Week 6

This past week was one of my favorite weeks at ProMusica thus far. On Monday, the Education Committee (consisting of Dr. Tim Russell, Music Director; Janet Chen, Executive Director; Julia Hare, Education and Operations Director; and several music educators from around the Columbus area) met from about 9am-4pm to have a strategic planning meeting. I ordered food for breakfast and lunch, and I picked up all the food from Giant Eagle for lunch before I went in on Monday (salad, sandwiches, fruit, water, and dessert). The morning was spent analyzing the education mission statement. The committee addressed its strengths and touched on its competive advantage by beginning a SWOT analysis. Then the committee looked at audiences it is currently serving well versus audiences it has the potential to serve. For the rest of the morning, the committee assembled its sustainable funding model; they determined what funding methods are successful and can be counted on in the future (such as funds from foundations/corporations and participants that cover the cost of certain programs). I learned the importance of recognizing an organization's strengths; from there it is easier to generate ideas for reaching new target audiences.

After lunch the committee delve into each of the education/outreach programs. There were about 18 programs, and each was evaluated based on its fundability, marketability, and educational value. Assessing each program individually stimulated ideas for new spins on existing programs, and in a couple cases, new programs entirely. The committee really ran with the idea of trying to create a Youth Ensemble/Orchestra that operates throughout the school year, and I think they will begin this project with an "Honor Orchestra Weekend" where high school students prepare for an ensemble that rehearses for only 1 weekend and has a Sunday afternoon concert.

On Wednesday, I picked up the End-of-Season awards from Reed Arts and Village Trophy. I spent the first part of the afternoon. I also began to update the audio archives by importing recordings from the 2008-2009 season. Later in the afternoon I went to the Annual Board Meeting and End-of-Season reception which were held in another location in downtown Columbus. The board members discussed the financial status of the organization and the funding allocations from Greater Columbus Art Council. They also held nominations of board members for the next year, and the Music Director and Executive Director gave encouraging annual reports.

On Friday I finished updating the audio archives and wrote up a summary of my networking survey:

Networking Survey Summary

June 2009

I received 10 responses to this survey.

Question #1 asked Ohio arts organization administrators how they used different types of social networking, giving the options of “For Work”, “Personal Use”, “Heard of it, but don’t use it”, and “Never heard of it”. It is safe to say that most people surveyed use Facebook for work and/or personal use; 70% use Facebook for work and 70% use it for personal use. 60% of surveyors have heard of Myspace but do not use it. 50% have heard of Twitter but don’t use it, and 40% use Twitter for work purposes. 60% of people use LinkedIn in their workplace. Plaxo, Wordpress, Live Journal, Flicker, and Animoto are not used much in the work place or for personal use, and practically no one has heard of Animoto.

Question #2 asks how each networking tool is used within an organization, providing the options “Someone in my organization speaks for the organization as a whole”, “I use it to speak for myself as a member of the organization”, or “This is not a part of my organization/workplace”. 100% of people do not use Snapfish, Animoto, or Live Journal at all in their workplace, and at least 70% do not use Myspace, Ning, or Blogger in their workplace. A majority (80%) of administrators surveyed claim that someone within their organization uses Facebook to represent their organization, while 50% of administrators surveyed say that they personally use LinkedIn to speak for themselves as a member of the organization.

Question #3 asks about the roadblocks or issues an organization faces when implementing these networking tools. Organizations are realizing that there are so many networking tools from which to choose and different target audiences are using different networking tools. It is mentioned there is the issue of choosing networking tools within an organization and then having to seek approval from the appropriate personnel within the workplace, such as having to go through the Communications Manager.

Question #4 asks about the benefits of these networking tools. The survey indicates that one of the greatest benefits is being able to reach specific audiences. It is easy to quickly get in touch with or quickly get word out to the next generation (especially college and high school students) by utilizing these different types of communication.

Question #5 asks administrators if they have additional ideas for the June ACE agenda. Podcasting and Cleveland Arts Summit are mentioned, and there is a request for more social networking data, such as statistics showing what works or what people pay attention to most. I will have to look into this more…

General Summary:

From my own perspective, it seems that Facebook is used most by a variety of age groups, ranging from high-school students to retired adults. Myspace seems to reach a certain age group—middle-school students to young adults—and Twitter seems to reach college graduates to young adults most frequently. Obviously there are several networking tools from which to choose, and that limits how people will choose to use them and how frequently they will use them. The challenge of balancing personal and professional use is also an issue. Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter share similar features, and most people do not use all three of these tools.