Overall thoughts
At the marketing, membership and development meeting we covered a very wide range of topics but the focus was on how do we actually work together i.e. what are the disadvantages and advantages of collaboration, what sort of project might we attempt i.e. mapping and large festivals, and how we might continue this dialogue. We found that the group was too large for meaningful connections to be made. We tried to cover too many topics at once. So we suggest in the future that we hold break out meeting in smaller group, isolated so that we are not distracted by the proximity of other talking. There might be divisions between those who are new to the group and those with more experience of NCAN. The challenge is then how to share information from those smaller groups to the larger entity. We did make a start but this exact format should not be repeated as we had nothing to build upon when we finished except this critic.
Participants (clockwise, from moderators)
- Patricia Frischer
- Erin Decker
- Alexandra Kritchevsky
- Stephanie Swinton
- Ashleigh Johnson
- Ruby Callihan
- Michael Callihan
- Greg Snaer
- Jacquelyn Kilpatrick
- Catherine
- Shari Roberts
- Maureen Barrack
- Sayat Asatmyar
- Sergey Simavoryan
- Jerry Van Leeuwen
- Joe
- Megan Andretta
- Deborah Heath
- Joe
- Stacy Seeburger
- Naimeh Tanha
- Mark Adams
- Anne Chase
- Ted Snoddy
- Carol Ann Celgar
- Frank Foster
Past Models/Best Practices
Erin – Without Walls – “how do we partner”
- Don’t be suspicious
- Establish what each side wants/benefits in MOUs
- What are the strengths on each side?
- Cross-promotion
- Increased press/reach
- Balance of people at the event/reception
- Open to conversation
Maureen – desire to create a standard operating manual for a project
- Currently giving ownership of parts of projects to volunteers; looking forward: each volunteer to create guide for that part to eventually turn into operating manual
Jerry/Frank – Center for the Arts partnership
- Share marketing
- Synergy
- Standard operating system
- Must be comfortable to lose sense of control
- Make sure art happens, even if you just offer space – ultimately, it’s about the art
Ted – SD Choral Consortium
- Free; make commitment; then become member and/or pay fee
- Build association/power
- Small monetary commitment and project/event to invest someone in the organization
Patricia – present your idea; find your partner(s)
Opportunities
Ted – retail opportunity within gallery
Catherine – Entertainment Book idea
Maureen – branding
- Innovate 78 idea
- Can something like this move into/include the whole County? Does “Innovate 78” make them exclusive in a way NCAN organizations would not want?
Patricia – looking to the future
- Who are our next generation of arts supporters?
- Arts professionals to define supporters and how will become involved/support
- Carnival of experiences with opportunities to support/participate
- Artists to document and create art
Frank – affinity groups
- Especially for marketing and development
- Note: Jerry has one in Escondido – helps with communication and advice
- Who could lead them?
Patricia – if people don’t leave the area, what about a mobile festival?
- Ex. a festival that moves to different North County 4 locations over 4 weekends
Ted – need for organization collectively
- Define arts in the city
- Define disciplines
- Create a master calendar
- First map it, then make it open access
What is NCAN or could it be to you?
NCAN – “network” – collaboration
- Share/impact audience
- How to encourage brave new initiatives
Ted – NCAN as board/forum for feedback/advice, especially with new ideas/risks – best and worst practices
- Ex. Facebook, shared resources
Jerry – power of a subordinate goal
Megan – basics of marketing
- Invest in resources (ads, cross-share lists; can be paid or free)
- Traditional and non-traditional, multi-touch point marketing
- List sharing
- “7 touches to convert” means repetition is key
Naimeh – WHAT are we trying to accomplish through NCAN? What are our strengths?
- Erin – multiple organizations with one consultant to determine “real” demographics
- Ruby – where would the funding/resources come from?
- Catherine – Ex. Entertainment Book for North County
HOW do we document and share this information?
- How would a small group of NCAN participants disseminate to NCAN?
The time to market one show equals the same it takes to market one large festival/season
- How do you manage it
- How do you collaborate
- Do it for the people
Naimeh/Erin – Research can identify strengths and share the information collaboratively
Joe – A weakness is not promoting the value of arts/artists locally – how to strengthen?
