January 29, 2007

Building Online Professional Networks for Dance Companies and Presenters

In this post I'm continuing with my coverage of the APAP Conference. Click here to read my other conference posts.

On January 19th, the Dance Working Group presented a 3-hour session, "International Perspectives on American Dance." During the first part of the session international presenters (non-US presenters) shared their perspectives about dance in the US. Then, during the second part of the program, there was a lively, facilitated discussion about how US-based dance companies can respond to the challenges of touring abroad.

Immediately below, I quote from Bob Yesselman's excellent write-up about this educational session, which highlights some of the limitations of US dance as perceived by international presenters. Bob Yesselman is the director of Dance/NYC and he gave me permission to reprint his notes from this session in their entirety, which you'll find at the end of this post. Then in the following section, I offer my suggestions on how US-based dance companies in conjunction with international presenters can use the Internet to increase exposure and touring opportunities abroad.

Session Recap

Bob Yesselman concludes his write-up of this program with the following passage:

I came away from the session with what seemed to be two major themes. First, the lack of production values in current American work coming, I think, from two sources - our chronic lack of money (if we can get a work to a stage in street clothes we consider ourselves lucky) and, as the Australian speaker mentioned, our focus on the body alone in space and our concern with the "essence" of dance. Let me be clear, I attach no value judgments to either of these viewpoints - that's what makes soccer matches. Secondly, that American work is perceived as old-fashioned and still beholden to our great pioneers and masters. Again, it seems to me, money is partly the culprit. We have so little export of current American dance nowadays that this perception is, in part, understandable. I also found it interesting to note that two of the speakers and many members of the audience also mentioned that they had all come to the U.S. (NYC in particular) for study and training. It was quite a morning.

Using the Internet to Increase International Bookings and Touring Opportunities for US Dance Companies

If the production and aesthetic limitations, as expressed by international presenters, of US dance companies holds true across the board, then there's not much that the Internet can do to help American dance companies get more bookings abroad. But as the panelists pointed out, they were generalizing -- so there are almost definitely many US dance companies that are not touring not due to difference in artistic approach but because of limited marketing budgets and poor communication channels.

Two questions shared by audience members struck me during this session - sorry I can't attribute them: 1) how do dance companies in the US find the right contacts abroad for exploring opportunities to perform in different countries, and 2) how are matches made between presenters and dance companies that are "aesthetically compatible."

Of course a conference like APAP with 1,000+ dance showcases and lots of face-to-face networking is a great forum for exploring booking opportunities abroad. But on a daily basis, as managers and agents seek new performance opportunities for their dance companies and clients, the number of available and inexpensive networking and marketing opportunities dwindle.

So here's my specific answer on how to use the Internet to solve these challenges:

First, professional-focused social networking sites offer a great way for US dance companies and international presenters to communicate, network and do business.

There's lots of talk about MySpace, a social networking site that many dance companies use. But MySpace is essentially a public forum. That's not what we need in this case. A better site is one such as LinkedIn - a social networking site for forming and managing professional relationships with "trusted contacts" and the contacts of your trusted contacts.

(I'm discussing LinkedIn in theoretical terms. I have not used this service yet, but I keep meaning to create a profile to expand my own marketing and networking opportunities).

In other words, you only communicate with those within the international dance world with whom you wish to do business. And over time, you expand your trusted network one by one so that you can increase networking and business opportunities in a focused and meaningful way.

This type of online marketing and community-building among trusted friends is very easy to initiate. It would only take a handful of dance companies and presenters to get started - actually, it would really just take two people. Then the initial participants could invite others they trusted to join their network of contacts.

Basic accounts are free and there are different levels of professional accounts that range from $60 per year all the way to $2,000 per year. I'm guessing that for what I'm proposing in this post, only a free account or a "Personal Plus" account at $60 per year would be needed, but I'm not sure and I'll have to find out more. Here's LinkedIn pricing information.

To get back to the two questions I mentioned above that resonated with me during the dance forum:

1) As this low-cost, international network of dance companies and presenters expands, it will become easier and easier to ask your trusted contacts who you should reach out to in order to pursue a specific business opportunity in a different country.

2) As this professional network expands, it will also be easier to find "aesthetically compatible" matches between dance companies and presenters. A new LinkedIn service called LinkedIn Answers makes this process even easier because you can post a question to all of your trusted contacts about any subject you wish - including finding the right match between presenters and dance companies.

But the process of bringing together presenters and dance companies online will be somewhat limited unless dance companies significantly expand and enhance the booking sections of their own websites. As things stand now, most dance company websites provide very little helpful information for presenters. On most "Booking Information" web pages, there is almost never a comprehensive overview of what performances and related offerings a dance company can actually provide. Plus, you'll very rarely find video excerpts from performances. So a presenter may be encouraged to learn more about a specific dance company via LinkedIn, but they will soon have to turn to offline channels due to a lack of helpful Web-based content. Nothing wrong about going offline, but it wastes lots of time and energy and usually requires that a dance company send DVDs to a different country before discussions can resume.

So for dance companies and presenters to truly take advantage of online networking and marketing opportunities, both a professional social networking site would need to be embraced and the quality and scope of dance company websites would have to be improved.

FULL WRITE-UP OF SESSION

Here are Bob Yesselman's notes from "International Perspectives on American Dance."

On Friday, January 19th, just prior to the official opening of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference (APAP), I attended a session presented by the Dance Working Group, a consortium of dance organizations, among them Dance/USA, that each year present a forum for ideas looking at big picture issues in dance.

Each year, the Dance Working Group chooses a topic both relevant to what's going on now in dance, and provocative in the ideas put forth. This year was no exception. The topic was How American Dance is Viewed by the Rest of the World and provocative was an understatement. The session was moderated by Carolelinda Dickey, principal consultant of Performing Arts Strategies, working in international exchange (a former member of the NYC dance community and former presenter) and facilitated by Andrea Snyder, Executive Director of Dance/USA.

The four speakers were:

- Cees de Bever: Director of Performing Arts, Consulate General of the Netherlands

- Jennifer Barry: Director of Dance Down Under (Australia) and a producer of dance

- Mark Staub: Director of Dance for the Canada Council

- Mayumi Nagatosi: Director of AN Creative (Japan) and a producer of dance

I must stress that each speaker spoke about perceptions abroad and each was quick to acknowledge they were speaking in generalities. I will try very hard not to editorialize. Here's what they had to say:

Cees de Bever (Netherlands)

* Production values of American dance are very low which places our work at a competitive disadvantage in the market place. Cees was very quick to point out that he was very aware of the financial conditions under which we operate in the U.S.
* American dancers are not as well-trained or strong as they once were.
* While many countries financially support native companies to tour abroad; there was very little reciprocity for American companies.
* Since so few American companies are touring abroad, there is very little knowledge of the vast diversity of American dance.
* We are not helped by the current political image of America abroad.

Cees had some recommendations:
* Take a hard look at which American companies are really suitable for export.
* Study international exchange programs closely and adapt to American reality.
* Find the money to bring international presenters to the U.S. to build relationships just as many countries bring American presenters to see their work.

Jennifer Barry (Australia)

* There seems to be a huge focus on the body in American work and promotional materials (she mentioned having received hundreds of postcards from American companies prior to APAP and that every single one was a body image) as opposed to dance in Australia which is much more concerned with concept.
* American dance does not display a cohesive integration of design, lighting and music (production values again).
* Australians tend to resist American-style hype and "showbiz."
* There is much less reverence for the American "masters" - they are perceived as old-fashioned.
* There is a sense that American dance is overly concerned with "pretty" work as opposed to the character-drive, narrative work now popular abroad.
* Australia's subsidy system allows artists the freedom to make less commercially-driven work.
* There is the sense that American dance lacks humor and is very "earnest" with a preoccupation with, in her words, "the pure essence of dance."

Mark Staub (Canada)

* Many in Canada associate American dance as being of a very specific time (the 60's and 70's) and place (NYC).
* Dancers in Canada know the "masters," and many of them have studied with them, but have very little knowledge of what else is happening in American dance.

Mayumi Nagatosi (Japan)

* There is a sense in Japan that American dance's time is over and that in the last 15 years European dance has become more important.
* The current generation of Japanese choreographers have been influenced by European artists, not American.
* American dance is perceived, in her words, as "old-fashioned" and "boring."

I came away from the session with what seemed to be two major themes. First, the lack of production values in current American work coming, I think, from two sources - our chronic lack of money (if we can get a work to a stage in street clothes we consider ourselves lucky) and, as the Australian speaker mentioned, our focus on the body alone in space and our concern with the "essence" of dance. Let me be clear, I attach no value judgments to either of these viewpoints - that's what makes soccer matches. Secondly, that American work is perceived as old-fashioned and still beholding to our great pioneers and masters. Again, it seems to me, money is partly the culprit. We have so little export of current American dance nowadays that this perception is, in part, understandable. I also found it interesting to note that two of the speakers and many members of the audience also mentioned that they had all come to the U.S. (NYC in particular) for study and training.
It was quite a morning.

Bob Yesselman
Director
Dance/NYC

Posted by Doug Fox at 11:28 AM - Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

January 24, 2007

APAP: Technology Session and Educational Recommendations

During the APAP Conference, I attended a Burning Issues Forum titled:

"Creating Culture: How 21st Century Online Networks, Tools and Technologies Propel Innovation in the Studio, Sustain Performing Arts Venues and Build New Audiences."

This is a topic dear to my heart. I didn't catch the entire program. But I did see presentations by:

- Lane Czaplinski, artistic director of On the Boards, a Seattle, Washington-based performing arts venue, who discussed how he has been using his website, blog and audience reviews to create new approaches to building and engaging audiences, and

- Sean Elwood, director of grantmaking and services for the Creative Capital Foundation, which provides funding for individual artists, talked about his not-for-profit organization's approach to supporting artists that borrows financial models from the world of venture capital, develops long-term relationships with their grantees, and has turned to the Internet as an important marketing and communications tool.

Other speakers that I didn't see included:

- Bill Reichblum, president, KadmusArts

- Ben Roe, director of music, National Public Radio

- Tamara Turner, senior music editor/reviewer, CD Baby

THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION AT APAP

After attending this session and related educational programs that addressed technology at APAP, what strikes me is that attendees for the most part do not have a practical framework for thinking about online collaboration and marketing tools, and using these software applications to build and engage larger audiences.

For example, many attendees have never created a blog, uploaded a video to YouTube or designed a MySpace page.

So my recommendation is that for next year's APAP technology track there is one session that is dedicated to live demonstrations of the most popular online software programs and related technologies that are relevant to presenters, performers and other conference delegates.

So one possible scenario is that software and technology in each of the following categories is demonstrated:

- Website and content management applications
- Blogs and syndication
- Social networking
- Media sharing sites (video, pictures, audio)
- Mobile devices with focus on marketing and video distribution
- Event calendar applications with social networking component, and
- Important categories of software and technology that emerge in 2007

By starting with this type of introductory session that gives attendees a clear visual understanding of what these applications and technologies are all about, follow-up sessions that are devoted to Internet strategies, case studies and related panel discussions will make a lot more sense, be more practical and encourage more interaction.

An alternative approach - one that would take a good amount of work - would be to create a series of screen capture videos that delegates could watch before the conference. For instance, we could create a short Flash video that showed how you go about uploading, describing and tagging a video on YouTube. Simply by watching this series of how-to videos, delegates would come to the conference with a solid framework for learning about and discussing different Internet strategies.

Posted by Doug Fox at 2:01 PM - Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

January 23, 2007

Amateur Art Making and Its Impact on Professional Presenters

During the APAP conference, I attended an educational session, "Professional Presenters and the Amateur Arts." Andrew Taylor, director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration, and a group of his students shared research about how presenters should respond to the growth of participatory and amateur art-making. And they also explored whether this explosion in non-professional art-making represents a competitive threat or possible partnership opportunity for presenters.

To digress a bit, it was great to meet Andrew Taylor in person after reading and enjoying his Artful Manager blog for quite awhile.

On the Bolz Center for Arts Administration website, you can read more about this research project that was the basis for this session. I also believe that the full presentation will soon be posted to this site. What would also be very helpful is if the student researchers could recap the session and integrate some of the ideas discussed during this program.

I thought the four students - Leigh Henderson, Joanne Jacobson, Jara Kern and Maggie Marquardt - did an excellent job of uncovering real-world examples of the many diverse ways that amateurs are creating art and, in a number of cases, collaborating with professional artists.

Here are some of the types of amateur art-making the students highlighted:

Knitting circles, community ensembles, web-based songwriter networks, weekend warrior musicians, webloggers, photographers, ethnic dance and handicraft groups, filmmakers, podcasters, poetry slammers, hip-hop and scratch artists, and others.

The question of how presenters (theaters, performing arts venues, festival organizers) should respond to the growth in amateur art-making is a critical issue that is worthwhile to address so that presenters can better determine how they can continue to play an important role within the arts and cultural life of their communities.

The current mindset of many presenters is still one that primarily envisions passive audiences coming to a venue to sit quietly while watching a performance. This perspective simply can't survive in a world where audiences expect to be engaged and involved, and want to experience the arts in a more concrete and participatory manner. At the same time, there definitely are presenters who are embracing this move towards participatory art making and some shared their experiences during this session.

Some thoughts and ideas I jotted down that were shared during this session:

- How do presenters go about inviting amateur artists to perform at their venues/festivals when they are primarily in the business of hosting professional artists? Will audiences be confused? Do you offer different ticket pricing for professional groups and amateur groups?

- What are the best ways for presenters to support amateur art-making in their communities? Low cost/free rehearsal space? Marketing support? Fundraising assistance? But then how do presenters cover their costs?

- How many presenters today are working with amateur groups or mixed professional/amateur groups?

- If, as I said above, audiences want more participatory experiences, what types of performances should presenters be booking? Should there be more interactive opportunities for audiences before, during or after the program? Should these interactive opportunities be brought online? (I'll explore this topic of online community when I write about other educational sessions I attended.)

- What types of threats - if any - does amateur art-making really pose to presenters? Will smaller audiences go to "traditional" performances because more and more people are spending time making art with their friends and artist collaborators? Or, is the spread in participatory art-making really a trend that can be wholeheartedly embraced by presenters so that everybody benefits?

Actually, during the sessions some of these questions were explored and specific examples were offered, and I'm hoping the students will recap some of the recommended ideas.

One area where I'd like to see more research in is how the use by amateur artists of Web 2.0 tools (social media and networking sites - often with a strong focus on multimedia content) is having or will have an impact on presenters. For instance, millions of musicians, videographers, photographers - both amateur and professional - are using YouTube, Flickr, MySpace and many other applications to communicate directly with their audiences. Is it possible that some presenters will somehow get cut-out of the picture and will not play their traditional role of bringing together artists and audiences? And if there is a possibility that presenters will be marginalized, what steps should they take now so that this does not happen?

Posted by Doug Fox at 11:26 AM - Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

January 22, 2007

Back from APAP Conference

I just got back to DC from the APAP conference in NYC.

I had a wonderful time. The conversations, educational programs and dance performances were all great. I met many dancers, presenters and others at this event and had some thought-provoking conversations about how the dance world is embracing - and grapling with - the Internet and digital technologies.

I'd like to thank the the Association of Performing Arts Presenters for providing me with press access to the conference so that I could cover this event on Great Dance.

My initial idea was to cover parts of this conference - especially the educational sessions - in real-time. But that didn't work out in the end. So I'll be writing about many different aspects of this event over the coming week. Plus, I'll be posting some video interviews that I did.

I especially enjoyed meeting a number of people at the conference with whom I've been communicating with online and never had an opportunity to meet face-to-face.

Posted by Doug Fox at 12:26 PM - Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

January 18, 2007

In NYC to Cover APAP

I just drove up to New York to attend and cover the 50th Annual Member Conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. I'll be at this event starting tomorrow morning.

I'm looking forward to this conference, meeting a lot of people and seeing a lot of dance.

Thanks to everybody who shared their recommendations about what I should see and cover during APAP - it is really overwhelming how many showcases there are in just a few days - it's impossible to see a fraction of what you'd like to.

I have a camcorder, audio recorder and camera so I have a lot of flexibility in terms of how I cover this event. I don't know if the Hilton has WiFi or not in it's meeting rooms. If there is WiFi, I might do some live blogging from some of sessions - I'll see.

Posted by Doug Fox at 3:30 PM - Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)