Jumping to Conclusions about How Well You Know Millennials

Good morning.
"And the beat goes on………………….."

Millennials.  Everybody wants them, wants to know what they think, what they want, what they respond to and how to reach them.

The interest has been growing for nearly as long as the generation has come of age.  As a generation, they are bigger in numbers than the vaulted Baby Boomers, with potentially even more buying power and influence.  As they are the future, it's no wonder everyone is obsessed with them.

Back in 2007 / 2009, I authored a study for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (entitled Youth in the Arts - but which should probably have been entitled The Millennial Generation in the Field of Arts Administration).  It was one of the first attempts in our field to delve into the needs, thoughts, aspirations and thinking of the Millennial generation of Arts Administrators.  It was the genesis of joint efforts by Hewlett, Irvine, Haas and other foundations to support Emerging Leaders (a moniker I disliked back then, and continue to dislike) Groups in California, and that effort sparked other efforts across the country.  We in the arts are as keen on trying to understand the Millennials (and thus the future) within our own sphere (as staff employees) as we are in understanding Millennials as our audiences, patrons, supporters and volunteers - now and to come.

Article after article has characterized and classified this generation in an attempt to define them.  We (and the "we" here is probably mostly boomers, but some Gen Y people and perhaps even the Millennials themselves) have surveyed, studied, analyzed and dissected this generation and come to some hard conclusions about who they are, what they want and how they behave. Doubtless there is truth in some of our conclusions, as we have relied at least in part on what this cohort has to say about themselves.  Other sectors have similarly spent time and resources to paint as accurate a picture of Millennials as they can in the race to know how best to market to them (and there is clearly much at stake).  We have come to certain conclusions in trying to understand this generation. They are less interested in things and more interested in experiences, they want authenticity and transparency.  They deplore "spin doctors" and value honestly. They are generally more liberal than previous generations, particularly on social issues. They are high tech savvy and reliant. They communicate in different ways than other generations and are both comfortable and uncomfortable in different ways than those that came before them.  They are concerned about the environment, social justice, and are ok with gay marriage.  As a Boomer in Berkeley in the late 60's, so were we.

Millennials spend more of their money on electronics, clothes, concerts, and dining out because they don't yet have families, mortgages, layers of insurance or even necessarily drive cars.  But for how long will their budgets allocate their more limited income to those areas?  When inevitable shifts come, what will they mean?  There are often more questions in studying a cohort than answers.  And that is a problem in planning.

Yes, we have begun to understand Millennials.  And we are now investing time and energy in the development and deployment of strategies to reach and recruit them - as co-workers, allies, audiences, patrons, supporters and champions -- based in large part on our (theoretical) understanding of them.

But are we rushing to judgment and perhaps jumping to conclusions and making risky assumptions about them?

I am a Boomer.  An early Boomer.  When I was at Berkeley in the 60's, as a generation we shared many commonalities with today's Millennials, at least to the extent that we too were thought to be the future, we too were vaulted as being different from those who came before us, and we too were classified, categorized and lumped together as a homogenous cohort.  Assumptions were made about us, by both the outside world and by those of us in the generation ourselves.  One of the biggest mistakes those of us at Berkeley and in similar places around the country made back then was in assuming that everyone in our generation thought as we did.  We listened to the same music, donned the same uniforms. adopted the same lexicon and obviously all thought the same.

Wrong.  As it turned out we were not all on the same page, we did not all have the same beliefs or experiences, nor did we share all the same basic values and positions.  Our tastes and preferences across a broad swatch of things was anything but a consensus.  It turned out the media's attempt to pigeonhole us as all of the same mind from the same mold, was way off the mark. Today, my generation is remarkably conservative on any number of issues - not the firebrands we were (or thought we were) back then.

The fact is that no generation is really that homogenous.  Rather we reflect all the differences, vagaries, outlooks and attitudes that differentiate the country.  While, as a generation growing up at the same time, we shared a lot of things, we never shared everything. We were as different as our numbers.  So too, I suspect, are the Millennials.  Not all Millennials are tech savvy, not all Millennials eschew materialism in favor of authentic experiences, not all Millennials are liberal on social issues.  Not all Millennials think alike, process information the same, have the same aspirations or values.

And more importantly, like the Boomers and every other generation, the Millennials are very likely -- over time -- to change who they are, what they think and value and how they behave. Millennials are likely to grow more conservative, likely to alter their world view, change their attitudes, tastes, values and wants as they adapt to life in their 30's and 40's and beyond.  It happens with every generation. And those changes may come faster and run deeper as "change" itself is changing.

And so we ought to ask ourselves how reliable any portrait of them, at any point in time, really is.  To what extent can we really base long term strategies and approaches to making them part of our world  on who they are today - or who we think they are today. Like many other aspects of life in the modern world, we need to be adaptive and innovative in how we approach Millennials at any given moment in time, and we have to consider the risk in devising and implementing strategies aimed at them that are rigid and inflexible.

While we want hard answers and reliable facts on which we can base our actions, that may simply no longer be possible.  The only lesson that might be clear is that we need to treat all cohorts with which we interact and with whose members we want different kinds of relationships with respect.  Millennials like all generations are offended by patronization, and perhaps nothing is more patronizing than the assumption you've got someone figured out when that person very well may not yet have figured themselves out.

Prudence dictates that what we know of Millennials based on our experience with those from that generation who have joined our ranks, may not be a reasoned approach, for it very well may be that the cohort of Millennials that are now within our ranks is hardly representative of the whole of their generation.  Then too we really need to examine our own perspective and pre-determined prejudices about the Millennial generation.

A case in point.  We have been extorted to master social media marketing (particularly Facebook),and put (if not all, than many) of our 'eggs' in that basket.  But there is already evidence that: 1) Younger Millennials are leaving Facebook as older people flock to it; and 2) email - dutifully pronounced all but dead as anathema to Millennials, seems to have far more lifeblood than previously thought.   On the other hand, Facebook is hardly seriously on the decline, and email may yet become a relic.  It's hard to trust trends, or even to verify their existence.  And that makes drawing conclusions a difficult business.

Moreover, considering the Millennial generation as first and foremost defined by being part of that generation, cavalierly discounts the role that ethnicity, education, socioeconomic status, geographic residency, political affiliation, parental influence and a host of other factors plays in their decision making about all the things we in the arts field are interested in.

The point is:  Everything is in constant flux and change, including how to characterize, define and understand any given cohort of people, and history shows us that change continues throughout the life of a generation; cohorts rarely remain static.  The temptation is great to rush to judgment as we desperately seek answers and conclusions on which we can act.  Remember, virtually all of the technology that now defines us - smart phones and tablets and notebooks -- and all the applications, social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapshot, Pinterest etc.), and the rest -- are basically less than a decade old, and in the wake of their introduction everything has changed.  What are the odds your Millennial strategies will be outdated in 18, 24 or 30 months?  I think it a reasonable question.

There is obviously nothing wrong with trying to understand our future markets.  In fact, we are obligated to do so with as much sophistication as we can manage.  We need to know as much as we can about all the generations of society.  But we ought to be cautious in jumping to conclusions about how to proceed with strategies and approaches to tapping into any given market.   Even if we do, in fact, have a fairly accurate picture of the Millennial generation today, the assumption that that understanding will be accurate tomorrow is risky at best.  It may be wiser to consider that the assumptions on which we base our decisions will change (perhaps even dramatically so) over even the short run.  It may be a mistake to jump to the conclusion that we have figured the puzzle out and that we can move forward secure in either the accuracy or longevity of our judgments.  The best advice may be to act on what you know (or think you know), but be prepared to quickly alter your actions as things (and your understanding) change - because change they will.  The new reality may just be that the shelf life of any strategy addressing any challenge may be measured in months, not years.

Have a great week.

Don't Quit.
Barry

Open Nominations for the Top 50 Most Powerful and Influential Arts Leaders

Good morning.
"And the beat goes on………………….."


Every year, for the past six years, I have posted a list of the Top 50 Most Powerful and Influential Leaders in the Nonprofit Arts.

This is a list of those with power and influence in our field.  It is NOT necessarily a list of the smartest or brightest people, nor a list of those who have the best vision of the future, nor even those who have had the greatest impact on our field - though the names on each year's list have had significant impact and that is (often, but not always) precisely why they have power and influence.    Click here for last year's blog for a more detailed rundown of the listing.

Over the past six years, I have assembled a list of over 450 names from my group of anonymous nominators.  Some people on the list one year, because of retirement, sabbatical or inactivity, fall off the list the next year.  Some of those return in subsequent years.  Over the past six years, the list has seen an  annual increase in newer people making it on - as their influence and impact have increased and with that renown so has their power.

As I pretty much know who the usual suggested names will be, this year I have asked a smaller group of nominators to send me their suggestions for inclusion on the list to augment the 450 names on the master list.  And always on the lookout for possible candidates for the list, I've added another 25 names for consideration that have come to my attention over the past year.  But I want to make sure that I am not overlooking the rise in the field of people who might well be included on the list, but are under (at least my) radar, and so this year I am opening up the nominating process to the field, and invite you to suggest the names of people you think have the requisite power and influence in our field to justify their inclusion on the list.

I am particularly looking for people who may not be quite so widely known, but who have major influence and power in our universe.  All suggestions will remain confidential and anonymous.

So, please send me the name or names of those you think have real power and influence.  I need their names, organizational affiliation, and, if you have time, any other information that would help me realize a better and deeper picture of why that person is powerful and influential so I might vet those suggestions.

I need those suggestions no later than August 18th.

Thank you very much.

Don't Quit
Barry

The Dinner-Vention 2 Guest List

Good morning.
“And the beat goes on....................”

The Dinner-Vention 2 Guest List:

I am pleased to present the 2014 guest list for Dinner-vention 2, to be held October 9th in Denver, Colorado.

As was the case last year, we received hundreds of nominations for inclusion on this year’s guest list.  With only eight spots, the process of settling on the eight names was an extremely hard decision.  Clearly, there were enough qualified and stellar people to fill several guest lists.  Again this year, we wanted a diverse, representative group who have already achieved a level of success and renown, but who have not yet reached the zenith in their career trajectories -- people who would make for a lively discussion on a topic (tbd).  We think we have an excellent list of guests.

The next step will be to determine the topic for the discussion.  We have a dozen or so ideas, but if you have a great idea for a dinner topic that would be of major interest to the entire arts field, please send it to me asap.  We plan to send the list of possible topics to the dinner guests in about a week, and ask them to indicate their preference.  The final topic will be a consensus choice of the guests themselves.

As was the case last year, we will ask each dinner guest to prepare a one page briefing paper that outlines their initial thinking on the chosen topic, including the paramount issues they think ought to be part of the dinner discussion.  I will post those briefing papers on this blog site.

More on the live streaming of the dinner conversation as we lock down the logistics of that process.

Thank you all again for your taking the time to suggest names to us for the guest list.  I am deeply appreciative of your time and interest.  And thanks again to Anthony Radich, Shannon Daut, Laurel Sherman, Bryce Miller and Leah Horn for their ongoing support in making Dinner-Vention 2 a reality.

Here is the 2014 Dinner-Vention 2 Guest List:

John Arroyo:  John Arroyo is interested in the sociocultural and physical dimensions of migration and urban design policy, and how those dimensions influence the built environment in transnational Mexican communities—on both sides of the border. A native Angeleno (East LA), he has over a decade of programmatic, publication, and research-related experience working for various arts, community development, and design-oriented nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. They include The Getty Foundation, L.A. Conservancy, L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs, L.A. County Arts Commission, Americans for the Arts, The California Endowment, National Trust for Historic Preservation, International Laboratory on Cultural Landscapes, Institute for Creative Sustainability, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Most recently, he has served as a creative placemaking and urban design consultant for ArtPlace America, The Kresge Foundation, The Surdna Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, USC Annenberg School of Communication, the Government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and the Bahamas National Trust. In 2012 he co-founded Project 51, a UCLA-sponsored public humanities project about the L.A. River supported by ArtPlace America and the University of California Humanities Research Institute. Arroyo received his Master’s in City Planning and a Certificate in Urban Design from MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP); a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Minor in Planning and Development from USC as a USC Board of Trustees Renaissance Scholar; and was an Executive Fellow at the Coro Foundation’s Southern California Center for Civic Leadership. He is currently a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Diversity Fellow and PhD student at MIT DUSP.

Laura Bond:  Laura Bond serves as the Director of Community and Media Relations for the Colorado Symphony, the largest full-time professional orchestra in the Rocky Mountain West. In addition to creating and managing communications and public relations, Laura leads a number of educational and community engagement initiatives that support the evolution of a modern symphonic orchestra. As a member of an interdisciplinary leadership team, Laura is actively engaged with strategically addressing the challenges that face all major performing arts institutions in the United States, including audience and resource development. Prior to joining the Colorado Symphony, Laura served as the Executive Director of Flobots.org (now Youth on Record), a non-profit organization that empowers under-served youth through spoken word, hip-hop, music production and collaborative arts. Laura is the former Director of North American Operations for Ethiopia Reads, an international NGO that builds libraries for children in Ethiopia, and served as a Staff Writer/Music Editor for Westword, Denver's alternative newsweekly. She is the recipient of the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism from the Annie E. Casey Foundation for Children and Families as well as numerous state and national awards. Laura currently serves on the Western States Arts Federation's Denver Music Task Force, which produces the annual Denver Music Summit.


Rachel Grossman:  Rachel Grossman is an artist and engagement strategist focused on the triangulation between art, artist, and audience. She is a co-founder of and Ring Leader for the devised theatre ensemble dog & pony dc, with whom she has collaboratively created six original works that integrate the audience into the live performance, directed three, and appeared in five. Rachel launched Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's "connectivity" initiative and served as the first connectivity director, transforming the way the company considers the relationship between its work, audience, and community. Prior to that she was the director of education & outreach at Round House Theatre, and managed education and community programming at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, and CENTERSTAGE. Rachel was honored to be featured in TCG's 50th Anniversary I AM THEATRE campaign. She has presented at TCG, NAMP, NET, ATHE, and AATE, and is a member of HowlRound’s National Advisory Committee. She’s a fan of beets, brussel sprouts, action films, and well facilitated discussions.  Rachel tweets about the world from @rgindc.


Karina Mangu-Ward:  Karina Mangu-Ward is the Director of Activating Innovation at EmcArts, where her work fosters a field-wide movement around the importance of innovation and adaptive change in the arts.

Fascinated by the possibilities of using media as a tool for field-wide learning, Karina came to EmcArts in 2011 to create the interactive online platform ArtsFwd.  Her current role, however, is much broader. Overseeing the Activating Innovation department — which acts as an entrepreneurial house within EmcArts - Karina and her team spread stories of innovation and foster a dialogue among arts leaders about what it takes to stay adaptive in the face of increasingly complex challenges.

Since joining EmcArts, Karina has led a series of experimental initiatives to celebrate and advance innovation in the field including: an Innovation  Story Contest, the Business Unusual National Challenge, and a popular series of livestreamed talks at the National Innovation Summit for Arts & Culture.  In addition to these special projects, she also maintains an active blog on ArtsFwd and is a process facilitator in EmcArts' local and national programs.

Prior to joining EmcArts, Karina served as the Associate Producer at HERE, where she managed cutting edge multi-disciplinary projects and produced the documentary series MADE HERE. While Karina enjoyed working in an arts organization, she increasingly wanted a more bird’s-eye view of the entire arts system. EmcArts gives her that opportunity.

Karina has an MFA in Theater Management and Producing from Columbia University and an AB from Harvard University.


Ebony McKinney:  Ebony McKinney has a diverse range of experience in non-profit, philanthropic and government organizations. McKinney served as the founding director of Emerging Arts Professionals/SFBA, a network focused on empowerment, leadership, and growth of next generation arts and culture workers in the San Francisco Bay Area and was instrumental n helping to establish the statewide California NextGen Arts Leadership Initiative funded by The James Irvine Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She has held positions with Intersection for the Arts, the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has also sat on the Emerging Leader Council of Americans for the Arts. McKinney has participated in grant review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oakland Cultural Affairs Commission and currently serves on the on the Citizen's Advisory Committee of Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund. Ebony holds a BA in Communications from Chatham College and MA’s in both Cultural Entrepreneurship and Visual Anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London. McKinney also attended the International Summer School in Cultural Economics in Amsterdam (NL).


Ron Ragin:  Ron Ragin is a performing artist and philanthropy professional living and working in New York City. Currently, he is the program officer at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, where he manages a multi-sector portfolio of nonprofit grantees working at the intersections of art and issues such as climate change and education. Previously, he had a six-year tenure at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as a program officer in the Performing Arts Program and worked as a senior research analyst at the Center for Effective Philanthropy. Ron is a Steering Committee Member of the Art x Culture x Social Justice Network. Artistically, his work is rooted in African-American performance traditions and integrates sound, text, and movement.

Sanjit Sethi:   Born in Rochester, New York, Sanjit Sethi received a BFA in 1994 from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, an MFA in 1998 from the University of Georgia, and an MS in advanced visual studies in 2002 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sethi has been an artist in residence at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada; a visiting assistant professor at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana; lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and visiting faculty at the Srishti School of Art Design and Technology.

After completing a Fulbright fellowship in Bangalore, India, working on the Building Nomads project, he continued his strong focus on interdisciplinary collaboration as director of the MFA program at the Memphis College of Art.  His work deals with issues of nomadism, identity, the residue of labor, and memory.  In 2009 Sethi completed the KuniWada Bakery Remembrance, an olfactory-based memorial in Memphis Tennessee. From 2008 to 2013 Sanjit was the Director of the Center for Art and Public Life and Barclay Simpson Professor and Chair of Community Arts at the California College of the Arts.

Currently Sethi is the Director of the Santa Fe Art Institute where he is focused on how creative cultural organizations can be drivers of social change.


Sixto Wagan is the inaugural director for the Center for Arts Leadership at the University of Houston.  Prior to this role, he led DiverseWorks Artspace as Artistic Director, Co-Executive Director and Performing Arts Curator during his tenure. He is known for collaborating with performers whose works tackle prescient cultural, social, and political issues.  He currently serves as a Hub Site for the National Dance Project and the Center for Houston's Future Policy Committee. He previously served on the boards of the National Performance Network, The MacDowell Colony and QFest: the Houston LGBT International Film Festival.  Mr. Wagan has been part of the Performing Arts Japan Advisory Committee, FUSED (French – US Exchange for Dance), and the Performing Americas Project; and has previously served as Dance Down Under Ambassador for the Australian Arts Council and as a primary consultant to Creative Capital.  Wagan has been recognized with two awards in Houston for Dance Presenting.

We're looking forward to a robust dinner topic discussion.

Have a great week.

Don't Quit.
Barry