Shared Content: League and Chorus America         

Thursday, June 17 Symposia: 3:30-4:30 and repeated 4:45-5:45

Activating Your Audience

Arts organizations are responding to changing market conditions and broader trends in cultural participation by experimenting with interactive programs and offering more participatory forms of engagement. How can orchestras and choruses activate their audiences?  What is an “active listener?”  What programs and activities are arts groups using to bridge the gap between passive and active involvement?  Alan Brown will discuss the links between participatory forms of engagement and attendance, while Marian Godfrey and Janet Sarbaugh will illustrate what arts groups in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are doing to empower audiences to be co-creators of their arts experiences.

Alan Brown, principal, Wolf Brown; Marian Godfrey, senior director, Culture Initiatives, The Pew Charitable Trusts; Janet Sarbaugh, program director, Arts & Culture, The Heinz Endowments

The Atlanta Symphony War Room: A New Approach to collaborative Decision-Making

The artistic planning and decision-making process at the Atlanta Symphony has been described by many as innovative, non-traditional, and collaborative. Explore this approach to planning from the unique perspectives of Music Director, Marketing/Sales, and Artistic Operations. The session will focus on how each of these shareholders work together to achieve the best possible balance of art, sales, and logistics.

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Robert Spano ( bio), music director; John Sparrow, vice president for orchestra initiatives and general manager, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Charlie Wade,  vice president of marketing and symphony pops

Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit

As the generations change, new challenges arise for nonprofits in the area of staff, board, finance, marketing, technology and the people the organization serves. In this hands-on discussion, Peter explores how each of the key generations, Greatest, Silent, Boomers, GenX, and Gen@ affect your nonprofit and how you can get ahead of the generation change curve.

Peter Brinckerhoff, author, consultant, trainer

New Strategies for Cultural Organizations in an Era of Infinite Choice

The business and consumption of culture is profoundly shifting, challenging every cultural organization in America to rethink how they do business. These changes aren’t merely a marketing issue; they require rethinking the ways cultural organizations do business and build and relate to their communities. Every cultural organization is experimenting with social media tools like Facebook, but these are ineffective unless harnessed to overall strategies for the institution. This session will give an overview of the ways our broader cultural consumption is changing and present case studies from other industries that suggest effective strategies for successful cultural organizations in the 21st century.

Doug McLennan, arts journalist and critic, founder and editor, ArtsJournal.com

“There Are No Crises” continued

Join Russell Willis Taylor in a moderated discussion that follows her keynote “There Are No Crises, Only Tough Decisions”. This session is for those who want to engage with peers, and with Russell, in a further exploration of the points addressed in her keynote.

Russell Willis Taylor, president and CEO, National Arts Strategies

Symposia sponsored by Classical Movements, Inc.

These joint symposia with Chorus America are made possible in part by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.