Technology in the Arts - Blog

We ask that you now turn ON your phones! Enjoy the show!

Amelia Northrup — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:04:19 +0000

Fail Phone by Rammikins! Today on the Technology in the Arts blog, a further investigation of the burning question–mobile phones: good or evil? Last week, we investigated the evils of mobile phone technology in the context of arts audiences. This week, it’s time to turn on your cell phones and explore how mobile phones can [...]

Post-NAMP 2009 Reflections

corwinchristie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:44:10 +0000

It’s Wednesday in Pittsburgh, and the information-laden NAMP Conference is still fresh in my mind. I have been pondering the challenge of separating these closely-connected insights, and will do my best to craft them into individual blog entries. I will start here with a quick overview of NAMP 2009 themes, and then delve into how [...]

Free Museum Computer Network Webinars

Amelia Northrup — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:31:01 +0000

The Museum Computer Network, an org that specializes in sharing information about new museum technology and its most effective uses, is holding its annual conference next week in Portland, Oregon. This year’s theme: “Museum Information, Museum Efficiency: Doing More with Less!” The org is webcasting several of its sessions for free on Thursday, Nov. 12 and [...]

National Arts Marketing Project – Day One

corwinchristie — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:38:50 +0000

If you haven’t been, check out #nampc09 on Twitter. The day was chock-full, and I am happy to say that I feel I attended some of the best sessions. I had a chance to chat with Gene Carr and Jerry Yoshitomi on-the-record (which I will have up as a forthcoming podcast), as well as Rich [...]

National Arts Marketing Project Conference – Preconference

corwinchristie — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:35:08 +0000

Providence, RI was brisk and bright this afternoon as I collected my registration materials for the Americans for the Arts NAMP Conference. I did not attend today’s Pre-Conference sessions, but did have an opportunity to get involved in one of the Dine Arounds. There were a few topics to choose from, and I signed up to grab [...]

We ask that you now turn off all cell phones and pagers. Enjoy the show!

Amelia Northrup — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:50:39 +0000

Corwin wrote a great post a month or two ago about the new technologies that museums have started to implement to increase interactivity with their patrons. I thought it might be interesting to explore the performing arts side of things. Two things inspired me think about this: Firstly, an arts professional recently told me about an [...]

Site Review – Events Marketing by Constant Contact

corwinchristie — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:16:34 +0000

Constant Contact has just released its Event Marketing service, and the service meets a lot of the needs that an organization might have when gathering information about prospective attendees. The greatest strength of this new service is its use as data tracking tool. It has integrated a number of elements to allow the event’s creator [...]

What Google Wave means for arts organizations

Amelia Northrup — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:52:35 +0000

Wave, the latest Google creation, was released October 1 to much excitement amongst early-adopter techies. What is Google Wave? As Google puts it: “We set out to answer the question: What would e-mail look like if we set out to invent it today?” Three words jump to mind when describing the experience promised: real-time, collaborative communication. [...]

Technology in the Arts #63

Brad Stephenson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:01:03 +0000

In this episode of the Technology in the Arts podcast, the Center for Arts Management and Technology’s executive director David Dombrosky talks with Corwin Christie, a Heinz College Master of Arts Management student. Poor Corwin, a social media assistant for CAMT, was forced to do David’s reading, and she provides her thoughts on the book [...]

Musicians Standing Up for Net Neutrality

David Dombrosky — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:40:01 +0000

[Casey Rae-Hunter is the communications director for Future of Music Coalition - a national, nonprofit education, research and advocacy organization for musicians. He has generously given us permission to republish this article which originally appeared on the Future of Music Coalition website .] In the almost ten years that the Future of Music Coalition has existed, [...]

Google Chrome Exposure Tarnished by Brand Names

corwinchristie — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:33:33 +0000

A few months ago I wrote a post lambasting Google for soliciting artist work without financial compensation. The situation, to recap, was that Google approached well-known illustrators to design nifty new artist skins for the Google Chrome browser. The catch: Google offered to compensate the artists with only exposure. In my mind, the offense was [...]

Now available: Virtual Gallery Software Review!

Amelia Northrup — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:08:08 +0000

Technology in the Arts just released a publication reviewing virtual gallery software for artists and arts organizations interested in creating 3D virtual exhibitions. Access the PDF publication here. The publication reviews three online gallery systems: Virtual Gallerie, Image Armada, and Scenecaster / 3D Scene. Which one is best for your organization? Check out the publication to find out which [...]

Technology as the Art

corwinchristie — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:23:05 +0000

“Molotov Alva and His Search for the Creator,” by Douglas Gayeton, a film made using machinima. Technology and the Arts…it’s what we focus on in this blog, on this website, and in our offices. Dictionary.com defines technology first as “the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation [...]

Streaming the Arts: ClassicalTV as the past, present and future

Amelia Northrup — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:47:32 +0000

I’m a little bit of an opera nut. While other people my age are psyched for the release of Saw VI, I’m anxiously awaiting the Met HD broadcast of Tosca.That’s why I was so excited to find out about ClassicalTV, which makes full-length performances available for free. No more 10-minute-max YouTube clips—just grab a glass [...]

Prepare ye the way for the digital season brochure

Amelia Northrup — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:33:42 +0000

The season brochure, that bastion of quadruple-proofed specialty paper that brings in a cache of new subscribers every year, has officially gone digital. And not just a PDF with an embedded link to the box office page. Oh no. With sound clips. And conductor interviews. As you may have gathered, I was recently delighted to discover [...]

Filtering for Information: The Value in Streamlining Online Presence

corwinchristie — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:40:38 +0000

We talk a lot about online identity and managing the way in which the world receives you. But what about the way that you receive the world? Establishing and fostering connections and relationships necessitates that channels of information and communication be open. Once you open the door a little, however, the information that [...]

Why Net Neutrality is an Arts Advocacy Issue

David Dombrosky — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:45:16 +0000

I teach a course on “Cultural Policy and Advocacy in the US” each spring for CMU’s Master of Arts Management program. As I begin prepping for the upcoming spring semester, I find it intriguing that the issue of “net neutrality” has not gained much buzz within the arts advocacy community. So let’s take a look [...]

The Future of Arts Journalism is Here… Maybe

Amelia Northrup — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:38:52 +0000

Worried about your local arts critics being cut? How about the impending demise of your local paper? Don’t worry; the future is here! Last week the USC Annenberg School for Communication announced five projects that will present at The National Summit on Arts Journalism. The School put out an open call for projects that represent [...]

A Social Network Apart

corwinchristie — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:20:40 +0000

Last week Ning announced its new platform for apps. If you are unfamiliar with Ning, it’s a service that allows users to create new social networking sites. And, as the white noise generated by the rapidly growing mass of internet users threatens to overpower the individual voice, this may be just the change that an [...]

Technology in the Arts #62

Brad Stephenson — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:49:24 +0000

In this episode of Technology in the Arts, Brad interviews Hannah Leatherbury. Hannah is the E-Services Manager for Southern Arts Federation (SAF) and the project lead for ArtsReady, is a forthcoming, web-based, continuity planning application for performing arts organizations. The Andrew Mellon Foundation is providing funding and support for this project. ArtsReady uses the definition of “continuity [...]

Technology in the Museum: Turning Visitors On or Off to Art?

corwinchristie — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:59:18 +0000

Photo caption on Flickr: “There was a queue waiting to photograph this little Dali painting.” Photo by moirabot. On the Technology in the Arts LinkedIn group a member, referencing this blog post, asked: “Will Tech Engage or Distract a Museum Visit?” This simple question led me down a rabbit-hole of tangential questions and topics (internal vs. external [...]

Tech Planning for Arts Managers: A Nuts and Bolts Webinar on Implementing Technology at Your Organization

David Dombrosky — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:03:44 +0000

On September 2nd Brad Stephenson, host of the popular monthly Technology in the Arts podcast, will lead a new webinar entitled ”Technology Planning for Arts Managers”. Designed to meet the needs of today’s arts managers, this workshop will focus on ways in which arts managers can use technology to best meet their missions and [...]

Non-Technical Difficulties: Unions Block Online Stream of Live Theater Performance

corwinchristie — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:05:43 +0000

The “boys” of PICT’s “The History Boys.” Photo courtesy of PICT. In 2006 Stephanie Riso, Operations Director of the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater (PICT), recognized the limitations that performance space imposed on ticket sales for her popular Cabaret Pittsburgh project. She considered ways to expand the audience of the musical revue without finding a new location [...]

Perform a Digital Identity Self-Exam

corwinchristie — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:17:22 +0000

Photo by Fazen. Digital Identity is a topic that, like Digital Identity itself, cycles through period of seeming quite important (take the Twitter hack) and others when it seems like something toward which a person can take a very hands-off approach. It is easy to fall into the false sense of security offered by social [...]

Why Art? Because it’s Not Only For “Us.”

corwinchristie — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:54:47 +0000

Tim Mikulski grabbed my attention the other day with his ARTSBLOG post, asking, “[A]s our public debt deepens and we start to see the proverbial writing on the wall, what is that new argument for funding arts organizations and programs?” Amidst cautious optimism (!?) about economic upturn, We In The Arts are still reading horror stories [...]

One Route, Two Guides — Part 2: Marc van Bree’s “Orchestras and New Media”

corwinchristie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:34:24 +0000

Marc van Bree has published an impressive and free forty-five page (plus bibliography and succinct glossary) ebook called “Orchestras and New Media: A Complete Guide”. I emphatically encourage anyone working with arts and non-profits to read his ebook. Though van Bree’s experience is specifically with classical music and orchestras, his ebook is not for that [...]

When They Don’t Notice: The Implications of Omitting the Arts from General Interests

corwinchristie — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:52:36 +0000

Tom H.C. Anderson of Anderson Analytics was kind enough to respond to my request to speak to him regarding his company’s survey on social media demographics. This was the survey that suggested that the arts are not important to social media users. We talked for a while, and Anderson was helpful and informative. On some [...]

One Route, Two Guides — Part 1: Rebecca Coleman’s “Getting Started”

corwinchristie — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:01:42 +0000

“Signpost” by JMC Photos With social media have come social media experts–usually self-taught, who have learned what works because they have done it themselves. As more organizations turn to these explorers to lead the way, it seems natural that the pathfinders would begin to document what they have learned to enable information dispersal. Rebecca Coleman, a [...]

Where There’s Hope, There’s Profit

corwinchristie — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:27:17 +0000

We got pretty excited over here today about the launch of the new Facebook Actions Application by Grassroots Enterprises. Just think! An application for your cause that does the following: -Your visitors can instantly email Legislators from your FB page -You can promote a fast way to “Take Action” on your page or in other emails and [...]

Hey, Choir, Listen Up!

corwinchristie — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:59:16 +0000

Talking to Myself by FALHakaFalLin and Mlle Franny I read a lot of blogs. Blogs about arts, marketing, non-profits, arts management, arts education, technology, and so forth. I read great posts on a weekly basis about selling tickets, working within the new economy, raising interest, and strategizing an online presence. There is a glut of [...]