A love letter to arts marketers
Normally I write these blog posts with the hope of providing some insights and advice for arts marketers – but this month, I’m taking the opportunity to show all of you my admiration and respect.
It just so happens that this is being posted on Valentine’s Day – a natural time to share some love – but my inspiration actually came from several meetings I attended recently. What I heard time and time again in my conversations with fellow arts marketers, administrators, and producers was how much they were doing, how behind they felt, and how many unexpected obstacles they were facing. This was true across a wide range of budgets, disciplines, and staff sizes.
Do any of these sound familiar?
Staff changes
Leadership changes
Cancelled performances
Wild weather events (and their aftermaths)
Post-pandemic patron behavior changes
Controversy/PR challenges
Paper shortages
Social media trolls
Cast/artist/programming changes
How about these?
Not enough money
Not enough staff
Not enough time
If I had put those on a bingo sheet, I suspect we’d have a lot of winners. And certainly there are dozens of other hurdles that didn’t make this list. Aside from all of these challenges though, there were other things that were consistent across all of my recent conversations: creativity, passion, community – and most of all, determination.
You’re facing those obstacles and more, but you keep showing up and finding new solutions. You are selling tickets, developing new programs, and promoting your brand. You are hiring and training staff and finding new ways to collaborate with your colleagues. You’re abandoning practices that no longer work and moving quickly to experiment and find what will. You take on each new goal and directive and find a way to do more (often with fewer resources.)
You’re putting forth herculean effort surmounting both mundane and colossal obstacles. You are simultaneously focusing on data, creative direction, and project management. You’re got your hands in the day-to-day while your mind is looking at the big picture.
You show up every day, rally your teammates, look at problems with fresh eyes, and find the best way forward. And you’re doing it knowing that spotlight is unlikely to ever fall on you.
You may feel like you’re drowning or barely treading water, but I promise you that you are more successful than you know. You’re making progress and making a difference at your organization and for your community.
Keep up the good work and Happy Love for Arts Marketing Day! (Who do I talk to make that a real thing?!)
We could all use an extra pair of hands or fresh set of eyes on something. If the time is right for you to get some outside help, let me know. We can do amazing things together.