Read or listen to Tribal Leadership, by 2008 Cultural Arts Conference keynote speaker, John King, for FREE!

Submitted by Cynthia Cooper on Tue, 11/18/2008 - 11:09pm

John King, co-author of Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization, wowed participants at the 2008 Cultural Arts Conference - Cultural Leadership., sharing how to use the tribes within organization to maximize productivity and profit.

For the first time in history, a major business book (Tribal Leadership) is available as a free audio book. After reading the book, you will be able to: Identify your tribes, and which cultural stages dominate each and move tribes forward to the next stage, resulting in greater performance, innovation and satisfaction. To download the book: http://www.zappos.com/tribal.zhtml

Since the dawn of civilization people have formed tribes, and research demonstrates that humans are genetically programmed to form into groups. Within every company there are tribes, often several, consisting of 20 to 150 people who know each other and work together. But while everyone tribes, the culture of each tribe is different, as is its effectiveness. Improving a tribe’s culture—and its chances for greater success—requires a tribal leader who not only understands the tribe but can leverage its collective assets to build a greater team.

Tribal Leadership details each of the five tribal stages and helps readers identify which actions affect it and which strategies will enable the tribe to upgrade to the next level. The authors discuss how each stage has a unique set of leverage points and why it is critical to understand them—more than three quarters of the organizations they studied have tribal cultures that are adequate at best. The five stages include:

• Stage One: The stage most professionals skip, these are tribes whose members are despairingly hostile—they may create scandals, steal from the company, or even threaten violence.

• Stage Two: The dominant culture for 25 percent of workplace tribes, this stage includes members who are passively antagonistic, sarcastic, and resistant to new management initiatives.

• Stage Three: 49 percent of workplace tribes are in this stage, marked by knowledge hoarders who want to outwork and outthink their competitors on an individual basis. They are lone warriors who not only want to win, but need to be the best and brightest.

• Stage Four: The transition from “I’m great” to “we’re great” comes in this stage where the tribe members are excited to work together for the benefit of the entire company.

• Stage Five: Less than 2 percent of workplace tribal culture is in this stage when members who have made substantial innovations seek to use their potential to make a global impact.

The authors also offer an in-depth look at Tribal Leadership strategies, and discuss how leaders can identify the tribe’s core values and the noble causes to which they aspire. They then explain how to use those principles along with the tribe’s inherent assets and behaviors to foster success based on the tribe’s goals and objectives. As the authors explain, once the tribe sets its strategy based on these factors, a palpable sense of excitement begins to emerge. “Every member of the tribe knows exactly how to succeed and what each person must do to make the tribe effective,” they write. “That’s the promise of tribal strategy.”

Learning from the Obama Campaign Model

Submitted by Cynthia Cooper on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 5:03pm

Barry Hessenius, former Executive Director of the California Arts Council has a blog with ideas on promoting and supporting the arts. In his most recent blog, Barry posts the importance of capitalizing on Web 2.0:

The Arts Culture sector needs to ramp up its effort to become experts in sending the right message to widely divergent targets using the tools and means that work for each of those targets. Click to read Barry's Blog now: http://www.westaf.org/blog/archives/2008/11/learning_from_t_1.php

 

Fresno Bee Editorial on the Economic Impact of the Cultural Arts

Submitted by Cynthia Cooper on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 3:49pm

Arts and cultural events pay off big time for Fresno County Economy gets a multimillion-dollar boost from local, tourist spending.

The classic figure of the starving artist may be real, but the arts provide a banquet for the local economy. Fresno County sees almost $120 million annually in economic activity created by the nonprofit arts and culture industry. More than 2,700 jobs are generated in the county each year.

Those local numbers are part of a nationwide study called Arts& Economic Prosperity III, conducted by Americans for the Arts. The study set the national economic impact at $166.2 billion annually. The Fresno Coalition for Arts, Science & History (FCASH) helped gather data for the local segment of the study.

The local economic activity includes $61 million in household income, more than $3.7 million in local taxes and almost $7.7 million generated for the state treasury.

Spending by arts organizations is about $55.2 million, while $64.5 million is spent by those who attend events, paying for everything from tickets to hotels to souvenirs.

One interesting bit of data: Local people who attend events spend an average of $28.82, while nonlocal attendees drop an average of $49.30. That's a strong argument for promoting Fresno County to tourists asa locale for arts events.

(Imagine the crowds we might draw to Woodward Park for mixed martial arts fighters performing Shakespeare on BMX bikes as part of Art Hop.)

It's long been part of the conventional wisdom that a f lourishing arts and culture scene is a vital component of a vibrant quality of life in any area. But we're never really had such stark quantitative evidence of the economic impact of the arts as this study contains.

The arts can stir the soul and ignite the passions, but it's clear they can also create a satisfying "clink" in the cash register - and the more the better.

$119,700,000 In Economic Activity & 2,725 Jobs Generated Annually by NP and Culture Industry in Fresno County

Submitted by Cynthia Cooper on Mon, 10/20/2008 - 11:18am

Revealing the Nonprofit Cultural Arts Industry as a Formidable Business and Economic Driver for Fresno County

FRESNO, CALIFORNIA - October 17, 2008 - FRESNO COALITION FOR ARTS, SCIENCE & HISTORY (FCASH) announced today the results of the economic impact of the nonprofit arts industry in Fresno County. These local results were compiled as part of the most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the United States. Entitled Arts & Economic Prosperity III, the study was conducted in 156 communities and regions (116 cities and counties, 35 multi-county regions, and 5 states) including Fresno County. FCASH helped to facilitate the gathering of the detailed economic data from 69 arts organizations that were among 6,080 local arts organizations surveyed nationwide. Americans for the Arts, which conducted the national study, is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America.

The local data reveals that Fresno County's nonprofit arts industry generates $119,700,000 in economic activity annually, including:

• 2,725 full-time equivalent jobs
• $61,300,000 in resident household income
• $3,704,000 in local government tax revenues
• $7,683,000 in state government tax revenues

Cynthia Cooper, Executive Director of the Fresno Coalition for Arts, Science & History, said the organization took a giant leap this year, requesting and receiving support from city and county entities and the Regional Foundation to conduct this overdue study. It definitely shows that Fresno County's nonprofit cultural arts institutions both create jobs and economically impact the community in direct and indirect ways at a significant level compared with other areas nationwide. It also shows the cultural arts have so much more growth potential in impacting our community.

The $119,700,000 total includes $55,200,000 in spending by arts organizations and $64,500,000 in event-related spending by arts audiences, excluding the cost of admission. The $64,500,000 in event-related spending by arts audiences reflects an average of $30.21 per person in spending for hotels, restaurants, parking, souvenirs, refreshments, or other similar costs - with non-local attendees spending nearly twice as much as local attendees ($28.82 compared to $49.30. This compares Fresno County favorably to Montgomery County, Maryland, nationally or to Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties in California.

Nationally, according to Americans for the Arts report, the nonprofit arts industry generates 5.7 million jobs and $166.2 billion in total economic activity every year, resulting in $29.6 billion in federal, state, and local government revenues. The $166.2 billion total includes $63.1 billion in spending by arts organizations and $103.1 billion in event-related spending by their audiences. The total economic activity has a significant national impact, generating the following:

• 5.7 million full-time equivalent jobs
• $104.2 billion in resident household income
• $7.9 billion in local government tax revenues
• $9.1 billion in state government tax revenues
• $12.6 billion in federal government tax revenues

"This study is a myth buster," said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. "Most Americans understand that the arts improve our quality of life. This study demonstrates that the arts are an industry that stimulates the economy in cities and towns across the country. A vibrant arts and culture industry helps local businesses thrive."

The nation's nonprofit arts and culture industry has grown steadily since the first analysis by Americans for the Arts in 1992, expanding at a rate greater than inflation. Between the second study conducted in 2000 and 2005, spending by organizations and their audiences grew 24 percent, from $134 billion to $166.2 billion in total economic activity.

The Arts & Economic Prosperity III study shows that nonprofits arts support more jobs than accountants and auditors, public safety officers, and even lawyers, and just slightly fewer than elementary school teachers. Spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations provide rewarding employment for more than just artists, curators, and musicians but they also directly support builders, plumbers, accountants, printers, and an array of occupations.

In addition, the study reveals that the nonprofit arts industry is the cornerstone of tourism. The $103.1 billion in event-related spending by arts audiences reflects an average of $27.79 per person in spending for hotels, restaurants, parking, souvenirs, refreshments, or other similar costs - with non-local attendees spending twice as much as local attendees ($40.19 vs. $19.53). When a community attracts cultural tourists, it harnesses significant economic rewards.

The results of the economic impact of the arts for each of the 116 city and county participants, as well as comparative data for the 24 communities that participated in both the 2002 and current study are available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org/EconomicImpact.
The Arts & Economic Prosperity III study was conducted by Americans for the Arts and supported by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Ruth Lilly Fund of Americans for the Arts. Americans for the Arts' local and statewide project partners contributed both time and financial support to the study. The full text of the national and Fresno reports are available at http://www.fcash.org/economic-impacts

The FCASH Study under the Americans for the Arts, was supported through a grant from the Fresno Regional Foundation and funds from the County Library (through a grant from the Indian Gaming Commission, the City of Fresno, the City of Clovis, and contributed volunteer efforts in gathering the data. For more detailed information, contact Cynthia Cooper, cc@fcash.org. or www.fcash.org.