I admit I have a pretty cool job. Some days I spend in meetings with accountants, bankers, and analysts, and other days I get to attend art openings, visit galleries, and attend theater performances. I revel in the days when both sides of my brain are fully engaged. Today was one of those days. It started with preparing financial statements for a meeting with our banker, and continues with writing a report to summarize what we've learned about arts sampler packages. I may be one of a few that is geeked-out by the range.
So onto Detroit...
Detroit's young professionals and their local arts organizations have co-created a stellar,
five ticket performance package, called Passport to the Arts. It was
modeled after IndyHub's 2008 Passport to the Arts
, which is also having great successes with it's program. (Psst...you can
learn more about IndyHub's program as well as others at the Next Audiences Summit.)
Detroit's Passport to the Arts was designed to attract younger and/or new arts patrons by offering a pre-or-post event activity geared towards learning, connecting, and sensing alongside each event. This type of 1-2 punch is exactly what young patrons are craving in an arts/cultural experience.
Here's how Detroit has positioned and communicated Passport to the Arts:
"With a single passport, you will have access to six performances presented by seven metro Detroit cultural organizations. Each will be accompanied by an evening of insider events, such as wine or beer tastings, dance lessons or guest speakers, along with after parties and access to world class artists.
Enjoy all the VIP benefits you would normally receive when purchasing a season pass to a single organization’s series. But now, instead of committing to just one series, you will enjoy a sampling of offerings by some of metro Detroit’s world-class arts organizations." For more details on the program see their website: http://dp2a.org/.
Who doesn't want to sample the arts in an affordable, approachable, festive, and experiential way? The program has been so successful that they sold out the first 200 tickets and have had to add 100 more tickets. And it's not just next-gen patrons who love this combination; all ages of patrons in Detroit are craving these integrated experiences. Seriously. Read the article. Kudos to Sarah, Natalie and the rest of the team in Detroit.
For more information on developing younger patrons:
- Check out our Library. It's full of articles, webcast archives, podcasts, and how-to videos
- Sign up now to attend the Next Audiences Summit.
- Click on the PDF at the bottom of this page for a full report on our research on how to engage next-gen audiences.
Downloads
Developing Next Generation Arts Audiences (PDF, 2 MB)
