The Mission Paradox Blog

Welcome to Paradox

This is the Mission Paradox Blog.  I'm your friendly host, Adam Thurman

Since 2007 this has been a place where artists and those who work within artistic organizations get insight on marketing, leadership, diversity and other topics.  

The main source of that insight are the blog posts that appear right below this one. Typically you'll get a new one every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  You can get the blog post directly in your web based reader (like Yahoo or Google news) by clicking here

You want more?  I got more.

My e-book Authentic Arts Marketing is available as both a free download and as a cheap buy in the Kindle Store.  Get details on that here.

Want to work with me directly?  I do a limited amount of presentations, workshops and private coaching.  Details are here.  Testimonials are here.

I hope you find this place a helpful resource as you go about the hard work of connecting your art to an audience.  Feel free to drop me a line at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com.

Remember, new blog posts appear below.

 

Like the real world

The arts are a reflection of the real world, which means it has a lot of love, a lot of surprise and a lot of joy.

That also means that it is a world that has sexism, racism, unbalanced power structures and a good number of unfair outcomes.

Trouble arises when we think the arts (and artists/adminstrators) are somehow above the negative aspects of the real world.

Just because someone is an artist doesn't mean they are a good person.

Just because someone works in a nonprofit doesn't mean that they are more generous, or fair, then the guy that works as a corporate lawyer.

If you are going to be a part of the arts world, then dealing with politics, egos, agendas and the like are going to be part of your life.  That's not a good or bad thing, that's just how it is.

But I've learned when you can embrace the fullness of the arts world (the good and the bad), life (and success) becomes much easier.

 

 

Stone Cold Optimist

When it comes to the future of the arts, especially the industry I work in - the live performing arts, I am very optimistic.

I see the wide range of work being produced, from sold out theatres in NYC, to intimate productions being done in someone's living room and it gives me hope.

I see the number of artists learning how to skillfully combine technology and live peformance, not just as a way to move tickets, but as a way to make the live performance better . . . and I think "that's pretty cool."

But what I'm less optimistic about is the future of the arts industry. 

What we are seeing in a lot of industries (books, music, etc.) is this separation of the industry (managers, overhead, etc.) from the art itself. 

When you can publish a book without a editor and publisher, it changes things.

When you can build a small audience for your one woman show without needing to partner with a larger organization, it changes thing.

The arts industry is going to have to prove it's value and relevance in the world of 2012, not the world of 1992 or even 2002.  That's going to be a difficult challenge and not everyone will make it.

But the good news is that the art will go on, with or without the industry.

 

Eternal battles

Life we go easier if you accept the following:

1. You will always be conflicted about the interaction of art and commerce.

2. You will never find a perfect balance between giving your audience "what they want" and leading them into different directions.

3. There will never be enough money.

4. Organizational politics will always be a part of your life. That's true even if you create the art alone. You'll probably need to partner with others to get that work seen, which means working with organizations, which means dealing with politics.

5. No matter how you do things someone, probably someone close to you, will think you are doing it wrong.

6. Somone will tell you, "it's ok to fail" and then go nuts when you actually do fail. That is there problem, not yours.

7. You will always need to manage your own artistic career. You can have helpers, managers, etc. but you always need to be the CEO of You, Inc.

Getting them to "Hell Yeah"

In 2009, entreprenuer Derek Sivers shared his "Hell Yeah" philosophy to making life decisions. Here's a quote:

"If I'm not saying 'HELL YEAH!' about something, then say no."

I think it's a good way to make life decisions. It also should help inform your approach to connecting art to audience.

The goal to all the "stuff" that you do, i.e. making artistic programming choices, the marketing tactics you use . . . the goal of all of that is to get your audience to say "Hell Yeah, I need to see that".

Not, "maybe I should see that."

Not, "that looks interesting."

The goal is to trigger the sort of emotion response that makes people want to jump up and be a part of your artistic experience.

Is that hard? Of course it is. People (like you) are jaded. They have too many choices. They have been sold a bill of goods far too often.

In spite of all that, "Hell Yeah" is still the goal.

If you approach your artistic and marketing choices with that point of view, then it will help you make the sort of interesting, exciting decisions that are necessary.

I'll give you a case in point. Direct your web browser toward the website my team created for a production.

The whole idea of that website is that if we give our audience enough interesting angles, enough cool pictures, enough nice music to stream while they are working, then it will slowly move them to "Hell Yeah."

Now that's just one approach. There are a lot of good ones out that there that have nothing to do with the web or technology.

Just remember what the goal of all this should be.

The Flip Side of the Dark Arts

I'm not suprised that a lot of people dislike the idea of marketing/selling/advertising/etc.

Sometimes, I dislike too.

Marketing can be the ultimately dark art.  I cringe when I see a commercial that shames some women who dare eat a cupcake.  I shake my head when I see a car or beer commercial that preys on a man's insecurities.

It breaks my heart when I see a politician or pundit use words or phrases that are designed to tap into our "lizard brain".

Marketers have long understand what science is just starting to show.  We are not rational actors.  We can be influenced.  We can be persuaded.  Images, words, sounds, all of those things can work together to bring out the negative end of human behavior.

But there is a flip side to all of that . . . .

The flip side is that effective marketing/communication/advertising/whatever can be used to bring out the best in us.

It can help us to become more critical thinkers.  It can help us find more joy in our lives.

It can help us to find things (like your art) which are designed to feed our mind and our soul.

Part of what I like about working in this particular field is that on my worst day, all I did was try to connect some people to some art. 

With all the bad ways that marketing can be used, I think that's a good use of the craft.

At it's core, marketing is about spreading ideas and emotions.  Used the wrong way, those ideas and emotions can damage lives.

But used the right way and in the right hands (your hands!) marketing can connect people to ideas and feelings that make the world a little bit better. 

That is a pretty cool thing. 

 

The need to fail: Reconsidered

It's a trendy thing to talk about failure.  In the arts world we are always discussing the need to take risks, try new things, etc. 

Of course you can't discuss those things without considering the flipside, failure. 

But I worry that this "need" to fail can easily become an excuse for a lot of really unhelpful behaviors:

Sloppiness.

Lack of execution.

Poor planning.

That sort of thing.

I've had to learn (the hard way) that the only failures that move us forward are the ones where you prepare and execute to the best of your ability . . . and then things just don't work out.

There is plenty of room for that sort of failure.

What there is no room for is the sort of things that get labeled as "failure" but is actually a series of predictable, avoidable, f*ck ups.

If you want to be a valuable part of any team or project then you've got to make sure people understand the difference between real and fake failure. 

That means you have to place an emphasis on proper execution, clear communication and all the other boring (but vital) stuff that makes anything meaningful happen.

Anything less then that and you (and your team) may find yourselves spinning your wheels for a very long time.

Repost - Power and the Arts

I like this one so I'm reposting it. New blog post on Monday

 

What we offer

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, offers his thoughts on selling the live experience

"We in the (live) sports business don’t sell the game, we sell unique, emotional experiences. We are not in the business of selling basketball. We are in the business of selling fun. We are in the business of letting you escape. We are in the business of giving you a chance to create shared experiences. I say it to our people at the Mavs at all time, I want a Mavs game to be more like a great wedding than anything else."

Those thoughts can be applied directly to connecting people to the live arts experience.

In my own day job, I'm in the midst of trying to connect people to this. When I'm doing that I try to remember that no one is buying a ticket "just because".

They are doing it because they are excited to be part of a world premiere.

They are doing it because it is a night out for friends.

They are doing it to connect with something that is important for THEM, not for us.

We (the theatre, the musuem, the orchestra) are not the point of all this. We are the hub. We are the medium that allows others a reason to connect and experience something together.

When we forget this, things tend to go bad quickly.

The arts can't just be a more expensive, slower, less convenient version of TV or movies. It has to be more to thrive. Part of getting to that more means understanding who really matters here.

It isn't us. It isn't you.

It's them. It's the people who take the journey from their safe, warm, homes and plunk down cash.

What are you offering them?

The battles you fight

This is my 8th year working in the arts as some sort of a "professional". I've learned a lot in that time. One of the most important lessons is the need to pick your battles.

The arts are an imperfect world. There are numerous problems. But you'll drive yourself insane if you try to build a career (or an organization) that somehow solves all of them.

You need to give yourself the freedom to decide which issues you are going to try to fix and which you are going to leave to others to address.

For example, last week a big ass thing erupted when someone tried to argue that theatre (and by extension most art forms) are "for white people." There was a time when I would have spent a week tearing that argument to shreds. I let it pass for two reasons:

1. Many other people handled the issue so effectively.

2. For me, the issue of diversity and the arts has been settled. Any person with a copy of the recent census and a basic understanding of demographics knows that the US is moving toward a more diverse world.

So I'm fighting other battles. For me, I'm more interested in helping others understand how they can integrate their artistic ambitions and their career ambitions.

I'm interested in helping organization adapt to the changing world.

Those are my fights.

What battles are you choosing?

Once in a while

Here's my last thought for the year.

The world of the arts is just like the world itself.  That means it can be beautiful, ugly, fair and unfair at the same time. 

The people in the arts are just people.  Just because someone wears the label of artist doesn't mean that they are creative, noble or good partners.  The artist label also doesn't mean that person doesn't understand business or strategy.

Arts organizations are just like any organization in any field.  Some are awesome, many more are mediocre.  A few are horrible places you should avoid at all costs.

My point is that this place isn't necessarily special.  If you entered the world of the arts hoping to avoid the issues that makes the world in general a challenging place then you will be disappointed.

But on the other hand . . . .

The reason I stay in the arts is because every once in a while something magical happens.  Every once in a while art puts something special in the hearts and mind of those who receive it and create it.

Those moments are worth fighting for. 

I hope you had a fantastic 2011.  I wish you the best for 2012.  See you on Monday, Jan. 2nd