Written by Art Licensing Coach J’net Smith

Rule #6

Educate yourself about retail channels.  

It is important to have a clear understanding of the types of licensed products you want your art to appear on, as well as which type of retail channels, and retailers, carry those types of products.

Art licensing doesn’t mean you need to be in Wal-Mart. And while the landscape is always changing, today there are more products featuring licensed art sold in specialty retail channels (Spencer’s Gifts, Hot Topic, etc.), independent retailers (privately owned gift or card stores), and upscale department and chain stores (Bloomingdales, Nordstrom’s, etc.). And less than half of licensed art on products are sold through mass-market channels.

You need to think about where you want your product to ‘live at retail,’ and then plot your strategy for getting there. You, as the licensor (artist), need to make a decision as to where your art fits on products—what type of products, retail price points and retail channels are best for your style of art, and the brand you want to build. And when you make that decision, then you have to stick with it and be determined to make it happen.

There are a lot of manufacturers out there who will get you in department stores, but they also have distribution in drug stores, deep discounters and even ‘dollar’ stores. It’s up to you to ask about a manufacturers’ channel(s) of distribution and to come to an agreement as to where your product will be distributed.

No discussion of retail channels would be complete without the dual acknowledgement that retailers today are being held hostage by the economy, corporate mergers and price-driven consumers, while at the same time acting as the gatekeepers who hold the key to distribution (or not!) for manufacturers. This means retailers are both unusually stressed and powerful at the same time.

Regarding your art licensing business, keep in mind those retailers—whether brick and mortar, catalogs, or online e-tailers—allow or prevent the flow of products to consumers. So, they can help you reach consumers, or they can prevent your licensed products from reaching the consumers’ hands.

Today there are more and more online retailers who can take your art from production all the way to the consumer. But online sales of art licensing products are still miniscule compared to the level sold at brick and mortar retailers.

So, retailers still have the ultimate power. But years from now we may be stating something entirely different here. Understanding who the gatekeeper is—who has the power in an industry—will absolutely affect your marketing plan and how you create and manage your business.

About J’net Smith

Jeanette Smith is the consummate art licensing coach—she is passionate about helping you achieve a level of success beyond imagining and definitely knows how to do it! In just six short years, J’net turned Dilbert™ from a relatively unknown syndication-based comic strip into a 200 million dollar a year global brand. Then in 2000, J’net translated and expanded on her extensive experience to train, advise and license all types of creators. She has helped hundreds of artists, graphic designers, painters, photographers, authors, illustrators, design firms, fine artists, creative companies, non-profits and agents to maximize the power of their brands and talents.

J’net is best described by her combination of specialties—she is one of those very rare people who possess a balanced combination of creative sensibility and extraordinary business acumen. It is this combination that has served J’net over the span of a very impressive career,and has garnered her equally impressive press and testimonials!

From her early days in New York building new divisions for such corporate giants as Official Airline Guides, MacMillan Publishing, Paramount Communications, and VIACOM International, to her six years of work at United Media spearheading the astronomical growth of Dilbert, Jeanette has compiled a long list of satisfied clients and has gained an enormous amount of respect and experience in marketing, licensing, advertising, PR, agenting, negotiating, and much more.

Written by John M. Eger  appeared on Huffington Post, January 18th, 2012

The book by Walter Isaacson about Steve Jobs, former CEO and founder of Apple Computer, has now sold over one million copies.

After talking with many of Steve’s colleagues, Issacson discovered that to Steve, “You were either [a shithead or a hero], one or the other, sometimes on the same day.” Clearly he was not a guy everybody loved. Yet he did “revolutionize six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. You might even add a seventh: retail stores, which Jobs did not quite revolutionize, but he did re-imagine.”

Isaacson also discovered that in all Apple’s products “technology would be married to great design, elegance, human touches, and even romance.” On a personal note, Isaacson added, “The creativity that can occur when a feel for both the humanities and the sciences combine in one strong personality was the topic that most interested me in my biographies of Franklin and Einstein, and I believe … will be a key to creating innovative economies in the twenty-first century.”

Maybe it takes the tragic death of an icon or another earth-shattering event to get our attention. Leonard Shlain, author of Art and Physics: Parallel Visions of Space, Time and Light (1993), early on noted the symbiotic relationship only now becoming commonplace. Maybe Jobs even read Shlain’s book.

There is now more talk, more awareness of the importance of art and design. And there is a greater recognition that our schools, our communities, our attitudes must change.

This new awareness, new recognition is vital. One might say understanding the challenge of the new global economy is even critical. It demands that we renew and reinvent ourselves to better understand and appreciate the arts (and of course the sciences) and importantly, the esthetic makeup of the places where we live and work. There is no alternative short of letting our cities and our communities atrophy and die, and with it, the great experiment in freedom and free enterprise we so highly value.

We created the pen-based computer, the silicon chip and the Internet itself, now the vehicle for every nation, every city, and every community worldwide to compete with every other. We can be proud of what we have accomplished, but we must be mindful that a new — truly global –economy has been unleashed.

This intersection of art and technology is the future for America. Creativity and innovation will be the hallmark of our greatest corporations, our workplace, and our most enterprising communities.

Does all creativity come from the arts and so-called creative communities? Of course not, but the chances of nurturing creativity through arts based training is a no brainier.

Today, as Sandra Rupert, President of Art Education Partnership observed,

Arts learning experiences play a vital role in developing students’ capacities for critical thinking, creativity, imagination, and innovation. These capacities are increasingly recognized as core skills and competencies all students need as part of a high-quality and complete 21st-century education.

This of course is why STEAM — the idea that the arts are as important as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) — is so important. It is also why cities and regions must have creative people by nurturing its young people and, reinventing a system of education that engenders the new thinking skills to meet the challenges of the new economy.

Government has a vital role too. Promoting accessible broadband and encouraging land use policies that encourage development of creative economic clusters including art districts, public art and art and cultural institutions such as museums. Governments can also embrace green initiatives, which encourage private sector initiatives and foster the concept of sustainability. And they can use technology to improve productivity, foster new, more efficient delivery of government services and encourage business and the non-profit sector to use technology as well.

Involvement by the whole community will be needed to make meaningful changes and civic collaboration or engagement is critical. New and existing organizations responsible for planning and development and for weaving the fabric of the new community demand that all institutions and individuals become owners of the new agenda which must include: public art, art integration, graffiti parks, art districts, museums, regional collaboration, civic engagement and robust information infrastructures. All are important to the region of the future, to development of a creative community.

A truly creative community can nurture, attract and retain the talent we need to succeed let alone survive in the new economy.

About John M. Eger
John M. Eger, Van Deerlin Endowed Professor of Communications and Public Policy and Director of the Creative Economy Initiative at San Diego State University teaches in the School of Journalism and Media Studies, and the SDSU Honors Program.

He is an author and lecturer on the subjects of creativity and innovation, education and economic development, and also serves as President of The World Foundation for Smart Communities, a research and educational organization dedicated to helping local communities connect to the global economy. http://www.smartcommunities.org/

A former Adviser to two Presidents and Director of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy he helped spearhead the restructuring of America’s telecom Industry and was Senior Vice President of CBS responsible for worldwide enterprises, which opened China to commercial television.

Appeared on Jumper on January 8, 2012. Written By Diane Ragsdale

Polly Carl has posted a new piece on HowlRound, A Virtual Theater Movement,  in which she remarks on a recent trend in arts philanthropy: increased direct support for artists. This philanthropic trend prompts me to ask, “What are funders hoping to achieve by providing direct subsidies to individual artists?” and to raise the ideas of a colleague from Erasmus, artist/economist Hans Abbing, who wrote a book in 2002 called Why Are Artists Poor? The Exceptional Economy of the Arts, an excellent summary of the chapters therein you can read here.

Abbing crafts a well structured rationale to which I cannot do justice in this post; however, I will mention a few key points. Abbing suggests that the poverty of artists is structural and relates this to a number of factors, including:

1. The social construction of ‘art’as something holy, a notion which is contradictory to the notion of commerce and monetary exchange. He writes: “Although the arts earn approximately half of their income in the market, the arts can only maintain their sacred status when people associate the arts with the values of the gift sphere rather than the market sphere.”
2. While artists do care about money, they tend to care more (than other professionals) about rewards such as personal satisfaction, recognition, and status. He says that most artists have been socialized to this preference and that it is ‘hardly a virtue’. As a manifestation of these preferences, he says that (for example) most artists will work their day jobs only long enough to earn sufficient income to go back to creating artistic work.
3. Given that artists tend to exchange money for rewards such as personal satisfaction, direct subsidies do not lead to higher incomes for artists. Instead, they may simply provide incentives to more people to become artists, thereby increasing competition, and making it more difficult for any to make a living. As Abbing writes, “Subsidization increases the number of poor artists per hundred thousand inhabitants and thus increases poverty.”

So, what is achieved through subsidies to artists? Here are my own reflections:

Direct grants to artists may make it possible for an artist, at a particular point in his or her career, to make (better or more ambitious) work (by removing the necessity to maintain a day job). Funds may be used to help an artist acquire a critical resource or asset that has longer term returns (a marketable artistic output, knowledge and skills, marketing and promotion, staff, representation, a piece of equipment, a studio, a car, etc.). And often direct grants (particularly if competitve or associated with awards) send a signal to other gatekeepers (funders, donors, producers, press, intermediaries, curators, etc.) that a particular artist is worthy of time and support and may result in more resources and attention flowing to that artist. (It may be worth noting, however, that this ‘signaling’ effect can contribute to the ‘winner-take-all’ phenomenon that sometimes exists in the arts and make it even more difficult for new entrants to emerge and find resources.)

However, it seems to me that direct grants to artists are unlikely to (1) solve the longer-term systemic issue (which Polly also points out in her post) that funding to arts organizations in the US seems to increase flows not to artists but rather to buildings and administrations; and (2) (if we agree with Abbing’s point about subsidies providing incentives more more people to become artists) improve the structural poverty of artists.

It seems that these two issues will require a re-thinking of some of the bedrock ideas of the arts and culture sector in the US, among them: (1) to be legitimate you need grants and to get grants you need nonprofit status and administrators; and (2) aesthetic value and market value are at odds. There are others …

And it perhaps goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) subsidies (grants, gifts, or other forms of support) may not only lead to an  increase in the number of people who want to be artists but also the number people who want to form arts organizations. We have incentivized the exponential growth of the arts and culture sector in the US and, despite significant resources (government and private) flowing into the sector on an annual basis, we now find that both artists and the large majority of organizations are poor. There’s a lesson there.

About Diane Ragsdale

Diane is currently attending Erasmus University in Rotterdam (in the Netherlands), where she is researching the impact of economic forces on US nonprofit regional theaters since the 80′s and working towards a PhD in cultural economics. [Read More …]

On Thursday January 26th The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship (IAE) will be teaming up with WBEZ’s new project Front & Center to host a resource fair for the self employed, small businesses, start-ups, and freelancers.

Mini seminars and presentations will run through out the evening at the fabulous Catalyst Ranch located at 656 W Randolph St # 3W in the Polka Room.

Mini Seminar Topics Include: 

Entrepreneurship 101
Presented by Institute For Arts Entrepreneurship

Receiving small loans as an independent worker
Presented Accion Micro Lending

Doing your taxes as a freelancer, small business owner, or independent
Presented by Center for Economic Progress

Create. Innovate. Repeat: featuring 4 fabulous presenters, 7 slides and just 5 minutes each to pitch their most innovative business idea to you.
Presented by Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship.

Partial List of Participants Include:

Co-Lab Evanston providers of shared office spaces.

Northside Freelancers Network  who can help you connect to the growing Chicago self-employed community. Make sure to ask them about their weekly “freelancers soup” lunch.

Accion will be on hand to discuss how to get a  micro-loans to jump start your own business.

Northside Community Bank can help you find funding for your small, local project.

IndieMade is itself a small business. They create websites for independents, artist, small businesses, and start-up projects.

Rockstar CPA offers CPA services specifically geared towards the self-employed, with a specialty in creative projects.

The Law Project offer affordable legal resources for freelancers, independents, and small businesses, such as creating contracts, negotiating pay, etc.

Chicago! Come on out and celebrate self-employment with us! We hope to see you on January 26th.

Fair begins at 6pm @ Catalyst Ranch  656 W Randolph St # 3W, in the Polka Room

While 2011 was a big year for political unrest, another uprising was afoot in the world of content creators and artists. Everywhere you look, artists are taking more control over their own economic well being, in large part because the Internet has enabled them to do so. You see it in all forms of content, from books, to video to music.

A few examples from this year:

e-books: Probably the most active area in large part because there is huge shifts taking place in digital publishing. From former mid-list writers like Barry Eisler to superstars like JK Rowling, writers are increasingly making waves in digital publishing.

Video: The story of the year for artists-as-entrepreneur came at the tail-end, with Louis CK saying no thank you to corporate middlemen and putting his new concert video online for $5 a pop.

Radio/Music: All sorts of independent entrepreneurs are putting audio entertainment online, from the rise of podcast kings like Leo Laporte to a huge number of independents like Adam Carolla and Marc Maron. Music artists are being given freedom too, through new platforms to create and share their music like Soundcloud.

So what is driving this movement towards the artist-entrepreneur that will give it huge momentum in 2012?  Here are a few underlying trends:

The distribution chain is collapsing across content verticals

The middleman is under attack on all fronts, whether its in video, music/audio and e-books. As devices like TVs become connected, as books become e-readers and tablets, and music is now digital, the storefront is fast-becoming the entire distribution chain.  With e-books it’s Amazon or Apple, with radio it’s iTunes, with video it’s Google/YouTube, Netflix and other upstarts who are investing in original content, or simply direct-to-consumer efforts using web-payment platforms like Paypal.

Louis CK, who created his own site, paid for bandwidth, and used Paypal for payment, captured how many artists are beginning to think when he said in an interview with Bill Simmons that he “didn’t want to cut out the middleman, I just didn’t need one. There wasn’t any reason to have someone there. I just thought make this thing and put it up.”

Content production, distribution and monetization tools are becoming democratized through the web

In e-books, distribution and storefronts have already collapsed into one, but managing distribution across multiple channels is difficult since storefronts are still siloed (Amazon is separate from Apple iBooks, which is walled off from Barnes&Noble, etc). However, companies like Smashwords enable creation and distribution across multiple storefronts, while Vook, post-pivot, is working on SaaS tools to create e-books and manage their distribution, complete with reporting and management dashboards.

In music, artists are starting to embrace sites like Soundcloud to create music and share it, while others direct-to-fan sites like Topspin Media are enabling artists to create commerce sites to sell music in turnkey fashion. And it’s not just music sales, but actual concert tickets. The Pixies used Topspin to sell tickets for a recent concert, utilizing email campaigns and to notify fans and processed the tickets using an iOS app at the door.

With video, big middlemen still dominate, but that is changing as video creation and distribution costs come down in a world of connected devices. As Ryan Lawler wrote in a piece for GigaOM Pro:

“independent content creators stand to gain the most through massive reductions in the cost of recording equipment and editing software, as well as the greater availability of streaming video service on connected devices. They gain new distribution opportunities for their content and greater possibility for monetization. Consider any of the top YouTube video channels, which probably wouldn’t be able to survive in the pay-TV universe but have created thriving businesses due to the cost structure online.”

Generational shifts towards technology savvy-artists

As Matt Mullenweg put in in his New Year’s resolution on GigaOM:

“For a year now, I’ve said scripting is the new literacy. That’s something I strongly believe. In Douglas Rushkoff’s latest book, he talks about “program or be programmed.” That is, if you’re not in control of your inputs, you’re not really in control of your outputs either. You’re just a reactionary force.”

Matt is right, in that scripting is the new literacy, and a growing form of artistic expression. Tech-savvy artists are creating apps and developing sites to put their art into the world. Whether its Matt Inmann creating his work and coding his site at The Oatmeal or young app developers like Robert Nay, artists are becoming coders and vice versa, since, as Mullenweg states, scripting is “new literacy”.

No doubt, the vast majority of economic wealth is still distributed through large corporate media, but as new technologies enable artists to reach consumers directly through push-button creation and distribution, there is a movement afoot. Expect this movement to expand in 2012 as more artists take control of their own economic destinies and become part of the artist-entrepreneur generation.

On behalf of everyone at The Institute For Arts Entrepreneurship – our faculty, our students, our supporters and our families
- we would like to wish each of you and your family
 a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!

As many of you may already know, 2011 has proven to be an exceedingly eventful and rewarding year for the IAE.  After several years of dutiful planning and extremely hard work, we launched our pilot program this past September.

About IAE’s Progress

Our recently concluded Module I coursework focused on student development of emotional intelligence, leadership aptitude and communicative skills.  And within only a very few months, we have witnessed a blossoming of growth and excitement from 15 artists – from fashion, music, theater, visual arts, food, skin care and design- in our inaugural class ranging in age from 24 to 63!  For those of us on the IAE staff, bearing witness to our student’s desire to learn, develop and flourish has served as a profoundly breathtaking experience.

And many new faces are sprouting up to support our work. This past fall over 12 individuals donated their time to mentor our students. We also have received immeasurable help with our curriculum design and development from Joyce Thomas, Deana McDonagh and Director Nan Goggin- all from The School of Art + Design at the University of Illinois.

And the interest has not stopped there. In January the IAE was selected to deliver our first paper about our innovative learning model at the U.S. Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference in New Orleans. Founder Lisa Canning was also invited to attend The U.S. Dept of State and The Aspen Institute’s 2nd Entrepreneurship conference in Marrakech Morocco in January. Additionally, 2 schools in Amman Jordan and someone who serves on the Fulbright commission in Sweden have all reached out to us to inquire how we can bring the IAE to their communities.

The IAE Needs Your Help to Bloom

During the past twelve months, we have been working hard to ramp up our fund raising efforts designed to firmly establish the IAE as a long-term, going concern with the ability to make a real difference – not only in assisting artists to develop meaningful careers applying their artistic talents – but to utilize their creative abilities in new ways that also can benefit our communities and local businesses.  And while these efforts have not thus far been quite as successful as those in the classroom – our commitment to advancing the IAE’s mission remains as strong as ever.

Year End Giving

As we prepare for the New Year, we will continue to do our best to fund our pilot program. Unfortunately, without more support, we may not be able to realize our full vision to help artists change their lives and the world with their creativity. I wish you would come to our classroom to see just how big the impact is we have already made with our students. We have quickly become an invaluable resource; something our students do not wish to lose.

With this being a time to reflect on our values and beliefs, we would like to ask that you consider an offer of support for The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship. Whatever you can give will show us you value our work and care about the future of our students.

A tax-deductible contribution to the IAE may be made through our secure giving site or by mailing a check to The Institute For Arts Entrepreneurship, 2257 N Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614.

To insure your tax benefits for 2011, online donations must be completed by 11:59 PM on December 31, 2011. Checks must be dated and postmarked by December 31, 2011. Please be sure to consult your tax adviser to confirm how charitable deduction rules may apply to your individual situation.

To each of you who generously support us, both today and over the past several years, please know we could never achieve our goals without you. Your kindness and generosity is so appreciated.

With blessings to you all for peace, love and prosperity in the New Year,

Lisa and Chuck Canning

The IAE has a new Facebook page. Click below and like us.

Please follow us on Twitter too!

Written by Art Licensing Coach J’net Smith

Rule #4:  Plan on 2+ years to get your art licensing business established.

Licensing is no different than other business, it will take time to create contacts, processes, and revenue. If you expect it to happen over night, you are most likely thinking about the wrong business, or perhaps entrepreneurial endeavors are not right for you.

I’m going to give you a timeline here that I know will be valuable when considering the art licensing industry and planning your time and budgets.

It would be reasonable to expect that gearing up your business will take at least a year. Six months might be spent creating your art licensing portfolio and collections, evaluating and refining them, as well as setting up your web site and establishing a rough business plan. In the next six months, you should kick-off marketing efforts targeted toward manufacturers or to prospective agents.

You may be able to close your first deal (or two) within a year, but only with active marketing efforts. Once you receive an offer, be aware, that it can still take 1 to 6- months to finalize the deal and get the signed contract completed. It certainly varies with every manufacturer.  For example, if they are pursuing something topical and hot, then it may be a matter of weeks and you are done.

Let’s say it then takes the manufacturer 3-months to 1 year to produce the product, and this is actually a relatively short timeline, as many overseas products take even longer to develop. Then you add a 3 to 6-month window before the product is ready sold to retailers, distributed to them and available in stores.

If you add up all those numbers, I can tell you the total time is approximately one year to 2½ years before you see any royalty revenues. You may have negotiated an advance on that deal, so you had some money come in when you signed the contract. However, the core of royalty revenue is generated when product is sold by the manufacturer (wholesaler) to retail stores. Then it takes even longer to hit your bank, since most manufacturers will pay you quarterly for sales generated in a prior quarter.

Now, I’m sure during this time you wouldn’t be sitting still waiting for the revenue from that one deal. Licensing is a cycle; you continue the process of creating, marketing and selling—over and over again—utilizing both new and existing art in different ways. You can really understand the huge potential of licensing when one piece of art, or a single collection, sells well on multiple products and generates revenue way beyond it’s value as “a” piece of art for the wall.

And meanwhile, you create product and keep marketing. Plan ahead, knowing that you will need funds to live on until the revenue stream from multiple deals start to come in.  So plan on 2+ years before you’ve got a solid revenue stream. Keep that in mind. It’s a great business to be in, but it does take time to build it and work to keep it going.

About J’net Smith

Jeanette Smith is the consummate art licensing coach—she is passionate about helping you achieve a level of success beyond imagining and definitely knows how to do it! In just six short years, J’net turned Dilbert™ from a relatively unknown syndication-based comic strip into a 200 million dollar a year global brand. Then in 2000, J’net translated and expanded on her extensive experience to train, advise and license all types of creators. She has helped hundreds of artists, graphic designers, painters, photographers, authors, illustrators, design firms, fine artists, creative companies, non-profits and agents to maximize the power of their brands and talents.

J’net is best described by her combination of specialties—she is one of those very rare people who possess a balanced combination of creative sensibility and extraordinary business acumen. It is this combination that has served J’net over the span of a very impressive career,and has garnered her equally impressive press and testimonials!

From her early days in New York building new divisions for such corporate giants as Official Airline Guides, MacMillan Publishing, Paramount Communications, and VIACOM International, to her six years of work at United Media spearheading the astronomical growth of Dilbert, Jeanette has compiled a long list of satisfied clients and has gained an enormous amount of respect and experience in marketing, licensing, advertising, PR, agenting, negotiating, and much more.

Written by Art Licensing Coach J’net Smith

Rule #3 Know your skills.

Art talent isn’t enough to make it in the Art Licensing industry. Even more interesting is the fact that you may do very well in Art Licensing for any number of other reasons. For example, your art skills may be good; they may even be awesome!  But you could be incredibly successful in Art Licensing because you can market yourself better than other artists. Perhaps you have the innate ability to capture the attention of various media outlets, or you have a large following of active and demanding fans (which would be is very appealing to manufacturers).

I’ve seen artists make lots of money because they appeal to a certain niche audience (not a small niche, but one that’s large enough to warrant mass market attention) that is peaking and has a current need for art. Maybe an artist loves creating holiday themed art, for which there is always a need. Art Licensing is a commercial industry, so artists who have a distinctive style, enjoy creating a certain theme, and who also appeal to huge audiences have more potential for income than others.

Other skills that affect your Art Licensing business potential are:

Technical Skills

You definitely need computer and technical skills, or access to them. If you don’t have them, you need to get them or find a partner that does, because people will no longer put up with artists not having internet access, high resolution scans, layered files, etc.

Product Design Capabilities

If you can envision your art on products, then show your art to manufacturers on product mock-ups to help them. This is a really important skill set today and is going to help put you in the league of serious art licensors.

Trend Watching

Not everybody is going to be a trendsetter, because that takes a lot of forward thinking.You may have that, or you may just love to watch trends, and can keep up with them. Either way, don’t avoid learning about trends and seeing how your art can interpret them.

Entrepreneurial Abilities

Artists need entrepreneurial skills more than ever!  And we’ll talk more about this later…

About J’net Smith

Jeanette Smith is the consummate art licensing coach—she is passionate about helping you achieve a level of success beyond imagining and definitely knows how to do it! In just six short years, J’net turned Dilbert™ from a relatively unknown syndication-based comic strip into a 200 million dollar a year global brand. Then in 2000, J’net translated and expanded on her extensive experience to train, advise and license all types of creators. She has helped hundreds of artists, graphic designers, painters, photographers, authors, illustrators, design firms, fine artists, creative companies, non-profits and agents to maximize the power of their brands and talents.

J’net is best described by her combination of specialties—she is one of those very rare people who possess a balanced combination of creative sensibility and extraordinary business acumen. It is this combination that has served J’net over the span of a very impressive career,and has garnered her equally impressive press and testimonials!

From her early days in New York building new divisions for such corporate giants as Official Airline Guides, MacMillan Publishing, Paramount Communications, and VIACOM International, to her six years of work at United Media spearheading the astronomical growth of Dilbert, Jeanette has compiled a long list of satisfied clients and has gained an enormous amount of respect and experience in marketing, licensing, advertising, PR, agenting, negotiating, and much more.

You may be aware that the New World Symphony is America’s leading training orchestra, boasting top rate talent. And you may have heard about their breathtaking new hall in Miami Beach. But did you know that members of this group are daring to re-imagine the business model of orchestras from the bottom up?

The fact that many American orchestras struggle to survive is no secret. In the past few years, top-tier ensembles in Philadelphia, Syracuse, Honolulu, Detroit, Louisville, Dallas, and New Mexico have cancelled concerts, issued pay cuts, declared bankruptcy, or closed their doors. Reversing this trend will likely require more than savvier social media use, fundraising efforts, or other one-dimensional potions.

I recently completed a two-day residency with the NWS focused around this very problem. Below is a summary of our journey.

PROCESS

As a starting point, we used the following scenario. The year is 2020, and almost every major full-time American symphony orchestra has since declared bankruptcy and closed its doors. (Obviously nobody desires this outcome, but imposing these “conditions” forced fellows to think creatively and challenge status quo.)

Confronted by that hypothetical, a group of NWS alum decides to found a new ensemble, Orchestra Future. For this organization, two priorities are non-negotiable:

1. We must produce outstanding art (an area where Orchestras Past excelled)
2. We must create a sustainable business model (an area where Orchestras Past were not ultimately able to succeed in the 21^st Century)

Beyond these two points, anything and everything was on the table. How might this new, alternate Orchestra Future look?

Magical solutions did not instantly appear. As with any meaningful strategic planning, the process benefited from thoughtful discussion and collective wisdom. Participants began by dissecting Orchestras Past (in other words, the 2011 paradigm), honing in specifically on three large-scale areas they deemed essential: 1) Event Design, 2) Institutional Culture, and 3) Relevance.

After considering both positive and negative aspects of Orchestras Past, attention turned to specific, actionable solutions for Orchestra Future. And even though our meeting time was limited, some fascinating conclusions were drawn.

MISSION

Our thought leaders turned first to mission. They decided that the purpose of Orchestra Future will be to:

1. Serve and celebrate local community
2. Function as an arts and innovation “fountain”

These essential priorities would impact every major decision, from programming and musician responsibilities to activities pursued and marketing tactics.

HIRING PRACTICES

With Orchestras Past, outstanding performance was the sole or primary criteria when auditioning new members.

Applicants will only be considered by Orchestra Future when they clearly bring a valuable secondary asset with them. That might mean being an extraordinary educator, great public speaker, good schmoozer, effective fundraiser, dynamic marketing visionary, freakish master of multiple artistic talents, etc. In other words, every employee must clearly demonstrate his/her value towards achieving both non-negotiable priorities (great art and sustainable business model).

CORE PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES

Orchestras Past engaged in two primary types of performance activities. The ratio of time devoted and perceived importance between these areas was estimated at around 85/15.

1. Formal concerts-85%. “Masterworks,” “Pops,” or some other program variation. This area was the meat and potatoes for every full-time musician of Orchestras Past.
2. Engagement-15%. Educational and community outreach events. For members of Orchestras Past, involvement here was often optional.

Both of these activity categories continue to play a role in Orchestra Future. But their relative importance is reallocated to 50/50. And though all musicians will be required to participate on both sides of the equation, not all divide their time equally. Some are more focused on one side or the other, falling somewhere on the spectrum between 85/15 and 15/85.

EVENT DESIGN

In addition to outstanding performance (always important), concerts by Orchestras Past were characterized by several features. A partial list of conventions includes:

• Programming. Overture-concerto-symphony model. Multi-movement works always played in their entirety. Music by dead, white, European composers comprised 95+% of programs.
• Instrumentation. Only three kinds of instrumentations were permitted: full orchestra, orchestra with soloist(s), solo encore.
• Visual stimulation. Typically minimal.
• Verbal communication with audience. Nothing, or offered solely by the conductor.

While Orchestras Past delivered incredible art through these formats, Orchestra Future will vastly expand the palate of experiences offered. The NWS group imagined a number of initiatives that, at times, challenged each of these conventions.  In particular, they considered ways that event design could directly reflect their mission priorities of local community and arts/innovation fountain.

MUSICIAN RESPONSIBILITY

In Orchestras Past, musicians had the following responsibilities:

1. Performance. First and foremost, show up on time for rehearsals/performances, be prepared, and follow strictly regulated etiquette guidelines (85-100% of job).
2. Engagement. At a distant second, participate in educational and engagement events. Not always required (0-15%).
3. Service. Some musicians had roles on various committees (0-5%).

In Orchestra Future, not only will the proportion of energy dedicated to each of these categories change, but musicians have additional responsibilities including:

• Secondary skill. Every performer is involved with a secondary area where they have aptitude, interest, and ability to help the organization succeed.
• Marketing. All stakeholders play an active role in marketing and advocacy.

INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE

Sadly, Orchestras Past had a reputation for being resistant to change and sometimes unhappy organizations. Whether true or not, an infamous study by Harvard researcher Richard Hackman found that orchestral musicians ranked among the lowest in terms of overall job satisfaction compared to other professions, just under federal prison guards.

Though the NWS fellows did not have enough time to outline a comprehensive new cultural positioning statement, they did offer some reflections. Orchestra Future must be a place where creativity, innovation, and experimentation are celebrated at every level. Players should be actively involved with operations, vision, and major decisions of the ensemble. Ideas will be evaluated on the merit of the proposal rather than the rank of its originator. A respectful and supportive environment is key, with a prohibition placed on unconstructive complaining and negative attitudes. If orchestras are truly to serve communities, they must begin with a healthy, vibrant internal culture.

—-

Of course, we’re not yet in the year 2020, and thankfully all of the major American orchestras have not closed their doors. There is a lot these organizations can do now to avoid the heart-breaking scenario that NWS discussed. While specific solutions may vary, one thing is certain: Major innovation is surely a requisite ingredient (true for any sector in our complicated and quickly evolving world). If different results are desired, the model must change.

Thank you to the New World Symphony for being brave enough to tackle this crucial topic. It’s only a starting point—talk won’t save the industry, only action. But this conversation marked an important step, and will hopefully serve as inspiration and a catalyst for meaningful change.

Long live the orchestra!  Here’s to sustainable models that allow this culturally rich institution to produce outstanding art for many, many years to come!

Related articles:

• What Professional Orchestras Should Learn from YouTube
• Dumbing Down or Smartening Up
• The Working Musician: Full-time Orchestra Member
• Competitive Auditions

• Written by Eugene Cantera from The Dallas School of Music   Posted on their blog, DiscoverLearnandPlay, on November 15, 2011

Last week we were fortunate enough to be contacted by Marty Albertson the former CEO and current non-executive Chairman of Guitar Center.  We decided to do a little research on him before our call and learned that his is a very cool story.

He started as a clerk and rose through the ranks all the way to CEO.  He weathered through sales of the company, buy-outs of partners, and even led the company from public to private status (and back again?).  He champions a ‘slow-growth’ strategy that he believes will benefit Guitar Center over the long run. This is all good stuff.

Marty’s initial e-mail to us ended with a very interesting sentence that caught me just a tad off-guard.  He said “I have spent a great deal of time over the past several years investing in the music ed world we depend on. I would look forward to seeing your program”. I’m not sure why I was surprised as it makes so much sense.  Head of a company that sells instruments and gear is interested in music education success… so they can sell more instruments and gear! It’s crystal clear and seems to be sound business logic as well (no pun intended). We were humbled that Marty contacted us and were pleasantly surprised to learn that he wanted to talk about music education with us ‘outsiders’. But you see, as a businessman and passionate music fan, he understands the importance of music education on many levels.

For example, we are all familiar with the benefits of music education; how students of the arts continually outperform non-art peers on the SAT, how cognitive reasoning is elevated, and  and how playing music can instill in students “the good habits of mind that can last a lifetime” among others.  These are noble and just reasons for the existence of foundations like VH1-s Save the Music and The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (of which Marty is a board member) but they are not the only reasons.

The basic premise that ‘more music makers = more music SALES’ is… in my humble opinion, no less of a reason to ‘save the music’ and for music educators to become more business savvy. This can and should be a win-win situation. I know that each time a shop makes an instrument sale, there is a potential lesson for a teacher (whether it’s here at DSM or online at DLP)  and perhaps another potential member for a local band or orchestra program. And I know too that if the teacher does his job well, he will make a lifelong ambassador and purchaser of music and its related products or services. That’s a Win-Win.

I suppose it was the word ‘depend’ in Marty’s initial e-mail that struck me the most. I wondered to myself if music educators understood this?…Then I chuckled at how silly that sounded. Of course they don’t.  Music educators are trained to sight sing, read scores, transpose, and fix the occasionally bent octave key. These are wonderful attributes in the band room, not so useful in the real world.  We are trained to do one thing, and do it well. But in most cases, a music ed. major’s ‘business hat’ is most often only worn when dealing with local shops that provide (hopefully) quality rental instruments to their band and orchestra programs.

This leads to a dis-connect between school music programs and the outside world, including the business world (and in many cases, the music world – but that’s another story for another time).  In short, this disconnect is a real and palpable one. If you don’t believe me, read the account of our trip to the MENC (now called NAfME) National Conference or see for yourself by attending a NAMM show and making a note of who the majority of music merchandisers are courting. You might also try listening in on any of the national round-table discussions on music education and see how often they address ‘the other 80%’.

So I believe it’s time for a change.

Let’s try to…

• …encourage future music educators to be more entrepreneurial minded by making business training part of their basic required curriculum.
• …work with businesses to leverage the current interest in adult music education and start reaching that portion of ‘the other 80%’.
• …use technology to make music educators more accessible and to reach more people of all ages and all levels of ability interested in learning music.

And finally, let’s not be afraid to become more entrepreneurial in spirit and to work with businesses of all kinds for a ‘slow-growth’ approach to creating more music makers. It can be good for everyone’s business – a true win-win.

About Eugene Cantera

Eugene grew up in the northeast and received a BME from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, CT.  He has been in Dallas for the past 20 years where he is a Partner at The Dallas School of Music and one of the founders of discoverlearnandplay.com.  As Head of Social Media he publishes the Discover, Learn, Play blog and maintain the schools’ twitter and facebook pages. He has had the pleasure of working with a wide array of students, from novice learners to professional musicians, and perform locally when asked nicely.

How can imagination become creative productivity? How can artists fuse the work of creative theorists to their gifts to help others to innovate? So far both Basadur’s Creative Problem Solving Profile and deBono’s Six Thinking Hat Theory have provided a structure that is relatively easy to understand, adapt and implement. But with our next creative theorist, Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi, quickly that clarity disappears into the murky world of “flow”.

Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi (pronounced “chick-sent-me-high-ee”) is a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University,  Dr. Csíkszentmihályi is a distinguished professor of psychology and management in the school of organizational and behavioral sciences. He is also the Founding Co-Director of the Quality of Life Research Center. The QLRC is a non-profit research institute that studies “positive psychology”; that is, human strengths such as optimism, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility.” Prior to his work at Claremont, Mihaly, was the head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College.

Flow

Mihaly is known for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, and in particular for his years of research and writing on the ideas around life’s “flow.”  He is the author of a number of books on the topic including:

Csikszentmihalyi saw optimal activities in the "flow" channel moving outward as skills are gained. In short, flow can be described as a state where attention, motivation, and the situation meet, resulting in a kind of productive harmony or feedback.

To achieve a flow state, a balance must be struck between the challenge of the task and the skill of the performer. If the task is too easy or too difficult, flow cannot occur. Both skill level and challenge level must be matched and high; if skill and challenge are low and matched, then apathy results. The flow state also implies a kind of focused attention, and indeed, it has been noted that mindfulness, meditation, yoga, the Alexander Technique, and martial arts seem to improve a person’s capacity for flow.

Why is flow essential to creative productivity?

“Creativity is often defined as a parallel construct to intelligence, but it differs from intelligence in that it is not restricted to cognitive or intellectual functioning or behavior. Instead, it is concerned with a complex mix of motivational conditions, personality factors, environmental conditions, chance factors, and even products.” (Feldhusen and Goh, 1995)  The concepts of Flow, fit nicely into this construct.

In his book Flow Csíkszentmihályi lists a number of facts (not all of which have to be present) to create an experience of flow.

1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities).

2. Concentrating and focusing, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).

3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.

4. Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective experience of time is altered.

5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).

6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).

7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.

8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.

9. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.

What personality traits do those posses who frequently achieve creative “flow”?

According to Csíkszentmihályi, creative personalities are different from others, because of their complexity. Creative individuals show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an “individual,” each of them is a “multitude.”

Here are 10 paradoxical traits Csíkszentmihályi believes are often present in creative people.

1. Creative people have a great deal of physical energy, but they’re also often quiet and at rest.

They work long hours, with great concentration, while projecting an aura of freshness and enthusiasm. Yet it is surprising how often individuals who in their seventies and eighties exude energy and health remember childhoods plagued by illness. It seems that their energy is internally generated, due more to their focused minds than superior genetics. This does not mean that creative people are hyperactive, always “on.” In fact, they rest often and sleep a lot. The important thing is that they control their energy; it’s not ruled by the calendar, the clock, an external schedule. When necessary, they can focus it like a laser beam; when not, creative types immediately recharge their batteries. They consider the rhythm of activity followed by idleness or reflection very important for the success of their work. This is not a bio-rhythm inherited with their genes; it was learned by trial and error as a strategy for achieving their goals.

2. Creative people tend to be smart yet naive at the same time.

How smart they actually are is open to question. It is probably true that what psychologists call the “g factor,” meaning a core of general intelligence, is high among people who make important creative contributions.The earliest longitudinal study of superior mental abilities, initiated at Stanford University by the psychologist Lewis Terman in 1921, shows rather conclusively that children with very high IQs do well in life, but after a certain point IQ does not seem to be correlated any longer with superior performance in real life. Later studies suggest that the cutoff point is around 120; it might be difficult to do creative work with a lower IQ, but an IQ beyond 120 does not necessarily imply higher creativity.Furthermore, people who bring about an acceptable novelty in a domain seem able to use well two opposite ways of thinking: the convergent and the divergent. Convergent thinking is measured by IQ tests, and it involves solving well-defined, rational problems that have one correct answer. Divergent thinking leads to no agreed-upon solution. It involves fluency, or the ability to generate a great quantity of ideas; flexibility, or the ability to switch from one perspective to another; and originality in picking unusual associations of ideas. These are the dimensions of thinking that most creativity tests measure and that most workshops try to enhance.

Another way of expressing this dialectic is the contrasting poles of wisdom and childishness. As Howard Gardner remarked in his study of the major creative geniuses of this century, a certain immaturity, both emotional and mental, can go hand in hand with deepest insights. Mozart comes immediately to mind.

3. Creative people combine playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility.

Creative people combine playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility. There is no question that a playfully light attitude is typical of creative individuals. But this playfulness doesn’t go very far without its antithesis, a quality of doggedness, endurance, perseverance. Nina Holton, whose playfully claims wild germs of ideas are the genesis of her sculpture, is very firm about the importance of hard work: “Tell anybody you’re a sculptor and they’ll say, ‘Oh, how exciting, how wonderful.’ And I tend to say, ‘What’s so wonderful?’ It’s like being a mason, or a carpenter, half the time. But they don’t wish to hear that because they really only imagine the first part, the exciting part.

4. Creative people alternate between imagination and fantasy, and a rooted sense of reality.

Creative people alternate between imagination and fantasy, and a rooted sense of reality. Great art and great science involve a leap of imagination into a world that is different from the present. The rest of society often views these new ideas as fantasies without relevance to current reality. And they are right. But the whole point of art and science is to go beyond what we now consider real and create a new reality. At the same time, this “escape” is not into a never-never land. What makes a novel idea creative is that once we see it, sooner or later we recognize that, strange as it is, it is true. Most of us assume that artists—musicians, writers, poets, painters—are strong on the fantasy side, whereas scientists, politicians, and businesspeople are realists. This may be true in terms of day-to-day routine activities. But when a person begins to work creatively, all bets are off.

5. Creative people trend to be both extroverted and introverted.

Creative people tend to be both extroverted and introverted. We’re usually one or the other, either preferring to be in the thick of crowds or sitting on the sidelines and observing the passing show. In fact, in psychological research, extroversion and introversion are considered the most stable personality traits that differentiate people from each other and that can be reliably measured. Creative individuals, on the other hand, seem to exhibit both traits simultaneously.

6. Creative people are humble and proud at the same time.

Creative people are humble and proud at the same time. It is remarkable to meet a famous person who you expect to be arrogant or supercilious, only to encounter self-deprecation and shyness instead. Yet there are good reasons why this should be so. These individuals are well aware that they stand, in Newton’s words, “on the shoulders of giants.” Their respect for the area in which they work makes them aware of the long line of previous contributions to it, putting their own in perspective. They’re also aware of the role that luck played in their own achievements. And they’re usually so focused on future projects and current challenges that past accomplishments, no matter how outstanding, are no longer very interesting to them. At the same time, they know that in comparison with others, they have accomplished a great deal. And this knowledge provides a sense of security, even pride.

7. Creative people, to an extent, escape rigid gender role stereotyping.

Creative people, to an extent, escape rigid gender role stereotyping. When tests of masculinity/femininity are given to young people, over and over one finds that creative and talented girls are more dominant and tough than other girls, and creative boys are more sensitive and less aggressive than their male peers.This tendency toward androgyny is sometimes understood in purely sexual terms, and therefore it gets confused with homosexuality. But psychological androgyny is a much wider concept referring to a person’s ability to be at the same time aggressive and nurturing, sensitive and rigid, dominant and submissive, regardless of gender.  Creative individuals are more likely to have not only the strengths of their own gender but those of the other one, too.

8. Creative people are both rebellious and conservative.

Creative people are both rebellious and conservative. It is impossible to be creative without having first internalized an area of culture. So it’s difficult to see how a person can be creative without being both traditional and conservative and at the same time rebellious and iconoclastic. Being only traditional leaves an area unchanged; constantly taking chances without regard to what has been valued in the past rarely leads to novelty that is accepted as an improvement. The artist Eva Zeisel, who says that the folk tradition in which she works is “her home,” nevertheless produces ceramics that were recognized by the Museum of Modern Art as masterpieces of contemporary design. This is what she says about innovation for its own sake:”This idea to create something is not my aim. To be different is a negative motive, and no creative thought or created thing grows out of a negative impulse. A negative impulse is always frustrating. And to be different means ‘not like this’ and ‘not like that.’ And the ‘not like’—that’s why postmodernism, with the prefix of ‘post,’ couldn’t work. No negative impulse can work, can produce any happy creation. Only a positive one.”

But the willingness to take risks, to break with the safety of tradition, is also necessary. The economist George Stigler is very emphatic in this regard: “I’d say one of the most common failures of able people is a lack of nerve. They’ll play safe games. In innovation, you have to play a less safe game, if it’s going to be interesting. It’s not predictable that it’ll go well.”

9. Most creative people are very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it as well.

Most creative people are very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it as well. Without the passion, we soon lose interest in a difficult task. Yet without being objective about it, our work is not very good and lacks credibility.

10. Creative people’s openness and sensitivity often exposes them to suffering and pain, yet also to a great deal of enjoyment.

Creative people’s openness and sensitivity often exposes them to suffering and pain, yet also to a great deal of enjoyment. Most would agree with Rabinow’s words: “Inventors have a low threshold of pain. Things bother them.” A badly designed machine causes pain to an inventive engineer, just as the creative writer is hurt when reading bad prose.Being alone at the forefront of a discipline also leaves you exposed and vulnerable. Eminence invites criticism and often vicious attacks. When an artist has invested years in making a sculpture, or a scientist in developing a theory, it is devastating if nobody cares.Deep interest and involvement in obscure subjects often goes unrewarded, or even brings on ridicule. Divergent thinking is often perceived as deviant by the majority, and so the creative person may feel isolated and misunderstood. Perhaps the most difficult thing for creative individuals to bear is the sense of loss and emptiness they experience when, for some reason, they cannot work. This is especially painful when a person feels his or her creativity drying out.Yet when a person is working in the area of his of her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of bliss. Perhaps the most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake. Without this trait, poets would give up striving for perfection and would write commercial jingles, economists would work for banks where they would earn at least twice as much as they do at universities, and physicists would stop doing basic research and join industrial laboratories where the conditions are better and the expectations more predictable.

Csíkszentmihályi’s theory of Flow, and how it is created, certainly builds a clear case for artists to use his or her artistry- in its pure form- to illustrate and teach others Csíkszentmihályi concepts of flow. Csíkszentmihályi’s theoretical constructs provides the necessary framework to communicate how the arts can facilitate creating an environment for creative productivity and innovation to emerge.

I spend a good deal of time dreaming up bold and unconventional success solutions for the arts. While these proposals typically receive serious consideration from some corners, there are others who emotionally shoot them down immediately without any rational thought whatsoever. It seems the closer someone is to a position, the more threatening a fresh alternative can feel. Even if the current model is clearly not working.

All too aware of this human tendency, I pride myself on considering the merits of any and every proposal. Even if my gut reaction is “NO!” Especially when that’s the case.

And so it was last week, while witnessing a keynote presentation by Brittish novelist and music critic Norman Lebrecht at the Dutch Classical Music Meeting. Author of Who Killed Classical Music? Lebrecht is renowned for thoughtful but provocative, controversial viewpoints.

In a talk entitled Reframing the Classical Music Experience, Lebrecht declared that one word that has been taboo for decades in the classical music world. We shy away from it at all costs. But as organizations look for new solutions that enable vibrancy and sustainability, we no longer need to fear this concept. In fact, we should embrace it:

E – L – I – T – I – S – M

Why shouldn’t we be elitist, he asked? Classical musicians represent some of the finest talent on Earth. They spend a lifetime working tirelessly to perfect their craft. We should celebrate that phenomenon, making classical events a special, elite experience.

I cringed. Designing more accessible classical music experiences was core to the “Artistry and Relevance” chapter in my book The Savvy Musician. My message is one of adamant anti-elitism. Or better yet, resolute pro-people-ism.

Is Lebrecht completely wacky, I wondered? Or is my violent resistance simply caused by a closed mind, too attached to personal viewpoints to imagine new possibility? Could becoming more elitist actually help classical music?

Forcing myself to stay open and logical, I pondered whether a valuable lesson could be gleaned from his shocking contention. And after a week of working through this puzzle, here is my epiphany-in-progress.

Elite Access

Without a doubt, there are times where feeling elite motivates. For example, I fly a lot, and cherish my status. Elite Access. That’s what the airline calls it. Going in a special line, getting bumped to first class, raking in miles faster than the other guys. It just feels special, and encourages loyalty. As bizarre as it may sound to a non-frequent flyer, elite status helps define a part of my identity. “I am an elite world traveler.” Spectacular!

Lebrecht suggests that the classical music experience become more selective. More tuxedo…More long pieces…More expensive tickets…Would adopting that paradigm help build loyalty and, in turn, revenue?  

Hmmm…

Maybe the problem is that classical musicians today are too much in the middle.

“Anti-elitist” proponents make their concerts more friendly by featuring unusual venues, introducing pieces verbally, permitting the audience to clap between movements, and substituting business casual for wedding formal. But from an event perspective, these shows still pale in comparison to their popular music counterparts. The audiences still listen politely. Performers still hide behind music stands, sit respectfully center stage, and disappear during intermission. There are no light shows, mosh pits, dance competitions, Lady Gaga outfits, or sing-alongs. Such experiences may be profound, but not particularly populist.

On the other hand, consider more “serious” events such as traditional orchestra concerts. The hall is still breathtaking. The pieces are still long and glorious. The musicians still look as serious as brain surgeons. But these otherwise high society events are made slightly more accessible by the availability of cheaper tickets, pre-concert lectures (lectures?), and a conductor who shares some words from the stage. Slightly more approachable for the uninitiated, but also less exclusive.

Splitting the Difference

One gargantuan challenge for most classical organizations is expanding their fan base. The current audience consists primarily of seniors accustomed to time-tested conventions. But they hope to attract younger folks as well, who have different expectations about what a concert experience should deliver. So, in an attempt to be all things to all people, ensembles design some type of middleground that isn’t particularly elitist or populist. Said another way: In an age where many people seek extreme, niche experiences, these groups split the difference.

Two Classical Musics

Maybe we need two classical musics. Classical-A is exclusive, hardly available to the masses. For Elite Access, you must pony up, dress up, and pay up. Anyone who learns this club’s secret handshake is far above average. They are exceptional human beings with exceptional taste.

Classical-B provides hip, fun, interactive entertainment presented in user-friendly formats. The only audience these events discriminate against are ultra-snobby stuffed shirts, who eat caviar while wearing a monocle on their yacht. Of course, Classical-B still features extraordinary virtuosity, beauty, and many other unique dimensions its creators can access. But this is first and foremost an art of the people.

Cages & Rainbows

Norman Lebrecht may have rattled my cage, suggesting that expanded elitism might be good for classical music. It’s doubtful I’ll be joining that camp anytime soon. I’m too busy fighting for new audiences. For the opportunity to touch many more lives, not fewer.

But perhaps there’s a pot of gold on both ends of this rainbow.  The trick is committing to one side.

What do you think?

So often you’ll hear an artist say.. “becoming an artist wasn’t a choice but a gift”.  And yet, with as short as life is, sometimes we need to be reminded why this particular gift was selected for us to receive in the first place.

Our gifts were not given to us for our self serving pleasures. Nor to torment us. Or to use for the sole purpose of competing to win a place at the top of the art circle.

And our gifts were also not given for us to pit one against the other. Nor to leave us broken, miserable, or questioning our purpose here on earth. And they certainly were not given to us to leave us alone, homeless or starving.

Our gifts, of not just a vivid imagination but the ability to render it into productive creativity, were given to us because of the profound impact we can make helping another become the best version of the person he or she truly can be. Our creative gifts were given to awaken the inner lives of others. To touch their spirit, to speak where there are no words. To help another gleam the strength, insight, humility, integrity and values from our gifts to move themselves and our world positively onward.

Let this forward below, from my friend Robert Fishbone– a remarkably creative artist in his own right– about his journey finishing his wife, Sarah’s, book Onward is Best, serve as a reminder to us all.

Onward my friends. May this inspire you to continue to step outside of yourself and use your creative gifts to increasingly find a way to be of service, through your artistry, to others. The world needs your creativity more than ever.

Lisa Canning

An Introduction by Robert Fishbone, Sarah’s husband

It was a blustery December evening in 1958. Little Sarah Jean Linquist stood with her face pressed up against a large window at Marshall Field’s department store in Chicago. Sarah, already an aspiring young artist, was swept away by a magical holiday scene created by some unknown designer. “I want to do that some day!” she exclaimed. That desire resurfaced decades later as this amazing book and as one of the ways Sarah dealt with a life-changing event.

In 2006, in the midst of a long career as a prolific painter and well-respected scenic artist, my beloved wife Sarah was diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer. As someone who courageously and delightfully made every situation her own, even ones that seemed adversarial, she did not let this “new reality,” as she called it, detract from her personal mission: to nurture our family, to spend time with loving friends, to create art, and to wear cool clothes.

In our home, we have often referred to life as the Great Mystery, and mysterious and grand was how Sarah looked at the world. She really wasn’t trying to figure life out or even unravel it…she just wanted to dance with it.

Her first chemo treatments left her with peripheral neuropathy. Her hands and feet became numb, so much that she not only had some difficulty walking, but with her eyes closed she couldn’t feel the difference between sand paper or silk, a real challenge for an artist who draws and paints. To regain her fine motor skills Sarah began cutting up paper and assembling the pieces into shapes and objects. And then she remembered gazing into those Christmas windows at Marshall Field’s. With this Aha! moment she began this wondrous book.

Sarah wrote a classic journey tale. Her story combines foolishness, bravery, loyalty, risk taking and the need to count on others to help you push through the unknown. To illustrate her story, Sarah created a series of 3-D sets, each a miniature landscape through which her characters journeyed. She constructed her Paper Land, Popcorn Land, Metal Land, Teddy Bear Land, Wood Land, and Desolation Land using different materials and found objects. For her heroine she fashioned Dolly, a small wooden doll with wild red hair. She set her story within the context of her favorite time of year: Christmas.

Making landscapes became a wonderful adventure. Sarah was determined to find just the right pieces for her “Lands.” She borrowed heavily from her own giant stash of “arty stuff” collected over many years; she also loved to cruise garage sales and auction web sites. She invited family and friends to donate mini Teddy bears, stuffed crows, and small wooden doors or to help make a whole garden of cloth flowers. Sarah had so much fun explaining her story and giving tours of her evolving sets to the steady stream of visitors who passed through our house.

Sarah worked on her book project whenever she had time, even after two major surgeries and during four different chemo regimens. I figure she averaged four hours a day for four years. That’s almost 6,000 hours devoted to her vision: a new Christmas classic that parents and grandparents would read to their children in the days leading up to Christmas.

Very sadly though, Sarah died in June, 2010, before she could finish her book.

Soon after her passing, ten family members and close friends, each one committed to Sarah’s mantra of “Ain’t Life Grand,” agreed to complete Sarah’s project and make her dream a reality. Working together for over a year, we have grown closer as friends, and as family. We have gained new insights into Sarah’s extraordinary artwork and how she looked at the world she had created. And just as working on her book was a way for Sarah to find greater purpose in her life, to keep pushing forward, our efforts to complete her book have helped us all heal.

Sarah’s book is part of her legacy to us all. She has given us amazing landscapes to journey through, a tale to help us to experience the magic of Christmas, and a memory of her hard work that empowers each of us to reach for something beyond our daily lives, to probe the Great Mystery even more deeply.

This book is a testament to Sarah’s abilities as an artist, to her devotion as a wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend, and to her delightful spirit. I hope you have enjoyed reading and sharing this book as much as she loved creating it.

How can we turn our imaginations into productive creativity?  How can we use the arts to activate others imaginations and help facilitate the transform of them into creative productivity?

In my post Imagination, Creativity and Productivity I mentioned a long list of creative theorists who each have developed their own methodology for helping individuals and teams transform their imaginations into productive creativity. How can their ideas be applied, or further illuminate through an art form? In my post on October 10th I explored Min Basadur’s Creative Problem Solving Profile. In today’s post I will explore Edward deBono’s Six Thinking Hats.

About Edward deBono

Edward deBono, founder of The deBono Group,  is a leading authority in the field of creative thinking, innovation and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill.  Dr. de Bono holds an MA in psychology and physiology from Oxford, as well as a D. Phil (a research degree) in Medicine as well as a Ph.D. from Cambridge. He has held faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Harvard.  His instruction in thinking has been utilized by IBM, Prudential, Microsoft, Chick-Fil-A, BP,  Nokia, Siemens, Bosch, Quaker, Ericsson,  and many others.

Dr. deBono is also the founder of the World Academy of New Thinking™ (WANT).  ‘New Thinking’ means new perceptions, fresh alternatives, a change of emphasis and the generation and design of new concepts and ideas. The role of this Academy is specifically concerned with new thinking in conflict resolution, problem solving, economic development, education, health and most areas effecting daily life.

Dr. deBono has written over 70 book. Here is a partial list of books he has written:  New Think, Mechanism of Mind, Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, Serious Creativity, I Am Right-You Are Wrong, Parallel Thinking, Conflicts-A Better Way to Resolve Them, Water Logic, Simplicity, Teaching Thinking, New Thinking for the New Millennium, PO: A Device for Successful Thinking, and Future Positive.

Six Thinking Hats & The Parallel Thinking Process

In 1999 Edward deBono developed a creativity technique designed to facilitate the shifting of focused thought for creative thinking and innovation to emerge. A process, which he calls  Six Thinking Hats®,  is a parallel thinking process. Parallel Thinking®, also developed by deBono, is where each thinker puts forward his or her thoughts in parallel with the thoughts of others; without attacking the thoughts of others.

After all, when A and B come together, each with an idea, its normal for each to want to judge, or debate, the merits of the other persons idea.  Its human nature for it to be difficult for A and B to stand side by side and allow their ideas to remain parallel to each other, without comparison, synthesis or judgment, so each can be fully explored. The reason for this is because argument is the basis of what most consider normal thinking. The purest form of this type of thinking comes from our courts of law where the prosecution takes one side of the argument and the defense the other side. Each strives to prove the other side wrong. The “truth” is to be reached by argument.

While there is a place for argument, and while argument is a useful tool of thinking, argument is inadequate as the main and only tool of thinking. Argument lacks constructive energies, design energies, and creative energies. Pointing out faults may lead to some improvement but does not construct something new. Equally synthesizing both points of view does not produce a stream of new alternatives. As such, traditional argument is totally useless to construct an innovative design process. To begin to do this, according to de Bono, we must separate out all of the different aspects of our thinking about an idea.

So how do we do this?

Think of full-color printing. When the basic color separations are made, each basic color is printed separately onto the same sheet to give us full-color printing. In the same way, when we separate the modes of our thinking and then apply each mode to the same subject, we end up with full-color thinking on the subject.

With deBono’s Six Thinking Hat Method the thinker can separate their thinking into six clear functions and roles.  For example, if the thinker metaphorically puts on the yellow hat, he or she may turn up new ideas which may cause the thinker to change his or her mind about the value of the idea. Likewise, when asked to think about the idea wearing a black hat a thinker who began as a euphoric supporter for it may discover difficulties that reduce their euphoria. Each thinking role is identified with a colored symbolic “thinking hat.” below.

	The White Hat calls for information known or needed. “The facts, just the facts.” The white hat represents neutral and objective thinking, and is concerned with facts and information.
	The Yellow Hat symbolizes brightness and optimism. Under this hat you explore the positives and probe for value and benefit.The yellow hat represents sunny and positive thinking, and is concerned with what has worked in the past.
	The Black Hat is judgment or why something may not work. Spot the difficulties and dangers; where things might go wrong. Probably the most powerful and useful of the Hats but a problem if overused.The black hat represents careful and cautious thinking, and is sometimes referred to as the “devil’s advocate” hat.
	The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition. When using this hat you can express emotions and feelings and share fears, likes, dislikes, loves, and hates.The red hat represents the emotional view, which never has to be justified.
	The Green Hat focuses on creativity; the possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas. It’s an opportunity to express new concepts and new perceptions.The green hat is associated with creativity and new ideas.
	The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process. It’s the control mechanism that ensures the Six Thinking Hats® guidelines are observed.The blue hat represents the orchestration of the multi-hat thinking process.

Today in business, as elsewhere, there is a huge need to be constructive and creative. There is a need to solve problems and to open up opportunities. There is a need to design new possibilities, not just to argue between two existing possibilities. deBono’s Six Hats method allows for all sides of an issue to be fully explored. Adversarial confrontation is replaced by a cooperative exploration of the subject allowing for ideas to become creative productivity.

A few months ago, Lisa’s Clarinet Shop was featured in Crain’s Chicago Business. Crain’s staff photographer,  Stephen Serio, was assigned to take my picture.  Besides the fact I totally enjoyed working with Steve, he is a really creative photographer, he and I really synched up around the importance of increasing the value of artistic creativity. We both agreed we wanted others to more readily see (and pay for) the value creatives hold by helping them develop transmittable skills to help others use their gifts in productive ways.

Peter Himmelman teaches business how to improve communication skills through music.

Here is a great piece Steve just completed about Chicago musician Peter Himmelman.  Peter is taking his songwriting abilities and teaching businesses how to improve their communication abilities with music. Peter takes a page from Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind” and ties it together with the experiential creative process of learning to write a song. Through songwriting Peter is able to teach to others how to increase their ability to communicate through learning about diversifying their styles of communication.  By increasing the variety of ways someone can communicate, not only can a deeper form of creativity surface in the workplace but a new shared language can be learned to create more trust and a willingness to take risks.

If Peter can do this much for a company and its people with just one page of Dan Pink’s book, what can we, and all of the other art forms, do to strengthen creativity in the workforce with the rest of Dan’s book?

Written by Lewis Whittington, appeared in Salon on Monday August 29th, 2011

Amid bankruptcies and closures, a handful of radical innovators are building a new future for the city orchestra.

Strikes, closures, bankruptcies, record deficits — the classical-music world has been rocked by troubling financial news in recent months.

The city symphony is in trouble — and the size and cultural footprint of the city hardly matter. Musicians have walked picket lines in aging industrial cities like Detroit and Cleveland, but the New York Philharmonic has also reported record deficits. Orchestras in Philadelphia and Louisville, Ky., have filed for Chapter 11 protection, while bankruptcy also silenced — at least temporarily – the Honolulu Symphony and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. (Both hope to return in a new form this fall.)

The problems are easy to identify: The recession has pummeled charitable giving and endowments, while the audience has continued to age. Many large orchestras have been juggling high operating costs and diminishing revenues for years, so they were especially vulnerable to the downturn. Local governments and benefactors, under pressure of their own, are less able to save the day.

So what will? A crisis can sometimes be an incubator for innovation, but some observers worry that there’s a lack of bold new ideas — and that without them, many city and regional orchestras are simply doomed.

“All the data tells us all new audiences are looking for different things,” said Jesse Rosen, the president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras, the industry’s leading advocacy group outside of musicians’ unions, who hopes orchestras use this period to make sweeping positive changes.

“The appetite for classical music remains as strong as ever,” he said. “[But] the desire for it is expressing itself in different ways besides people buying tickets. So how do we adapt to the generations coming up? The problem isn’t in the music, but how to be responsive.

What kinds of new jobs in the arts can we create?  What combination of skills do we need to unlock new economic opportunities for us and to change society’s perceptions of what value the arts deliver? How can we add more to GDP by building hybrid careers that transmit and translate all of our skills across all sectors and strands?

Below are two lists that I think are valuable to creatively thinking through the possibilities.  The first are interdisciplinary sites focused on the development of leadership skills through emotional intelligence building.  Embedding emotional intelligence training as part of an arts based venture can have many applications across many disciplines outside of the arts.

The second list is a list of performing artists who have already figured out how to fine-tune their artistic and creative competencies to provide experience-based learning alternatives to traditional leadership training and development. This list might provide some reflection and generate some ideas for those of you who are interested.

Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

• About Learning Styles
• Breakthrough Creativity-Achieving Top Performance Using the Eight Creative Talents
• Center for Creative Leadership
• Change Leaders, Inc. – Board Development, CEO Coaching, and Executive Team Development
• Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations
• Human Capital Institute
• Integral Leadership Review
• New Horizons for Learning-Learning in the Workplace
• What Make’s a Leader?-Harvard Business Review Article on Emotionally-Intelligent Leadership

Performing Arts-based Leadership Training

• Ariel Group-Leadership Presence
• Banff Centre – Inspiring Creative Leadership
• Being and Living Enterprises – Creatively Optimizing Purpose & Performance
• Brian Tate Productions – The Voice of Leadership
• Business as Performance Art
• Colorado Business Committee for the Arts
• Creative Skills Training Council-Asia Pacific & Australia
• Creative Leaps International
• Leadership for Lawyers
• Learning Innovations Laboratory-Harvard Graduate School of Education
• PianoScapes – Awakening the Commons of the Imagination
• Society for Arts in Healthcare
• Theatre4Business – Play Hard; Work Well
• The Art of Possibilities
• The International Forum – Leadership Through Music
• The Maestro Effect
• Music and Management – Music Provides Excellent Metaphor for Business Climate
• Viva La Voice – Celebrate the Power of Your Full Expression

Press Release from The NEA, July 19th, 2011

Cultural industries are economic powerhouses and states have the data to prove it, according to a new analysis from the National Endowment for the Arts.  Drawing on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Arts and the GDP: Value Added by Selected Cultural Industries is a new NEA research note that examines the value added by three selected cultural industries: (1) performing arts, sports, and museums; (2) motion pictures and sound recording; and (3) publishing (including software).  Combined, these three cultural industries contributed a total of $278.4 billion to the U.S. economy in 2009.  The NEA research note also looks at dollars and jobs added to individual state economies by these cultural industries.

Each year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates the value added by major industry groups, including performing arts, sports, and museums.  “Value added” refers to an industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy through its labor and capital, excluding material and energy costs.  More detailed industry breakouts that isolate the performing arts and museums from sports are conducted every five years, most recently for 2002 data.  That year, for example, value added from sports was $16.9 billion, value added from the performing arts was $7.2 billion, and value added from museums was $4.7 billion.

Key findings:

• In 2009, the performing arts, sports, and museums added $70.9 billion to the U.S. economy.  That same year, the motion picture and sound recording industries contributed $59.8 billion, while publishing (including software) added $147.7 billion.
• Cultural industries have contributed increasingly greater amounts to the U.S. economy.  Between 1987 and 2009, for example, inflation-adjusted value added by the performing arts, sports, and museums nearly doubled.
• The 2007-2009 recession affected cultural production. Real value added from the performing arts, sports, and museums fell by 1.4 percent in 2008; it dipped 5.5 percent the following year.  Contractions also occurred in the motion picture and sound recording industries and in publishing.

The note also analyzes how the performing arts and other cultural industries contribute to states in terms of jobs produced and value added by the cultural industry to the Gross State Product (GSP).  Among those findings:

• The performing arts contribute more to states with large, diverse economies, such as California and Texas. Each new dollar of value added by the performing arts industry in California adds $1.38 to that state’s economy.  The comparable figure in Texas is $1.28.  These findings indicate that these state economies have more of the goods and services (e.g. stage curtains, materials for scenery, sound equipment, printing of programs, advertising services) needed to increase performing arts production without having to import them from other states.
• Additional spending on the performing arts generates more new jobs in Utah, North Carolina, Ohio, and Georgia. In each of these states, more than 45 new jobs are generated for every additional million dollars in performing arts production.

This is the latest in a series of NEA research notes to look at different ways to assign value to the arts.  The NEA research note Arts and the GDP: Value Added by Selected Cultural Industries is available for download in the Research section of arts.gov.

About NEA research

The NEA is the only federal agency to conduct long-term and detailed analyses of arts participation.  For more than 30 years, the NEA Office of Research & Analysis has produced periodic research reports, brochures, and notes on significant topics affecting artists and arts organizations, often in partnership with other federal agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The NEA is committed to extending the conversation about arts participation by making data available to both the research community and the public at large.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov.

Written by Steve Hendershot, July 18th, 2011 appeared in Crain’s Chicago Business.

Lisa Canning uses a plug-in reader and the Square app to process credit card transactions in her clarinet shop. Photo by: Stephen J. Serio

Email is so old school. These days, small businesses that are getting the most out of their smartphones and iPads are all about the apps: add-on programs that can help them do everything from process credit cards to sketch skyscrapers.

Of the small businesses surveyed in a March poll by AT&T Inc., 72% said they were using mobile apps. Thirty-eight percent reported they would struggle to survive without them.

Here’s a look at how Chicago entrepreneurs are using apps to transform their businesses, plus recommendations on which new ones might fit in their collections.

Lisa Canning using Square to process a transaction.Photo by: Stephen J. Serio

Lisa’s Clarinet Shop in Lombard takes in more than $1 million annually, but it’s only a 15-hour-per-week job for owner Lisa Canning. Ms. Canning, 47, sees clients by appointment and doesn’t keep regular hours, so she hasn’t invested in a traditional credit card terminal for the shop. That’s led to some awkward sales: She would write down each customer’s credit card information, take it home, process the card at her terminal there and then email a receipt to the customer.

That changed with the app Square. Using a small, free credit card reader provided by San Francisco-based Square Inc., Lisa’s Clarinet Shop can process credit card transactions for a 2.75% fee; there are no monthly fees or setup costs.

“I was embarrassed by my old-fashioned way of taking credit cards,” Ms. Canning says. “I built a great reputation online, but when people would come in and I (couldn’t charge them there), it felt unprofessional. Now I’m consistent. This was a no-brainer, and it also produces a really positive reaction from my customers that reflects well on me.”

Square, founded in 2009 by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, is growing quickly. Tech industry publication TechCrunch reported that the company is valued at $1 billion in its current fundraising efforts.

WHY IT WORKS: “There is a good reason why Square is already attracting a $1-billion valuation by investors,” says Brad Spirrison, managing editor of Appolicious Inc. “Business owners like it for its simplicity and the fact that it doesn’t require monthly fees, a merchant account or contract.”

SOMETHING ELSE TO TRY: “If your business finances are already run through another service, the Intuit GoPayment credit card terminal and the Authorize.Net credit card terminal are also good apps to turn your phone or tablet into a mobile cash register,” Mr. Spirrison says.

Photographer David Ettinger, right, uses an array of apps: Simplenote and Evernote for note-taking, Toodledo to make to-do lists, TripCubby to track mileage and Google Earth to scout locations for shoots.

In David Ettinger‘s gear case, you’ll find the collection of lenses, lights and camera bodies that you’d expect from a professional photographer. It’s nothing, however, compared to the staggering array of mobile apps he uses to run his Chicago business, David Ettinger Photography.

First, there are two note-taking apps, Simplenote and Evernote. Both apps are free; Evernote is more full-featured (you can include voice memos, photos and notes with formatted text), while Mr. Ettinger finds Simplenote to be faster. Lately, he’s been using Simplenote to collect all of his notes about a particular job inside unformatted text files.

“When I’m mobile, I want to be as fast as possible, even if it comes at the expense of features,” Mr. Ettinger says. “I hate being that guy standing there at the end of the aisle at the store, waiting for something to load.”

Then he breaks his notes down into specific tasks and enters them into Toodledo, the to-do list app he uses both to track his agenda and for record-keeping. It’s a $1.99 app that utilizes Seattle-based Toodledo.com’s cloud-storage system so that to-do items will sync across multiple devices. There’s a free version of the service, but Mr. Ettinger subscribes to a $14.95-per-year plan that allows him to store two years’ worth of completed tasks online.

Then there are the specialized apps: TripCubby, to track mileage; Analytics, for checking his website and blog traffic, and Google Earth, to scout outdoor locations.

“I can work wherever I need to work,” he says. “A big part of my business is being accessible to my clients when they need me.”

WHY IT WORKS: “Simplenote is basically a premium version of the iPhone’s built-in app, but I’m a fan because of the way it syncs to outside services like Dropbox. Getting data to the next place you’re going to consume it is the key,” says Phillip Leslie, CEO of ProOnGo LLC.

SOMETHING ELSE TO TRY: “Really advanced mobile workers like (Mr. Ettinger) have figured out how to complete 90% of their tasks using mobile devices, and they’re trying to tackle that last 10% where you’re still chained to your desk,” Mr. Leslie says. “They’re using GoToMyPC to access their office computers from a mobile device to complete those tasks.”

Sandy Marshall's firm, Marshall Creative, specializes in short films, audio projects and other digital content that's often too large to email. He uses the cloud-storage app Jungle Disk to solve that problem.

When Sandy Marshall is out of his office, the CEO of Chicago marketing firm Marshall Creative is as likely to be on a Caribbean cruise as at a client meeting across town. That’s because Mr. Marshall has a second job as a director for Second City’s comedic performances aboard the Norwegian Spirit, a cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines.

The challenge for Mr. Marshall isn’t just staying in touch, it’s that his firm specializes in short films, audio projects and other digital content that’s often too large to email. He uses the cloud-storage app Jungle Disk to solve that problem. Through Jungle Disk’s free app (which requires a paid subscription to the storage service offered by Suwanee, Georgia-based Jungle Disk LLC ), Mr. Marshall has access to the 100 gigabytes of content that Marshall Creative stores online, even when he is at sea.

Mr. Marshall uses a similar free app, Dropbox, for client meetings and to share large files with clients. San Francisco-based Dropbox Inc. offers its users 2 GB of free cloud storage, and Marshall Creative uses a free account to host individual files for presentations.

“I’m always a fan of in-person presentations, and getting that response,” he says. “With Dropbox, it’s a little easier (than with JungleDisk) to access audio and video files during a meeting.”

WHY IT WORKS: “Dropbox is far and away the best application, mobile or otherwise, to share multimedia files among co-workers. It works great on the iPhone, iPad and Android devices,” says Brad Spirrison, managing editor of the Chicago app-review company Appolicious Inc.

SOMETHING ELSE TO TRY: “Later this year Apple will be coming out with its own document-sharing service, which could be superior to Dropbox, at least on Apple products,” Mr. Spirrison says. “However, it is unclear if or how that product will interface with users with Android phones or BlackBerries.”

Helmut Jahn demonstrates a drawing program for his friend Howard Ecker. Photo by: Stephen J. Serio

Helmut Jahn has largely ignored the personal computer. The architect considers the device too complicated, too big and too heavy compared to his creative tools of choice: a sketchbook and camera. For years, as he traveled around the world, Mr. Jahn used fax machines to send and receive drawings to and from his firm’s Chicago headquarters.

Then, about eight months ago, his friend Howard Ecker introduced him to Apple Inc.’s iPad, and the device spurred a technological revolution in Mr. Jahn’s life.

“It has transformed how I think and how people in my office communicate with me,” Mr. Jahn says. First, he’s a more active emailer and better prepared for client presentations. But the centerpiece of his iPad usage is the $4.99 app SketchBook Pro, a drawing program from Autodesk Inc., the San Rafael, Calif.-based software company that also makes the AutoCAD engineering and architecture software.

Mr. Jahn, 76, estimates that he now uses SketchBook Pro for 90% of the drawings he makes while on the road, and even uses the program about a third of the time while working in his Chicago office. He also takes photographs of his sketches, then imports those images into SketchBook Pro so he can make notes and export the images. Drawings from SketchBook Pro can be emailed or transmitted to cloud-storage programs such as Dropbox.

Learning to draw on the iPad required an adjustment, but not a severe one.

“It’s a different medium, but the adjustment was no more different than working with a different pen or different paper,” says Mr. Jahn, who uses a stylus with SketchBook Pro. His drawings using the app “look a little more sketchy (than a similar drawing on paper), but I can actually work faster because I’m not attempting to get that accuracy.”

From processing credit cards to sketching skyscrapers, an increasing number of small businesses are harnessing the power of their smartphones and iPads.

In this video, architect Helmut Jahn and tenant representative Howard Ecker discuss how their favorite apps have changed their work lives.

Justin Seidenberg needs to be able to talk to his artists even when he's out of the office. Photo by: Erik Unger

Justin Seidenberg is accustomed to crises erupting at odd hours. Mr. Seidenberg manages a stable of musicians through his Chicago company, Kiqstart Music LLC, and it’s when his artists are at performance venues that they are most likely to require his help. In other words, he needs to be ready for action at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night.

“I’m out having dinner with my wife, but my artist gets to the venue and gets into a debate with the production manager. I need be available and prepared,” he says.

Mr. Seidenberg uses two iPhone apps to meet the challenge. The first is Skype, a free app from Palo Alto, Calif.-based Skype Inc. that allows him to video chat with his musicians, wherever they may be.

The second is GoogDocs from Fossil Software LLC of Austin, Texas. This app allows Mr. Seidenberg’s mobile phone to access spreadsheets he creates using Google Docs, Google Inc.’s free, cloud-based office suite. He keeps contract details there, such as the set length, sound-check time and financial arrangements between artist and venue, so he can quickly intervene if a dispute arises.

WHY IT WORKS: “A (video chat) app like Skype provides an extra layer of interaction that helps reinforce your message. If you have to air a grievance or a concern, a visual rendering can carry a lot more weight,” says Chris Pautsch, CEO of KeyLimeTie LLC.

SOMETHING ELSE TO TRY: For more formal video conferencing, Cisco Systems Inc. offers a free mobile app for users to join meetings that use the company’s WebEx Meeting Center. Mr. Pautsch uses the service at KeyLimeTie to stream video and share documents among participants.

Billy Dec uses UberSocial to streamline the process of posting to his 17,000 Twitter followers. Photo by: Erik Unger

There’s a common line among social-media critics that goes something like, “No one wants to hear what you ate for lunch today.” But that might depend on who you are and what you had for lunch.

Chicago restaurateur Billy Dec, for example, took a picture of the goulash he ordered during a recent trip to Budapest, and 45 minutes after he posted the photo on Twitter, 608 people had clicked the link to see his bowl. Mr. Dec, who owns four entertainment venues, including River North eateries Rockit and Sunda, commands a legion of more than 17,000 Twitter followers. His goal is to share his behind-the-curtain access to such scenes as a popular chef at work in the kitchen and a celebrity musician backstage.

He uses the free mobile-phone app UberSocial from Pasadena, Calif.-based software firm UberMedia Inc. Mr. Dec has been using the app for about six months and says its immediacy “allows you to see magic behind Twitter because everything is just instantaneous.”

Mr. Dec aims for 10 to 12 tweets per day.

“I feel bad if it’s more than 10 a day, but I also feel bad if I don’t get close to that because people have expressed an interest,” he says. “I didn’t realize people cared as much about this behind-the-scenes stuff as they do.”

WHY IT WORKS: “UberSocial has some neat features. It’s great to click on a tweet that includes a link and be able to see the web page in the same window,” says Brad Spirrison of Appolicious Inc. “UberSocial’s ‘Channels’ are a handy way to access ‘conference’ or ‘breaking news’ tweets.”

SOMETHING ELSE TO TRY: “Seesmic is a similar tool that allows you to view and update accounts for Twitter, Facebook and even multiple blog posts. It’s also easier to switch between multiple Twitter accounts (than with UberSocial). The free app lets you add Twitter accounts as giant buttons, so it’s easy to use in a dark nightclub,” Mr. Spirrison says.

Should you trust an app from an unknown developer?

Solo and small-shop app makers “are often creating the most innovative apps available,” according to Brad Spirrison, managing editor of the Chicago-based app-review company Appolicious Inc. However, it’s wise to vet any app before you start using it. To do that, Mr. Spirrison recommends reading reviews in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market, as well as on Facebook, in industry publications and on sites such as Appolicious.

It’s also worthwhile, even if you don’t have an iPhone or iPad, to see if Apple has approved an app.

“There is a higher bar set for getting an app approved for use on Apple’s iOS devices than by Google for use on its Android devices,” Mr. Spirrison says. “If an app is approved or promoted by Apple, that’s a good sign.”