How to update the organization structure of your arts organizations to be more productive, break down silos, and better do the work. Hear from Julian Chender, an expert in organization design through his work at Accenture as well as his own company he founded. Together, Aubrey and Julian look at the challenges with the existing structure that's been in place at most arts organizations for the last 40+ years, and how to design the organization for goals that affect everyone going...

How to monetize streaming performances for new and alternate revenue streams for your arts organization well beyond the pandemic. In a world where many arts organization have struggled to make money with streaming and digital content, or stopped streaming altogether, here’s one organization still streaming and making lots of money from it—and growing their audience, too. Learn more about Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Drew's article for the Wallace Foundation: Can Pandemic Be Catalyst for New...

For development folks in the arts who want to increase fundraising revenue and reverse the trends of declining donor households. As more organizations are facing the national trend of donor households down, dollar goals up, Louis Diez is a thought leader with results to back it up across both higher education and classical music. Learn more about the Donor Participation Project Louis founded: JoinDPP.org Follow Louis on LinkedIn for great fundraising thought leadership and ideas.

Why is the subscription model thriving in just about every consumer-facing sector yet in the arts is on the decline? Aubrey takes this question to Robbie Kellman Baxter, the world’s leading expert on subscription models. Aubrey and Robbie explore four areas where the arts are doing it differently, and what we can do to update our own practices to maximize the important revenue streams we need: subscriptions, memberships, and donations. Resources: The Forever Transaction The Membership Economy

Marketing that focuses on the art or artists is no longer effective for sales. Instead, marketing that focuses on the customer grows sales revenue. That's because today, audiences “hire” organizations to solve a problem, meet a need, or do a job they need done in their life. This is the premise of Jobs to Be Done Theory, developed by Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen. In this episode, Clayton Christensen Institute Chief of Staff Ruth Hartt joins Aubrey to talk about the Jobs to...

Learn the top findings from one of the largest studies ever conducted on company culture and how it applies to the arts. Best-selling author Kevin Oakes is the CEO and founder of the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), the leading human capital research company in the world, and he shares how high-performance organizations we’ve all heard of have successfully changed organizational culture.   We don’t have to be giant behemoth orgs or flush with cash to make inroads on culture. A...

Season two is here! You all were so fantastic during the pilot season, so now we’re back for season two — this time with a team of awesome women audio engineers and musicians working behind the scenes to make this come together for you. And that’s extra fitting because this whole season is about how the narrative is changing in the arts.   We are at an inflection point for arts organizations: audiences are down from pre-pandemic levels, subscriptions on the decline, still confronting systemic...

The job of the board at a non-profit organization is to govern, and governing an institution of which you’re an employee can be a conflict of interest. Instead, when thinking if a musician should be on the board, ask what the goals are we’re trying to achieve. Engagement? Information sharing? Both those things can and should happen without a board seat — and both those things should not be relegated to only one or two musicians.

Pro tips on how to address employee turnover, toxic workplace culture, and microagressions like when a man interrupts you while speaking. This episode looks at how to show up as your authentic self back in the office when there is such a narrow view of what “professionalism” looks like. These questions are all addressed in this final episode of season one. It’s raw, it’s vulnerable, and all of that feels like a good note to close out this pilot project season. Thanks to everyone who's...

How arts organizations can use data and analytics to build audiences and enhance artistic decision-making. Plus how a small arts organization can use data, not just the big institutions. This episode covers questions that were asked in a recent interview with San Francisco Classical Voice all about how arts organizations could use data and analytics like Billy Bean and the Oakland A’s did in Moneyball. Special thanks to San Francisco Classical Voice for covering this topic and for graciously...

How to balance risk taking with sustainability at an arts organization. And how you can make sure a new idea is not really that risky after all. Then, Aubrey covers how to find common ground in negotiations, sharing lessons we can learn from big organizations like the Met Opera, smaller organizations like the California Symphony, and a Harvard Business School professor.

How to build an arts organization culture that embraces continual improvement, design thinking, iteration, and innovation—especially when we feel so much pressure to make everything we do an overnight success with no room for failure. Then, Aubrey addresses a job seeker’s question about what to do when there’s something about their work history they don’t want to come up in an interview.

Symphonies, operas, ballet companies, theaters, museums, and more all want to know how to get their audiences back. For any person or organization wanting a roadmap, Aubrey outlines a five-part business plan to spin up a flywheel of revenue and relevance to get your patrons to come back and stay. Resources mentioned: What it would look like if attendance trends pre-pandemic were accelerated 10 yearsPost-Pandemic Business PlanLong Haul Model for Patron RetentionOrchestra X User Experience...

Talent development in the arts is critical for productivity, efficiency, and growing high performing teams that deliver results. People want autonomy, but that also must come with accountability, and this episode puts research behind how to do that. Aubrey also answers a question on the balance between digital engagement and in person offerings. When streaming is often prohibitively expensive, what’s the right digital strategy forward instead? Resources mentioned: Talent Development: Why...

Create new and alternate revenue streams by monetizing the education department at your cultural organization. Not just for community engagement, Aubrey shares three ways the education team could be a source of alternate revenue, as well as examples of artists and organizations already employing this strategy. Articles mentioned Designing a Modern Org Structure Musicians Monetizing Education Nathan Cole (LA Philharmonic)Elizabeth Rowe (Boston Symphony)Christopher Still (LA Philharmonic)Rob...

In this debut episode, three questions you all sent are all about fire: how to fire bullets before cannonballs at our organizations (don’t worry, I’ll explain it), how to tackle company culture post-covid so we are on fire to come work each day, and how to fire a board member who isn’t performing or contributing in the way we need. I’m so excited to be launching this journey with you — it’s about to get lit. Thank you to the sponsors who are making this podcast possible (and who will make...

We are at an inflection point for arts organizations: emerging from a global pandemic (maybe, sort of, until another variant strikes again), confronting our very white, western, male-dominated roots, and moving our teams and careers forward as the future of work and Great Reshuffle are upon us. The good news is the narrative is changing for arts and culture. All of these topics are advancing, and more people than ever in the field want to build a thriving future. This also means I’m seeing...