A key component of The Essential Journey of Audience Building has been capturing and utilizing data to make informed organizational decisions. The ABR has created a resource library — a knowledgebase — that contains the learning gleaned from experts in a variety of fields and from the very important peer interaction that has been the cornerstone of the ABR.
WABE's City Lights featured the Audience Outlook Monitor Study on September 18. Lois Reitzes interviewed Alan Brown of WolfBrown (who leads the study,) about the results. The Blank Foundation sponsored the study in Atlanta. Twenty-one Audience Building Roundtable organizations are participating. The study examines audiences’ comfort levels about returning to theaters and other cultural venues and has been going on since May 2020 around the world.
To listen to the interview and for more information about the study:
https://www.wabe.org/blank-foundation-survey-looks-at-audiences-comfort-levels-returning-to-theaters-cultural-venues/
In this workshop, IMPACTS Research discusses how the coronavirus has created major shifts in how people engage with arts and culture organizations and how the coronavirus may have impacted the visitation and engagement decisions of people for years to come. IMPACTS Research explores the economic downturn and the changes in interpersonal communication in light of social distancing. How each trend translates to different business models is discussed during the workshop.
Some key takeaways from this workshop: “Let data light the path.” “Meet audiences where they ARE - and that is online. Younger, more diverse audiences - especially - are online.” “Online content consumption has increased dramatically during the time of the pandemic - in all ways.” “Take the long view - be thoughtful, not reactive. Be willing to change.” “Focus on subscriber-members while being welcoming to younger & diverse audiences.” “$300 is the threshold at which people feel like ‘donors’/investors….”
REFERENCES
IMPACTS_WebinarReferences_ABR_Sept102020.pdf
Presented by Alan Brown, WolfBrown: http://wolfbrown.com/people/alan-brown
By Ariel Fristoe, Artistic Director, Out of Hand Theater
I want to share something extraordinary and unexpected that came out of Out of Hand Theater’s audience building journey. Out of Hand works at the intersection of art, social justice, and civic engagement. We spark conversations to build a better world by using the tools of theater to support and enhance the work of community partners. Through the generosity of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, we have taken several steps on our audience building journey, starting with our neighborhood, Old Fourth Ward.
Following a $32-million renovation, the Alliance Theatre opened the Coca-Cola Stage this past January. Even as construction was being completed during the 2017–2018 season, the show had to go on, and leadership at the Alliance made the untested (and rather bold) move to produce 12 shows in different locations around Atlanta, selecting venues that complemented themes of the work being produced. The hope was that they could meet Atlantans where they lived and bring them back to the newly renovated stage once it opened.
By Adam Fristoe, Out of Hand Theater
Thanks to a scholarship provided by the Arthur Blank Family Foundation’s Audience Building Roundtable, Out of Hand Theater’s Co-Artistic and Marketing Director Adam Fristoe was able to attend the 2018 National Arts Marketing Conference in Seattle, Washington.
Over the past five years, Out of Hand has focused our work toward social justice, civic engagement and community building in Metro Atlanta. In Seattle, Washington, both the city and King County have policies in place that make a commitment to equity, in particular to racial equity, including taking into account historical inequities. In Seattle, I was specifically looking for guidance and best practices in implementing such a commitment at Out of Hand, as well as for strategies to advance advocacy for these policies in Atlanta.