Reminder: Meet the Publicists...and Eva! Tomorrow!

Here's a quick reminder to RSVP for Meet the Publicists!, a free panel discussion that I'm moderating at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center (280 Broadway) tomorrow evening at 6pm.

Four top-notch arts publicists--Amber Henrie, Fatima Kafele, Chris Schimpf, and John Wyszniewski--will share their knowledge and wisdom on best strategies to connect with the media and your audiences. We look forward to seeing you and taking your questions!

For more information and to RSVP, click here now!

Meet New York's dance and arts publicists!

Gibney Dance Center 

invites you to 

Meet the Publicists

a panel discussion moderated by

Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Tuesday, March 3, 6-8pm

Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center

280 Broadway

L-r: Fatima Kafele, John Wyszniewski and Amber Henrie

Meet Amber Henrie, Fatima Kafele, Chris Schimpf, and John Wyszniewski—four publicists representing some of New York's most celebrated dance and performance artists and institutions. How do they help clients address the challenge of decreased arts funding and the decline of mainstream media coverage in the world's most competitive market for the arts? How can artists work effectively with publicists to take advantage of new opportunities in marketing and social media.

Bring your questions for this event which is FREE and open to the public with required RSVP.

To reserve your space, click here.

Panelist Bios

John Wyszniewski is the Managing Director of Blake Zidell & Associates, a New York-based public relations firm that represents artists and arts organizations spanning a variety of disciplines. He specializes in dance, theater and visual art, plus the tricky stuff in between. John has handled press campaigns for Abrons Arts Center, Karole Armitage, BRIC House, The Kitchen, Performance Space 122, Soho Rep, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Wendy Whelan, and the 2012–14 tour of Einstein on the Beach, among others. Previously, John worked in press & marketing at the School of Visual Arts, BAM, Dance Theater Workshop and Galapagos. http://wyszniewski.tumblr.com/

Fatima Kafele is a creative strategist, public relations consultant and dance enthusiast. She currently serves as the Media Relations Manager for the Brooklyn Museum. Prior to BKM she spent almost a decade at BAM. Her consultancy experience includes work with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, and Cumbe Dance Center. She is a former member of the Bessies. Fatima is currently a NYSCA Performing Arts Panelist. Fatima has studied Afro-Cuban folkloric technique for most of her adult life and has a profound love for house music and dance culture. Connect with Fatima on Twitter: @Empress718 or Instagram: @LovejonesPR

Amber Henrie is a seasoned PR veteran and arts professional and leads In The Lights with strategic diligence and empowerment for its clients. She has coordinated and developed marketing, branding, social media and media outreach initiatives with large corporations, emerging start-ups, non-profits and artists. Bringing principles learned in dance training – discipline, tenacity and attention to details – she successfully publicized the technology, consumer and entertainment sectors for 6 years before starting In The Lights in 2010. She now brings technology understanding into her press campaigns for arts organizations; specifically encouraging companies explore simple ways to effectively utilize technology and new media to gain the spotlight. She holds a B.A. in Dance from Brigham Young University.

Chris Schimpf is Senior Director, Sacks & Co. Before joining the team at Sacks & Co., Chris served as Vice President of Marketing & Communications at the French Institute Alliance Franciase (FIAF). He has conceived and led communications campaigns across a broad spectrum of media and artistic disciplines including contemporary and classical music, dance, the visual arts, the commercial recording industry and education. Over the years he has partnered on campaigns with cultural institutions as diverse as the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the River To River Festival, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the American Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Space, JazzReach, Pace University, the Schimmel Center and many more.

Agnes Varis Performance Lab
Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
280 Broadway (entrance: 53A Chambers Street), Manhattan
(map/directions)

Associate Press to drop coverage of dance, opera and Off-Broadway

To Be, Or Not To Be (Covered By The AP)
by Howard Sherman, NPR, June 20, 2013

Women of color in charge: seminar, panel on arts administration

The Apollo Theater Education Program will present a seminar and career panel--Behind the Scenes: Women of Color in the Arts on Monday, March 11.

Seminar: 4:30pm
Panel discussion: 6:30pm

Free to the public. Reservations required: Click here.

The Apollo's annual Women's History Month celebration features a panel of women of color who work behind the scenes in performing arts administration. A pre-panel seminar on cultural diversity in marketing and public relations for the performing arts will be facilitated by Donna Walker-Kuhne.

Presented in collaboration with Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA)

Workshop on press and media relations

The Field presents

Press and Media Relations

with Jodine N. Dorce

Tuesday, November 13, 6:30-9pm

at The Field
161 Sixth Avenue (at Spring Street), Manhattan
14th Floor
(SUBWAY: C, E to Spring Street; 1 to Houston Street)

$40/$25 for Field Members

This workshop will show you how to create an integrated press and social media strategy, highlighting differences between traditional marketing practices and digital media communications. Learn how to build media relationships and measure the effectiveness of your communication efforts.

To register, click here.

My "Greenroom" sessions at Gibney Dance Center

Self-portrait (c)2009, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

In my second series of informal, 30-minute "Greenroom" consultations at Gibney Dance Center (Pitch Your Show to A Dance Writer: Does Your Promotion Work?), I met and worked with everyone from a mature choreographer who said that her projects are often marginalized because critics and presenters see her age before they recognize her innovation to an accomplished performer and producer deeply connected to a network of traditional and contemporary dance troupes from Africa. Not everyone had actual dance shows to pitch to critics; specific projects and needs varied widely.

As with my first series of sessions back in August, I drew upon not only my experience as a dance writer but also my almost equally long experience in intuitive counseling. I tapped into my listening skills and enjoyed the process of helping people to focus, stand up for themselves and their values, and effectively communicate with the world of media, presenters and the public. We discussed new strategies and new media tools as well as the central, perennial importance of putting yourself in the place of the recipients of your message: What do they most need to read, hear, see?

I look forward to future opportunities to offer this service.

After both of these three-hour events, the Gibney folks asked for an impromptu reflection on these sessions for a brief video, and I have just received the link to the August clip on Vimeo. I'll post the link to yesterday's video--which I much prefer to this one!--as soon as I get it from the GDC.

To find out more about Gibney Dance Center's Guess Who's in the Greenroom program or any of GDC's programs and events, click here.

The Field to artists: Get writing!

Writing Project Descriptions and Artist Statements

presented by The Field

Instructor: Beth Morrison

Tuesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 12, 6:30-9pm 

Project descriptions and artist statements are the backbone of artists' materials. Whether you're applying for a grant, residency or performance, or putting together your press kit, solid writing that describes your work and expresses your creative voice is key. This workshop provides examples from other artists, and gives participants a forum to develop their writing and receive feedback. 

$80/$50 Field Members

For more information on this and other workshops from The Field, click here. 

BETH MORRISON PROJECTS (BMP) identifies and supports the work of emerging and established composers and their collaborators through the commission, development, and production of their work, taking the form of opera-theatre, music-theatre, and multi-media concert works. Relying on the core values of collaboration, exploration, experimentation, artistry, and excellence, BMP provides a nurturing structure that allows artists to push the boundaries of their art form. Founded in 2006, BMP rapidly developed a reputation for “envisioning new possibilities and finding ways to facilitate their realization.” (New York Times) In 6 years, BMP has commissioned, developed, and produced more than 24 operas and music-theatre pieces that have premiered or been performed in New York, across the country, and around the globe. The Wall Street Journal said, "Ms. Morrison may be immortalized one day as a 21st-century Diaghilev, known for her ability to assemble memorable collaborations among artists." BMP’s ability to recognize emerging talent, invest in the vision of living composers and their collaborators, and partner with presenters to bring new work to life has allowed it to become vital in the landscape of new music and opera.

The Field
161 Sixth Avenue, 14th Floor, Manhattan
(directions)

Day Seven: Photos, please!

Every day for the next several days, I will post a note highlighting one simple way in which you can show InfiniteBody blog some love!

And, yes, I missed one day. With any luck, you took advantage of that time off to double up on your Day One-through-Six efforts. Please!

But here I am again with another suggestion that I'm sure a lot of you will love:

Send me your photos!

InfiniteBody, particularly with its new design--and thank you, Google!--looks snazzy with photos. I get a lot of press releases and html newsletters from you folks, but I rarely get photos. Include a couple of well-selected jpegs, and if I post an announcement about you or write a review or commentary, I'll consider using your shots.

And don't bother writing to ask if I could use photos, just send them right away. When I decide to post something to IB, I move pretty quickly and prefer to have everything I need in place.

Be sure to include full and accurate identification, credit and copyright notes.

All of that goes for you dance folks, especially, but for everybody else, too. I'm looking forward not only to hearing from you but seeing you!

Thanks!

Day Six: Reach out!

Day Five: Tell a friend!

Day Four: Roll this blog!

Day Three: Subscribe!

Day Two: If you see something, say something!

Day One: Caring is sharing!

Day Six: Reach out!

Every day for the next several days, I will post a note highlighting one simple way in which you can show InfiniteBody blog some love!

Here's one that--believe me!--already comes easy to many of you, but more folks and organizations could take advantage of it:

Reach out and send me your news! 

You can send your announcements by snailmail:

Eva Yaa Asantewaa

InfiniteBody

PO Box 210, Cooper Station

New York, NY 10276

Or use the Contact Form on my main site.

If you already have my direct email address, you can continue to send your messages there.

While I cannot post every announcement--or attend every event--I will look at and consider all of the material I receive. Clear, detailed information makes my work easier. Include a website link for more information, and I can pass that along to InfiniteBody readers.

My selections are--of necessity--few, and I tend to program InfiniteBody according to my tastes, obsessions and whims. No disrespect; just my prerogative as a blogger!

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks!

Day Five: Tell a friend!

Day Four: Roll this blog!

Day Three: Subscribe!

Day Two: If you see something, say something!

Day One: Caring is sharing!

Publicist, spare that tree!

I'm surprised that, in this day and age, dance publicists are still cheerfully handing me press kits--or snailmailing me press releases, for that matter. Don't you guys know that there's this newfangled thing called the Internet? (George W. Bush pluralized it, I guess, because it must have seemed so overwhelmingly threatening to him, as well it was and should be.) And when I use this Internet thingee, which I do every goshdarn day, I can readily access all manner of text, photos, audio, videos, the whole megillah. It's quite neat.

So, why not use the Internet to simply email me a URL where I can immediately go to view or download all the information about your clients and access whatever supporting resources I'll need to do my work?

Instead, when I go to your shows, I'm handed these big folders--filled with sheets of paper and sometimes photos and DVDs--that a) don't fit in the smaller handbag I now carry; b) mark me immediately to everyone in the theater as "one of those" (ick!); c) threaten to suddenly empty their contents into theater aisles or onto subway tracks; and finally, d) fail to include some significant bits of data or media resources.

So, just stop it. Stop it right now. Save a tree or two or two thousand. Get with the 21st Century and use the Internet!

Amanda Ameer blogs on arts marketing and publicity

New blog alert!

Life's a Pitch
For immediate release: the arts are marketable
by Amanda Ameer, Life's a Pitch, ArtJournal.com

Why don't we apply the successful marketing and publicity campaigns we see in our everyday lives to the performing arts? Great ideas are right there, ripe for the emulating. And who's responsible for the wide-reaching problems in ticket sales and audience development? Boring artists? Greedy managers? Overstretched marketing departments? We're beyond debating who owns the problem. Let's fix this thing.

Learn how to avoid annoying people like me

Find out how when Andy Horwitz teaches his seminar on Press Materials & Press People at The Field (Tuesday, Mar 25, 6:30-9pm) He promises to reveal the keys to successful approaches to the press, including feedback on participants' materials. Bless his heart!

Get more details here.