Category Archives: Audience Development

by Jini Stolk The more you know about your audiences and why they attend, the more successful you’ll be at filling your house. That’s the theory. Not everyone is as immersed in research as I am. And that’s okay. The National Endowment for the Arts research paper When Going Gets Tough: Barriers and Motivations Affecting […]

by Jini Stolk A few timely reminders: Audiences complete the circle. This heartfelt thank you to audiences from veteran box office employee Christine Quintana, reminds us of our responsibility to understand and honour the wisdom, diversity and caring of the people who come to see our shows. Your audience will change over time. Lessons from the […]

by Jini Stolk I missed the Dora Mavor Moore Awards this year, I’m sorry to say, but I wanted to share a few thoughts before the new season takes off. I did remarkably well last year, seeing a larger number of nominated shows (in each and every category) than I usually rack up. This was […]

by Jini Stolk Let’s forget about phrases like “up-sell” and “cross-sell”, although they’re scattered liberally throughout a 7-minute Audience View video I like. Let’s think instead about how we can boost sales and income by putting ourselves in the shoes of our audience members when they’re buying tickets. Since EVERY performing arts organization is a […]

by Jini Stolk In a wonderful follow-up to 2014’s Toronto Arts Facts the Toronto Arts Foundation and research partner Leger just released a new set of stats about how Torontonians feel about the arts. We can be proud at the virtually unanimously positive perceptions Toronto residents have about the arts – from a way to attract tourists, […]

by Jini Stolk Curtain times: I quite enjoyed the 3-hour theatre/musical production I saw recently, but I can’t say I remember much from the crucially important final half hour. It would have been lovely to have had a clearer sense of how the show ended, so I will ask again: can we consider earlier curtain […]

by Jini Stolk Since I’m not part of the SEO community I missed the shock waves that swept through it when Google announced that their mobile search rules are being rejigged to favour websites compatible with mobile devices. What this means to the arts world is that we’re going to see a drop in site visits, […]

by Jini Stolk As you know, I was entranced by British ceramicist Claire Twomey’s installation at the Gardiner Museum – so much so that I joined hundreds of other enthusiasts for the Free Art Piece by Piece opportunity at the close of the show.  Who wouldn’t be willing to stand in line on a winter […]

by Jini Stolk Theatre Passe Muraille has been inserting a simple and appealing audience survey in its show programmes. We Want to Hear From You asks for thoughts about the show (such as “What would you say to a person who has not bought a ticket yet?” and “What part of the show had the […]

by Jini Stolk We (I) may not want to, but that’s no excuse. As long as we’re communicating online, it’s so much smarter (and such a better use of our time and energy) to know how to have the greatest impact with digital communications. This interesting piece on “digital must-do’s for 2015” has some good […]