Silo = Isolated (and that’s not a good thing)
By
Visiting with a “small” member organization of Alliance for Audience in Tucson last week, I asked their marketing person if she had ever contacted a particular “large” and prominent local organization that presents work in a similar genre to ask for the opportunity to insert a flyer into their theatre program.
Her expression was one of shock. “No,” she said realizing she had missed an obvious and inexpensive marketing opportunity. She recovered quickly, ”Do you think they would?”
Her comment was a vivid reminder that many arts & cultural marketers perform their jobs in “silos” - isolated structures designed specifically to keep in (and keep out) all kinds of other stuff.
What’s good for corn or grain, however, isn’t healthy when you’re in need of creative ideas for attracting audiences in an era of declining budgets, increased competition and depressed demand.
Working in a silo, we quickly forget that there exist other organizations – and other people – who are doing work that is perfectly complementary to what we are working so hard to achieve.
From the silo, it’s tough to think about WHO might be appropriate to ask – WHEN is a good time to ask – WHERE the opportunities might be – WHAT is possible/reasonable to ask – and WHY should another organization/person might consider partnering with you.
So let’s bust some silos this week…
- If you haven’t recently contacted another arts or cultural organization to explore complementary marketing opportunities, CALL ME.
- If it occurs to you that another organization might be IDEAL for helping you reach certain audiences that you desire - CALL ME.
- If you think that your marketing challenge is so unique that nobody else could possibly be of help – CALL ME.
- If you think that you’re too small – or too big – to get help – CALL ME.
Seriously: CALL ME. My direct phone number is 602-971-2223 x101; or e-mail me at MLehrman@allianceforaudience.org. Or call any other member of your Alliance for Audience team. (We’re all at the same basic phone number.)
One of the benefits of creating & administering a 220-member Statewide association of Arizona arts & cultural organizations is that your Alliance for Audience team of Veronica, Margaret, Skye, Kelly, Randy and me pretty much know someone at EVERY theatre company, music group, dance company, museum, art organization, festival, culinary activity and cultural destination everywhere.
So CALL US – and let us use our contacts to connect you with someone (or a bunch of someones) who are just as interested as you in finding people who are ready & willing to partner with them.
What’s the opposite of a “silo”? I’m thinking “Habitrail.” Let us help you connect your silo! That’s a better metaphor, yes?
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Our entire society, it seems, has a tendency toward being siloed in its thinking and actions. Its not surprising given the century of industrial mass production (in everything from automobiles to college degrees!). However, given the very different realities that we face economically, environmentally, energy-wise and so on, its long past due that we start thinking and acting outside of that box in the phrase we all use from time to time. Thinking more systemically about the problems we face and the solutions that might change the whole game, means stepping outside of our comfort zones and acting as if our life experience and even our educational “disciplines” were merely tools for creating a better life rather than straight jackets that constrain what we do for the rest of our lives.
It seems to me that it has been very convenient for policy-makers, economists and politicians to carve off arts and culture as a nice to have when the good times permit. However, I think they’ve been dead wrong for a long time and dead wrong today to even think of short-changing investments in arts and culture. Here’s my thinking on this.
Its well known that social capital – the value that arises from the billions of minute-to-minute interactions that we have with a wide variety of people everyday – is a key driver to economic well-being. The institutions of social capital are also well known; meeting places, cafes, parks, churches, schools, neighborhood streets, art galleries, the theater and so on. If these places and institutions didn’t exist, we’d rarely speak to each other save for a tweet or email once in a while. The act of person to person interaction and gatherings of groups of people is where ideas are explored and thoughtful conversations about ways of solving a particular set of problems are discussed. The settings are varied but if those settings fail to inspire, are inhospitable, patently unsafe or difficult to get to, our ability to increase the value of our social capital is significantly curtailed. It is from these myriad interactions in and around places and events that in subtle but knowable ways inspire us all to think outside of our own boxes that creates new ideas, new enterprise and ultimately new wealth.
Consequently, taking funds away from arts and culture during tough economic times is actually the worst thing that could possibly happen. Without inspirational events, places, artwork, and creative people doing creative things melding arts and science together, we have always – always – had a much harder time inventing new ways of solving extremely intractable problems. Without continued investments in arts and culture we seriously and possibly fatally impoverish our collective ability to create new technologies, commerce and industry, all of which equate to jobs and the creation of cultural, business and city environments that attract and retain some of the best and brightest minds.
Phil Allsopp,
Chairman, Phoenix Green Chamber of Commerce
http://www.phoenixgreenchamber.org
Love the Habitrail! National Comedy Theatre is in!