A little while ago, I got a message from Clare Wiley, a reporter at Gig/International Arts Manager magazine. She was writing a story on social media and classical music organizations and wanted to ask some questions. The article was published this week, but you will have to get a subscription to have a read.
Where the Symphony Magazine article in April looked at many creative examples, the article in Gig/International Arts Manager took a somewhat more critical look at social media in the strategic sense. I know people like to read both.
I was quoted quite extensively in the article, but this has to be my favorite:
And Van Bree argues that rather than a particularly innovative application or flashmob, a meticulous and comprehensive social media strategy is how companies should optimise their use of the technology. ‘What I found in a lot of orchestras is that they’re dipping their toes into the social media pool, but they’re not really doing it strategically,’ he observes. ‘One opera actually pasted entire press releases as Facebook status updates – that was it! It has to come with a change in mindset. Social media alone might not be the most successful tool but social media should be a tactic within your integrated marketing and communications strategy.’
And this is reflected in the conclusion of the article, where Wiley writes: “while clever innovative projects are likely to grab attention in the short term, it’s an all encompassing strategic approach that will pay out in the long term.”
Amen.
p.s. the article also gave a nice shout out to the #askaconductor event. Save the date!