How can social media help IndyCultureMatters.org sustain the buzz?

[Pat Coyle]

Indy Star - Hundreds of Hoosiers braved patchy rain and cool winds swirling around Monument Circle at noon today to rally in support of the arts. Now that the event is over....

How can IndyCultureMatters.Org leverage social media to sustain the buzz?

We just witnessed our President leverage social media to help himself get elected. In case you missed it, the esteemed (ahem), Austin Kucher, beat CNN in a race to get 1 million people following him on Twitter...his platform has some power...

To the point...while rallies in public places make the news one day, they seem to fade rather quickly after that. Online campaigns that grow by word-of-mouth follow a different trajectory, don't they? They might start small, but often pick up steam as word spreads.

How can Indy Culture Matters leverage social media to get more people to:
1. Attend cultural destinations.
2. Introduce new audiences to those destinations.
3. Let elected representatives know how much “Indy Culture matters.”

Please share your thoughts here

[Laura Frank]

I'm not so sure that rallies cause people to change their minds or behaviors. However, I do think it's great to see a visual representation of the people who support whatever cause for which the rally is being held. Perhaps rallies influence the participants the most, making them feel empowered, like they are doing something important to promote their cause.

[Pat Coyle]

Laura,
I changed the focus of this forum from rallies in general to the Culture initiative specifically. Thought this might generate more useful discussion.

[Laura Frank]

Thanks, Pat. I need to ruminate on the new question a little.

[Laura Frank]

I know Indy Culture Matters used Facebook as their reservation tool, but beyond that, I am unsure of what they are using in terms of social media. If they haven't already, I certainly think they need to start a Twitter account to keep constituents informed. Hopefully, they will use their Facebook reservations as a tool to get the word out about more advocacy for the arts in the future.

[Scott Abel]

It's not really about the social media tools. It's about hanging out where folks in your audience (or prospective audience) hang out. Social media tools can help folks who already have audience achieve amazing feats of attention-gathering (CNN, Ashton -- and Oprah already had a platform or three from which to shout, Twitter just added another channel).

Getting more people to attend cultural activities involves understanding motivation of the target audience. Social media can help you see what your audience is doing and allow you to jump into the fray (to vie for attention)..

Introducing new audiences is something Twitter and other social media tools are good at. But, the humans who use them aren't so smart. It takes discipline, a lot of work, and trial and error to find the best formula. Unfortunately, there is no real recipe for guaranteed success.

Letting elected officials know what's important is something social media tools can help with. A Latin American 911 service put all of their calls onto Twitter to provide citizens (and the media) with a view of just how many times emergency calls came through. Everyone knew the numbers. But, seeing the "Tweets" fly by each time there was an emergency (and being able to view them online) added a different way for folks to visualize the information. Eventually, the Twitter feed helped the 911 service get increased funding from politicians.

Just a few tidbits. Hope you find them useful.

Scott

[Joh Padgett]

I really don't want to be the guy who throws water on this because its a great effort, but as a local arts supporter and participant for the last 20 years in Indy I have a few thoughts on this. This initiative is only the latest in a series of initiatives to try to get Hoosiers interested in the arts that follow the same exact failed pattern everytime.

Here's the plan: local arts organizations have a board meeting to decide What Are We Goiung To Do To Boost Attendance and decide that since the whole market forces/Adam Smith Invisible Hand thing isn't working out so well, maybe we can put together a Committee or Association or Lobbying Effort or Commission or Initiaitive that will have a big press splash at the beginning of the announcement, srape up some cash to hire the advertising or marketing firm du jour to use the latest New Media tactics and ad campaigns to get sports loving and beer drinking Hoosiers to go see The Vagina Monologues, RENT or at least Godspell at the Murat or IRT.

They'll promote some concerts by the Indpls Philharmonic or a gallery night the first Friday of the month or something, the funding from the corporate donors will dry up and everyone will enjoy the new plasma TVs they bought from getting hired to market the thing. No impact will be felt because the whole thing gets marketed to the arts loving choir via the Internet and late night TV ads on local cable operators.

You want to impact Hoosiers with arts? Combine them with sporting events. The best era local music fans ever experienced was the 70s and 80s when the Pacers were the only game in town besides the Indians and both teams would hire local bands to play after their games. We also used to have Circlefest and MidSummer Fest before they got corporatized and finally cancelled so Live Nation could have a venue at White River State Park.

Visual artists in Irvington were well known and in high demand in the 1920s because they would do impromptu showings all over downtown Indy on the street. We need more public art from local artists instead of local arts organizations hiring people from out of state to do major installations.

The one bright spot in our arts community is the vibrant independent theaters in the Mass Ave. Cultural District. More grassroots and independent arts efforts like what has happened organically along Mass Ave is what should be called for. Simple investment by local business people in the arts businesses will turn them around but unless you cross promote with the Pacers, Indians, Colts, Fever, et al you will never get one eyeball from an average Hoosier toward the arts from yet another official save the arts project. After all, the business of the arts is saving the arts.

[Robby Slaughter]

Probably the most effective step would be to actively engage these stakeholders in an education effort to enable them to use social media. The person manning the booth at the entrance to the Monument ought to be on Twitter, reporting. Every elected official should consider setting up a wiki to build legislation from their constituents. Community event planners need to share resources so that everyone is not doing their own private marketing effort.

This is an incredibly hard problem, not because of technology but because of perspective. Social media requires us to be our authentic selves, yet the history of cultural endeavors is about promoting awareness, not sharing stark realities. If IndyCultureMatters wants to leverage social media they must be prepared to be changed by social media. This is not a tool, but a way.

[Scott Abel]

And of course, there's the rub. Change. Humans aren't particularly adept at it, especially when they aren't motivated.

That said, definitely, this is a good addition to the typical arsenal of communication tools. Give social media a whirl.

[Matt Barnett]

I think that the lessons from the social media explosion are what are worth noting. I see you're linked in with ArtBabble.org and Facebook, etc., which is great for keeping people (fans) aware of upcoming events and have a place to come together, but the reason art is important is because it is a unique shared and personal experience and as such, it is the original and most powerful social connection/communication tool we have. If anything, maybe creating Days of Deprogramming where people are encouraged to unplug and experience the real ways people connect through shared experiences like the arts. Of course, you could spread the word through the online world.

[Erik Deckers]

I think the arts CAN benefit from social media, @Joh, because it's just (heh heh "just." Yeah right.) It's a matter of finding the right Connectors and Mavens (to borrow from Malcolm Gladwell's "Tipping Point") to get involved in it. I think if they try to get a marketing agency to put it all together, the thing is going to fail miserably. If they grow it organically, it should do well.

That's what happened here on Smaller Indiana. Pat found people who were connected to other people, people who had energy and ideas to contribute, and we grew this network through the people and its connections. There is no reason ICM couldn't replicate these efforts. It will take some timing and special luck, but it CAN be done.

There ARE artists who are also Connectors and Mavens. People who know a lot of people, or know a lot about the arts and events around the city. If the ICM could tap into those people, they'll grow the network. People like Wug Laku, Erin Monahan, Lou Harry, and Hope Baugh.

Furthermore, ICM can connect to cultural blogs like VisitIndiana.com (I'm one of their bloggers, and I'm focusing on culture as one of my subjects) and the different arts blogs and websites around the city. They can join Twitter and begin reaching out to artists and arts supporters who are also on Twitter.