PROGRAM
National Arts Marketing, Development & Ticketing Conference, San Francisco
07.18.23 - 07.19.23
KEYNOTE
Do We Need a New Vision for the Arts?Audiences have changed. New markets are different. Decline in subscriptions is increasing. Single ticket sales are up. It is harder to plan or predict. We cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results. Do we need a new vision for the arts? A vision that acknowledges how we access the arts has changed, that audiences have changed and that art itself has widened its focus to be increasingly inclusive, experimental, enticing and very fast-changing in its definition and execution? If so, where do we start? If "vision" is how we imagine we can enhance, enrich, change and lead our communities as arts organizations, where is it we want to go? An interactive opening plenary led by veteran nonprofit consultant Kay Sprinkel Grace will help stretch your thinking as we launch the Arts Reach gathering. |
Kay Sprinkel Grace
Founder and Principal, Transforming Philanthropy;
THE BOLD BRAND LAB
Purpose and Capacity for New Ways ForwardThe biggest mistake arts organizations can make right now? Dismissing their brand when it comes to strategizing the way ahead. DRMTM’s Bold Brand Lab reveals the power a strong brand holds in paving the way forward — one informed by community, designed to your higher purpose, and lived out in your culture. Session exercises, before/after case studies and self-assessments show you how to build the vital capacity and connections that keep your mission alive and thriving. Leave the Bold Brand Lab with a more authentic, compelling and purposeful brand to shape your future ahead. |
Surale Phillips
Brand Research DRMTM
Laura Bessinger-Morse
Brand Messaging DRMTM
Cheryl Baldwin
Brand Design DRMTM
BREAKOUTS AND PANELS
5 Steps to Optimize Your Website for Maximum EffectivenessYour website needs to serve as the center of your online presence. Beyond attracting attention with a great design, it also needs to be easily discoverable and easily convert visitors into purchasers. Get some tips from Dream Warrior Group, an Arts Reach partner in creating websites for arts organizations, on the importance of mobile-friendly designs, improving your SEO, and creating a site that is easily navigable for your visitors – whether they are buying tickets or making a donation. |
LaMae Weber
CEO Dream Warrior Group / ARTdynamix
Behnam Ataee
CTO Dream Warrior Group / ARTdynamix
New Ways To Tell Our Stories: Strategies & Tactics For Connecting With Audiences to Bring Them [Back]Due to the pandemic, the story-telling passion projects or content experiments of 2019 became front-and-center programming during the 2020 shutdown. Happily, the use of platforms and tools such as videos, podcasts, texting, remote-live experiences, and QR codes quickly proved to be very effective ways to connect artists and their work with audiences. Now, as we continue to emerge from 3+ years of the lock-down and partial re-openings, how can we build upon the parallel tracks of content delivery that audiences have come to expect from us, even as resources shift back toward more traditional modes of marketing for more traditional modes of arts presentation? Jennifer Edwards, Founder of Better, a full-service organizational development, design, and production agency, will explore very specific tools as well as necessary shifts in thinking within organizations, and more. |
Jennifer Edwards
Principal better_
Adrian Madison Cario
Executive Director Wharton San Francisco
Igniting Donors’ Passions at Small to Mid-Size OrganizationsThis seasoned group of arts professionals will describe what steps to take to turn your current fundraising efforts into long-term success. If you are a nonprofit arts leader or fundraiser with limited bandwidth and budget who is looking to grow your donor base and donations, then this session is for you. |
Moderator: Carol Eggers
Director of Institutional Giving Urban Services YMCA
Founder & Executive Director African-American Shakespeare Company
Gregory Hunt
Director of Development New Century Chamber Orchestra
Alicia Tos
Director of Development Smuin Contemporary Ballet
Reshaping the Patron Experience and Saving Money with Digital Program BooksDigital program books can cut costs, generate revenue, and eliminate waste while providing an interactive, engaging patron experience. Over the past two years, arts organizations have examined every aspect of their operations for new ways forward – many have decided to make the shift from printed programs to digital program books. Join InstantEncore’s David Dombrosky for a closer look at this growing practice. Why are organizations shifting from print to digital? What are the benefits and challenges of going digital? How can the transition be accomplished most efficiently? What impact does this have on the patron experience? In this session, we will explore recent examples from the field, share industry data on the relationship between printed and digital program books, and highlight emerging best practices. |
David Dombrosky
Chief Marketing Officer InstantEncore
Building Audiences and Donors After a PandemicIf weathering a pandemic weren’t difficult enough, now we have to fill all those seats again and rebuild our donor base. Bringing those audiences and donors back -- and finding new ones – requires reimagining the Seven P’s: Product, Price, Promotion, Place, People, Packaging, and Process. Hear from these experts how they’re doing it, and how you can too! |
Moderator: Kay Sprinkel Grace
Founder and Principal, Transforming Philanthropy;
Rebecca Nestle
Director of Cultural Programs and Events Grace Cathedral
TJ Gorton
Director of Marketing SFJAZZ
Adam Thurman
Marketing Director American Conservatory Theater
The Changing Face of Arts Advocacy: What is Different Going Forward Into a New Reality?As the arts and culture industry emerges from the impact of COVID 19 and the reckoning of racial injustice in our country as well as in our own sector, how has our advocacy changed? What are the priorities, the case making, the strategies and tactics we must now employ to realize the policy developments and funding our industry needs to recover and rebuild for ongoing sustainability? Learn about this and how you can incorporate advocacy into your work in an informative session presented by Californians for the Arts. |
Julie Baker
CEO Californians for the Arts
People, Not Pyramids: What Really Drives Patron Loyalty Today?What does loyalty look like in 2023 and beyond -- and how do you find a model that works for your organization and your audiences?Bethany shares inspiration and examples to help you align your business priorities with the motivations of your audiences, replacing prescriptive models like the traditional loyalty pyramid with a more collaborative, customer-centric approach. Drawing on data insights from across the global cultural sector, Bethany suggests processes to define your strategy, set targets and measure impact -- with practical templates to help you record customers’ motivations, design relevant incentives and understand what works for both you and your audience. |
Bethany Nothstein
Sector Strategy & Community Manager Spektrix
Audience Opinions and Roles in Your Equity WorkSurale Phillips, DRMTM Head of Research and principal with WolfBrown, will share findings from the recent IDEA Study. This Audience Outlook Monitor special topic study collected data on inclusion, diversity, and equity from audiences of 27 orchestras from coast to coast. DRMTM members will facilitate a breakout conversation about how findings like these relate to brand capacity, purpose and culture — topics in the following day’s DRMTM Bold Brand Lab. |
Surale Phillips
Brand Research DRMTM
The 30-Second Delivery: Your Story in 100 WordsSometimes all you get is 30 seconds -- to make a sale, convince a funder, or get a job interview. In this workshop, you will learn how to introduce yourself, express a few key points that separate you from the herd, and truly connect with the other person. In 30 seconds or less. |
Larry Dean Harris
Principal WORDS
Put Butts In Seats With WordsCraft enticing, cogent copy that does justice to your performances – and helps sell them out. Larry Dean Harris, award-winning copywriter (Center Theatre Group, Lookingglass Theatre, Cirque du Soleil, and Broadway national tours, to name a few), will show you how to write compelling headlines, be aggressively clever in your wordplay and — above all — make every character matter in our world of ever-shrinking copy blocks. |
Larry Dean Harris
Principal WORDS
Ways to Diversify and Grow Your Audience with Social MediaWhether they’re influencers, performers, or even from other organizations, social media collaborators can help diversify and grow your audience. Learn what works best on the most popular platforms, what the hot trends are, and how to deliver compelling content. |
Moderator: Art Quiñones
Marketing & Communications Officer Theatre Bay Area
Meghan Jolliffe
Membership & Community Engagement Officer Theatre Bay Area
Raquel Basco
Actress
Social Media Manager ODC Dance
Nakia Gibbs
Digital Marketing Associate American Conservatory Theater
Our Sponsors
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Dream Warrior Group provides graceful yet technologically savvy solutions for Arts organizations. The goal-driven services focus on audience and action. As your technology advocate, we will be your ally and can manage and fully implement your online presence. Our services (à la carte or contracted) include: Web site design and development, e-marketing, e-promotion, social media management and optimization. We implement your message in a digital environment.
More Info -
InstantEncore powers over one million patron experiences every year. helps arts and culture organizations thrive. Our two innovative mobile services – Appscension and InsideGuide - breakdown barriers to attendance, increase convenience for patrons, and drive ROI for you.
More Info -
BroadwayWorld is the largest theatre site on the internet, covering Broadway, the West End and beyond to 100 US cities, 45 countries and in 12 languages worldwide. With over six million monthly visitors, BroadwayWorld delivers complete up-to-the-minute Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatre news, in-depth interviews, extraordinary photo coverage, entertaining video features, lively message boards, ticket discounts, reviews, and more.
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Spektrix is a ticketing, marketing and fundraising solution made specifically for the performing arts. With cloud-based technology and world-class support, Spektrix helps 400+ organizations across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. grow their revenue and deepen patron relationships. We do this through providing a system with frequent and seamless upgrades, sophisticated reporting, and free strategic consultation from experienced arts professionals.
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Schedule
Keynote (Program starts at 8:45 a.m.)
Breakouts
Lunch on Your Own
Breakouts
Opening Reception with one-on-ones
July 19, 2023:
Morning Plenary (Program starts at 8:45 a.m.)
The Bold Brand Lab
Networking Reception with one-on-ones
Roundtables with the Experts
Closing Plenary
Conference ends at 4:00 p.m.
Program and speakers subject to change.
Among other benefits, Arts Reach Members receive significant discounts on conference registration. Join NOW!