Answer - There are so many deadlines; and, because we are dealing with so many volunteers, our deadline may not coincide with when they get it to us. So, I constantly have to get on the telephone and say, "I know you have to have this, but I can't possibly get it to you because I don't have it yet!" Sometimes I tend to be apologetic when in the back of my mind I really hate to do it, because it really is not my fault. I cannot pass the blame off to anybody else, whether in my own mind it's really my fault or someone else's. I spend a lot of time trying to get things organized, and it goes against my grain, because basically way down inside I am a very organized, detailed, schedule-oriented person. So many things get backed up; it irritates me a great deal but I cannot express it. So, therefore, the stress builds up.
I suppose I would consider it pretty stressful. For example, I've been here for three years, but normally in this organization they only get about two years out of someone at the top. They either move on or there is a change of management. It's a lot of pressure. I'm the first to get blamed when things aren't selling and the last one to receive credit when they are.
Question - What trends do you see in arts administration?
Answer - As far as perfoming arts organizations are concerned, marketing is fairly new. It is probably not more than five or six years old in the major performing arts organization. Maybe eight years. Competition is up. There are more arts groups competing for the discretionary income of patrons, and so you have to position yourself more specifically and more accurately in the marketplace. You have to be able to target a market more accurately and more efficiently. This organization hired its first director of marketing in the fall of 1979. And there are still many major organizations that don't have marketing departments per se. Some have achieved a level of reputation and don't need to market. They just take out an advertisement or two, and people will just flock. It's easy to become somewhat complacent.
We're not getting as much "free" money, grant money, and support from corporations, because maybe they don't have as much money to support us. So we have to go into a more aggressive hard-sell line. We need to get as much revenue as we can from ticket sales. In most arts organizations, the tickets only pay for about 30 percent of the operating budget, but we need to increase that. I see things going more toward a hard commercial line. Another arts organization here hired someone with no background at all in the arts, but with a background in amusement and entertainment. The trend is going more and more that way. They are looking for people who might not necessarily have a lot of arts background, but who have had a lot of marketing or sales success with whatever the product, be it soap, baseball tickets, or whatever.
Probably courses that have to do with fiscal planning would be helpful to anybody. I had a large budget at my previous employer, and I was able to get a handle on it very quickly. The budget here has to be constantly analyzed, so I think the ability to work with a budget and understand some of the basic fiscal vocabulary would be very important.
Question - What advice would you give someone entering the field?
Answer -First of all, I would say to take arts administration. If you're not in that program, if you're in a strict marketing program, try to take as many arts-oriented administrative courses as you can. There are whole courses on how you can get free TV time, free radio time, free public service announcements, and other things that you can get without spending any money. In a strictly marketing atmosphere, they usually think of you as working for a profit organization. I think that you should have some knowledge of production, how a TV commercial is made, how a radio commercial is made, and a working knowledge of the vo cabulary involved so that you can communicate well. You need to be able to understand what they are telling you and to be able to express what you want in their terms. I find that very helpful in working with artists and creative people. If you want them to describe something for you, you have to understand it so that you can translate it into your marketing materials, advertising materials, or educational materials. You need to be able to understand. A course in personnel management or something of that nature would also be helpful. They really teach you how to interact with other people and how to motivate them. It is very important to be able to motivate others, especially in a nonprofit organization where there are a lot of volunteers.
If you really have determined that this is what you want to try, get into an organization in any position you can. Most of the people are more than willing to share with you what they know or what they learn and to let you help on a project or something. Once you get experience, then go in the direction you really want. Don't turn your nose up at a position as an assistant PR director, assistant or volunteer coordinator, or anything. Once you get your foot in the door in an arts organization, people tend to go from one position to another. There is a lot of traveling between them, and once you are in one organization, you meet the people in others. That is the best way to get a line on your next job.
