SESSION 1: INTERACTIVE MARKETING with Neighborhood Centers and Houston Zoo

You say, “OMG! I HAVE NO SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE AND DON’T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN!” [or maybe your boss says, "Hey, you have a facebook, can you get us on all those things. I don't get twitter but I saw on the Today Show that it's big or something."]

[CASE STUDY]@HoustonBrooke with Neighborhood Centers:

Before you jump off the deep end … develop a strategy:

1. Keep in mind, EVERYTHING IS AN EXPERIMENT. There are hordes of social media “experts” but, truly, the landscape changes every second. Don’t get discouraged and quit social media if one tactic doesn’t work for your organization. On the same token, if it’s not working, try a new tactic instead of continuing on and on and on the same way.
2. Use Quantcast to assess social media platforms’ demographics and determine where your audience is.
3. Before you go “follow” or “suggest page” to  everyone you can find that has no association with your organization, develop a small following of those that know you [i.e. staff of the organization] and post some things for credibility. You never get a 2nd first impression. Make sure the first time someone you don’t know comes to your page after you follow them, it seems legit.

Ok, so now you have your accounts set up. Rather than blasting everyone with random LOLz, think strategic implementation:

1. Communicate to everyone [Board and Staff] the tools  you have created and ask them to participate and contribute by retweeting, liking and sharing with their networks.
2. Get some social networking business cards [i.e. add your social media url's to your existing business cards]
3. Create a social media policy based on  your organization’s core values.

READY? SET? UPDATE!

Tips from those in the trenches:
STEP 1) You gotta listen!  Set up  google alerts and/or social mention to monitor what others are saying about your organization
STEP 2) ENGAGE!
CROWDSOURCING: It’s a fancy term for “don’t do the work yourself.” The best way to utilize crowdsourcing is through photos. Ask your networks to submit photos around some topic. Neighboorhood Centers launched a successful campaign by asking for photos from around the neighborhood/representing Houston. While not required, they asked for a $5 donation for submission and they raised $400+ and got a bunch of great pics while also building their network with photographers.
STEP 3) MEDIA: include video and photos whenever possible

What’s next for Neighborhood Centers?

1. Incentivize crowdsourcing: you get alot better material and more if you offer a prize
2. More online ambassadors: find your online advocates, thanks them and credit them; value them so they provide more online accolades
3. Micro-fundraising campaigns: they’re all the rage

HANDY-DANDY RESOURCES:
501(c)3 = 501(c)FREE! Resources & Tools
SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY FROM NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS – personal social media usage
SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY FROM NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS – agency run usage

QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Do you get release forms from people you are videoing/photographing? YES

[CASE STUDY] @krussohzg with Houston Zoo
Problem: Zoo guests  can =  supporters/donors but how do you get the whole team/staff on board?
The Houston Zoo held an executives workshop for social media that outlined  metrics and impact of social media.

For their blog they began with moderated posts from staff:

• internal survey of of who is online and how much they knew about social media
• ask for 1 or 2 volunteers from each department
• hold social media training for volunteers

The staff volunteers were tasked with generating content: anything from photos and one-liners for twitter, to enrichment, posts on  making animal diets andcleaning poo. They also provided staff backgrounds. Make sure to always CREDIT, CREDIT, CREDIT the staff members.

**TIPS:

• Not on twitter all day? Or can’t keep in open in the background? Try twitstra. It will email replies from twitter
• twitter seemed to work and be more responsive with joking, edgier content
• facebook received more traffic and engagement
• When reposting blog posts on facebook, readers would comment on the facebook link but not on the actual blog post. Make sure to show the facebook comments to the blog writer so they don’t get discouraged and think no one is reading.
• TeacherTube – like YouTube but geared just towards teachers

MANAGING THE CONVO: negative comments allow education and improve customer service,; the zoo also found that their fans would come to their defense many times before they could even reply.

SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTION: include social feeds from facebook, flickr, youtube, twitter on homepage;  value staff, thank them and ask them to share/like updates from the official page

WHATS NEXT FOR THE ZOO:

• Guest bloggers: members that come weekly, mom groups
• Share your photos and they’ll put in newsletter
• Share your favorite memories from the zoo
• Ask us questions

MICROFUNDRAISING CAMPAIGNS: The Zoo’s Baby elephant needed a new pool so the staff shot a video and spread it through twitter and facebook. The campaign brought in $4800; 51% first day and 37% were first time donors.

**Most of all HAVE FUN! Experiment with different messages and mediums; enter the conversation and invite feedback; it’s evolutionary and always changing!

NEXT UP! SESSION 2:  MARKETING TACTICS TO INCREASE FUNDRAISING  with Denise Patrick from Peirpont Communications!

Work by Ms. Robin. Courtesy of Terry St. John

Shame on me. Although I pride myself in knowing the Houston art scene meandering from performance to exhibits and to things you can’t really label, I had yet to meet the folks at Community Artists’ Collective.

Perhaps it was a little retail therapy that sparked my interest in the “Objects of Art and Crafts: A Collective Choice” exhibit featuring the work of eleven local creative personalities.

Housed in the Midtown Arts Center where I had seen many Mildred’s Umbrella Theater performances, I was delighted to learn about an organization that does so much for so many people. The artists are eager to get to know you. The staff is eager to help them, and me, I am eager to shop.

Jackie Miller’s knitted shoes are darling and cozy. Charles Washington’s Red Door Series, a unique collection of retouched art work, is visually stunning, Velinda Joy Bismark’s work evokes a wonderful sense of calm while transporting you to a different dimension. And Ms. Robin reminds us that everyone can be artsy with just a few supplies and a little brave creativity.

Reception tonight. You coming?

Here’s where I’ll be:

TONIGHT! [Friday, Nov 19]
WHAM @ Spacetaker, 6pm – 10pm
Spacetaker’s 5th Annual Winter Holiday Arts Market starts tonite with their preview par-tay. You don’t need a special invite, you do need to pay $10. What that gets you? Booze, food and early dibs on art, photography, jewelry, scarves and so much more.  If you can’t make it tonite, no worries it happens all this weekend – Saturday and Sunday and FREE admission [but with one of kind pieces, you wanna make it out early].

Foam Raiser with Saint Arnold @ Orange Show, 7:00pm – 10:30
Yep, I’m attempting two events across town at the same time, because they are both NOT TO BE MISSED imho. And? I’m bringing my mom. 1) Because the Orange Show makes my top picks of awesomeness in the city. Just walking into the crazy, carni-like, structure warms my heart. 2) Besides the fact Saint Arnold is my fav beer [Spring Bock to be exact] and they will have the only cask of Divine Reserve 10 tonite, they are also VERY gracious and giving to the local arts community here. 3) Once you’ve seen live music at the Orange Show under the stars sitting on a tractor seat, any other music venue really just pales in comparison.

TOMORROW [Saturday, Nov 20]
ARTCRAWL in Downtown Houston, 10am – 9pm
Over 100 Artists will once again open their working art studios, exhibition and live in
spaces to the public for the 18th Annual Artistʼs Warehouse. New this year, ARTCRAWL, FOTOFEST and PedalHouston have come together to offer the public a bike tour of ARTCRAWL2010.(www.fotofest.org/bikescramble)

VIA COLORI on Allen Parkway at Sam Houston Park
Saturday and Sunday!
Yay! It’s that time of year! This annual 2-day street painting festival includes live music, a family zone and 200 of the best professional and local street artists. And it’s FREE! Stop by tomorrow and see the early stages of the work being created right in front of you. Then stop by again Sunday evening for the completed works because come Monday morning, they’ll be not even a remnant of the amazing works. And you’ll have to wait an entire year to experience it again. And I would be sad for you.  It all benefits The Center For Hearing and Speech.

SUNDAY, Nov 21, 2-5pm
Caroline Sessions: Westbound and Grillout @ Caroline Collective
Some guys over here at Caroline decided a few months back to start having informal live music sessions at the office [on the roof, in the parking lot, in the garden ... wherever].  Sunday they’re doing a video shoot of the Westbound band. There are grills for which to cook on, places for which to hang, they’ll provide the music and it’ll be a big ole fun Sunday afternoon. You can see the other fun times on their facebook page full of videos.

But there’s so much more going on! Fill your itinerary with goodies from www. fresharts.org and let us know where you’re heading!

Photo by David A. Brown

For some, WHAM may conjure up ideas of the obligatory fighting scene in the old Batman show. For others, perhaps a tired 80′s tune that makes you wake someone up before you go-go.

But in Houston, WHAM is much cooler than both. Spacetaker’s 5th Annual Winter Holiday Art Market brings together 60 of Houston’s most creative folks at Winter Street Studios for a three-day event THIS WEEKEND. You will find anything from painting, photography, sculptures, jewelry, personal products, soaps, clothing and more.

More importantly, you will be able to find gifts for those hard to shop people (like myself) and perhaps find a couple of things for you as well.

Art and About (that’s me of course) went undercover on the scene to bring you a closer look as what you can find.

You may have heard already… after all, everyone in town’s talking about them …  Gourmet Prep shops, chops, measures and delivers to your door all the ingredients for a fresh, complete home-cooked  meal in a recipe kit. They’re the first to offer upscale food delivery.  Working with Chef Justin Turner, formerly the personal chef for Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets, they have created a fantastic menu of ready-to-cook meal kits, which include all the ingredients to prepare fresh, tasty and sophisticated dishes in under 30 minutes. What’s more?! They dedicate 100% of their profits and operations to training at risk teens cycling out of the foster care system in entrepreneurship.

And now, they’re helping us out! Use Referral Code “FreshArts” at check out and 10% of your total purchase will be donated to us! That’s TWO non-profits for the cost of one meal [or your week's worth]!

THIS WEEK’S SPECIAL? Sauteed Red Snapper with Dirty Rice, Chipotle Aioli and Oven Roasted Tomato Salsa. But I have my eyes on anything that includes the Blue Cheese Sweet Potatoes. YUM.

Baroque violin by Dorian Barnes, copying master luthier Carlo Antonio Testore

One of the perks of being the fresh adventurer is that I get to talk to Houston’s most creative personalities. Sometimes, our conversations lead me to discover things, in this case, the work of Dorian Barnes.

I bet most people would not associate Houston as a city that hosts a prominent violin maker, more so if they were told some were copies of 18th century luthier Carlo Antonio Testore.

Testore’s instruments were known for having excellent sound regardless of their somewhat rough appearance. Barnes affectionately calls them the “drunken masters.”

Like any project that involves natural resources, there is a little unknown factors and luck, which can make the process stressful.

In the midst of a large commission from Mercury Baroque where Dorian is in the process of building their whole arsenal of instruments, this fresh adventure is all finding out what it takes to make a violin.

Mercury Baroque

When I say baroque music, you say…

Right, most of us do not associate baroque music with things that are exciting, emotional and largely dramatic. But that is really what most artists were attempting to achieve in that era.

Baroque music (when performed well) is on my list of things that get me going along with some Shostakovich Symphonies, Prokofiev chamber music, and of course, dirty German techno.

This week, I had the chance to chat with two phenomenal musicians in the Houston area: Antoine Plante, artistic director and Jonathan Godfrey, concertmaster of Mercury Baroque.

Hear their thoughts:

TONITE!
DiverseWorks
Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then
Opening 6-9pm FREE
I received a mailing poster some months ago for Brent Green’s exhibition in New York – I don’t know how I get on these lists – but I loved the poster so much, it was prominently displayed on my office door for 6 months until I moved offices and accidentally tore it. Then, SUCCESS, I see Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then on DiverseWorks season calendar! I’m so excited to see what this is all about.  And in true uber-collaboration form, Brent Green’s films are also apart of Cinema Arts Society festival next weekend, AND Mitchell Center is having him over to University of Houston to speak.

MORE TONITE!
Opera Vista
Opera 101 at Boheme
8-9:30 FREE
I ended up at Boheme on Friday evening a monthish ago with some guys from the office, totally forgetting is was an Opera 101 night. We had such a great a time! It’s completely unlike anything you would associate with “going to the opera” because you’re not “going to the opera.” You’re sitting at the bar with a beer and making up an absolutely ridiculous opera plot with lyrics like, “How did we get here?//This is bizarre!” [because the crowd somehow devised an opera plot about cougars and cheating.] No, this really happened. And the office men has such a great time, they asked me to make sure we all do it again next time. Safe to say, this is great fun for those who have never been to/know anything about opera.

TOMORROW! [Saturday]
Mitchell Center for the Arts
LIFE Is LIVING festival
Emancipation Park 11am – 5pm
I’ve been waiting for this festival for over a year now! I’m not going to rattle off all the partners and activities but I will say Talib Kweli‘s performing! The festival keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger:  a farmer’s market and cooking demonstrations, live graffiti on 20 car-hoods, kids activities, tons of dance and other performances, other local music on the Youth Stage, a vintage/gently used clothing exchange, mobile health clinics, yoga and the list goes on. Seriously. Did I even get to the part about it being COMPLETELY FREAKIN’ FREE! And their motives? To “celebrate the extraordinary people who sustain the cultural life in and around the Third Ward.” This is Houston, y’all. This is amazing.

Saturday Night
Mildred’s Umbrella Theatre Company
Glass Slipper Gala
8pm – 11:30pm
“Gala” is such a sneaky term for this par-tay. One big hint? Tickets are $25 in advance and the costumes are outrageous.  This will be my 3rd year to attend their shin dig and they definitely out-do themselves each time.  Hey-yo, that $25 includes your beverages and munchies for the evening. For reals. My costume … well, I’ve been told I must give credit to the illustrious and ingenious, Nancy Wozny aka @dancehunter.  I believe her exact words were “Hey! YOU CAN’T STEAL THAT. THAT’S MY IDEA!” FYI: tickets are $40 at the door, so BUY THEM NOW. And see if you can guess my costume.

SUNDAY
Mitchell Center [again]
LIFE Is LIVING: Day of Service
10am-4pm
Continuing the theme of community celebration and civic responsibility, Sunday, Mitchell Center invites everyone to The Last Organic Outpost, an inner city urban farm project using regenerative agriculture to restore the fertility of unused land, for a day of service.

Of course, more ideas for weekend fun can be found at fresharts.org

Courtesy of Divergence Vocal Theater

What do you write first, text or music? Perhaps a conundrum like the chicken and the egg, the process of composing a vocal piece varies greatly depending on the composer, writer, artist, or anyone who has a creative stake in the work. This weekend, Divergence Vocal Theater is putting on their first fully original work: Selkie, a Sea Tale. Text by Misha Penton, artistic director and soprano, music by Elliot Cole, costume design by Sarah Mosher and set design by Houston favorite photographer, David A. Brown.

In this video, get a sneak peak at the music, the composition process and what sounds one can expect from a piano and cello.

Courtesy of Misha Penton

I know. It sounds silly. But think about how many masterpieces have been inspired by nature in general. Perhaps a seal is a rather unusual animal, but as an homage for that which was hunted, Selkie mythology puts forth a half-human half-seal creature.

It was during a trip to the West coast that an unexpected visitor found its way into Misha Penton, artistic director of Divergence Vocal Theater’s hiking path teasing her into producing DVT’s first fully original work.

With music by Elliot Cole, set design by David A. Brown and costumes with Sarah Mosher, I had the opportunity to take a sneak peak during one of their rehearsals.

Achingly hot.