Upcoming Speaking Engagements

Panel: Innovative Strategies in Arts Leadership

Date: March 10, 2012
Location: Gibney Dance 890 Broadway, Fifth Floor, New York, NY
Details: Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.
Register here: http://artsleadership.eventbrite.com/

This program is presented by Pratt Institute’s Arts and Cultural Management People (ACMPeople) and by Emerging Leaders in New York Arts‘ (ELNYA) Creative Conversation series, a program of the Arts and Business Council of New York.The panel will explore innovative strategies for effective leadership in the arts sector by bringing together a group of diverse voices, including thought leaders, leading funders, organizational leaders, leaders working with experimental models, and resource providers for leadership training. The panel will focus on examples of successful leadership and on the importance of innovative leadership to the vitality of arts organizations and the sector.

The panel will be moderated by Karina Mangu-Ward, Director of Activating Innovation at EmcArts, and will feature panelists:

Rachel Ford, Director of the Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards at Creative Capital
Elissa Blount Moorhead, Vice Director at Weeksville Heritage Center
Fielding L. Grasty, Director of the Boettcher Cultural Leadership Program
Ian David Moss, Research Director at Fractured Atlas and founder of the Createquity blog
Caroline Woolard, Co-Founder of Our Goods and Trade School

ArtsReach National Arts Marketing, Development & Ticketing Conference Spring 2012: Strengthening Your Patron Relationships

Date: March 16-18
Location: Kimmel Center, New York University, New York, NY
Details: Arts Reach Conference 2012 Info

Opening Keynote
Innovation: Connecting to a New Era of Arts Participation
Richard Evans, President, EmcArts

In the past, many of our organizations defined their value proposition by exploiting excellence and scarcity. That era is dying and, to thrive now, we must embrace very different values – the abundance of creativity in our communities and the intimacy so many potential patrons are seeking in shared artistic discovery. To seize these opportunities for new forms of participation, organizations are adapting through innovation, not just extending business-as-usual.

Innovation involves making new connections – within our organizations, between our organizations and, most important, with our patrons and communities. Richard Evans will explore these connections from his experience running innovation programs in the arts nationally. He will focus on new approaches to organizational structure and programming, with examples of how organizations have implemented effective change to strengthen patron relationships.

Breakouts
ArtsFwd.org: A New Model for Harnessing the Field’s Collective Wisdom on Patron Development
Karina Mangu-Ward, Director of Activating Innovation, EmcArts

Many of our arts organizations are facing persistent challenges reaching audiences, responding to new technologies, and engaging patrons in deeper relationships to their organizations – all in relative isolation. Until now, there has been no field-wide platform for arts leaders who are finding some success with new strategies to share their experience and insights with colleagues, funders, policy makers and other key stakeholders.

ArtsFwd.org is a new online platform that serves the sector by enabling this kind of true peer-to-peer exchange about how innovative patron development strategies can take root. The site emphasizes the importance of rethinking deep underlying assumptions about your audiences as opposed to making technical fixes. Karina Mangu-Ward, Director of Activating Innovation at EmcArts, will demonstrate the site, which features short documentaries, a monthly podcast with adaptive leaders, and a blog that stimulates field-wide discussion about pressing issues. She will share two ArtsFwd case studies about patron engagement and review best practices in turning your organization’s patron strategies into powerful stories to share with the field on ArtsFwd.org

Opera America Conference 2012: Creative Resurgence!

Date: June 13-16, 2012
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Details: Opera America Conference 2012 Info

A wave of creativity is sweeping the opera field as economic challenges and social change compel a rethinking of conventions. By combining rich traditions with inventive energy, opera is responding to new opportunities with flexibility and agility. Innovative artistic and administrative practices are re-envisioning the art form and increasing operaís impact in the larger cultural community.

Presentation on Adaptive Capacities
Richard Evans, President, EmcArts