I attend the United Arts Executive Director meetings monthly to represent the latest happenings with Red Chair Project and Orlando Arts Getaway. Last week, I mentioned to the group that we had companies that are interested in sponsoring Red Chair Project now that the website www.redchairproject.com has proven early success. One of the ED's asked if he was being naive, but wouldn't the pursuit of sponsorship via Red Chair Project interfere with his or other organization's attempt to gain sponsorship monies for their own organization. Do we need yet another entity sucking from the money pool? Essentially, the Alliance would be stealing the limited funds available for its devious purpose to increase participation on behalf of all arts and culture organizations.
Naive? No, not naive. Ignorant of basic principles on collaboration, but not naive. I won't begin with the assumption that everyone works from the theory of abundance, which clearly this ED does not, but I don't think you have to have an optimistic outlook on Central Florida's untapped financial sponsorship resources to understand the basic principles of collaboration. Two key principles are longevity and leverage.
Longevity: Research, experience and best practices all point to the fact that for long-term success, collaboration needs a third party to drive the project or program. Does that mean that two or more groups can't get together without a third party like the Alliance to work on a project to advance their mission? Of course not.
It has been proven, however, that these collaborations are generally for a short, defined period. For long-term success, as a program takes on a life of its own, it stretches beyond any one group's ability to manage outside of the group's main mission, whether that be producing plays, music or otherwise.
Leverage: Red Chair Project is community owned and intended to increase participation in the entire arts and culture community. The Alliance is the third party along with partners United Arts, Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Orlando/Orange County CVB that is driving the project on behalf of the community. Right now the Red Chair Project is primarily funded through United Arts, but UA's money isn't even close to keeping the staff necessary to run the project. In fact, we are a staff person short as other city's use a minimum of three people to manage a project of this scope.
A full staff is only part of the equation to advancing the success. Marketing takes money. We just got a call on Friday from an artist asking where the marketing for Red Chair Project is. It is sitting on my desk right now because it doesn't have the financial resources to be realized. So, if Red Chair Project obtains a sponsorship that allows it to be more visible, hence allowing more people to participate in the arts and culture community, is that taking away or leveraging our community's overall success?
Now not every leader or arts administrator sees the pot as so small that we have to all position ourselves as a pack of wolves deciding how to share a small rabbit instead of seeing over the horizon that there is a whole herd of antelope with plenty of meat for all of us. (forgive me for the animal reference for our vegetarians)
My encouragement is this. We haven't scratched the surface on two things: the amount of sponsorship out there for our community and the leverage the Alliance can represent. Leverage is a key component for collaboration's success. If you want more reading, email me. I have a great Power Point on the subject. I couldn't figure out how to attach it. I also have many more articles, books and personal experiences that I can share with you on how to pursue collaboration. One of them is not cynicism. Don't let that be a cancer where you reside.
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1 comment:
Wow Jim you really hit a lot of elements on the head here.
Collaboration and joint community is exactly what is needed in Orlando, and had been for years way before the CFPAA, United Arts, and now the Red Chair Project helped to unite the different groups and foster at least communication and community involvement. Anyone who might not see the value of that does indeed not understand the nature of collaboration, but more importantly, is not looking outward towards a community but inwards towards self protection. When that self protection becomes the main driving force, it insulates groups and/or individuals from the community at large - and therefore defeats the entire purpose behind the performing arts - to unite, to celebrate, and to expand the community as a whole.
The other thing that represents fear is the idea that if one gets something, it must take away from another. That is very rarely the case.
I have most recently seen an expansive use of The Red Chair Project to sell tickets for a production, and it was instrumental in not only putting bodies in the theatre, but completely selling out a run!
At the beginning stages of most brilliant ideas, there will always be detractors and those who find obstacles in the way more interesting to themselves than the idea of working together. But most often the idea works on its own, as Red Chair is doing, and as United Arts and the CFPAA has proven over many a year.
Hopefully whomever was expressing those fears is aware of the folly of that way of thinking.
Bobby Bell said it best in a recent post on Elizabeth's blog,...and I will quote his quote here for a closing thought:
"I also quoted Lao Tzu because of something else I have come to believe, and that is that the “infernal eye” creates nothing, it always looks inward, and collapses in on itself like a black hole from which enlightenment cannot escape."
I look forward to what other arts leaders may think about this.
John DiDonna
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