I was very fortunate to attend the National Arts Marketing & Development Conference in Los Angeles (Oct 21 – 23), hosted by Arts Reach. Los Angeles has a special place in my heart so it was great to revisit it and experience something very new.
The former front of the Millenium Biltmore Hotel
First of all, I have to tell you about the setting. The Millenium Biltmore Hotel is one of the grand dames of LA. It’s full of Hollywood history, the Academy Awards were hosted there several times – it’s a grand old place.
Billed as “The premier choice for celebrities, presidents and dignitaries for over 85 years, the Millennium Biltmore Hotel offers historic grandeur and modern luxury in the heart of exciting downtown Los Angeles.” It is the kind of old hotel I love. That said, the “old” is apparent.
The photo above is taken from across the street, at Pershing Square, an unfortunate municipal park that is about to undergo yet another renovation in an attempt to turn it into an urban green space. Back in the ’60′s this same park was the setting for many of John Rechy’s escapades as a male hustler, which he chronicled in gloriously salacious detail in his City of Night. This is the former lobby which faces Fifth Avenue.
atmospheric former lobby
Just 1 of the many cherubs climbing the walls in the old lobby.
Eventually the city of Los Angeles made Fifth Avenue a one way street and the “Powers that Be” at the hotel actually put in a new lobby (still pretty swank) that faced onto Grand Avenue. It was as if the Biltmore had turned away from Pershing Square in a huff.
Remember that bit about “old” ? Well here’s my major rant about the conference:
The Millenium Biltmore charges $9.95 PER DAY, PER DEVICE for Wifi that barely works. In fact, it was 90% absent from most of the conference meeting rooms! A marketing conference in 2010 that doesn’t have wifi? Hello, does anyone else see the irony of that last statement?
OK, now that I have that off my chest . . . . on to the actual conference!
What an amazing experience. From the first session I was being inundated with the very best of new ideas about marketing and audience development. What came across very clearly throughout the entire conference were the following points:
- It’s not about “marketing”, it’s about “customer experience”. That customer experience begins when they decide they may be, possibly, just might want to attend your event. Then they factor in: babysitter, dinner beforehand, parking, and concert tickets. Suddenly your $30 concert ticket is costing this potential customer over $100 for a night out. Think about that for a bit. (at this point my mind was already spinning and it was only day 1.)
- “Social Media” isn’t about selling, it’s about relationships. For every tweet you send out selling something, send out a dozen about other things, interact with people, retweet, etc.
- It’s important to encourage your audience to cross post from your Facebook Page to their own by using the SHARE feature. It’s more powerful than just hitting the “Like” button.
Perhaps the most important session I attended was Catchy Doesn’t Sell, presented by Trevor O’Donnell. To quote from the ArtsReach guide:
“For decades the arts have been speaking a peculiar language characterized by clever puns, tired clichés and cloying insider references.”
That was the jumping off point for a very interesting session (and one of the few that didn’t use Power Point – kudos for that!) focused on how, as our audience ages, we are losing the ‘native speakers’ that understand the lingo arts folks sling around with abandon.
The intent of the session was to get us to avoid using arts marketing terms and begin to speak to new audiences in a clear, persuasive manner. Unfortunately the session was only an hour – it could easily have gone on for another and I’d have been very happy.
TAKE AWAY POINT: Younger people don’t have the expectations our parents did. An average 20-30 year old doesn’t differentiate between a night out at a club or a night out at the theatre. It’s all “entertainment” – not broken down into what us old-timers would refer to either as “arts – pronounced “aaaahts, daaaahling” or “entertainment.” Not only do we have to inform and entice, we have to tell people why our event will be a good choice. We have to add persuasion to the mix.
i.e. You like to laugh – we have funny shows
These are just a few of the points that struck me throughout ArtsReach LA. I could go on and on, but I won’t. Suffice to say I’m planning to attend again next year and hope to take a few other CL staffers with me!
