I rarely do ADS updates, but I wanted to share what I am working on.  I am in the midst of several research projects.  I could use your help on a few of these if you have a moment.

The first project is researching about #artsmyths (the Twitter hashtag).  I am seeking to find the top myths about the arts and will be developing a few posts and perhaps a presentation on this topic.  What would you say is the top arts myth you have come across?  For example, one myth is that museums are boring.  Another myth, the young hate classical music.  Please comment or tweet at me @AudienceDevSpec and use the hashtag #artsmyths so I can collect them easily.

I am also researching the barriers or reasons why people do not attend the arts. We have dabbled on the issue throughout the decades.  Yesterday I found a research paper from 1986 by the National Endowment for the Arts: AGE, DESIRE AND BARRIERS TO INCREASED ATTENDANCE AT PERFORMING ARTS EVENTS AND ART MUSEUMS.  What amazed me about this research is that the barriers cited are some of the same reasons that are cited today:

• Not enough time
• Art form not available
• Too far to go
• Health problems
• Poor performance time
• Too expensive
• Fear of crime

I am mainly looking at reports from 2005 to present day, and I am finding that these reasons are still cited in current research.  It brings up the question that I have posted in the past when I found the article from the ’90s about classical music and audiences – are we going in circles?

I cannot be the only one that feels that we are talking about the issues, yet not taking action with direct solutions.  I guess some of us are experimenting to find the answers, yet is seems like the majority of us continue to talk about the challenges without the goal of action. I hope I am wrong on this assessment.

Another project I am working on is to collect “Why the arts are important to me” statements for a future ADS podcast.  If you want to add your voice directly to the podcast, please tweet using the #artsadvoc hashtag to @AudienceDevSpec or send me a voice message online or by phoning me.

Lastly, you may know that I am attempting to fundraise for one of my own projects – to get my two eBooks to print.  I could use your help here as well.  If you can spare $5-$10 to help out, I can make my goal by November 30, 2014.  The goal is $2,000 since each book will cost about $999 via Lulu.com, and I’m currently at $225.

I do want to mention that I was a lurker for a tweet chat yesterday about arts loyalty.  I found from this chat that this topic is still very new to us and many have not started collecting the data necessary or have yet been thinking in terms of loyalty programs for our arts businesses.

Through many avenues of research, I am finding that data collection is something we all have to consider, and taking action as a result of analyzing this data is equally as important.  We can learn from case studies and research reports. We can finally buckle down and do our own research. Yet, none of the data will matter until we do something with it.

Thank you in advance for your support and your help on the above mentioned matters.  I hope to see your contributions to one of these projects soon!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza
Chief Audience Builder, ADS

Recap:

• #artsmyths on Twitter to @AudienceDevSpec or by commenting at the end of this post
• “The arts are important to me because___” via #artsadvoc to @AudienceDevSpec or send me a voice message online or by phoning me to add your voice to the ADS podcast.
• Help get my two eBooks to print – I need to raise $2,000 by 11/30/14, and I’m at $225.