Just back from a terrific conference on the future of the arts scene here in New Jersey as well as working on our "new model" for arts education advocacy (more on that later.)
At the conference there was an wonderful opening session that I was going to write about to share with all of you. Then, I found how someone had done it better. So, since I could not say it better… I won't.
From Andrew Taylor
Remembering how to tell good stories
The opening keynote of the New Jersey conference I'm attending was Andy Goodman, a communications consultant to nonprofit organizations with a previous life as a television scriptwriter and radio syndicator. Goodman reminded us of the power and humanity of storytelling when communicating a nonprofit's message, and he showed painfully familiar examples of how far many of us have strayed from the craft (complex powerpoints, numbing statistics and charts, dry detail).
There are lots of helpful thoughts on the subject in Goodman's monthly newsletter, but the heart of his message was this: every organization should strive to discover their core stories, the stories that define them, and ensure that everyone in the organization (staff, board, supporters) know these stories by heart.
The rest of the story at:
The Artful Manager: Andrew Taylor on the business of arts and culture.
Hey Bob,
Thanks for the link. It WAS a great conference. I’m still chewing on it all. Keep up the good fight in arts education. There’s great promise bubbling in New Jersey.