Of Accomplishments & Ambitions

Here at the end of 2010, let’s take a moment to count our Top 10 Accomplishments and note how they power our ambitions for 2011.  

1. Visibility: In 2010, the ShowUp.com website grew at a respectable 5% monthly rate to serve an average of 34,481 unique visitors each month.  Analysis reveals that this traffic fuels 150,000 visits to arts and cultural venues every week – and that’s a lot of marketing power that can (and will!) be unleashed in the coming year.
2. Value: In 2010, the Chase Ticket Marketplace generated $259,302 to organizations that sold discount tickets – and topped $1 million in sales since its launch in 2004.)   The most successful users of the Ticket Marketplace have figured out how to use this service to attract new audiences and increase the frequency of participation of current audiences.
3. Innovation: 35 small and emerging organizations used ShowUpTIX this year to sell nearly $100,000 of their own full-price tickets.  The recent introduction of PatronManager CRM brings AFA members some of the most sophisticated, affordable and impactful “customer relationship management” technologies that are available today.
4. Statewide: The Prescott Area joined the ShowUp.com family in April 2010,  joining Flagstaff and Metro Tucson which joined in 2009.   Discussions are now underway to add even more communities to the ShowUp.com calendar of arts & cultural events.
5. ShowUp for Fun Initiative – A partnership with the Arizona Department of Education enables the arts & cultural community to make available specially-discounted show tickets to school teachers statewide – and next, we are working to find a financial sponsor that will enable this program to expand to include active-duty military, veterans and their families.  
6. Culture Pass Initiative – AFA inherited management of the popular Culture Pass program (which was started by the Phoenix Art Museum) by which more than 200,000 people have received the benefit of free admission to 14 Valley museums and cultural attractions.  We’re working to sustain that program for the future as well.
7. Collaboration: Alliance for Audience is making it possible for all of its member organizations to analyze and evaluate their audiences with powerful new collaborative technologies.  Production of a first-ever Arizona Arts & Cultural Census / Community Database just recently got underway, with 60 organizations participating in the inaugural effort – and it will go live by February 2011. 
8. Communication: This year, the growth of ShowUp.com’s social media efforts shattered industry benchmarks with 92% of fans actively engaged with the page (industry benchmark is 2.5%) and a monthly growth rate of 8.5% (industry benchmark is 3.5%), allowing instant communication with a group of nearly 2,700 people actively seeking information on participating in arts and cultural events.
9. Transparency:  In 2010, Alliance for Audience/ShowUp.com earned the status of a GuideStar Exchange Valued Partner! Guidestar makes sure donors to non-profits know exactly where their money goes.
10. Service:  Veronica celebrated 4 years with Alliance for Audience in 2010 and Margaret & Randy will reach the 4-year mark in 2011.  New this year, your Alliance for Audience was joined by Skye, Kelly & Ashley - and we were grateful for assistance from Jamey in Flagstaff and Herb in Tucson.  There will be a few changes in 2011, but our commitment to being of service to YOU remains paramount!  

This New Year’s Eve, let’s raise 2 toasts:  ONE to what has been accomplished by collaboration – and TWO to the ambitions to which we commit ourselves for 2011.

See you next year!