Blog

Gen Zers — Get Em’ While They’re Hot!

By Jonathan Kay, Marketing Intern

In recent years there has been a lot of focus and conversation around bringing more Millennials into arts organizations – but what about Gen Zers? As a 23-year-old born in 1996, I find myself on the cusp of two generational groups: Millennials and the increasingly prevalent Generation Z (or Gen Z for short). Gen Z includes people born between 1996 and 2015 while Millennials were born between 1980 and 1995. This up and coming generation is  spending money, engaging with brands, and consuming arts and entertainment in different ways than Millennials. By engaging this audience now, arts and non-profit marketers like you can get in on the ground floor and put yourself in a position to retain their loyalty for years to come.Read the Article

Add a Response

2019 Year in Review: It Should Just Work

By Gene Carr, Founder

This year, my annual review of all things tech and the arts mirrors what I wrote a year ago, with some new insights. Last year’s message was that we’re between chapters. The hardware devices most of us use to access the internet — tablets, smartphones, desktops — all work pretty well and are ubiquitous. And although we can already begin to see the contours of another generation of technology, it’s not here yet.  

Read the Article

Add a Response

Embracing Cell Phones at Your Arts Organization

By Aaron Schwartzbord, Director of Marketing

Performing arts organizations are slowly coming around to allowing, dare I say encouraging, audiences to take photos inside their venues prior to events. But there are still many organizations resistant to the idea, holding on to stodgy policies and shaming patrons for trying to get a picture! I was recently at a show where I heard an usher tell an audience member that photos weren’t allowed inside the theatre, but that they could take a selfie in the lobby—the patron was just taking a picture of their program cover. My response, “What’s the fun in taking a picture in your boring lobby?!” Read the Article

Add a Response

Bringing Sponsor Activations to the Arts & Culture Sector

By Gene Carr, Founder & Paul Miller, VP Sales – Non-Profit Ticketing

In our last post, we introduced the concept of the “sponsor activation,” which is becoming more commonplace in commercial venues, but less so in the arts. In this post, we’ll give you more detail on how to think about a sponsor activation at your organization — and how it differs from a traditional sponsorship.  

The key element of an activation is that it offers benefits to all participants — the patron, the sponsor, and the arts organization. Read the Article

Add a Response

5 Tips for Arts Organizations to Weather Any Economy

By Jacob Trussell, Marketing Coordinator

Depending on who you ask, the U.S. may be looking at a recession come 2020, which obviously could have some adverse effects on your arts organization. But we’re not here to get all “doom and gloom” on you! As I’ve always been told, it’s much better to plan for the worst and hope for the best than to have no plan at all. So even if we aren’t hit with a major economic upheaval in the next year, it’s still a great idea to start putting procedures in place that’ll help ensure financial security if your institutional giving is ever negatively impacted by the ups and downs of our economy. Read the Article

Add a Response

Arts Administration: The Importance of Interdepartmental Collaboration

Today’s blog post is written by Alex Pagano, Documentation Manager, PatronManager.

In a meeting last week, a colleague and I were discussing off-hand how amazing some of our coworkers are. I can’t remember which of us said it first, but we both repeated it immediately:

“Thank god for the sales team.”

I feel fortunate to work with a team of people excited by goals and tasks I honestly find intimidating. They’re passionate about sales in the same way I’m passionate about producing clear and concise documentation; it’s what makes them tick. I’m fascinated and grateful, and I feel similarly about client support, product development, marketing, and everyone else that makes the world go round here at PatronManager. It takes more than a team of myself to achieve the greater good.

With this in mind, think of someone at your organization who works in a totally different department than you. Do you know what their responsibilities are? What about their strengths? What do they enjoy about their job? What challenges do they face day-to-day? Heck, let’s start with the basics — do you know what they’re working on this week?Read the Article

Add a Response