Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Public Restrooms As A Metaphor For Accessible Cultural Experiences by Joe Patti

Four years ago, I wrote about how the government of India, in an attempt to end public defecation by 2019, was building over 1 million toilet facilities in households around the country. How…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 08:58PM
Tuesday, March 5, 2019

So You Are Saying An Intern Isn’t Supposed To Improve Productivity? by Joe Patti

I was really excited today when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the headline, “Diversity organisation celebrates placing 1000th paid intern.” The concept that some entity was able to…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 07:40PM
Monday, March 4, 2019

Passion Is Work by Joe Patti

Seth Godin had an interesting post recently challenging the notion of passion preceding the decision to commit. “Offer me something I’m passionate about and I’ll show up with all of my…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 07:21PM
Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Art As A Lubricant For Better Business Practices by Joe Patti

Americans for the Arts had a post on their blog last week that hit a lot of the right buttons for me. Steve Sanner and his partners have the Jiffy Lube franchise for Indiana. He writes about…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 06:55PM
Tuesday, February 26, 2019

A Good Community Is An Asset To An Arts Organization by Joe Patti

I frequently urge people not to focus on the value of the arts in terms of economic impact on the community. Not only do the arts bring other forms of value to the community, but what is fre…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 06:55PM
Monday, February 25, 2019

Don’t Solicit Ads For Your Program Book by Joe Patti

Thanks to Drew McManus for remembering that Butts In The Seats turned 15 this weekend. Hard to believe I have been writing for 15 years now. Hopefully readers have found the content worthwhi…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 07:21PM
Wednesday, February 20, 2019

History of Public Libraries & Questions Cultural Orgs Face Regarding Inclusion by Joe Patti

Check out this visual storytelling piece on CityLab about the history of libraries in the US.  As arts and cultural organizations struggle with the question of inclusion of under-represente…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 06:58PM
Monday, February 18, 2019

What They Lack In Talent, They Make Up With Social Media Followers by Joe Patti

For a long time when people offered advice to those hoping to be actors, they would say something along the lines of, “No matter how talented and good looking you are, there are 10 oth…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:54PM
Thursday, February 14, 2019

New Study of Impact of Arts Ed On Social Skills by Joe Patti

I frequently urge people to be careful about making statements regarding the benefits of arts on educational outcomes so I am happy when I read about some rigorously conducted studies that p…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 02:32AM
Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Tell A Creative You Love Them This Valentine’s Day by Joe Patti

As we come up on Valentine’s Day, a little reminder that there are a lot more ways to say, “I Love You,” than speaking those specific words. A couple years ago Gavin Aung T…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 02:06AM
Monday, February 11, 2019

If The Metric Is Valued, Someone Is Probably Trying To Game The System by Joe Patti

Okay, so I promise I am not seeking out articles that discuss the problems with depending on quantitative metrics to determine effectiveness and value. They just keep falling into my lap. Th…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 07:48PM
Thursday, February 7, 2019

Cons Of Starting An Endowment by Joe Patti

Recently there have been some conversations around my organization and town in general about whether it is worthwhile to try to bolster an existing endowment. People have mentioned that ther…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:04AM
Tuesday, February 5, 2019

What Is The Value Of Fire? How Do You Know? by Joe Patti

Friend o’ the blog, Carter Gillies recently had a piece appear in the Arts Professional UK noting some of the problems with focusing on the instrumental value of the arts. One of the i…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:36PM
Monday, February 4, 2019

Collecting More Data Isn’t Necessary Better by Joe Patti

Seth Godin offers a very relatable example of why more data isn’t always better by emphasizing the need for vigilance when setting an alarm clock in a hotel room. If you set the alarm …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:12PM
Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Ticket Reseller War Stories by Joe Patti

About three years ago I wrote about the problem of ticket resellers creating website names that approximate that of performance venues or using names that imply they are the central ticketin…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 09:18PM
Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Your Site Has 4 3 Seconds To Load Or I Am Leaving by Joe Patti

Big hat tip to Thomas Cott for linking to an article about how quickly people will abandon a webpage if it is loading slowly.  The title tells pretty much everything you need to know about …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 09:06PM
Monday, January 28, 2019

Why Do I Have To Call Dun & Bradstreet To Apply For A State Arts Grant? by Joe Patti

As we move further into the new year, many grant deadlines are starting to creep up en masse upon arts organizations. As you are filling out all the mandatory fields in your grant applicatio…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 08:54PM
Thursday, January 24, 2019

Are Audiences Ready To Directly Participate In Gamified Performances? by Joe Patti

Jonathan Mandell writes about an off-off-Broadway show that has audience members to take part in the show and prepares them by sending a packet of character background information in advance…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:36AM
Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Still More Engaging Perspectives on Museum Collections by Joe Patti

In the last six months it seems like I have been coming across a lot of stories about how museums tours are presenting alternative contexts for collections. Back in May I was writing about M…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:12AM
Monday, January 21, 2019

Art Lovers Of The World Rise Up!…Now Sit And Relax In Another Gallery by Joe Patti

Via Arts Professional UK is a Guardian story on a study that found people under 30 in the UK are twice as likely to visit a museum or gallery each month in order to de-stress. The charity’…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:48PM
Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Trees Come With Unexpected Baggage by Joe Patti

In my post yesterday I referenced the difficulty non-profit arts organizations have with conducting outreach activities that have relevance to communities. I and others have also frequently …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 09:54PM

What’s It Say When Washington Post Critic Say Arts Need To Work Harder At Relevance? by Joe Patti

Washington Post music critic Anne Midgette wrote a piece this week about the difficulties classical music outreach efforts face. (h/t Artsjournal) My first reaction was one of mild intrigue …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 03:36AM
Tuesday, January 15, 2019

CRM Software Isn’t Strategy by Joe Patti

Arts Professional UK had a great piece on developing a customer relationship management strategy (CRM). It is chock full of great resources including case studies, guides on how to choose a …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 03:12AM
Wednesday, January 9, 2019

California Symphony–They Speak Your Language by Joe Patti

I was excited to see Aubrey Bergauer posted a follow up to her original 2016 Orchestra X post regarding how the California Symphony was acting on the feedback it has received about the conce…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:54PM
Tuesday, January 8, 2019

This Intermission Isn’t Big Enough For Bar And Bathroom Lines by Joe Patti

Last month I made a post about the evolution of women’s restroom lounges resulting in a short, but interesting exchange about theater restroom facilities in Germany and Sweden.   Las…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:32PM
Monday, January 7, 2019

Too Much Culture? Heresy! by Joe Patti

I recently experienced a confluence of reminders that not all experiences with arts and culture result in positive responses people anticipated. I am not talking about works of poor quality …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:12PM
Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Distilling The Arts Into A Healing Elixir by Joe Patti

C4 Atlanta’s tweet of an Arts Professional UK story today made me growl in dissatisfaction.   (I got no beef with C4 Atlanta,that is just a long way of giving them a hat tip for the …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 09:36PM
Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Who Knows The Problem Best, Makes The Decision by Joe Patti

Recently over at Nonprofit AF, Vu Le talked about the problem of decision fatigue experienced by executives and other leaders. He mentions that his organization has been using an alternative…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 09:12PM
Monday, December 17, 2018

You Don’t Know Entertaining by Joe Patti

There has been a fair bit of evidence that people are not generally aware whether the place they are having their entertainment experience is a non-profit or for-profit business. An experien…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 08:48PM
Thursday, December 13, 2018

Donors Can Gain From Giving Circles by Joe Patti

I have written a few times about the way people are organizing themselves in Giving Circles. It seems like an interesting approach to philanthropy because it is social and communal the way s…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 01:04AM
Wednesday, December 12, 2018

No Such Thing As Free Parking by Joe Patti

Gene Tagaki at Non Profit Law blog tweeted about IRS guidance for non profits that are now faced with having pay to taxes on the parking they offer employees. If you didn’t know that y…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:36AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards