Stay ConnectedThis is arts and culture. Unfiltered. Unscripted.
Formerly known as CI to Eye, Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt is a trove of meaningful interviews with executives, artists, and experts across industries. Together with Monica, we’ll explore the way innovation, leadership, and joy drive our industry forward.
In this episode, Priya sits down with Johnna Fellows Gluth and MP to dive into the 2021 Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Media Usage Study. They talk about what it means to be a loyal ticket buyer two years into the pandemic and explore where those audiences spend their time online, how much time they spend on their devices, and what influences them to purchase a ticket.
In this episode, Erik speaks with CI's new President, Priya Iyer, about her experience navigating a new and challenging leadership role. They discuss what supportive leadership really looks like, how to embrace feedback as a gift, and why it's important to make space for celebrating your accomplishments. In this vulnerable conversation, Priya reflects on the imposter syndrome she's felt in her new role and how her integrity has helped to carry her forward through challenges. Priya spent four years serving on the consulting team at Capacity Interactive and in July 2021 returned to CI in the role of President. Prior to CI, she worked in marketing and sales on Broadway. In 2019, she moved from NYC to Southern California where she lead the client services team at a full-service creative agency. Outside of work, Priya enjoys soaking up the sun, dancing, exercising, spending time with friends and family, traveling with her partner Neil, cuddling with her dog Bibo, and taking quiet time to unwind and meditate.
How might the transformative events of the last two years impact the arts sector going forward? In this conversation, Erik interviews cultural leaders Indira Etwaroo and Alex Sarian for their perspectives on how the personal evolutions we've each undergone are impacting our institutions, our communities, and the arts sector. They also discuss how organizations are addressing historical inequities, what it means for an institution to embrace relationship-building, and how cultural organizations can be community anchors.
How do you diversify your audience? You might start by rethinking whether that's even the best question to ask.
In this conversation, Theresa Ruth Howard poses alternative questions to leaders Zenetta Drew and Rachel Moore: What exactly does your organization mean when you talk about "diversifying audiences"? How do your organization's values inform audience diversification initiatives? How can you demystify the word "community"? This conversation will inspire you to find your organization's most authentic path to audience development.
Courtney J. Boddie is the VP of Education and School Engagement at the New Victory Theater. In 2019, TYA/USA awarded her with the TYA Community Impact Award for her leadership in New Victory SPARK (Schools with the Performing Arts Reach Kids), a robust multi-year arts program that has transformed New York City school communities previously underserved in the arts. Russell Granet is President & CEO of New 42. Under his leadership, New 42 expanded its virtual presentations and educator resources, including fully subsidized arts education for NYC public schools and the highly successful curriculum series, New Victory Arts Break. Among numerous honors, Granet was recently named by Crain's New York as a 2020 Notable LGBTQ Executive.
In this episode, Erik speaks with Courtney and Russell about the New Victory Theater's Spark Change research, quantifying the positive impact of performing arts education on kids. They discuss why early exposure to arts education fosters a lasting love for the arts, builds interpersonal skills, encourages innovation, and builds hope for the future in young people. They also share their insight into the New Victory is creating opportunities for access to the arts in the schools that need it most.
Claire Spencer is the CEO of Arts Centre Melbourne, a massive multi-disciplinary performing arts center in Melbourne, Australia, that stages over 4,000 performances and public events per year for an audience of 3 million annual visitors. Claire is largely credited with changing the course of Arts Centre Melbourne and has spearheaded the establishment of the Arts Wellbeing Collective (AWC) a mental health and wellbeing innovative collective set-up by the Arts Centre Melbourne in collaboration with the sector to better support the wellbeing of performing arts workers across the country. In January, 2020, Claire was recognized with an Order of Australia for services to the arts and community.
While many U.S. arts organizations are preparing to reopen their venues, organizations in Australia—where the virus has been effectively contained—began the reopening process as early as January. In this episode, Claire shares the lessons she's learned from Arts Centre Melbourne's reopening. She also explains why her team put most of their digital programming on hold and discusses the importance of acknowledging and supporting team members' mental health challenges in the workplace.
The CI to Eye Podcast will be taking a break for the summer. We'll be back with new episodes after Labor Day! In the meantime, check out the CI to Eye Episode Guide Blog Post for a guide to which past episodes you might want to revisit in the meantime. Have a great summer!
Nik Rama is Principal Analytical Lead at Google, where he also leads mindfulness sessions as part of the gPause program. He is interested in the intersection of neuroscience and meditation, particularly how to use these practices to help reshape the mind, improve wellbeing, and accomplish goals.
In this episode, Nik shares the science behind how meditation can change your brain's structure. He also outlines the research that convinced Google to incorporate meditation into their company because of its powerful effects on health and productivity. If you're looking to re-center and relax, Nik leads a 10-minute mindfulness practice in the episode!
In response to demands for increased user privacy, Apple's iOS 14 update will make it easier for users to control how their data is shared with apps. Following suit with legislation like GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California, Apple and other tech companies are making updates that will change the entire digital marketing ecosystem as we know it. In this episode, Erik talks with four CI consultants about what arts organizations can do to prepare.
Andrew Recinos is the President and CEO of Tessitura Network, a member-owned non-profit dedicated to advancing the business of arts and culture through technology, service, and community.
In this episode, Andrew shares what he's learned from hundreds of arts leaders during his nine-month "listening tour" before becoming CEO of Tessitura. He also discusses what it's like to take on a new role during a pandemic and explains why he's confident the arts will experience a surge when venues can safely reopen.
Madeline Pollis is the Industry Enrichment Content Producer & Assistant to the President at Capacity Interactive. A former opera singer, Madeline joined Capacity Interactive in 2018, where she produces the CI to Eye podcast and CI to Eye Live! She also works on the Arts Industry Digital Marketing Benchmark Study, Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Media Usage Study, and is part of the team that produces Digital Marketing Boot Camp for the Arts.
In this episode, Erik and Madeline have a candid conversation about the Arts Industry Data Analysis: Pandemic Response research. They explore the methodology and share never-before-heard insight into what the data means for arts marketers now and into the future.
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