Sunday, May 24, 2009

May 24, 2009

BARRY'S BLOG - SOME COOL RANDOM LINKS


Hello everybody.

"And the beat goes on.................."


NINE COOL RANDOM LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:
Here's some links I thought you might find interesting:

John Kilacky (Arts Program Officer - San Francisco Foundation) emailed me with this link to his Ten suggestions of things you can do to cope with the hard economic times. Check them out here – www.blueavocado.org/content/survival-strategies-arts

Here's an idea (from the Dalouge Smith blog - Dog Days - May 14, 2009)I have long thought should become reality. An Artist-in-residence in every corporation – click here: www.artsjournal.com/dogdays/

Some people thought Michelle Obama's remarks at the Metropolitan Museum in New York last week came up short, but to me what is important is the fact that the First Lady made the remarks in the first place. (I don't remember Laura Bush or Hillary Clinton out on the stump for the arts - though perhaps they did - though not often that's for sure.) One can only hope, however, that the arts are not just on the First Lady's radar screen, but will be a policy priority of the West Wing and the President too. Here is the text of Michelle Obama's speech – www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2009/05/text_of_michelle_obamas_speech.html

The Hewlett Foundation released the SRI follow-up report to their California arts education report - you can find it at their onsite library (scroll down) once you click here: www.hewlett.org/library

The Poodwaddle World Clock is a very cool site that gives you (in real time) the world population as it is growing plus scores of other world stats and info. It breaks down growth by continent, in terms of gender and some other fascinating statistics - there is a moving toolbar at the top - click on any of the icons. This is a dynamic site - play with it. I think you will find it fascinating. Click here: www.poodwaddle.com/clocks3.htm

Got an email this week from a Gen X self-described "emerging leader" who suggested to me that the real reason a lot of people are going to this year's Americans for the Arts Conference in Seattle is to network and look for possible new employment given that there are so many layoffs and closures going on in our sector. And I suppose if you are looking to put your name and face into people's minds so as to increase your chances of finding a new position, this conference is a very good one at which to do that. Click here for a link to their conference site: www.americansforthearts.org/Events/2009/convention/default.asp

Target Women if you want a donation. I have long suspected this is true. My own experience suggests most corporate giving decisions are made by high level exeutives wives. Here the Chronicle of Philanthropy suggests women in each family increasingly make the philanthropic decisions. www.philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=8307

Create a "social network" of your own. Ning.com is -(according to Ask.com) - "a social network designed around creating social networks. Ning invites users to create their own social network by going through a series of steps that name the social network, select a color scheme, and allow for unique profile questions.

In some ways, Ning is a portal to mini-social networks since you can choose to join any of the thousands of user-created networks, and in other ways, it is a social network development platform."
This has many potential uses for your arts organization. Click here: www.ning.com

Place group calls and send messages to multiple people for free (from your mobile or any other phone). www.foonz.com

If you have a link to a cool site you think people would like to know about, please add it as a comment below, or email me a reply. Thanks.


Hope you are rejuvinated following the Memorial Day holiday.

Have a good week.

Don't Quit.

Barry