Not A Good Sign When People Are Googling How to Shutdown A Non-Profit by Joe Patti

In a sign of an alarming possible trend, the For Purpose Law Group blog cites an observation by the CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits that (my emphasis): ….an "ominous sign" is tha…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:49am on June 28, 2023☆⚑

Culture May Often Be A Pawn, But The Importance Transcends by Joe Patti

So in an illustration of the importance of the exercise of soft power, the U.S. has agreed to rejoin UNESCO and pay back dues to the tune of $600+ million. The US stopped paying dues in 2011…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:33am on June 27, 2023☆⚑

These Sets Ain't Gonna Build Themselves by Joe Patti

There was a big story in American Theater this week that discussed the challenges theaters were having finding tech staff and designers, and to a lesser extent, sourcing the raw materials th…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:04am on June 23, 2023☆⚑

Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink by Joe Patti

A public radio station's report on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's (OSF) finances is a good illustration of how restricted endowments can imperil the health of a non-profit organization. O…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:13pm on June 20, 2023☆⚑

The Bar That Hosts Open Mic Operaoke Nights by Joe Patti

Fun article I think I found on Artsjournal.com.  There is a bar in Portland, OR called Mendelssohn's, run by a descendant of composer Felix Mendelssohn who has some opera and classical mu…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:07pm on June 14, 2023☆⚑

Fix The Tix Coalition Makes Bold Demands To End Exploitative Ticketing Practices by Joe Patti

A little over a month ago, I wrote about the newly formed Fix the Tix coalition which is urging the US Congress to pass legislation to protect ticket buyers from exploitative ticket pricing/…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 2:55am on June 14, 2023☆⚑

Questions of Relevance Not Limited to the US by Joe Patti

German arts colleague Rainer Glaap has been feeding me interesting articles over the last couple weeks. I was going to follow up on some content he sent earlier, but he hit me up with an int…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 2:19am on June 13, 2023☆⚑

Providing Attendees With A Happy Ending by Joe Patti

About a year ago, I wrote about a post Colleen Dilenschneider made showing a link between museum gift shops and museum memberships.  She recently wrote a similar piece about how gift shop…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:04am on June 7, 2023☆⚑

Be Careful Monetizing Those Vacation Videos by Joe Patti

So as you are getting out there traveling to enjoy the natural beauty of the U.S. National Parks this summer, you may want to take a cautionary note from a case Gordon Firemark wrote about i…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 5:43am on June 6, 2023☆⚑

Is There A Way Past Fighting And Bad Behavior At Shows? by Joe Patti

So either the disruptions at performances in the UK are growing increasingly problematic or the topic has become a favorite bete noire of news outlets because I continue to see stories on th…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:54pm on May 31, 2023☆⚑

Non-Profits Didn't Volunteer For Mandatory Volunteerism by Joe Patti

It is likely you haven't been able to avoid the seemingly incessant discussion about the negotiations to raise the debt limit. If you haven't been able to muster the zen-like state of lettin…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:24pm on May 30, 2023☆⚑

Pop Up Concert Closing Musicial Theater Number by Joe Patti

Earlier this week the LA Times had a rather lengthy piece on the closing number of the musical Six, a show about the six wives of Henry VIII.  In the final number which has come to be kno…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:24am on May 25, 2023☆⚑

Actors Should Have Been Paid To Audition For The Last Nine Decades by Joe Patti

Howard Sherman posted a link to a New Yorker article about some intrepid film actors who stumbled upon an overlooked section of the The Screen Actors Guild " American Federation of Televisio…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:12am on May 24, 2023☆⚑

Dedicated Performance Experiences Not Really Controversial Until Race Is Involved by Joe Patti

Over the weekend I caught a couple news articles out of the UK about a production which is carving out one performance in their run for black audiences only. The show, Tambo & Bones, whi…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:54am on May 23, 2023☆⚑

Creativity Fills In The Blanks by Joe Patti

We were participating in a scavenger hunt for a local 3rd grade class today. The kids were given clues associated with museums, galleries and public art around the downtown area. In addition…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:18pm on May 17, 2023☆⚑

Maintaining Relationships Has Been Key To Recovery Of Arts Orgs Post-Shutdown by Joe Patti

TRG Arts recently released some data showing that not all segments of performing arts have recovered from pandemic shutdowns at the same rate. Comparing four factors from 2019 to 2022:  T…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:54pm on May 16, 2023☆⚑

Symphonies Telling Stories Of Local Relevance by Joe Patti

A link to a great story came across my feed today about a Hawaii Symphony Orchestra's production that was really focused on resonating with the interests of the community they serve.  Las…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:32pm on May 15, 2023☆⚑

Striking While The Engagement Iron Is Hot by Joe Patti

I was scrolling through Reddit while waiting for a show to end Friday night and happened upon a post that reflects great engagement by the St. Louis Blues hockey team.  A guy discovering …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 8:36pm on May 10, 2023☆⚑

Getting Away From Treating People According To Their Donor Level by Joe Patti

Vu Le made a thought provoking post with suggestions to make fundraising events more community-centric. The subtext of his thoughts is essentially to avoid valorizing donors and literally ma…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 2:18am on May 10, 2023☆⚑

The Folks Who Saved Our Stages Are Fighting For A Better Ticketing Experience by Joe Patti

It appears the folks that spearheaded the Save Our Stages effort during Covid which became the Shuttled Venue Operators Grant program are turning their energies toward tackling all the probl…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:54am on May 9, 2023☆⚑

Efforts To Reduce Burn Out Are Better With Company by Joe Patti

There is a fairly extensive article on the Time magazine site about using creative practice to address burnout.  The piece by Jamie Ducharme was titled "I Tried to Cure My Work Burnout. H…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:18am on May 4, 2023☆⚑

Leaders I/S/O Organizations Who Know Things Have Changed by Joe Patti

I had a post appear on ArtsHacker today about hiring executive leadership in the context of the social changes which have occurred since the start of the Covid pandemic. My post primarily fo…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:54pm on May 2, 2023☆⚑

You're Doing A Great Job, But Standards For Dissatisfaction Have Changed by Joe Patti

Colleen Dilenschneider made a post comparing what factors created dissatisfaction for attendees of cultural events in 2019 vs. 2022. She posted charts for both exhibit and performance based …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 5:36am on May 2, 2023☆⚑

Sometimes You Are More Creative Without The Brainstorming Session by Joe Patti

Nina Simon may have left museum administration and being an agent of change behind to write books, but she still manages to live and think right on the cusp of things. Today, I receive an ar…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:48pm on April 26, 2023☆⚑

More Prescribing Arts To Cure You by Joe Patti

Artsjournal linked to a piece in a University of Florida journal about a program the university is piloting in the hopes of eventually rolling out a national program of prescribing arts to s…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:24pm on April 25, 2023☆⚑