Food for Thought AND a Personal Story

I heard on the radio this morning that JP Morgan Chase is going to post a profit for the last quarter of 2.1 billion and that they and Goldman Sachs want to repay the TARP money given to them (apparently it’s more complicated than “hey, here’s your money back”). Good news I think. Also, the number of people applying for unemployment compensation dropped. Could be that there is a light, I hope so and I know you all do too.

I’m wondering if anyone has been working on any strategies or if you have an idea that could make your company stronger the next time this happens, and it will happen again people, it always does. My dad sold investments for a living as did his brother, his dad and his grandfather. He and my mom are retired now and they live off of their investments. He is the only person I know who HAS NEVER MENTIONED the economic crisis unless someone else brings it up. When someone else does mention it, he says the most maddening things like “what goes up must come down,” and “buy low, sell high,” and “what do you want to know honey?” Uncommunicative though he is, bottom line is this, HE DOESN’T CARE, HE PLANNED FOR THIS. His father weathered the depression in that business, my dad weathered every other economic downturn of the last century in that business. With the greatest of equanimity he will tell you that it will come back, that it always has and it always will.

It’s so hard, it’s hard getting to the next show never mind planning for the next economic crisis, but I hope I come out of this having learned something about what I do and I hope we all do. Here’s to things possibly? maybe? looking up soon…

Deb

Two To A Sleeping Bag

Ben Cameron spoke at the Illinois Arts Alliance Annual Meeting this past Tuesday. I can’t do justice to the metaphor he used that brings me to the title, but suffice to say that the jist of it was this – if we don’t start making changes in the way we operate, we are not all going to survive. Most of us in the room heard that message loud and clear. We need to change. It’s already hard and its going to get harder. As long as its going to get harder anyway, let’s put some of our creativity and our passion and our smarts to work and challenge ourselves to find new models for the way we create and present our art. How many of us are truly ready to let go of our old models and build anew? If we don’t, it will be done for us.

How can we change, what can we do? Well, I don’t know, nobody has the answers but we’ll never get them if we don’t start working on them. One way to think about it is to think again about sharing resources. Join us on March 23 as we tackle this difficult issue. We will have a panel discussion of some things that have worked and some things that haven’t and a brainstorming session – bring your needs, your ideas, your open minds. And, if you know someone from outside the theatre community who is open to these kinds of ideas, bring him or her as well. No limits.

Deb

Survey Says...

I’ve been reading A LOT of articles recently about how ticket sales are holding up well while all around us businesses continue to fail. This morning on NPR I heard a story about dairy farmers having to leave the business because of the plummeting price of milk. Really? Milk? Don’t we need as much milk as ever? Anyway…I thought I’d share with you some of the preliminary results of our fiscal survey. We will release more information early next week. The survey indicates that indeed ticket sales are strong, with 50% of theatres reporting steady or increased ticket sales and of the 50% indicating decreased sales, 60% of those are reporting that those decreases are due at least in part to programming. 65% of theatres report that they are projecting contributed income to be down from what was budgeted for FY 09 in varying degrees from 10-60%.

Give some love (or some money) to your favorite theatre in the $250,000 to $1 million budget range because they are faring the worst. 70% report decreased ticket sales and 65% are reporting decreased contributed income. My unscientific opinion is that at this level any kind of decrease in funding results in marketing budgets being cut results in lower ticket sales results in even lower marketing budgets.

I think we need to remind ourselves and our supporters that ticket sales only count for about ½ of our budgets (less in some cases, a lot less in others). Our community is strong and we have been successful in creating spaces where artists can do excellent work. With community support, this could be the time that Chicago attains the competitive advantage and becomes the top destination for theatre going in the United States and possibly the World. Theatre-making in Chicago is not tied to a bottom-line commercial mentality, and so we are able to produce theatre respected all over the world. For our theatres at the highest risk, we need our community to increase support. For us all we need our community to stay engaged and to continue to support theatre at the highest levels possible.

Deb

Arts in Crisis

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative, a program designed to provide emergency planning assistance to struggling arts organizations throughout the United States. The initiative is a response to the emergency facing arts organizations throughout the United States. The current economic climate has reduced earned and contributed income, decimated endowments, and has left some organizations struggling for survival. Companies of all sizes, localities, and performing arts disciplines have been affected. The program, open to non-profit 501(c)(3) performing arts organizations, will provide free and confidential counsel in fundraising, building more effective Boards of Trustees, budgeting, marketing, and other areas pertinent to maintaining a vital performing arts organization during a troubled economy.

Check out http://www.artsincrisis.org/ for more information.

The Creative Response to Tough Times

By Ben Thiem, Director of Member Services

On Tuesday morning I attended an event at the Chicago Cultural Center that was hosted by the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Illinois Arts Alliance, and the Arts and Business Council of Chicago. The topic of the event was The Creative Response to Tough Times and covered a variety of issues all relating to being a non-profit facing this tough economy. The event included a keynote speaker, and he was followed by a panel discussion. I’ve been digesting the information for a couple days now and just wanted to share a few highlights that I took from it.

• Stay true to your Mission – I’ve heard this mantra numerous times throughout the last several months and heard it again on Tuesday. Your mission sets you a part from other organizations. It is your niche. Now is not the time to change it.
• Be Brave, but not Ignorant – Don’t be afraid to take some calculated risks with your programming provided that they are true to your mission.
• Re-think Your Model –Newspapers, non-profits, and other organizations are failing because their model is broken. What is the new model? Not just that, but what is YOUR new model? New earned revenue generators probably need to be a part of that model. What assets do you have because of your mission that are unique and can be cultivated or adapted for new revenue? Sharing resources with another organization may be part of that new model too.

Those are just a few thoughts I garnered from the discussion. Thanks to all of the hosts for their involvement. It really was an excellent event. If you were there, what did you get out of it? They are planning on leading similar events throughout 2009, so watch for announcements and I encourage you to be at the next one.