Last night I was invited to speak to a group of students at IUPUI about young audience development. The main focus of my presentation was the Arts Council of Indianapolis’ 2006 report on “Developing Next Generation Arts Audiences.” As I prepared for the class yesterday, I realized just how far the Indianapolis arts community has come in such a short time.
Above: “20 -40 Somethings” play X-Box at an IMA opening.
In a nutshell the “Next Generation” report was a study of the “20-40 something” arts participation in Indianapolis. With the help of Next Generation Consulting, the Arts Council prepared a report on how young audiences find out about arts events and their motivations for attending arts events. This study was done in order to build a more robust participation in the arts among young professionals in order to build (and in some cases, replace) the current aging audience.
Here’s my personal summary of the results:
1. The vast majority of 20-40 somethings find out about arts events from friends and family.
2. The vast majority of 20-40 somethings use email and the Web as a primary information source.
3. Intimidation or lack or knowledge about a venue or art is a major inhibitor for arts participation amongst 20-40 somethings.
4. The primary reason for 20-40 somethings to attend arts events is to “learn something.” The secondary reason is “to be social.”
These results were presented at the end of 2006 and to be honest, as I represented to the class last night, I realized that many of them looked really bored. I’d like to think that it wasn’t my presentation style, rather it was the fact that all of this information seems rather obvious to those of us who are between the ages of 20-40. In the facial expressions of the students I could see a universal “Well, duh.”
However, I will say that while the results of the report seem a bit obvious now, 2 years ago, they motivated a huge change in the way arts organizations approach audience development. For example my current position at the IMA was created in many ways as a direct result of the “Next Generation” report. Combining market research, audience development, and eCommunications under one person created efficiencies that allow the IMA to do a better job in developing and then analyzing young professional participation.
Here are some changes that have occurred at the IMA due to the report:
1. Forefront Parties – The IMA has lowered the ticket price for opening events and has made giant efforts to create parties that are fun and youthful. At the opening event for Emily Kennerk: SuburbanNation, guests sipped spiked lemonade while playing cornhole. At the Ingrid Calame opening in November, guests could race cars on an X-Box while sipping beer out of coozies designed for the exhibition.
2. Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, the IMA Blog and almost all things digital – When this report was first presented, the IMA didn’t have anything on any of these Web sites. While the ball was already rolling in many of these areas, this report really got the administration to support what were at the time “radical” communication tools such as video and social networking. I distinctly remember having to explain to my boss that “viral marketing” was a good thing.
3. Extended Hours on Thursdays and Fridays (with a bar and a dj!) - Being of the target demographic, I am always grateful that I work in such a cool place. It’s not often that one walks out of their office into a bar. But that’s exactly what happens to me every Thursday and Friday. While often frequented by IMA staffers after long days at work, Happy Hour and AMP have also been attracting young professionals who want to grab a drink while enjoying a cool atmosphere. In 2007, the IMA extended it’s hours on Thursday and Friday nights until 9:00 pm. While we don’t have any demographic research yet from these nights, anecdotally, I can tell you that the audience after 6:00 pm on those nights is about 20 years younger than our typical visitor. Seems to be working…
So those are just a few of the things that the IMA has done as a direct response to the report.
Here are some of the things that other arts organizations have done:
1. Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra - I think of all the arts organizations in town the ISO may be doing the best job in attracting a new and younger demographic. I was just at the ISO’s performance of Rite of Spring last Friday. There were three remarkable things about this experience. First, I found out about the performance through Facebook. Second, about 25% of the audience seemed to be under 30. Third, and perhaps most remarkable, there was a dude with a mohawk in the audience. I loved it!
2. Indiana Repertory Theatre – The IRT has revamped their Web site, and I’m pretty sure it was a direct result of their attempt to attract younger audiences. Now folks can write reviews about performances through a really cool application on their site. Check it out!
3. The Eiteljorg Museum – The museum has a young professional society called “Agave” that supports the Museum as well as organizes social events. In recent months the museum has created the “Agave Lounge” on their Web site where members can see pics from events as well as view upcoming events. I was at the Pop Goes the West event last year, and in addition to a really hip vibe and great art, I really enjoyed the free Jagermeister drinks served at the bar. Nothing like checking out an Andy Warhol after a shot of jager.
SO, in summary, the Indianapolis arts community has responded and the face of the average arts attendee is getting younger. It’s obvious to me that there has been success so far. However, there’s a lot more room to grow. Are there any 20-40 somethings out there that have a suggestion of what works? Do you think I’m right in my estimations or just delusional?
January 25th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
You need an RSS feed for this to be a blog. I sometimes forget that you guys have it. With an RSS feed it would automatically alert your subscribers that a new post has been made.
Just sayin’.
J
January 25th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Thank you for the feedback. There are links to the RSS feeds for entries and comments at the bottom of the page, but your comment informed us that perhaps there should be a more prominent indicator. We have added the RSS icon to the address bar so that hopefully those who would like to subscribe to our feed will have an easier time finding it.