It’s an awesome feeling when you dream a wild idea, carefully put the pieces together, and watch the result blow past even your own expectations.
Last Tuesday night, to a capacity crowd of a hundred eager arts lovers and social media users at Busboys & Poets, I kicked off my two new roles (theatre Washington Social Media Director, Social Media Club of DC Arts & Culture Liaison) by throwing the first #DCartsUP: a “tweetup” focused on how social media can promote the arts on a local and national level, presented as a collaboration between theatre Washington and SMC-DC, featuring an all-star panel of social media pros… and a bit of theatrical flair!
I’d been itching to throw this party for a loooong time, sensing there was a strong desire to get DC-based arts advocates together “IRL” to solidify the relationships and conversations engendered by social media, and to discuss how we can use these tools to share the inclusive message of the arts. Seriously, watching the immediate and overwhelming response to this felt like watching a dam burst.
More after the jump…
After some anticipatory mingling, the evening began with a fun sketch mocking the notion of social media as an “instant audience generator,” directed by three talented DC artists: director Patrick Bussink, and actors John C. Bailey and Karen Lange. Watching roughly 1/3 of the crowd gravitate toward the stage as “audience plants” set to this classic song, set up a playful, irreverent tone for the evening. This is how theatre people host a theatre event!
Upon joining SMC-DC last year (thanks Rachael!), I fell in love with their slogan: “If you get it – share it!” and I thought MY GOD what a perfect paradigm for SHARING THE ARTS! Before introducing our amazing panel, I read a quote from Leonard Bernstein, IMHO the greatest and most public arts advocate America has ever had:
“It’s not only music that I feel compelled to share but sunsets and jokes and cracked crab. I mean whatever I enjoy I want others to enjoy – at least one other person, but preferably one thousand or a million!”
Look, arts lovers tend to do a terrific job talking with other arts lovers, but the “holy grail” of arts marketing is figuring out how to engage the millions of Americans who “aren’t yet” in our camp. (Check out this brilliant TED Talk where conductor Ben Zander asks: if classical music potentially appeals to 100% of the population, wouldn’t that change everything about how we promote it?) This was my motivation with smashing these two service-oriented organizations together: how can arts advocates learn about sharing from social media junkies, and how can social media users learn from creative folks in the arts?
Introducing our “dream-team” panel, I was so pleased to include the first person I ever met via Twitter, my dear friend Chelsey Christensen, who in addition to being a talented actress also works in development for Imagination Stage in addition to running social media for Forum Theatre and the Washington Rogues. Chelsey and I were the first to start using the #DCarts hashtag over two years ago, and “our baby” has grown up to be one of the most active and diverse Twitter hashtags used in DC. Follow it, STAT! (Incidentally, #DCartsUP was the top Twitter trending topic in DC all night!)
Second, we were so fortunate to have Paulette Beete, who in addition to her role as a published poet, runs social media for the National Endowment for the Arts, the largest government-funded arts organization in the US. My good friend Philippa Hughes needs no introduction to DC arts audiences; her PinkLine Project website (shameless plug) and knack for throwing visual and performance arts-focused events (eg last spring’s Cherry Blast, which drew over 4,000 people to a former police evidence warehouse in Anacostia!) have solidified her reputation as a tireless advocate for promoting DC’s vibrant artistic community amidst a city often better known for political wonkery.
Finally, as Arena Stage’s Associate Executive Director (and former Director of Communications), Chad Bauman is positioned as well as anyone else in DC’s arts scene to offer experience-based advice on what’s working for organizations.
Unloading a wealth of information, the panel took turns responding to a few of my questions (e.g. “What makes DC an interesting place to live? How can social media draw younger and non-traditional audiences?”), before I played Phil Donahue with the mic, opening up to questions from the packed room and from online observers participating on the #DCartsUP hashtag.
Two attendees (Danielle Ricks and panelist Paulette Beete) were kind enough to “Storify” their favorite tweets from the evening, so rather than try to summarize all that information I’ll simply link to those two wrap-ups here and here. Please have a look!
Within minutes after we wrapped, I began fielding inquiries from audience members, panelists, and reps from both organizations along the lines of “When’s the next one happening?!” With the limitless potential of these tools and new social media users coming into the fold every day, #DCartsUP has the potential to become a regular event. Special thanks to all who gave their time, talents, and energy in making this dream a reality, and to Linda Levy Grossman of theatre Washington and Kevin Fawley of SMC-DC for taking a chance on this truly exceptional night in #DCarts history!
