Arts & Cultural Community Reaches Out to School Teachers

Arizona has more than 36,000 school teachers and they are a population that arts & cultural organizations especially appreciate welcoming as audiences.  Despite the job’s low pay, school teachers are particularly well educated, engaged and curious – and they hold the key to introducing arts & cultural experiences to new generations. 

The arts & cultural community has long looked for a way to connect more closely with educators and, though it’s not one of our most ”publicly visible” services, I’m delighted to inform you of a nearly 2-year old initiative of Alliance for Audience that we call ShowUp for Fun.  It’s a DIRECT CHANNEL to make DISCOUNT TICKETS available to Arizona school teachers.

The Arizona Department of Education maintains an “eLearning Platform” which they call IDEAL (www.ideal.azed.gov).  That’s a service that offers Arizona teachers on-line access to innovative curriculum resources.  IDEAL is administered jointly by Arizona State University and Arizona Department of Education. 

Alliance for Audience has established an on-going technology link to IDEAL that provides school teachers access to ALL the discount tickets available in ShowUp.com’s popular Chase Ticket Marketplace – but at a deeper discount.  

Here’s how it works:  

1. You authorize discount tickets for sale via the Chase Ticket Marketplace on ShowUp.com.
2. We maintain a live “feed” of ALL Ticket Marketplace inventory to IDEAL – which displays those tickets for sale to school teachers who log-in to the secure IDEAL website.  (The Department of Education is responsible for assuring that ONLY qualified educators are provided access to the site.)
3. We REMOVE the service charge that Alliance for Audience adds to discount ticket sales offered to the public.  That savings of $1 to $8 per ticket is how the teachers receive a “deeper discount”.
4. Organizations that sell discount tickets through ShowUp.com’s Chase Ticket Marketplace receive the same amount REGARDLESS of whether that ticket sells via the public Chase Ticket Marketplace or thru the private ShowUp for Fun relationship.

• Can arts & cultural organizations make SPECIAL offers to school teachers that are NOT offered to the public at all?  YES! 
• Does this project sell school matinee performances and field trips?  NO – this is for admission to public performances, exhibitions and events. 

The entire purpose of ShowUp for Fun is to directly invite school teachers to attend your performances, exhibitions and events – and make them feel welcome and familiar with your offerings.

ShowUp for Fun – for Teachers is supported by the Arizona Community Foundation and Wells Fargo Bank who are delighted to help connect educators to the arts & cultural community.  And we are very grateful to the Arizona Department of Education and Arizona State University for their willingness to partner with us in this creative way.

Want more information about how to extend special invitations to teachers?  Please contact Veronica at VMartinez@allianceforaudience.org.