240 stories by "Adam Thurman"
Most of the advice I give to artists boils down to this: If you don't feel strongly about the project, don't do it. You've got a limited amount of energy, time and resources to devote to any…
. . . that's what the salesman told me as I bought a suit a few weeks back. He was a fantastic sales person. Smart. Helpful. I gladly put my credit card on the table when it was time to...
It's really about balance. If you work in a field that has a strong (understandable) thirst for growth, then you need something to balance it all out. So what if you decided not to grow? Wha…
If you accept the idea that unchecked, or poorly considered, growth can be a major source of headaches for an arts organization (or an individual artist) then you may end up wondering why it…
I want to spend a little time this week talking about growth. That growth comes in many forms, from an arts organization breaking ground on a building to an artist getting an agent and a man…
You know that the person answering your phone, or responding to emails is WAY more important then that fancy promotional piece you're working on, right? Right? You know that if one of those …
That's our only rule job now . . . to solve the interesting problems. I didn't come up with that statement, but it is a very true one. To me, one of the most interesting problems we have in …
The arts are a world with a high variance. In the gambling world another term for variance is "swing". Things swing widely in the arts. Great critical reviews to horrible ones. Major funders…
You can self publish and produce your work. You can partner with viable organizations. You can start your own organization. You can create and publish part time and ask for little money in r…
A few unrelated thoughts: 1. I find the whole "people should stop forming arts organizations" conversation to be interesting. It's interesting because people make a very logical case for not…
I'm typing this with a cup of coffee by my side. I paid 1.80 for it. It's a good, strong, well brewed cup of coffee. It is also totally unremarkable. I'm a spoiled consumer. I expect to be a…
I spent the last week or so out of town. While I was gone, I follow the same set of vacation rules I give my team. No responding to email. No calling to check in. People are only allowed to.…
It's not a marketing/fundraising/artistic problem. It's a leadership problem. I know, I know. It would be much easier if it were just a marketing problem. Solving those are pretty easy. Just…
It's time for me take a small break from blogging. Regular posting will resume on April 9. In the meanwhile, follow me on Twitter, @missionparadox On the Twitters I'll still be sharing thoug…
The problem is that when I encourage people to connect art and audience by telling stories, people think I mean lie to them. People interpret story as spin. They aren't the same thing. Let's…
I stopped trying to sell art years ago. Now I just tell stories. The hope is that the story leads to connection with the like minded. Then the hope is that a portion of those like minded wil…
I want to make art I want to make money from art Those are two very different statements. The path to creating and distributing art is as smooth as it has ever been. No permission needed. Bu…
Everyone has their own definition marketing. Here is mine: Marketing is a process by which emotion is transferred. Ultimately, the goal of marketing is make you feel something. Of course, th…
The future of the arts is small. Smaller organizations. The days of a nonprofit arts organization going from one employee to 20-30 full time employees in a short period of time are gone. The…
Yesterday I noticed an interesting question from American Theatre Magazine: Is administration an art? I'm an administrator so, I will speak for myself. 60% of what I do, as a director of mar…
Put down that 501c3 application for a second. Stop putting together that book of "board member responsibilities". We need to talk. ---------------------------------- Do you really know what …
Today I'm handing my tiny piece of the blogging world to Seth Godin as he presents his manifesto, Stop Stealing Dreams It takes a look at our current educational system and how it needs to a…
What some good news? Here it is: 1. For the first time in modern history, an individual artist can put their art directly into the hands of an audience. The author, the painter, the musician…
Things tend to grow organically/naturally. A start up dance company does a show for a small crowd, maybe just friends and family. Over time, a little buzz happens, a little word of mouth hap…
Disrespecting your artistic competition, or your audience, is a sign of immaturity. It's easy (and fun) to talk about how everything sucks. It's easy (and fun) to blame the rigid, old, infle…
