Good morning
"And the beat goes on………………"
SERVICE DELIVERY / SERVICE FAILURE / AND SERVICE RECOVERY
Recognizing that satisfied customers are a critical variable in success, all businesses are increasingly concerned with service delivery, and when that delivery falls short (service failure) that taking steps to "make it right" are essential to maintain customers and avoid a situation where service failure negatively impacts future business.
The nonprofit arts are no different. It is incumbent on all arts organizations, and particularly on performing and visual exhibition organizations to provide their customers with satisfying experiences at all points where the customer interacts with the organization - from initial contact all the way through.
Smart businesses now engage in trying to figure out what the expectations are of customers at those various points, and as, or more importantly, what needs to be done if there is a breakdown at any one of them. Invariably, things don't always go as envisioned and things happen that disappoint, annoy or even anger customers, and that experience, absent an earnest and successful attempt to make it right, threatens to harm the business. And even little things can create negative experiences. While we talk about the transformational experience with the arts, it's the little things that sometimes are more important to the customer.
According to an Abstract Paper by Christine Ennew and Klaus Schoefer on Service Failure (defined as "when a service fails to live up to what was promised, or what the customer expected"), and Recovery in the Tourism Industry, "customers who experience a service failure are of three types: They complain, they spread negative word of mouth, or they elect not to repurchase (or again patronize the offending seller)." They go on to state that "there are three types of service failure: 1) unavailable service, 2) unreasonably slow service, or 3) other core failures - including unexpected behaviors by a company's employees, including level of attention, unusual actions, cultural norms, gestalt and adverse conditions."
The authors note that "understanding the type of service failure is important in designing the appropriate response." And that, according to a framework proposed by Day and Landon (1976), dissatisfied customers engage in: "redress seeking, complaining to others, and personal boycotting."
Which customers are likely to complain and by which means, helps to understand the whole area of service failure. Thus, for example, customers who believe complaining yields desired results, are more likely to complain.
Today, it is commonplace for businesses to engage in market research to identify customer expectations, to compare those expectations against what the business sees as realistic to deliver, and to assess and analyze that delivery and where it fails.
For arts organizations, the customer experience starts before they walk in the door, first with knowledge of the arts organization and what it offers - from advertising and promotion to websites leading to ticket purchase.
There are several expectations people have irrespective of the nature of the business. As to information, they want correct and reliable information, and they want that information to be easily and quickly available - whether dealing with a product or a service. Failure to provide that information may end the potential customer relationship before it really even starts With exhibit or performing organizations that's not only the what, when, where, and how much, but the ancillary information of site directions, parking, and more. Moreover, they want a sales message as to why they should be interested in the art that is concise and convincing. These 'needs' bear on the website and its ease of navigation; ticket office knowledge, responsiveness; and the staff treatment on arrival. It also involves the point of entry to the physical site, to such things as building appeal, layout, signage, and more. There are many things that can go amiss and disappoint arts organization customers before they get in the door.
Then, of course, there is the experience of the exhibition or performance itself. And the aftermath of that experience. Of course, not every exhibition or performance will please an audience, but there are elements of lighting, audio sound, comfort (including for performances seating, temperature control, et. al) amenities (cafe, bar) that audiences will take into consideration in judging service delivery.
So when something goes wrong, and invariably it's common that something may go wrong, what is to be done?
Businesses know that it is critically important to know when something goes wrong. It is understood that you need to take corrective action and move to placate disappointed or upset customers, and you can't do that unless you know they are unhappy. There must be some mechanism to hear customer complaints. So businesses have developed various approaches and tools so that there is built into the system means for them to discover and identify problems. There must be some mechanism or process for people to register their dissatisfaction. If you don't have a means to register complaints, you can't assess them or deal with them.
Tools ranging from audience surveys, and phone or internet complaint points, to focus groups are used to try to find out at what points service delivery has been, or may be, service failure. One of the tools businesses use is a Walk Through Audit. James and Mona Fitzsimmons in their work: Service Management (McGraw Hill International), suggest the audit "can be a useful diagnostic instrument for management to evaluate the gaps in perception between customers and managers. Customers visit a site less frequently than do managers, and thus, are more sensitive to subtle changes (e.g.,peeling paint, worn rugs) than are managers who see the facility every day and who are likely to overlook gradual deterioration of the supporting facility. The quality of customer service can also deteriorate and be less noticeable to employees as well as to managers."
A sample Walk Through Audit for the Helsinki Museum of Art and Design, included everything from asking if it was easy to get to the museum, were the operating hours convenient, to questions about ticketing, information (signs, language, available, friendly staff) to the experience of being in the museum (lighting, clear paths, background noise, to questions about the facility (toilets, cafe, gift shop etc.) Such a detailed feedback response allows the museum to "evaluate the service experience from the customer perspective." The best way to administer such a survey is thought to be immediately after the customer's service experience, and offering a future discount or gift certificate helps to increase participation. Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons op cit.
Once a service failure has been identified, then it is essential to have ways to make it right for the customer. Companies have developed all kinds of ways to address service failure so as to minimize the damage done to their businesses - and have employed devices ranging from unconditional guarantees, warranties, refunds, future discounts, free replacements and letters of apology.
The literature suggests that customers are primarily interested in: "1) early acknowledgment of the service failure: 2) an apology, and by a real person; 3) a willingness to quickly offer some remedy, to make it right; 4) some kind of "symbolic atonement" or form of compensation; 5) a follow up; and 6) a sincere promise to remedy the problem for the future."
Binder et. al. (1990) suggested that "it is not necessarily the failure itself that leads to customer dissatisfaction, as most customers do accept that things can go wrong. It is more likely the organization's response (or lack thereof) to a failure that causes dissatisfaction. They suggested that for a successful service recovery an organization's response should include four key elements: 1) Acknowledgment of the problem; 2) Explanation of the reason for the failure; 3) An apology where appropriate; and 4) Compensation."
An organization must also watch out for a kind of double dissatisfaction where there is not only a service failure, but the attempt at a service recovery is also perceived as a failure.
And it isn't just the dissatisfied customer. Research indicates that one dissatisfied customer will tell as many as 10 people of their negative experience, and that can result in the loss of potential customers. On the other hand, successful responses (service recovery) can have a positive impact on word of mouth.
According to Christine Ennew and Klaus Schoefer, "the potential benefits of effective service recovery include improvements in cumulative satisfaction, increased loyalty, repurchase and positive word of mouth."
The question is: To what extent do our arts organizations understand the true critical nature not only of superior service delivery, and have moved to make sure of that superior delivery quality - at every step of the customer interaction - but have also created and implemented means to identify when a service failure does occur (encouraging customer complaints), and have developed means to respond to that failure in a way so as to minimize the negative consequences. We're talking about systemic mechanisms that are ongoing.
I believe that all our arts organizations ought to review the procedures they have for welcoming complaints so they can be assured that when a service failure arises, it comes to their attention. And then I think they ought to establish and employ means to immediately deal with those service failures so that they minimize the loss of customers. There ought to be formal policies and established mechanisms and all of that ought to be reviewed periodically. And staff people at all levels should be trained to handle customer complaints.
Meet your customer's expectations, and, if you don't, know that and find out why. Then make corrections. That's a business requirement for everybody - including us.
Have a great day.
Don't Quit
Barry
Monday, November 30, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
December - The Lost Month
Good morning.
"And the beat goes on……………………."
Thursday is Thanksgiving. Wishing you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (and I have included the Arts Christmas Carols at the end of this post)
And now it begins. The monster that the holidays have become. Once upon a time, long, long ago, the holidays were a couple of weeks long. True, they were hectic weeks with a lot going on, but you could still actually get some work done despite the clamor. That was back when the Presidential election cycle was four months or so - from the conventions to the election. Neither of those realities exist anymore.
December is now increasingly a lost month. Write if off.
It starts right after Thanksgiving with Black Friday - which now starts in most places a week or two before black Friday. Soon Black Friday will start around Halloween, or maybe labor day. And Black Friday signals the shopping season. Shop, shop, shop. Spend, spend, spend. The economy depends on us consumers. Everything is geared towards getting those gifts we are obligated to buy. The decorations are up, the songs are starting to play, red and green are all of a sudden everywhere, and to entice you to make those purchases, everything is on sale. And what isn't on sale, soon will be. So we have been trained to resist the clarion calls to do our duty and break out the credit cards - much to the frustration of the sellers. So they - we know - will mark stuff down even further and we will play a game with them to see who blinks first. We've got plenty of time, it's only Thanksgiving (the last words of so many). And the hassles of shopping? All those Tri-athletes out there, I'd like to see you keep up with three days of Christmas mall shopping. Now that's an endurance test you wimps.
And this coming week is the countdown for making all the reservations for those of you who will go out of town for one reason or another during the holidays. In fact, if you haven't already made those arrangements, you may well be too late to get the flights and reservations you want. Your neighbor got a great flight and made her reservations in August. It is increasingly clear why you never really liked her (note to self: give her that fruit cake you got back in 2009). Oh and it turned out that the airlines weren't actually charging for each inch of leg room you wanted. That was just a rumor, right? There is nothing like flying, and the joys of an airport, to make for a festive and relaxing holiday. This is particularly true if you have a couple of layovers before you get to your final destination.
Shopping for gifts and travel plans are but two of the stressors of December. It's just a start. Here's what we're in for:
The first week in December: There is still time to get some actual work done the week after Thanksgiving. Yes you will have eaten too much over the four day holiday, and though you really meant to get a lot of work done and cross some of the things off that December "To-Do" list, Monday morning you will likely discover more things on that list, not fewer. One of the mysteries of life. Oh joy indeed.
So you will begin, the week after Thanksgiving, to feel the guilt creeping in. But not too much, because there is still a lot of time left. The smart people among us will see the the writing on the wall and begin to prioritize. The rest of us will smugly believe there is still time to get everything done and still attend to the holidays - and we eagerly embrace that fiction, despite years of experience to the contrary. Yes, everything still seems relatively normal. But you can begin to detect the monster out there that will make sinister demands on your limited and precious time, and you will be powerless to resist all those claims to your energy. This is technically the last week when you can really, rationally expect to be productive. Most of us will unintentionally squander this last opportunity. Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf?
The second week of December starts the inexorable slide from getting anything accomplished. You find yourself making lists and more lists as though the mere act of putting your obligations on a list will make them go away. List making is now the thing you do best. Note the irrational thinking that gives rise to this kind of behavior. It will grow. There should be plenty of time left to work at work, but the time seems to be taken up with invitations to this or that, more pressure regarding that unfinished shopping, plus you have to start thinking about the decorating and the meals and every other little thing the holidays demand. Then there is that colleague's birthday celebration. Honestly, it's just a little bit inconsiderate for people to go having birthdays just two weeks before Christmas isn't it? You're still pretty much in control, but you note that all the relentless playing of those Christmas Carols are starting to wear thin and even annoy you. And the tree. You have to get the tree AND decorate it this week. Those strands of lights again. Aaargghh. Got kids? They have Christmas celebrations too, and guess what? You're part of all that. Fortunately the only people who send Christmas Cards anymore are the local plumber and your auto repair shop (and thanks to you, the owner of that auto repair shop is spending this Christmas in Hawaii). Those work projects you meant to catch up on at home go by the wayside, because you don't get home until eight or nine o'clock - and you're extra tired. You rationalize the drinks and dinners and parties as "networking" and good for your career. Sleep would be good for you career too, but that doesn't seem to be an option. The week goes by faster than the time between bouts of Ben Carson sticking his foot in his mouth.
In the third week of December, things become critical. You have inexplicably said yes to way more invitations than you can possibly attend. And you promised yourself you would say "no" this year. Ah well. Now it's difficult to extricate yourself from these events. How on earth did this happen again? You've been eating so many cookies and holiday sweets that the sugar rushes - and then collapses - are playing havoc with your thinking. You've probably eaten the equivalent of a couple pounds each of sugar, butter and flour. That's got to be good for the metabolism, huh? And all that extra coffee isn't helping. Did these clothes shrink or something? You've got to work on that report, I mean you really do, but now you must get that shopping done that you've been postponing, and the stores are ridiculously crowded. Truth be you can't even find a parking space in the mall lots. You opt for online - but it still takes forever making a decision. And you hope you can still get delivery of THE toy that Santa has to have under the tree (they promise you can, but they promised that last year didn't they). OMG, why did you wait so long. Remember, you've still got that report (yes, yes, thank you so much for reminding me) and a score of donor phone calls to make, and by now you begin to hate, yes hate, at least certain of the Christmas songs that ubiquitously play all the time. Joy to the World to you maybe pal. The colors red and green are getting on your nerves and even starting to make your stomach ache. And the crowds and traffic everywhere are unbelievable. These people need to stay home more. Oh, and the Christmas budget you swore to adhere to? You exceeded that two weeks ago. There is no choice at work: you've just got to cut back to those things that absolutely, positively have to get done, no excuses. You wonder if that is even possible. You suspect (correctly) that it's not.
The last few days before Christmas yield no breaks. Still a last minute gift or two to buy perhaps, and even if that's done, you got to wrap them and distribute them, and OMG did you get that Silent Santa gift for your work colleague yet? You rush out at lunchtime. Half your meals are at events, the other half are eaten standing up or at your desk. You're eating too much you know, drinking a bit more often too (what exactly is in egg nog anyway?), and you are dog tired. Boy, the holidays are a lot of work. By now if you are seriously considering that you can still finish the workload, you are faking it. In the back of your head you are rationalizing that a lot of stuff can wait until next week (or maybe next year!) That damn report. Maybe a Christmas eve all nighter?
And then there is the day itself. Family, friends, and too much of everything. Hopefully the day goes by without incident - though there is no guarantee of that. Somebody may get on somebody's nerves. Remember no discussing politics or anything controversial! You hope you can keep quiet. You promise you'll try. Once it's over, you can begin to recover. Resolve to do better in the coming week. But New Year's is on a Friday, and thus New Year's eve is on Thursday, and so your head won't be much into work from Wednesday on. With Monday a kind of December Christmas season hangover day, that leaves you with Tuesday to actually get anything done. Oh dear. So much to do in one day. Your mind wanders. If everybody would just leave you alone for the whole day, you know you could actually get a lot done on Tuesday, but there is little chance they will leave you alone. It's December, you are in open season play. Your time is simply not your own. Deal with it.
Monday, January 4th: With December gone, life can return to normal and you can again take some control of your life. That comforting feeling is only interrupted by the realization of how much work you have on your plate. Aaarrggg!! We will all resolve to get healthy and to get organized in 2016. A small percentage of us have any chance of staying that course. Our intentions are good anyway.
It is after all, now an eleven month year. December is just a holiday.
But despite the stress and the pitfalls of an unforgiving December, despite too much work, much of which doesn't get done, the holidays still bring to most of us some joy and magic of a season where people are kind, and humanity's better impulses are on display. We celebrate moments of joy and find comfort anew in the smiles of people's good will. And for those lucky enough to share these holidays with kids, the magic is apparent and it becomes obvious why we can cope with the bad stuff. The hope and innocence of children is why we are able to steel ourselves against the cruelty and insanity of a world that sometimes seems hopeless. The holidays and December may be a whirlwind, but there is much joy to embrace. No, we don't get all the work done, but it's ok, it will still be there when we return. It always is.
[Of course, for those out there who are the ultra managers who are organized and on top of it all, this Christmas season is likely a piece of cake and enjoyable on every level. To all of you I can only say: "Go Away."]
No matter what, or how, you celebrate at this time of year, I wish you all the happiest of holidays.
And so as to lighten your December burden, and get you in the holiday mood and spirit, I have taken the liberty of updating some Christmas Carols to more meaningfully relate to our nonprofit arts lives.
Sing along with me:
The 12 Days of Christmas:
On the first day of Christmas, my great staff gave to me
a Patron in a pear tree
On the second day of Christmas, my great staff gave to me
2 arts presenters
And a Patron in a pear tree
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my great staff gave to me
12 teaching artists
11 arts advocates
10 funders funding
9 data researchers
8 arts administrators
7 bloggers blogging
6 service providers
5 Golden Donors
4 board chairs
3 development directors
2 arts presenters
And a Patron in a pear tree
Joy to the World
Joy to the world, the researchers have come
Let the arts receive their king
Let every E.D. prepare them room
And funders everywhere sing
And funders everywhere sing
And funders, and funders - everywhere sing
Data rules the world with numbers supreme
And makes the stories real
In strategies and plans, and all of our dreams
Repeat the complex schemes
Repeat the complex schemes
Repeat, repeat the complex schemes
Jingle Bells
Cold calling on the phone, oh please do let me say
We do important work
So please send a check our way
Our artists must be fed, Our accounts are in the red
Oh what fun it is to ride in this same old tired sled.
Jingle bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is I'm sure to fund raise every day
Jingle bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is I'm sure to fund raise every day
It's The Most Stressful Time of the Year
It's the most stressful time of the year
With deadlines approaching, and staff to be coaching
And everyone needing you near
It's the most stressful time of the year.
It's the crazy, craziest season of all
With those holiday greetings
Making you late for your meetings
And projects that inevitably stall
It's the craziest season of all
There'll be working too late
Facebook to update
And emails into the night
And performances to go to
And too much more to do
While trying to make it all right
It's the most stressful time of the year
There'll be donors to coddle
And no time to dawdle
As you pretend to be of good cheer
It's the most stressful time of the year
Deck the Halls
Deck the halls with Kickstarter pleas
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to get on our knees
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Begging for that grant we lost
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Hoping this time for overhead costs
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas
I'm dreaming of a green Christmas
Just like the ones I want to know
Where donor cash flows, to make our hearts glow
And make empty bank accounts grow
I'm dreaming of a green Christmas
With every grant app that I write
May your days be merry with all your dreams
And may all your Christmases be green
Silent Night
Silent night, empty seats
All's not calm, were feeling beat
Tickets don't sell, oh what can we do
Engaging our communities seems to yield so few
Back to the planning brainstorms
Back to the planning brainstorms
Santa Funder's Coming to Town
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Funder's coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice
Gonna find out Who's needy and nice
Santa Finder's coming to town
He sees you when you're working
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you're doing bad or good
So do good for goodness sake!
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Funder's coming to town
Rudolph the Red Nosed Place Maker
Rudolph the arts place maker
Had a great engagement plan
And if you ever saw it
You would even say its grand
All of the other funders
Use to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph fund any arts project frames
Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say
Rudolph with your idea so right
Won't you guide your sector tonight
Then all the communities loved him
As they shouted out with glee
Rudolph the arts place maker
You'll go down in history.
Winer Wonderland
Carolers singing
Are you listening
In the theater
Cash registers ringing
A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland
Gone away, are the slackers
Here to stay, come the Nutcrackers
A profit for dance
To give us a chance
Walking in a winter wonderland
In the meadow we can build a snowman
And pretend that he supports the arts
He'll say are you funded
We'll say No Man
But you can do the job
And give us a start
Later on
We'll conspire
As we dream of staff to hire
To face unafraid
The plans that we've made
Walking in a winter wonderland
Have a great week, and good luck with those December lists.
Don't Quit
Barry
"And the beat goes on……………………."
Thursday is Thanksgiving. Wishing you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (and I have included the Arts Christmas Carols at the end of this post)
And now it begins. The monster that the holidays have become. Once upon a time, long, long ago, the holidays were a couple of weeks long. True, they were hectic weeks with a lot going on, but you could still actually get some work done despite the clamor. That was back when the Presidential election cycle was four months or so - from the conventions to the election. Neither of those realities exist anymore.
December is now increasingly a lost month. Write if off.
It starts right after Thanksgiving with Black Friday - which now starts in most places a week or two before black Friday. Soon Black Friday will start around Halloween, or maybe labor day. And Black Friday signals the shopping season. Shop, shop, shop. Spend, spend, spend. The economy depends on us consumers. Everything is geared towards getting those gifts we are obligated to buy. The decorations are up, the songs are starting to play, red and green are all of a sudden everywhere, and to entice you to make those purchases, everything is on sale. And what isn't on sale, soon will be. So we have been trained to resist the clarion calls to do our duty and break out the credit cards - much to the frustration of the sellers. So they - we know - will mark stuff down even further and we will play a game with them to see who blinks first. We've got plenty of time, it's only Thanksgiving (the last words of so many). And the hassles of shopping? All those Tri-athletes out there, I'd like to see you keep up with three days of Christmas mall shopping. Now that's an endurance test you wimps.
And this coming week is the countdown for making all the reservations for those of you who will go out of town for one reason or another during the holidays. In fact, if you haven't already made those arrangements, you may well be too late to get the flights and reservations you want. Your neighbor got a great flight and made her reservations in August. It is increasingly clear why you never really liked her (note to self: give her that fruit cake you got back in 2009). Oh and it turned out that the airlines weren't actually charging for each inch of leg room you wanted. That was just a rumor, right? There is nothing like flying, and the joys of an airport, to make for a festive and relaxing holiday. This is particularly true if you have a couple of layovers before you get to your final destination.
Shopping for gifts and travel plans are but two of the stressors of December. It's just a start. Here's what we're in for:
The first week in December: There is still time to get some actual work done the week after Thanksgiving. Yes you will have eaten too much over the four day holiday, and though you really meant to get a lot of work done and cross some of the things off that December "To-Do" list, Monday morning you will likely discover more things on that list, not fewer. One of the mysteries of life. Oh joy indeed.
So you will begin, the week after Thanksgiving, to feel the guilt creeping in. But not too much, because there is still a lot of time left. The smart people among us will see the the writing on the wall and begin to prioritize. The rest of us will smugly believe there is still time to get everything done and still attend to the holidays - and we eagerly embrace that fiction, despite years of experience to the contrary. Yes, everything still seems relatively normal. But you can begin to detect the monster out there that will make sinister demands on your limited and precious time, and you will be powerless to resist all those claims to your energy. This is technically the last week when you can really, rationally expect to be productive. Most of us will unintentionally squander this last opportunity. Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf?
The second week of December starts the inexorable slide from getting anything accomplished. You find yourself making lists and more lists as though the mere act of putting your obligations on a list will make them go away. List making is now the thing you do best. Note the irrational thinking that gives rise to this kind of behavior. It will grow. There should be plenty of time left to work at work, but the time seems to be taken up with invitations to this or that, more pressure regarding that unfinished shopping, plus you have to start thinking about the decorating and the meals and every other little thing the holidays demand. Then there is that colleague's birthday celebration. Honestly, it's just a little bit inconsiderate for people to go having birthdays just two weeks before Christmas isn't it? You're still pretty much in control, but you note that all the relentless playing of those Christmas Carols are starting to wear thin and even annoy you. And the tree. You have to get the tree AND decorate it this week. Those strands of lights again. Aaargghh. Got kids? They have Christmas celebrations too, and guess what? You're part of all that. Fortunately the only people who send Christmas Cards anymore are the local plumber and your auto repair shop (and thanks to you, the owner of that auto repair shop is spending this Christmas in Hawaii). Those work projects you meant to catch up on at home go by the wayside, because you don't get home until eight or nine o'clock - and you're extra tired. You rationalize the drinks and dinners and parties as "networking" and good for your career. Sleep would be good for you career too, but that doesn't seem to be an option. The week goes by faster than the time between bouts of Ben Carson sticking his foot in his mouth.
In the third week of December, things become critical. You have inexplicably said yes to way more invitations than you can possibly attend. And you promised yourself you would say "no" this year. Ah well. Now it's difficult to extricate yourself from these events. How on earth did this happen again? You've been eating so many cookies and holiday sweets that the sugar rushes - and then collapses - are playing havoc with your thinking. You've probably eaten the equivalent of a couple pounds each of sugar, butter and flour. That's got to be good for the metabolism, huh? And all that extra coffee isn't helping. Did these clothes shrink or something? You've got to work on that report, I mean you really do, but now you must get that shopping done that you've been postponing, and the stores are ridiculously crowded. Truth be you can't even find a parking space in the mall lots. You opt for online - but it still takes forever making a decision. And you hope you can still get delivery of THE toy that Santa has to have under the tree (they promise you can, but they promised that last year didn't they). OMG, why did you wait so long. Remember, you've still got that report (yes, yes, thank you so much for reminding me) and a score of donor phone calls to make, and by now you begin to hate, yes hate, at least certain of the Christmas songs that ubiquitously play all the time. Joy to the World to you maybe pal. The colors red and green are getting on your nerves and even starting to make your stomach ache. And the crowds and traffic everywhere are unbelievable. These people need to stay home more. Oh, and the Christmas budget you swore to adhere to? You exceeded that two weeks ago. There is no choice at work: you've just got to cut back to those things that absolutely, positively have to get done, no excuses. You wonder if that is even possible. You suspect (correctly) that it's not.
The last few days before Christmas yield no breaks. Still a last minute gift or two to buy perhaps, and even if that's done, you got to wrap them and distribute them, and OMG did you get that Silent Santa gift for your work colleague yet? You rush out at lunchtime. Half your meals are at events, the other half are eaten standing up or at your desk. You're eating too much you know, drinking a bit more often too (what exactly is in egg nog anyway?), and you are dog tired. Boy, the holidays are a lot of work. By now if you are seriously considering that you can still finish the workload, you are faking it. In the back of your head you are rationalizing that a lot of stuff can wait until next week (or maybe next year!) That damn report. Maybe a Christmas eve all nighter?
And then there is the day itself. Family, friends, and too much of everything. Hopefully the day goes by without incident - though there is no guarantee of that. Somebody may get on somebody's nerves. Remember no discussing politics or anything controversial! You hope you can keep quiet. You promise you'll try. Once it's over, you can begin to recover. Resolve to do better in the coming week. But New Year's is on a Friday, and thus New Year's eve is on Thursday, and so your head won't be much into work from Wednesday on. With Monday a kind of December Christmas season hangover day, that leaves you with Tuesday to actually get anything done. Oh dear. So much to do in one day. Your mind wanders. If everybody would just leave you alone for the whole day, you know you could actually get a lot done on Tuesday, but there is little chance they will leave you alone. It's December, you are in open season play. Your time is simply not your own. Deal with it.
Monday, January 4th: With December gone, life can return to normal and you can again take some control of your life. That comforting feeling is only interrupted by the realization of how much work you have on your plate. Aaarrggg!! We will all resolve to get healthy and to get organized in 2016. A small percentage of us have any chance of staying that course. Our intentions are good anyway.
It is after all, now an eleven month year. December is just a holiday.
But despite the stress and the pitfalls of an unforgiving December, despite too much work, much of which doesn't get done, the holidays still bring to most of us some joy and magic of a season where people are kind, and humanity's better impulses are on display. We celebrate moments of joy and find comfort anew in the smiles of people's good will. And for those lucky enough to share these holidays with kids, the magic is apparent and it becomes obvious why we can cope with the bad stuff. The hope and innocence of children is why we are able to steel ourselves against the cruelty and insanity of a world that sometimes seems hopeless. The holidays and December may be a whirlwind, but there is much joy to embrace. No, we don't get all the work done, but it's ok, it will still be there when we return. It always is.
[Of course, for those out there who are the ultra managers who are organized and on top of it all, this Christmas season is likely a piece of cake and enjoyable on every level. To all of you I can only say: "Go Away."]
No matter what, or how, you celebrate at this time of year, I wish you all the happiest of holidays.
And so as to lighten your December burden, and get you in the holiday mood and spirit, I have taken the liberty of updating some Christmas Carols to more meaningfully relate to our nonprofit arts lives.
Sing along with me:
The 12 Days of Christmas:
On the first day of Christmas, my great staff gave to me
a Patron in a pear tree
On the second day of Christmas, my great staff gave to me
2 arts presenters
And a Patron in a pear tree
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my great staff gave to me
12 teaching artists
11 arts advocates
10 funders funding
9 data researchers
8 arts administrators
7 bloggers blogging
6 service providers
5 Golden Donors
4 board chairs
3 development directors
2 arts presenters
And a Patron in a pear tree
Joy to the World
Joy to the world, the researchers have come
Let the arts receive their king
Let every E.D. prepare them room
And funders everywhere sing
And funders everywhere sing
And funders, and funders - everywhere sing
Data rules the world with numbers supreme
And makes the stories real
In strategies and plans, and all of our dreams
Repeat the complex schemes
Repeat the complex schemes
Repeat, repeat the complex schemes
Jingle Bells
Cold calling on the phone, oh please do let me say
We do important work
So please send a check our way
Our artists must be fed, Our accounts are in the red
Oh what fun it is to ride in this same old tired sled.
Jingle bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is I'm sure to fund raise every day
Jingle bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is I'm sure to fund raise every day
It's The Most Stressful Time of the Year
It's the most stressful time of the year
With deadlines approaching, and staff to be coaching
And everyone needing you near
It's the most stressful time of the year.
It's the crazy, craziest season of all
With those holiday greetings
Making you late for your meetings
And projects that inevitably stall
It's the craziest season of all
There'll be working too late
Facebook to update
And emails into the night
And performances to go to
And too much more to do
While trying to make it all right
It's the most stressful time of the year
There'll be donors to coddle
And no time to dawdle
As you pretend to be of good cheer
It's the most stressful time of the year
Deck the Halls
Deck the halls with Kickstarter pleas
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to get on our knees
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Begging for that grant we lost
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Hoping this time for overhead costs
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas
I'm dreaming of a green Christmas
Just like the ones I want to know
Where donor cash flows, to make our hearts glow
And make empty bank accounts grow
I'm dreaming of a green Christmas
With every grant app that I write
May your days be merry with all your dreams
And may all your Christmases be green
Silent Night
Silent night, empty seats
All's not calm, were feeling beat
Tickets don't sell, oh what can we do
Engaging our communities seems to yield so few
Back to the planning brainstorms
Back to the planning brainstorms
Santa Funder's Coming to Town
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Funder's coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice
Gonna find out Who's needy and nice
Santa Finder's coming to town
He sees you when you're working
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you're doing bad or good
So do good for goodness sake!
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Funder's coming to town
Rudolph the Red Nosed Place Maker
Rudolph the arts place maker
Had a great engagement plan
And if you ever saw it
You would even say its grand
All of the other funders
Use to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph fund any arts project frames
Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say
Rudolph with your idea so right
Won't you guide your sector tonight
Then all the communities loved him
As they shouted out with glee
Rudolph the arts place maker
You'll go down in history.
Winer Wonderland
Carolers singing
Are you listening
In the theater
Cash registers ringing
A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland
Gone away, are the slackers
Here to stay, come the Nutcrackers
A profit for dance
To give us a chance
Walking in a winter wonderland
In the meadow we can build a snowman
And pretend that he supports the arts
He'll say are you funded
We'll say No Man
But you can do the job
And give us a start
Later on
We'll conspire
As we dream of staff to hire
To face unafraid
The plans that we've made
Walking in a winter wonderland
Have a great week, and good luck with those December lists.
Don't Quit
Barry
Sunday, November 15, 2015
How Do We Break Into the Tweens and Teens Busy Schedule So We Have a Future?
Good morning.
"And the beat goes on……………"
What an odd, dichotomous world we live in. Sanity last week in Myanmar; insanity in Paris.
Getting on the Screens:
If we are to have a rosy future for the arts, it's clear we absolutely must figure out a way to insure that today's tweens and teens are part of our mix. We will need them as audiences, supporters, administrators, and artists. We have to figure out a way to recruit them, involve them, entice them and hook them on the arts, and do that as early in their lives as possible. If we don't do that, then our performance seats will be empty, donations will be scarce, and who knows whether or not we will continue to attract the best and brightest to our field, or whether or not the pool of artists grows or declines. It may be trite to state the obvious, but if we don't develop them as our future, then there won't be much of a future for what we are pushing.
Competition for their time and loyalty is keen and formidable. And they are at an age where their tastes are peer influenced, subject to wide swings and often transitory and temporary. Getting to them is arguably harder than it has ever been.
The theory has long been that kids who are exposed to, and involved in, the arts in school, will more likely be future audience members and donor / supporters. That proposition has some evidence to support it, but is by no means an established fact. Kids who have the arts as part of their education, certainly do better on a host of markers. But that doesn't necessarily mean they will, as adults, be more involved, though we think they will. But despite our continued best efforts to insure that all kids K-12 get standards based, sequential arts in school, unfortunately, some do, and many still do not.
So if we haven't yet figured out how to succeed in offering the arts to every kid in school, how else are we going to break into their busy days and get them to see and understand both the enjoyment and the value of the arts to their lives.
Consider the following recent news items about how tweens and teens spend their time:
According to a report by Common Sense Media (based on a national sample of more than 2,600 young people ages 8 to 18) - widely quoted in the press last week:
And these kids are predominantly on mobile platforms:
Not surprisingly, there is variation in how differing groups are in front of screens, most notably in gender:
Indeed, should you think how tweens and teens (boys or girls) spend their time in front of a screen isn't that big a deal, consider this news item in Forbes this past week:
Nine hours a day, broken down as reported in the WSJ:
And what are they watching on their screens? According to an article in the Washington Post:
Beyond watching television, DVDs and video's:
Unfortunately, for the idea that access to being online presents incredible opportunities for creating, rather than passively consuming, content, the report nixes that notion with respect to tweens and teens:
We need more than that 3%.
There are still just 24 hours in a day, so if the tweens and teens are in front of a screen for 9 of those hours, and in school for say 6 of those hours, and sleep for seven of those hours (and they need at least that much sleep), and eat, exercise (maybe) or whatever else for the remaining two hours, then IF we want to get to them (and we can't get to all of them in the schools, and not likely in their sleep), then we have to figure out how to get onto those screens they are in front of every day - television, you tube, instagram, video games, vine, movies, social networks etc. etc. etc. because there is no other choice.
So how do we do that? How do we get more television shows they relate to that feature the arts in a positive way (like Glee or So You Think You Can Dance). How do we embed the arts in video games? How do we make a percentage of the you tube videos they watch center on the arts? How do we embed the arts more on Instagram? And on Vine. And on social networks?
How do we allow the average tween / teen to personalize the celebratization of the arts so that we can compete with a Kardashian and Transformer world? How do we make involvement in the arts a form of a new selfie that transcends the shallowness of the simplicity of the current form of a selfie - one with a bigger payoff on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest? How do we present the arts so they capture both the novelty and then the utilitarianism of AirBnb, Uber or other innovative changes in the way people move - but scale it for a tween / teen cohort? How do we begin to ask questions that directly relate to the changes in growing up, and that will have arts as part of real answers? And if we can do that, how do we include the thread that the arts are fun, cool, valuable and warrant the tween / teens interest, time, loyalty and involvement, and make sure the kids get that the arts are for them?
Whew!! I don't know either. But we have got to get more on the edge. We can't be so complacent in relying on the past approaches to reaching out. Consider this:
Now Justin Bieber has like 25 million twitter followers, is the king of You Tube and social media, and is all over the media. One would think all he would have to do on the release of a new album is announce the fact to his fan base. End of story. But in a lesson for us I think, and perhaps why he continues to have success, is that his team is unwilling to rely on what worked in the past, and continually tries to break new ground. They intuitively know that things are never static and always changing and that is simply the fact of life in any interaction with the younger cohort. That is exactly what we have to do. Get out there on the edge more.
I know that what tweens and teens will do in the future seems like a long way off if you are running an arts organization and have your plate full with all kinds of things that you need to do this week, or next, or next month, but as a sector we had better very soon start to try to figure it out - IF we want to have a future. While art will likely always exist, and while artists will likely always be part of the matrix, and while a percentage of the public will likely always want and support the arts, there is no guarantee whatsoever today that the numbers of current tweens and teens in our camp will grow to be large enough to continue the existence of the nonprofit arts world as we know it. We need to start thinking in terms of access to, and a presence on, these screens - more than thinking just in terms of social network platforms or the like, because these screens are where they live. We can use buzzwords like engagement if we want, but the bottom line is these different screens are virtually the only pipeline there is to reach this group. It is being on these screens that counts, and is essential to be one them if we are to scale up our presence with a generation. And we're not on those screens enough. I know too that this is a sector wide challenge and will require national organizations, national funders and thinkers to address it on behalf of all the single organizations.
Forget the theories and lexicon and convoluted approaches. I just don't see a viable alternative to getting to these kids other than us getting on those screens these kids are front of nine hours a day. That's where we have to start. And soon.
Have a great week.
Don't Quit
Barry
"And the beat goes on……………"
What an odd, dichotomous world we live in. Sanity last week in Myanmar; insanity in Paris.
Getting on the Screens:
If we are to have a rosy future for the arts, it's clear we absolutely must figure out a way to insure that today's tweens and teens are part of our mix. We will need them as audiences, supporters, administrators, and artists. We have to figure out a way to recruit them, involve them, entice them and hook them on the arts, and do that as early in their lives as possible. If we don't do that, then our performance seats will be empty, donations will be scarce, and who knows whether or not we will continue to attract the best and brightest to our field, or whether or not the pool of artists grows or declines. It may be trite to state the obvious, but if we don't develop them as our future, then there won't be much of a future for what we are pushing.
Competition for their time and loyalty is keen and formidable. And they are at an age where their tastes are peer influenced, subject to wide swings and often transitory and temporary. Getting to them is arguably harder than it has ever been.
The theory has long been that kids who are exposed to, and involved in, the arts in school, will more likely be future audience members and donor / supporters. That proposition has some evidence to support it, but is by no means an established fact. Kids who have the arts as part of their education, certainly do better on a host of markers. But that doesn't necessarily mean they will, as adults, be more involved, though we think they will. But despite our continued best efforts to insure that all kids K-12 get standards based, sequential arts in school, unfortunately, some do, and many still do not.
So if we haven't yet figured out how to succeed in offering the arts to every kid in school, how else are we going to break into their busy days and get them to see and understand both the enjoyment and the value of the arts to their lives.
Consider the following recent news items about how tweens and teens spend their time:
According to a report by Common Sense Media (based on a national sample of more than 2,600 young people ages 8 to 18) - widely quoted in the press last week:
"On any given day, teens in the United States spend about nine hours using media for their enjoyment, and the nine hours does not include time spent using media at school or for their homework.Tweens, identified as children 8 to 12, spend about six hours, on average, consuming media, the report found."
And these kids are predominantly on mobile platforms:
"Consider these stats: 53% of tweens -- kids 8 to 12 -- have their own tablet and 67% of teens have their own smartphones. Mobile devices account for 41% of all screen time for tweens and 46% for teens."
Not surprisingly, there is variation in how differing groups are in front of screens, most notably in gender:
"There are definite gender differences when it comes to media habits of teens and tweens.
Some 62% of teen boys say they enjoy playing video games "a lot" versus 20% of girls. When it comes to using social media, 44% of teen girls say they enjoy it "a lot" versus 29% for boys. Girls, on average, spend about 40 minutes more on social networks than boys, with girls spending about an hour and a half a day on social media and boys a little under an hour."
Indeed, should you think how tweens and teens (boys or girls) spend their time in front of a screen isn't that big a deal, consider this news item in Forbes this past week:
"The Activision video game: Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 was the “biggest entertainment launch of the year. a $550M opening weekend for the Friday, Saturday, Sunday release of the game compared to Jurassic World’s US debut of $208.8M on(its') opening weekend"
100 million people have played Call of Duty.
Nine hours a day, broken down as reported in the WSJ:
"While there are countless ways teens and tweens can interact with media, the overwhelming majority of young people surveyed listed watching TV and listening to music as activities that they enjoy “a lot” and engage in “every day.According to Common Sense’s report, teens and tweens spend roughly two-and-a-half hours a day watching TV, DVDs or videos, more than any other media activity. This category includes watching a TV program at the time it is broadcast, time-shifted viewing of a show, watching programs on a streaming video service, watching clips on platforms such as YouTube and watching shows or movies on a DVD."
And what are they watching on their screens? According to an article in the Washington Post:
"Youth between the ages of 12 and 17 watch fewer hours of traditional television than any other age group; and the figure has declined 7 percent in the last five years, from 104 to 96 hours per month, according to a Nielsen report from the first quarter of this year.
Forget 15 minutes of fame on the Internet–six seconds will do.
That’s the maximum length of a video on Vine, the social media app that lets users capture and share looping short films–and is spawning an entire crop of celebrity names unlikely to ring a bell with anyone over 18."
Beyond watching television, DVDs and video's:
"On average, teens spend nearly two hours a day listening to music while tweens spend just under an hour a day doing so. Teens and tweens each spend about an hour and 20 minutes playing video, computer or mobile games. Teens use social media for one hour and 11 minutes on average a day, compared to just 16 minutes for tweens."
Unfortunately, for the idea that access to being online presents incredible opportunities for creating, rather than passively consuming, content, the report nixes that notion with respect to tweens and teens:
"Common Sense’s research found that young people overwhelmingly tend to consume other people’s media content rather than create their own. Teens and tweens spend 39% and 41% of their digital media time, respectively, “passively” consuming content such as online videos, TV shows or listening to music.
In comparison, only 3% of teens and tweens’ digital media time is spent on creating content such as making art or music or writing."
We need more than that 3%.
There are still just 24 hours in a day, so if the tweens and teens are in front of a screen for 9 of those hours, and in school for say 6 of those hours, and sleep for seven of those hours (and they need at least that much sleep), and eat, exercise (maybe) or whatever else for the remaining two hours, then IF we want to get to them (and we can't get to all of them in the schools, and not likely in their sleep), then we have to figure out how to get onto those screens they are in front of every day - television, you tube, instagram, video games, vine, movies, social networks etc. etc. etc. because there is no other choice.
So how do we do that? How do we get more television shows they relate to that feature the arts in a positive way (like Glee or So You Think You Can Dance). How do we embed the arts in video games? How do we make a percentage of the you tube videos they watch center on the arts? How do we embed the arts more on Instagram? And on Vine. And on social networks?
How do we allow the average tween / teen to personalize the celebratization of the arts so that we can compete with a Kardashian and Transformer world? How do we make involvement in the arts a form of a new selfie that transcends the shallowness of the simplicity of the current form of a selfie - one with a bigger payoff on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest? How do we present the arts so they capture both the novelty and then the utilitarianism of AirBnb, Uber or other innovative changes in the way people move - but scale it for a tween / teen cohort? How do we begin to ask questions that directly relate to the changes in growing up, and that will have arts as part of real answers? And if we can do that, how do we include the thread that the arts are fun, cool, valuable and warrant the tween / teens interest, time, loyalty and involvement, and make sure the kids get that the arts are for them?
Whew!! I don't know either. But we have got to get more on the edge. We can't be so complacent in relying on the past approaches to reaching out. Consider this:
"If you often take Lyft cars, you might just end up in your next one alongside Justin Bieber.The pop star is releasing his new album "Purpose" in a rather novel way. Shirking the traditional release strategy, Bieber is literally taking to the streets with a promotion facilitated by the SF ride-share app.Between November 12-19, Lyft users who select the "Bieber Mode" function within the app and take a ride for $5 will be rewarded with a download code and a $5 credit for their next ride."
Now Justin Bieber has like 25 million twitter followers, is the king of You Tube and social media, and is all over the media. One would think all he would have to do on the release of a new album is announce the fact to his fan base. End of story. But in a lesson for us I think, and perhaps why he continues to have success, is that his team is unwilling to rely on what worked in the past, and continually tries to break new ground. They intuitively know that things are never static and always changing and that is simply the fact of life in any interaction with the younger cohort. That is exactly what we have to do. Get out there on the edge more.
I know that what tweens and teens will do in the future seems like a long way off if you are running an arts organization and have your plate full with all kinds of things that you need to do this week, or next, or next month, but as a sector we had better very soon start to try to figure it out - IF we want to have a future. While art will likely always exist, and while artists will likely always be part of the matrix, and while a percentage of the public will likely always want and support the arts, there is no guarantee whatsoever today that the numbers of current tweens and teens in our camp will grow to be large enough to continue the existence of the nonprofit arts world as we know it. We need to start thinking in terms of access to, and a presence on, these screens - more than thinking just in terms of social network platforms or the like, because these screens are where they live. We can use buzzwords like engagement if we want, but the bottom line is these different screens are virtually the only pipeline there is to reach this group. It is being on these screens that counts, and is essential to be one them if we are to scale up our presence with a generation. And we're not on those screens enough. I know too that this is a sector wide challenge and will require national organizations, national funders and thinkers to address it on behalf of all the single organizations.
Forget the theories and lexicon and convoluted approaches. I just don't see a viable alternative to getting to these kids other than us getting on those screens these kids are front of nine hours a day. That's where we have to start. And soon.
Have a great week.
Don't Quit
Barry
Monday, November 9, 2015
Unreality in Our Goals and Objectives
Good morning.
"And the beat goes on………………"
When you are trying to motivate and inspire a lot of people to join together for some lofty common purpose, which is the better approach: To shoot for the moon so as to keep the big picture vision in mind of what you really want to happen?; or to acknowledge the on-the-ground reality and approach the objective from a more practical perspective?
That is the conundrum that we face in the arts on multiple levels. On the one hand, it can be argued that we are unrealistic, perhaps even in denial, in our continually approaching big challenges as though what we have been doing that isn't working, somehow will soon turn the corner and change will come. Those on this side of the fence argue that it is not only a waste of precious resources, including time, but a disservice to forever act as though our big picture plans are obtainable, when they may, in fact, not be attainable in anywhere near the form and format that we preach is the gospel. These people take the position that we need to temper our actions towards shorter term goals that are possible. And that doing otherwise, in the long run, is discouraging and draining. Others believe that even though we make only marginal progress, those steps are moving us forward, and that we need to have a vision of what we ultimately want and that helps us to move towards that ultimate goal. Little steps don't inspire as many people, including our stakeholders, and the public to stay the course and commit the resources necessary to keep trying.
Arts Education falls into this dichotomy. We know what we want. We want standards based, curriculum integrated, sequential arts instruction K-12 by qualified and trained teachers / instructors, augmented by exposure to extant societal arts by professional artists. And we want that available to every single student in the country in at least the visual, music, dance and theater areas.
And while that is available in some districts that are wealthy and can afford it (though not all), it has been, and continues to be, unavailable across much of the country in poorer districts - resulting in a glaring inequity that in many instances is arguably structural racism, and in other cases, the rule, not the exception, that the arts are not simply undervalued, but not valued at all. And it comes down to money.
Take California as an example. When I was at the California Arts Council, we had an annual ten million dollar arts educations grants budget to try to launch initiatives that could get us closer to that lofty goal of universal arts education. And, with the economy doing well back then, there were successful attempts in several metro areas of the state - most notably in Los Angeles's Unified School District - to finally get closer to offering arts education to every student; an effort that united the city and county's educational, civic and political leadership in moving the dime forward. Universal arts education - K-12 - as per the goal above, wasn't achieved, but we were on our way to moving in that direction.
And today? The 2008 recession made funding cuts a reality. And as always, with less money available, the arts are first in line to feel the pinch.
According to a L.A. Times article this week, detailing the fall of arts education in L.A. schools:
And this despite the fact that the arts are mandated in state law - the equal of math, science, reading et. al. It's the law - a law ignored as the rule, not the exception. But even had the cuts not been necessary, was the goal of universal arts education ever realistic? And moreover, is our approach and strategy for getting to our goal realistic? And is realism necessary or even advisable in either our goal setting or our strategies for realizing the goals?
Indeed, in a response to the L.A. schools arts in education demise, another article in the L.A. Times, it was suggested:
Non-negotiable. The article suggested the possibility of a lawsuit to force the issue. Good strategy? I don't know, but the very suggestion recognizes, at least, the reality that what we have been doing is simply unrealistic. Then too, to prevail in a lawsuit wouldn't necessarily change the reality either.
There are some 10,000 public schools - K-12 - in California. If you had a visual, dance, theater and music teacher in each school, that's 40,000 teachers. Assuming the cost of each in terms of salary and required benefits packages of $35,000 per year per teacher (on the low side I think) and your annual cost is $1.4 billion. Billion. Ok, so assume each teacher could handle four schools, and you're down to 10,000 teachers and only $350 million a year. And let's say, teaching artists could fill many of those slots as an adjunct to their careers, and maybe then your outlay would only be $20,000 each or a paltry $200 million a year. Only $200 million. But even with a healthy economy where would that money come from in California? Again, the rich districts could fare better than the poor ones, but it wouldn't be easy for any district.
So despite the law requiring arts education K-12 in the four fields, despite our continued attempts to do whatever we might to facilitate that reality, that's arguably unrealistic. There simply isn't the political will to allocate that kind of funding. Highly unlikely it will happen no matter what we can put together - including winning federal support, private support and districts willing to do almost anything to find the money.
Clearly we don't abandon the goal of a meaningful arts education for every student K-12. We don't give up. But are the relentless plans put forth to achieve the ultimate goal doing us any good?
Should we continue to press for that ideal as our strategy? Or should we revamp our objectives to be more aligned with a step by step approach? Which approach will work the best long term? What are the factors to consider when trying to make a judgment? Does a radical change in tactics directly address the unreality on the ground and by so doing make the goal more realistic - or possibly so?
The Arts Education Partnership recently released a 2020 Action Agenda for Advancing the Arts in Education - an excellent setting forth of what we want. The goal of universal arts education by 2020 is ambitious. The question is: Is it realistic? The priorities set forth in the paper and the things that must be done to realize the goals of the priorities are clear and concise. What is missing is exactly how we get those things that are necessary to do, done.
(Now, at this point I want to state categorically that I have the highest respect and admiration for the AEP people and for all those working so hard, so tirelessly, so selflessly in the arts education field to try to move us towards out goal. In no way do I wish to diminish their work or their contributions, let alone their commitment and dedication. This isn't meant to criticize or disparage their current plan, but rather to raise the issue of the wisdom of a tactic that frames our approach in such a way that flies in the face of reality. I am merely using their plan to illustrate a larger point).
The AEP blueprint is flawed; flawed in the sense that it is unrealistic, and that it fails to even offer a roadmap as to how we might achieve the steps that it correctly lists as things we need to do to move towards universal arts education in the schools. And even if it had laid out a step by step process to move forward, there is the question of how realistic that would be. And to do it all in five years - by 2020 - when we have been struggling for five decades and have lost as much ground as we have gained; five decades and the result has been two or more generations who have gotten zero arts education in school. Now a report that suggests we do it all in five years - Really?
To be fair, this agenda is aspirational. The question isn't whether or not we are unrealistic in positing as our five year goal, a reality that has eluded us for decades and the cost of which is simply so high that there isn't any realistic path that would lead us to such a victory, but whether or not, it still serves a real purpose to frame and pursue the final goal as the ultimate vision, despite that vision being beyond our reach. That is a legitimate issue we ought to debate. We ought to be talking about reality and how reality should impact our vision, and our strategies. The high cost of having enough trained arts teachers in California's schools to provide arts education to every student is a reality. One that cannot be ignored, and will not go away. We can do all kinds of things to find the money to pay for the arts education we want, but in the short term that is likely a goal we will not attain. Give up? No. That's not the question. The issue is framing the actions we will take as aligned with the reality - or not.
It breaks my heart and doubtless those of everyone else that we have lost ground in the struggle to achieve universal arts education K-12 in the Los Angeles schools. But that's the fact. Now what?
This conundrum exists not just in our approach to arts education, but to any number of challenges we face - from funding to leadership, from equity to capitalization. We have spent some time framing what we want, and even time formulating strategies. But we have spent precious little time aligning those 'wants' and those strategies with reality and asking the question whether staying the course with unrealistic goals is the best approach.
If we retool our approaches to better reflect reality, do we, in the process, run the risk of losing sight of the ultimate goal? By compromising with reality, are we jeopardizing mass support and confusing a clear agenda? Do we appear willing to settle for less than what we know is necessary? Or are we gaining converts because the goal becomes more realistic to attain? Should we settle? Might we gain credibility if we are more realistic, or might that very act make it harder to get to where we need to get to.
I think we ought to talk about it more.
Have a great week.
Don't Quit
Barry
"And the beat goes on………………"
When you are trying to motivate and inspire a lot of people to join together for some lofty common purpose, which is the better approach: To shoot for the moon so as to keep the big picture vision in mind of what you really want to happen?; or to acknowledge the on-the-ground reality and approach the objective from a more practical perspective?
That is the conundrum that we face in the arts on multiple levels. On the one hand, it can be argued that we are unrealistic, perhaps even in denial, in our continually approaching big challenges as though what we have been doing that isn't working, somehow will soon turn the corner and change will come. Those on this side of the fence argue that it is not only a waste of precious resources, including time, but a disservice to forever act as though our big picture plans are obtainable, when they may, in fact, not be attainable in anywhere near the form and format that we preach is the gospel. These people take the position that we need to temper our actions towards shorter term goals that are possible. And that doing otherwise, in the long run, is discouraging and draining. Others believe that even though we make only marginal progress, those steps are moving us forward, and that we need to have a vision of what we ultimately want and that helps us to move towards that ultimate goal. Little steps don't inspire as many people, including our stakeholders, and the public to stay the course and commit the resources necessary to keep trying.
Arts Education falls into this dichotomy. We know what we want. We want standards based, curriculum integrated, sequential arts instruction K-12 by qualified and trained teachers / instructors, augmented by exposure to extant societal arts by professional artists. And we want that available to every single student in the country in at least the visual, music, dance and theater areas.
And while that is available in some districts that are wealthy and can afford it (though not all), it has been, and continues to be, unavailable across much of the country in poorer districts - resulting in a glaring inequity that in many instances is arguably structural racism, and in other cases, the rule, not the exception, that the arts are not simply undervalued, but not valued at all. And it comes down to money.
Take California as an example. When I was at the California Arts Council, we had an annual ten million dollar arts educations grants budget to try to launch initiatives that could get us closer to that lofty goal of universal arts education. And, with the economy doing well back then, there were successful attempts in several metro areas of the state - most notably in Los Angeles's Unified School District - to finally get closer to offering arts education to every student; an effort that united the city and county's educational, civic and political leadership in moving the dime forward. Universal arts education - K-12 - as per the goal above, wasn't achieved, but we were on our way to moving in that direction.
And today? The 2008 recession made funding cuts a reality. And as always, with less money available, the arts are first in line to feel the pinch.
According to a L.A. Times article this week, detailing the fall of arts education in L.A. schools:
"The Los Angeles Unified School District is discovering the extent of those cuts as it seeks to regain the vibrancy that once made it a leader in arts education. For the first time, L.A. Unified in September completed a detailed accounting of arts programs at its campuses that shows stark disparities in class offerings, the number of teachers and help provided by outside groups.Arts programs at a vast majority of schools are inadequate, according to district data. Classrooms lack basic supplies. Some orchestra classes don't have enough instruments. And thousands of elementary and middle school children are not getting any arts instruction.A Los Angeles Times analysis that used L.A. Unified's data to assign letter grades to arts programs shows that only 35 out of more than 700 schools would get an "A." Those high-performing schools offered additional instruction through community donations, had more teachers and a greater variety of arts programs than most of the district's campuses."
And this despite the fact that the arts are mandated in state law - the equal of math, science, reading et. al. It's the law - a law ignored as the rule, not the exception. But even had the cuts not been necessary, was the goal of universal arts education ever realistic? And moreover, is our approach and strategy for getting to our goal realistic? And is realism necessary or even advisable in either our goal setting or our strategies for realizing the goals?
Indeed, in a response to the L.A. schools arts in education demise, another article in the L.A. Times, it was suggested:
“How do we really make the case to our school boards and to our superintendents that this is an important part of code?” Allen said. “We’re going to help them put in place good programs, but it’s got to be a non-negotiable portion of the curriculum.”
Non-negotiable. The article suggested the possibility of a lawsuit to force the issue. Good strategy? I don't know, but the very suggestion recognizes, at least, the reality that what we have been doing is simply unrealistic. Then too, to prevail in a lawsuit wouldn't necessarily change the reality either.
There are some 10,000 public schools - K-12 - in California. If you had a visual, dance, theater and music teacher in each school, that's 40,000 teachers. Assuming the cost of each in terms of salary and required benefits packages of $35,000 per year per teacher (on the low side I think) and your annual cost is $1.4 billion. Billion. Ok, so assume each teacher could handle four schools, and you're down to 10,000 teachers and only $350 million a year. And let's say, teaching artists could fill many of those slots as an adjunct to their careers, and maybe then your outlay would only be $20,000 each or a paltry $200 million a year. Only $200 million. But even with a healthy economy where would that money come from in California? Again, the rich districts could fare better than the poor ones, but it wouldn't be easy for any district.
So despite the law requiring arts education K-12 in the four fields, despite our continued attempts to do whatever we might to facilitate that reality, that's arguably unrealistic. There simply isn't the political will to allocate that kind of funding. Highly unlikely it will happen no matter what we can put together - including winning federal support, private support and districts willing to do almost anything to find the money.
Clearly we don't abandon the goal of a meaningful arts education for every student K-12. We don't give up. But are the relentless plans put forth to achieve the ultimate goal doing us any good?
Should we continue to press for that ideal as our strategy? Or should we revamp our objectives to be more aligned with a step by step approach? Which approach will work the best long term? What are the factors to consider when trying to make a judgment? Does a radical change in tactics directly address the unreality on the ground and by so doing make the goal more realistic - or possibly so?
The Arts Education Partnership recently released a 2020 Action Agenda for Advancing the Arts in Education - an excellent setting forth of what we want. The goal of universal arts education by 2020 is ambitious. The question is: Is it realistic? The priorities set forth in the paper and the things that must be done to realize the goals of the priorities are clear and concise. What is missing is exactly how we get those things that are necessary to do, done.
(Now, at this point I want to state categorically that I have the highest respect and admiration for the AEP people and for all those working so hard, so tirelessly, so selflessly in the arts education field to try to move us towards out goal. In no way do I wish to diminish their work or their contributions, let alone their commitment and dedication. This isn't meant to criticize or disparage their current plan, but rather to raise the issue of the wisdom of a tactic that frames our approach in such a way that flies in the face of reality. I am merely using their plan to illustrate a larger point).
The AEP blueprint is flawed; flawed in the sense that it is unrealistic, and that it fails to even offer a roadmap as to how we might achieve the steps that it correctly lists as things we need to do to move towards universal arts education in the schools. And even if it had laid out a step by step process to move forward, there is the question of how realistic that would be. And to do it all in five years - by 2020 - when we have been struggling for five decades and have lost as much ground as we have gained; five decades and the result has been two or more generations who have gotten zero arts education in school. Now a report that suggests we do it all in five years - Really?
To be fair, this agenda is aspirational. The question isn't whether or not we are unrealistic in positing as our five year goal, a reality that has eluded us for decades and the cost of which is simply so high that there isn't any realistic path that would lead us to such a victory, but whether or not, it still serves a real purpose to frame and pursue the final goal as the ultimate vision, despite that vision being beyond our reach. That is a legitimate issue we ought to debate. We ought to be talking about reality and how reality should impact our vision, and our strategies. The high cost of having enough trained arts teachers in California's schools to provide arts education to every student is a reality. One that cannot be ignored, and will not go away. We can do all kinds of things to find the money to pay for the arts education we want, but in the short term that is likely a goal we will not attain. Give up? No. That's not the question. The issue is framing the actions we will take as aligned with the reality - or not.
It breaks my heart and doubtless those of everyone else that we have lost ground in the struggle to achieve universal arts education K-12 in the Los Angeles schools. But that's the fact. Now what?
This conundrum exists not just in our approach to arts education, but to any number of challenges we face - from funding to leadership, from equity to capitalization. We have spent some time framing what we want, and even time formulating strategies. But we have spent precious little time aligning those 'wants' and those strategies with reality and asking the question whether staying the course with unrealistic goals is the best approach.
If we retool our approaches to better reflect reality, do we, in the process, run the risk of losing sight of the ultimate goal? By compromising with reality, are we jeopardizing mass support and confusing a clear agenda? Do we appear willing to settle for less than what we know is necessary? Or are we gaining converts because the goal becomes more realistic to attain? Should we settle? Might we gain credibility if we are more realistic, or might that very act make it harder to get to where we need to get to.
I think we ought to talk about it more.
Have a great week.
Don't Quit
Barry
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