Member News from the California Desert Arts Council
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Arts and tourism leaders and marketers and creative professionals can learn about branding, audience development, and creative placemaking on Oct. 12 at a full-day workshop, Big Strategies and Real Tactics for Connecting Artists, Audience, and Place, at UCR Palm Desert. Registration is $75 per person and includes lunch. Registration is open at www.cadesertarts.org/namp/.
The workshop, presented by the California Desert Arts Council and Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Marketing Project, features arts marketing experts Ben Stone of Smart Growth America and Joseph Yoshitomi of Straightforward Marketing and Consulting. Their objective is to help participants:
- Articulate your organization’s distinctive artistic offerings to different constituencies, especially prospective patrons.
- Develop a marketing plan for your budget.
- Ask the right questions and take the right actions to achieve maximum exposure/engagement for minimum cost.
- Leverage the collective power of the arts and cultural tourism marketing by collaborating to transform communities and attract the engagement of residents and visitors.
“This is an important opportunity for arts professionals to raise their marketing game, nurture and grow audiences, and discover ways to collaborate on programming and marketing,” says Christi Salamone, CEO of CDAC. “During our community listening sessions last year, we heard loud and clear that the arts community wants and needs professional development. Programs like this align with CDAC’s mission to unify, empower, and promote the arts community.”
Stone and Yoshitomi have tailored a curriculum for arts leaders and marketers, as well as visual and performing artists, working in the Coachella Valley and High Desert.
Stone, director of arts and culture at Smart Growth America in Washington, D.C., leads efforts to help communities across the country better integrate arts, culture, and creative placemaking into neighborhood revitalization, equitable development, and transportation planning efforts.
Yoshitomi, principal of Straightforward Marketing and Consulting in Culver City, Calif., is former vice president of marketing strategy at TheaterMania.com, a media and technology company connecting performing arts enthusiasts with theaters around the country. He offers more than 15 years of arts administration and marketing experience, including positions at Geffen Playhouse and Geffen’s Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater.
Register at www.cadesertarts.org/namp/
About California Desert Arts Council
The nonprofit California Desert Arts Council unifies, promotes, and empowers the arts and culture communities in the Coachella Valley region through its programs in cultural tourism, business and workforce development, and advocacy. Visit cadesertarts.org.
About Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Marketing Project
The National Arts Marketing Project, a program of Americans for the Arts, is dedicated to serving arts professionals and artists who seek to market the arts, engage audiences, and serve their communities. NAMP believes in the arts as a vital part of both an enriched, healthy life, and a strong community. Visit http://namp.americansforthearts.org
About UCR Palm Desert Campus
Established as a teaching and research center, UCR Palm Desert is a catalyst for diversification of the inland desert region by providing relevant regional research, offering innovative graduate programs that attract and retain world class talent to the region, convening and creating partnerships that advance the public good, and impacting the cultural life of the community. Visit www.palmdesert.ucr.edu