we are doing or not doing on stage. We can’t blame snow or parking either, if we meet someone we are really into, even if they live on Everest, we will find a way to get there! Free valet parking on a clear warm day wont make them come if they are just not into us! One of our strategies here is to turn passive listeners into active participants in the programming process.
We decided to turn audience requests from being a gimmick into being a policy……..
New Year’s Resolutions – Re-join the League….
and lose 20 pounds!
The Springfield Symphony was one of the 39 charter orchestras that started ASOL. Well they’ve now changed their name, and it’s my hope they’re not going to be “in a league of their own”. I don’t want to be anonymous in any survey, and since they are new again, I just want to give my wish or hope list for the League of American Orchestras…..
Surprise Gifts of the Season….
Catching my breath from the busiest holiday concert season I have ever had, there were some unexpected moments in different performances that I will forever remember, moments that truly made me feel so lucky to be doing what I do….
Go see Sweeney Todd – Sondheim should be on “the list”
Legitimacy in art has long been debated by intellectuals as to whether or not popularity equals legitimacy. I have heard it bemoaned that there have been no Operas written in the past 40 to 50 years that have become part of the regular repertoire. I would argue that the composer Stephen Sondheim like Gershwin and Bernstein before him has broken that Musical to Opera barrier even though he says he’s not a fan of Opera! For me Sweeney Todd is an Opera and Sondheim is a master composer who should be on “the list”….
CONDUCTOR SMACKDOWN! – More Musical Mistletoe Please!
How is it even possible that I like Christmas music? I am Jewish and I grew up (well the jury is still out on that one!) in Sydney Australia where at this time of year it’s 100 degrees. There, none of the songs such as Let it Snow, White Christmas but especially Baby It’s Cold Outside make any sense whilst having a Christmas barbecue on the beach! By the time this weekend is over, I will have conducted 30 Holiday concerts since November 23 including 2 productions of the Nutcracker and 5 … Continue Reading