How do we compare internationally?
/ 09 November 2009 - 11:46 am
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5 Comments
We keep hearing in the media that New Zealand is really behind the times when it comes to online. Is this the case in the arts? Can you tell us a bit about how we compare to international organisations and which online tools are they using effectively? Any specific examples?
Comments
Well, I’m attending international conferences fairly regularly, particularly in the U.S. and let’s just say NZ arts organisations have a lot of potential yet to fulfil :-)
It’s not all their fault – sometimes it’s even difficult to get customers online at all, with fast broadband being so elusive and costly in this country. And we don’t have the funding levels here that many U.S. or European companies are accustomed to. But, as I said in one of my blog posts on NZLive.com, “You really can’t prevaricate much longer. If you wish to continue being an effective arts marketer and keep on track with other industries – not to mention your peers in the arts – you can’t keep relying on the marketing tactics that worked for your organisation two decades ago. Your audiences have moved on – you need to as well.”
The most exciting examples I have been hearing about are those where the organisations have fully embraced Web 2.0 (facilitating creativity, information sharing, collaboration, social networking) and offering personalised recommendations and filters to assist users to enter the art form and make decisions about purchasing tickets or making donations.
Here are just a few:
Brooklyn Museum – Encouraging their visitors to take photos of their collections; then post and tag them in the community section of their website.
Royal Opera House - Utilising social media to build engagement and conversation, including their famous Twitter Opera, written line-by-line by their Twitter followers/
Adrienne Arscht Center, Miami - Integrating Twitter feeds into microsites, inviting audience members to send texts during performances to a designated number which displays their texts on a board in the foyer, enabling that audience members to connect, post messages and share reactions to the performance.
Stratford Shakespeare Festival – Live interactive video discussions for members to connect with directors and other special guests.
First Stage Childrens Theatre Milwaukee - Emailed customers a personalised URL which directed them to a survey page, then delivered them personalised season package recommendations based on survey results.
Seattle International Film Festival – Have embedded their Twitter feed in their website home page and developed iPhone application that enables browsing and ticket purchase from an iPhone - http://www.siff.net/mobile/
Chicago Opera Theater – Invited people to vote for their first choice of three potential opera seasons to be presented in the 2011 Spring Festival - $1 per vote.
I just wanted to share something that just happened to me, as I think it is an interesting illustration of where N.Z. is at with using technology vs where the U.S. is at.
I just had lunch with a contact from the U.S. who is in town this week. I was due to meet him in his hotel lobby at 11.30am. At 11.39 he emailed me to tell me he was stuck on a phone call and would be on his way down from his room in a couple of minutes.
I received the email on my Blackberry and replied, but the interesting thing to me was his assumption that I would have access to email via a mobile device. To him, that is completely normal.
At the recent Tessitura (arts ticketing software)conferences and meetings I have attended in the U.S., everyone was taking notes on their laptops (mostly mini laptops) and connected in to Wireless. In fact, as participants we were encouraged to tweet updates (using a conference hash tag) while we were in the sessions. I was reading comments on Twitter from my fellow session attendees as the session was taking place.
At a recent conference in NZ, I pulled out my laptop to take notes and immediately had a sense I was being inappropriate!
It is important for us to understand where the users of, and cultures around, technology are at internationally, as these are indicators of where we are heading and...if we are targeting international markets, these are the customer expectations we are dealing with.
Would love to hear your comments...
Vicki Allpress Hill Connecting audiences to the arts va@vickiallpress.com
Hi Vicki, yes I have felt the same way using my laptop or mobile! I’ve posted a question in the social media thread about tweeting at conferences.
Regarding international trends, the web is a great way to keep up to date. I try and regularly attend an international conference, from home, and it’s not inappropriate if I’m typing, texting or tweeting!
On that note, can you recommend some international web marketing video/audio (so I can multi-task) or regular 'webinars'?
Hi Cathy
I am fortunate to be part of the Tessitura Network - the network of organisations worldwide that use the Tessitura arts ticketing/CRM software, which gives me access to lots of webinars and case studies.
The best way to keep up with webinars about web marketing is to subscribe to newsletters like eMarketer Daily or iMedia Connection, or to join groups of people talking about online marketing like Rae Bassett's Admit 2.0 group on Ning. Another person to follow closely is Eugene Carr in New York, as he is often posting things up on his blog.
I'm currently leaping on a plane but tomorrow will post some more suggestions for specific videos that you might find helpful.
Vicki Allpress Hill
Connecting audiences to the arts
va@vickiallpress.com
Hi Cathy
Here is a selection of resources for your learning pleasure. Disclaimer: I haven't yet watched them all!
Now I'd like to take a year off please, to sit and watch them all with you :-)
Vicki Allpress Hill Connecting audiences to the arts va@vickiallpress.com