Does Cultural Track Data Challenge Assumptions About Your Community? by Joe Patti

As I promised in my last post, I took a deeper look at the Culture Track reporting over the weekend.  More specifically, I took at a look at both the Top Line deck and Supporting Data doc…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 7:42pm on October 23, 2017☆⚑

NOTICE: The Response I Give May Only Reflect My Current Preferences by Joe Patti

You may have already heard that the CultureTrack report was released yesterday. Compiled and released every three years by LaPlaca Cohen, the report helps track the ways in which attitudes t…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:42pm on October 18, 2017☆⚑

Watch How You Step by Joe Patti

A friend of mine sent me a link to a YouTube video that suggests that the way humans walked changed with the evolution of footwear. For Europe this shift started around the 1500. People appa…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 2:48am on October 18, 2017☆⚑

Take A Rare Opportunity To Review Others' Reflections by Joe Patti

Back in August I called attention to a transmedia project in Reading, PA, “This Is Reading,” that playwright Lynn Nottage and a host of others worked on creating to help the comm…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:06am on October 17, 2017☆⚑

An Authentic Experience Is A Branded Experience by Joe Patti

When people are surveyed about what they want out of an interaction with the arts, among the top answers are authentic experience and an opportunity to share that experience with family and …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:36pm on October 11, 2017☆⚑

Intersection of Sports and Art Has Occur For More Than Just One Guy by Joe Patti

Last week this tweet from Howard Sherman caught my eye. From the sports section, not the arts section. Hmmm. https://t.co/d6U75askEC — Howard Sherman (@HESherman) October 3, 2017 If yo…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 7:18pm on October 10, 2017☆⚑

Hey Buddy, You Want To Share A Creative Experience? by Joe Patti

Back in August I presented material in a pre-conference session at the Arts Midwest (AMW) conference alongside AMW President/CEO David Fraher; Creating Connection Program Director Anne Romen…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 7:06pm on October 9, 2017☆⚑

Major Case Of Do As We Say, Not As We Do by Joe Patti

Back in August, I came across the most extreme example of failing to plan for an executive transition that I have seen to date. When the executive director of MarinSpace decided to step down…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 8:36pm on October 4, 2017☆⚑

The Arts Gotta Get Cookin' by Joe Patti

In a piece in on the Harvard Business Review site, food industry consultant Eddie Yoon notes that even as audiences show interest in cooking shows, the desire to cook is waning. Early in my …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:36am on October 4, 2017☆⚑

Portland Vs. The Overhead Ratio Beast by Joe Patti

You may remember that back in 2012 voters in Portland, OR approved a $35 flat tax to benefit arts education in schools. The tax has survived a number of legal challenges, but according to a …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:18pm on October 2, 2017☆⚑

You May Be Dead, But Thanks To A QR Code Your Memory Can Last Forever by Joe Patti

Over on ArtsHacker today, Ceci Dadisman wrote a post suggesting that the dreaded/derided QR code may be making a comeback thanks to improved functionality on Apple’s new iOS11. I have …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 7:24pm on September 27, 2017☆⚑

Looking To The Countryside by Joe Patti

As a person who has lived and worked in rural locations, I read an article about the Catskill Mountain Foundation (CMF) on the Inside Philanthropy site with great interest.  I thought som…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:18am on September 27, 2017☆⚑

Remind Yourself Maximum Performance Is Not Necessarily Optimum Performance by Joe Patti

Last week I wrote about a blog entry Seth Godin made in January that examined phrases like “The purpose of society is to maximize profit” and “The only purpose of a company…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:04pm on September 25, 2017☆⚑

Stuff To Think About: The Profitability Equals Value Assumption by Joe Patti

You haven’t been working in the non-profit arts and culture sector long enough or you haven’t been paying close enough attention if you haven’t heard/read someone say that …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 3:18am on September 21, 2017☆⚑

Say Musicals Aren't Serious Drama, But They Are Seriously Hard To Emulate by Joe Patti

Telling a story in an interesting and compelling way ain’t easy. Sure, we all know that, but an article about efforts Chinese creatives are making to tell their own stories through mus…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:24am on September 20, 2017☆⚑

Know Thy Self And Don't Keep It A Secret by Joe Patti

Last month Barry Hessenius made a post that expanded on a concept proposed management guru Peter Drucker’s article, “Managing Oneself,” that I wrote on a decade ago. Drucke…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:06pm on September 18, 2017☆⚑

Public Radio Has Appeal Among Its Most Truculent Detractors by Joe Patti

There was a very interesting piece on Current.org last week about just how many truck drivers listen to NPR in seeming contrast to the “"business leader," "educated lifelong learner" o…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:24am on September 14, 2017☆⚑

Oh Sure, I Love Doing That…But That's Not Art by Joe Patti

Tyler Cowen featured a study on the Marginal Revolution blog noting that children in India couldn’t do formal math problems, but had no difficulty finding the solution when it was fram…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:36am on September 13, 2017☆⚑

The Secret of Magic (And Pretty Much Everything Creative) by Joe Patti

I was catching up on episodes of This American Life this weekend and came across a great piece that illuminates so many underappreciated elements of the creative process. They speak to Telle…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:36pm on September 11, 2017☆⚑

Small Glint Of Hope In The Overhead Cost Conversation by Joe Patti

I have to give Brad Shear of the Facebook group Non-Profit Happy Hour a significant tip of the hat for calling attention some interesting information about the non-profit starvation cycle bu…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:24am on September 7, 2017☆⚑

Hoping To Not Just Change The Name, But The Smell Of The Rose As Well by Joe Patti

In the last couple weeks two arts service organizations have taken the arguably long overdue step toward establishing greater parity among their members. Last week at the Arts Midwest Confer…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:48am on September 6, 2017☆⚑

The Battle Against Ticket Brokers Inflating Prices Has Been Waged For Over A Century by Joe Patti

I re-discovered an interesting story I had nearly forgotten about. You may be grateful when you go around with posters for your event and businesses agree to display them for free. At one ti…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 7:54pm on August 30, 2017☆⚑

Is Anyone Playing With Classics Anymore? by Joe Patti

Does anyone know of a show, comic book, cartoon series, etc that is injecting classic literature/music/art, etc in a similar manner that Bugs Bunny cartoons had classical music soundtracks? …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:18pm on August 29, 2017☆⚑

Do Differences Still Impede Collective Action? by Joe Patti

I am off at the Arts Midwest conference this week, but as always have prepared some entries to cover my absence. I thought it would be appropriate to revisit part of a report that was issued…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:48pm on August 28, 2017☆⚑

Insight Into Creating Public Art Works by Joe Patti

Last week Americans for the Arts had a blog salon covering lessons learned from public art projects. As a person who is always interested in the process people went through to execute their …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:42pm on August 23, 2017☆⚑