CI to Eye

At Capacity Interactive, we get asked a lot of questions about digital marketing for arts organizations. In this episode, we have compiled some of the most frequently asked questions from our teams and asked our Vice President of Client Strategy, Ashley Dunn Gatterdam, to answer them with Erik. In this episode, Erik and Ashley talk about how you should approach benchmarking your results to your peers, why you should not be buying ads on your local newspaper’s website, how frequently to post on social media, and much more!

Karen Brooks Hopkins is the President Emerita of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), where she worked from 1979 until her retirement in June 2015. Crain’s NY named her one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in New York.” Karen recently completed a term as a Senior Fellow in Residence at the Mellon Foundation, where she researched anchor institutions. She is also the author of the book, Successful Fundraising for Arts & Cultural Organizations. In this episode, Erik and Karen talk about how arts organizations should adopt an anchor mission to better serve their communities, and what an anchor institution is. They also discuss how chain stores are a threat to the future of cultural districts, and how running a successful fundraising campaign is very much like mounting a military operation.

Donna Walker-Kuhne is the founder Walker Communications, a marketing firm that provides Broadway shows and non-profit arts organizations with multicultural marketing and group sales consulting. She is also the author of Invitation to the Party: Building Bridges to Arts, Culture, and Community. In this episode, Erik and Donna discuss what the arts can learn from the film Black Panther, how she has worked with communities and churches to develop new audiences, and why creating a diverse and multicultural audience requires a budget and a firm commitment from executive leadership.

Harold Wolpert is the Executive Director of Signature Theatre, an Off-Broadway theater in New York City. Harold is new to his role at Signature after serving as the Managing Director at Roundabout Theatre Company for the last 11 years. Before that, he served in executive positions at Manhattan Theatre Club and the Alley Theatre in Texas. Harold was also the Vice President of the League of Resident Theaters. In this episode, Erik and Harold talk about the importance of demonstrating a healthy work/life balance as a leader, what it takes to cultivate successful partnerships with external providers, and how every patron touchpoint ultimately affects an organization's fundraising efforts.

Colleen Dilenschneider is the author and publisher of the popular website, Know Your Own Bone, and Chief Market Engagement Officer at IMPACTS Research. Colleen uses big data to help cultural organizations understand everything from what gets people off the couch, to what social channels potential patrons are using. This is a unique episode - it's a break from our typical Q&A format. We are sharing audio from Colleen's keynote session at 2017 Digital Marketing Boot Camp for the Arts. In this episode, Colleen discusses why digital engagement is anything but optional for arts organizations today. From increasing reputation to bumping satisfaction, driving attendance and securing donations, Colleen talks about how social media and digital engagement play significant roles in the solvency of cultural engagement. You can find the full video session on Capacity Interactive’s Facebook page.

Jennifer Zaslow is an executive coach at Clear Path Executive Coaching. She's also the first guest to return to the CI to Eye podcast! In this episode, Erik and Jennifer talk about slowing down, the importance of recognizing and having crucial conversations with colleagues, and the art of third level listening in our hectic and busy world.

Kathleen McFarlane leads search initiatives at Capacity Interactive. Her team focuses on paid and organic search efforts for arts organizations. Recently, Google made significant changes to the Google Grant program. In this episode, Erik and Kathleen talk through this evolution and discuss how arts organizations can manage these changes. They also examine many of the updates to the Grant program, the continued importance of mobile, and how organic search should play a role in arts organizations' digital efforts.

Jim Andrews is the Senior Vice President at IEG and ESP Properties, an organization that specializes in sponsorship. Jim is a 30-year sponsorship industry veteran and an arts lover. In this episode, Erik and Jim talk about how arts organizations should cultivate and work with sponsors, examples of notable sponsorships in the arts, and how arts organizations can position themselves to attract and retain sponsors.

Joe Melillo has been the Executive Producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) for more than three decades. Known for its strong brand and cutting-edge programming, BAM is one of the oldest continuously operating performing arts centers in the country. BAM’s success is closely tied to the renaissance of Brooklyn. Joe is a programmer with a marketing background and strong visual and artistic point of view. In this episode, Erik and Joe talk about how BAM attracted people to Brooklyn when it was very a different place than it is today, Joe's successful collaboration with Karen Brooks Hopkins, BAM’s President for much of his tenure, and how he worked with his team to develop one of the strongest brands in the performing arts today.

Sharon Gersten Luckman was the Executive Director of Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation for 16 years. She is largely credited with breathing new life into the organization, which was on the verge of bankruptcy when she took over. In this episode, Erik and Sharon talk about how she worked to rescue the Ailey Organization from the brink of bankruptcy, the importance of audience lead generation for not only marketing but also for fundraising, and the secret to a successful relationship between an executive director and a board.

Michael Kaiser is "the turnaround king." In his distinguished career, he has worked at Kansas City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, and the Royal Opera House. Perhaps he is best known for serving as the president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from 2001–2014. Michael has also written several books including, The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations and The Cycle: A Practical Approach to Managing Arts Organizations. In this episode, Erik and Michael talk about the traits that differentiate healthy arts organizations, how the cycle of marketing, fundraising, and programming work together, and how cutting marketing budgets is the absolute wrong move when faced with a declining audience.

Jane Chu is the eleventh Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). She has a background in arts administration, philanthropy, and is an accomplished artist and musician. During her tenure to date, Jane has awarded more than $400 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and artists, issued new research reports on arts participation and the impact of the arts and cultural industries on the nation's GDP, and has visited all 50 states. Before coming to the NEA, she served as the president and CEO of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri. In this episode, Erik and Jane discuss the history and mission of the NEA and dig into how the independent federal agency distributes funds to arts organizations and artists. They also talk about how participating in the arts helped Jane through a challenging time in her life, and propelled her to her to eventually become the head of the NEA.

Gina Gibney is the head of the newly renamed Gibney, an artist-founded and women-led organization that provides space for dance, physically and metaphorically in New York City. With 23 studios and multiple performance spaces, the company is a performing arts and social justice powerhouse. Dance Magazine named her as “One of the Most Influential People in Dance Today,” and The New York Observer called her the “Power Broker of Contemporary Dance." In this episode, Erik and Gina discuss her secret to fundraising success, how to work with a board of directors, her role as a female leader, and “The Upward Spiral,” which is her organization’s code word for incremental growth.

Bonnie Siegler is the founder of the design studio Eight and a Half. She’s worked with clients including HBO, the Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Times, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. She has an immense amount to teach us about building successful relationships with creatives. She is the author of the beautiful and insightful booked called “Dear Client....This Book Will Teach You How To Get What You Want From Creative People. Sincerely, Bonnie Siegler.” As arts administrators, part of our jobs involve working with creatives and consultants and those relationships can sometimes be fraught. Lucky for us, her book is a toolkit for this very challenge. In this episode, Erik and Bonnie discuss how arts administrators can better work with creative people to get the output they want for their organizations.

Johnna Fellows Gluth, a Senior Consultant at Capacity Interactive, worked alongside CI's study partners at WolfBrown, to create the Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Media Usage Study. Johnna oversaw the research and analysis of a survey of nearly 27,000 recent ticket buyers to help the field understand media habits of likely arts attendees. The survey provided tangible takeaways for arts administrators. In this episode, Erik and Johnna discuss the survey methodology, review key takeaways from the data, and explore how arts organizations can use this information to guide strategic thinking.