Idea Exchange
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Who’s Your FAN? The Basics to Game-Changing Engagement
If you’re working on a film, you want it to be seen, you want it to make an impact, and you may want want viewers to take some action.
The team at MocaMedia has spent several years exploring how filmmakers can accomplish those goals in an evolving film and engagement landscapes. And they've discovered that ultimately, all a filmmaker needs is one FAN: a Film Advocates Network.
In this artsENGAGE post, Gwen and Angela Alston, Co-Founders and Co-Directors of MocaMedia, explain how you get to know and build relationships with your FAN, and they describe two innovative projects that have made excellent use of the FAN model.
Image to the left is of Brandon Stanton, founder and photographer of Humans of New York, one of the FAN projects described in this informative post.
Make More, Talk Less, Tell Better Stories: All In a Day's Work at StoriesLab
“Buy your tix here! Only $25!”
“Buy your tix here! Only $25!”
“Buy your tix here! Only $25!”
Does this sound familiar? When it comes to media platforms, the tendency in the nonprofit sector can be to repeat singular information across platforms, even though intellectually we know that each platform has its own unique identity.
In this eye-opening post, James Carter, founder of NY_Hearts, explains an interactive (and fun!) workshop he led at StoriesLab in which attendees role-played a marketing campaign. They collaboratively brainstormed how to optimize the potential of each platform with engaging communications that serve a unique and growing brand.
StoriesLab is a partnership between Pride Collaborative and Center for Social Media. The first StoriesLab was a half-day workshop on the evolution of storytelling across multiple media platforms.
Elements of Great Storytelling
Discussions of engagement, interaction, collaboration, and community participation have increased with the rise of online storytelling platforms. As Felicia Pride reminds us, while the media through which storytelling happens may be evolving, the fundamental qualities of great storytelling have not changed. And it is great storytelling that facilitates engagement.
Felicia Pride is the founder of Pride Collaborative, a strategic storytelling agency. Their latest projects include StoriesLead, a catalyst for great storytelling, and The Create Daily, a startup that matches talented media makers with awesome opportunities.
Image depicts the Hero's Journey and was produced by GHH Designs.
Reflecting Ourselves: Key Takeways from artsENGAGE Thus Far
If you've not been able to follow the artsENGAGE blog conversation as closely as you would have liked, in this post, jesikah maria ross extracts and expands upon some of the blog salon's most captivating ideas thus far. She applies her many years of expertise in developing innovative, collaborative, community-rooted engagement projects to identifying and analyzing key takeaways and points of discussion. Most importantly, jesikah leaves us with this big question: How do we continue these conversations and idea exchanges?
Engage or Perish: The Art of Survival in the Museum Sector
The annual Art/Gage street fest started five years ago in Philadelphia as a means of celebrating the creative spirit of Philly artists, while also promoting interaction between artists and residents of the South Street community with the Magic Gardens Museum. In this artsENGAGE blog post, Art/Gage planning committee member, Emily Romick, explains how the thriving summer celebration reflects the new imperatives facing museums and other arts institutions.
See pictures of the community interacting with Art/Gage on the festival's Facebook page. And stay up-to-date on other community + arts projects on the artsENGAGE Tumblr.
Artists are the People in Your Neighborhood
Meta Local is an arts collective based in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx that investigates the dynamics of urban spaces via community-oriented, collaborative projects. In the words of artist Elzabeth Hamby, Meta Local co-founder and the writer of this artsENGAGE blog post: "In Meta Local, we use our artistic practice to amplify the work that is already taking place in our community, bridging the gap between art, activism, everyday people, and the environment."
For more examples of creative and engaging arts projects, follow the artsENGAGE Tumblr.
I Left My Heart at the MIA: Reflections on One Audience Engagement Event at Minneapolis Institute of Arts
On Valentine's Day 2013, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) invited museum attendees to leave Valentines to their favorite pieces in the Museum. In this artsENGAGE blog post, MIA Audience Engagement Specialist Katie Hill, describes the event, patrons' responses to it, and what lessons this strategy has to bear on structuring environments for audiences to interact with art.
See pictures of this event and of the MIA's many other innovative programs on their Flickr stream. For other specific examples of engagement strategies, visit the artsENGAGE Tumblr.
One Size Does Not Fit All: Different Stories Foster Different Types of Engagement
It's tempting, when writing grant applications or dreaming up distribution campaigns, to conceptualize engagement in generalities and whole cloth definitions. In this artsENGAGE blog post, however, Sahar Driver, Program Manager at Active Voice, demonstrates that each well-crafted story demands a nuanced definition of engagement that speaks to and optimizes that story's particular strengths in activating communities.
Since its inception in 2001, Active Voice has been effectively tackling social issues by understanding the unique power of individual films to inspire conversation, connect communities, and spark ideas and strategies for promoting local and national change. Read more from Active Voice on the artsENGAGE blog, and follow the conversation on Tumblr!
How Impact Contributes to Engagement: The ALLY Project
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Oftentimes, we think of impact as something that is measured subsequent to an event or intervention of significance. But Eliaichi Kimaro suggests, in this artsENGAGE post, that impact is also valuable research for designing that particular intervention.
Eli is the director of the documentary film A Lot Like You. In this post, she describes the process of designing the A Lot Like You (ALLY) Project, the interactive and engagement components of the film’s outreach. This campaign aims to partner with nonprofits and educational institutions to explore issues of identity and belonging, and the role of storytelling in encouraging those difficult conversations. To design this campaign, the ALLY team has been gauging impact by inviting audiences to share their personal experiences of the film so as to best harness its potential to generate forward-thinking conversation. To read some of the personal reflections audience members have shared after viewing the film, visit the ALLY Flickr stream here.
Photo of the filmmaker by Pete Droge.
How (and why!) to Design Strategic Storytelling Campaigns
Pride Collaborative uses strategic storytelling to help organizations deepen their relationships with communities and audiences. In this artsENGAGE blog post, Pride Collaborative founder, Felicia Pride, offers specifc and helpful questions to guide your multimedia storytelling journey.
On May 4 in Washington, DC, Pride Collaborative is hosting StoriesLab, a half-day exploration into the possibilities of story that’s co-presented with the Center for Social Media at American University. StoriesLab aims to nurture community and provide ideas, inspiration, resources and training, because when we consider the potential of storytelling to engage publics, it’s important to be strategic, focused, and intentional.
NAMAC Members receive a 10% registration discount to StoriesLab with discount code NAMAC1.
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If so, send your updated info to Aggie Ebrahimi Bazaz at aggie [at] namac [dot] org!