This just in….As of yesterday there were 11,018,700 Facebook users in Canada. The fastest growing segment is the 45+. There are more women than men on Facebook. The average Facebook user has 120 friends. Do you know where your audience is hanging out when their not at your venue? They’re sharing thoughts and opinions with a wide circle of friends. Check out the stats…at insidefacebook.com. Isn’t it time you look to using social marketing for your arts organization?

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Henry

Alan Brown, Principal, Wolf Brown (San Francisco) gave a very interesting and informative talk sponsored by the Ontario Arts Council yesterday. Alan covered a lot of ground - from measuring the intrinsic impact of live performances - through to creative capital assessment. He also presented two studies they have undertaken. Interesting stuff. To view more of these and other studies check out the insight section of Alan’s web site by following this link:  http://www.wolfbrown.com/index.php?page=resources

Henry

In the Volume 6, Number 8 edition of Hill Strategies’ Arts Research Monitor (www.artsresearchmonitor.com), you’ll find an article on audience development based on a presentation made by one of America’s foremost experts in the field, Alan S. Brown. He believes that the arts industry is ”in search of a new marketing model”. Mr. Brown is a proponent of Peer-to-Peer marketing, which includes structured word-of-mouth promotional activities, creating a network of resellers and promoters, as well as the use of modern communication tools (such as blogs and online social networks) to help arts organizations draw in new customers. 50 Carleton’s Integrated Audience Development Strategy includes this concept so that any arts organization can build its own ”community” of patrons ready to promote the activities of their favorite arts venue to potential customers. 

Denis Bertrand