The Community Conversations History

This page is a record of information gathered at Community Conversations as they happen, or a little later. Information from flip charts along with other comments about the meetings will appear as comments on this page below.

The following instructions and templates were used by facilitators at each of the Conversations.

General Information for Hosts & Facilitators

The Business of Art is sponsored by a collaboration between Hocking College, the Ohio River Border Initiative, the Ohio Arts Council, and Ohio Designer Craftsmen. The collaboration extends throughout the region though individuals, organizations, and businesses that want to support successful arts related business.

 

The goal of the Business of Art process is to strengthen the ability of artists and craftspeople to respond to the business challenges they face by helping to:

1. build support networks with fellow artists and craftspeople

2. build effective partnerships in their local business communities

3. connect with new marketing and financial resources

The Business of Art process is divided into three chronological sections that contribute to the furtherance of each of these goals. These sections are:

• The pre-workshop community conversations
• The October workshop
• The post-workshop activities

As representatives of agencies and organizations with resources to offer our participants, the most important thing we can do in this process is to listen. As the creators of the Business of Art process, our most important responsibility is to create a process that allows our participants to speak effectively so that we can hear them clearly.

The three stages of this process connect with each of the three project goals, as follows:

• Community conversations – The conversation is structured so that artists and crafts people can talk to each other to begin building networks among themselves (Goal 1). We ask them their ideas about content the Business of Art process, particularly: what topics they want to learn about at the workshop and what resources they have found useful (Goals 2 & 3). Because we will rely primarily on the workshop to generate ideas about the post-workshop phase of the project, we will not focus on this stage in the conversation stage, except that we can introduce the participants to the Business of Art blog and encourage them to post comments and join in the blog discussion of the workshop as a way of building familiarity with the blog for use after the workshop.
• The Workshop — The main purpose of the workshop will be to introduce new skills, ideas and resources to participants, (Goal 2 & 3) but, depending on what we learn from the Community Conversations, we also want to include face-to face opportunities to strengthen local networks among artists and local businesses (Goals 1 & 2).
• Post-Workshop – At this point, the post-workshop stage is the least clear, because we should rely on leadership from participants in the first two stages to tell us what they want. The post-workshop activities will provide a way for participants to use the Web to maintain networks they started in the first two stages (Goals 1 & 2) and provide both the participants and the Business of Art organizers an ongoing opportunity to share resources they learn about (Goal 3). The post workshop activities will not last more than a month or two after the workshop.

Agenda for Community Conversations

10 minutes – Facilitator makes purpose of meeting clear in an opening statement:

1. Describes that Business of Art is a three stage process: conversations, workshop, post-workshop resources to be determined at workshop
2. Describes three goals: strengthen networking, strengthen local business partnerships, expose artists to new business skills & ideas
3. Describes the meeting’s length (no more than 90 minutes) and agenda. Participants as specifically asked to stay on topic so that the facilitator can keep his/her promise to wrap up the meeting in 90 minutes. State at the beginning that facilitator will cut off discussion to stay on schedule.
4. Lists the sponsoring agencies and organizations. States that facilitator’s role is to conduct meeting and to report results of the meeting back to sponsors so that they can plan an effective process.
5. Facilitator thanks everyone for coming and emphasizes that sponsors of the Business of Art process (important to call it a “process” not a program or project) want to put arts business people in charge of determine content for the process.

5 minutes – Facilitator asks if people have any questions or comments about process goals or structure. Facilitator may not be able to answer a lot of questions, but should record all questions and tell questioners that they will pass along all questions to process organizers. Facilitator should encourage any comments both negative and positive about information presented in introduction and should record those comments. Don’t let people go on at length at this point, just record what they have to say.

20 minutes – Facilitator asks participants to introduce themselves stating their names, their business names, their media, whether they are full-time or part-time businesses, where they live, do business and sell their work (locally, regionally or nationally). Facilitator should write each of these topics on a flip chart so that he/she can gently keep people on topic in their introductions so that people don’t ramble.

20 minutes – Facilitator asks participants to go around the room and list the biggest challenge they face right now in their business, can be an external environmental challenge like declining sales at fairs or a depressed local economy, or an internal business need that they have such as better equipment, better marketing, etc. Make sure each participant responds with only one biggest challenge and make sure to list all challenges on a new flip chart. If everyone has a chance to speak and have his or her challenge listed, and you still have time in this 20 minute slot, allow a more general discussion and write down any new challenges or restatements of listed challenges that come out of this discussion.

15 minutes – Facilitator asks each participant to tell the group one local or regional resource that has really had a positive impact on his or her business. This could include a local business mentor, a financial institution, a government agency or a program. We want responses that identify a specific person or organization that has made a specific impact. The responses should be listed by resource and impact on a flip chart. As in the previous session, if all participants have had a chance to offer one resource and have it listed, the facilitator should encourage a more informal exchange of stories by participants. This discussion should be cut off at the 15 minute point.

15 minutes – Facilitator should present the basic outline of the workshop: 1 ½ days long, three main presenters teaching skills and resources, showcase of work by participants. The question we need participants to answer is what is the best way to build networking opportunities into the workshop: one or two panel discussions by regional arts business people, informal gatherings for people just to mingle, or small group discussions on specific topics. The facilitator should present these three alternatives as listed and solicit from participants: (1) their choice for the single most effective alternative (2) examples of effective networking opportunities that they have experienced (3) specific suggestions for how we should structure our networking at the workshop. All responses should be briefly listed on the flip charts.

5 minutes – In the closing segment, the facilitator should provide participants with the blog URL written on a flip chart and encourage them to add any comments or questions to the blog between now and October. The facilitator should also encourage participants to tell others about the Business of Art process and the October workshop and specifically invite other artists and craftspeople they know to the blog and the workshop. The facilitator should collect the survey forms distributed at the beginning of the meeting and should encourage participants to tell other artists in their area to go to the blog to complete the survey on line so that we can hear from people who were unable to attend the Conversation.

The facilitator should close the meeting by thanking everyone for coming and should emphasize that the Conversation meetings are just the beginning of a process that will continue through the end of 2007, with the special highlight being the October Business of Art workshop in Nelsonville. Facilitators should emphasize that we are relying on the process and workshop participants to provide real leadership and direction for the Business of Art organizers throughout the entire process.

 

General rules for Facilitators and Recorders:

1. Gently but persistently keep participants on topic and within time limits.
2. Facilitate by example: don’t interject your own ideas, stay on topic and help others focus their statements to get the information you need
3. Use flip charts effectively by: writing all the information you want to present such as the Business of Art organizers, the blog URL, etc. clearly on flip charts, keeping participants focused on the task at hand by writing the questions or topics you want them to address on flip charts, and by listing summaries of their answers on flip charts so that everyone can keep track of what everyone else has said
4. Encourage participation in all discussions by everyone in the group
5. Emphasize the underlying purpose of the Business of Art process by encouraging participants to take a leadership role in the process at Conversations, Workshop and blog and thanking them for their help

The Facilitator should come to the meeting with the following prepared flip chart pages:

 

• One page listing the three goals and three stages of the Business of Art process
• One page listing Business of Art organizers/sponsors
• One page listing what we want participants to tell us in their introductions: name, business name, medium/product, whether they are full-time or part-time businesses, where they live, do business and sell their work (locally, regionally or nationally)
• One page headed “Challenges” to be used to list participants’ responses to the question about challenges
• One page headed “Resources” to be used to list participants’ responses to the question about resources they have used
• One page listing our alternatives for networking at the workshop including: panel discussions by regional arts business people, informal gatherings for people to meet & mingle, small group discussions on specific topics
• One page listing Business of Art contact people for further questions or comments and the URL of the blog

 

The Recorder should record and provide us with flip chart lists from each of agenda sections of participant responses to each section’s questions. The Recorder does not have to note who said what. All we want are the lists. In come cases, the Recorder should note the general consensus of the meeting or the results of any preferences or voting results, such as in the section about possible networking alternatives at the workshop.

We also have a survey form that should be distributed at the beginning of the meeting. There are two reasons for doing this: (1) we want to get people’s responses before they are affected by the meeting discussion and (2) we want people to have time to respond instead of rushing through the survey at the end of the meeting. The survey is very important to our planning process and the facilitator should thank everyone for completing them. The surveys should be handed out as people arrive and should be collected before the meeting starts. Be sure to give survey forms to late comers and collect their surveys at the end of the meeting. Please mail the survey forms to Bill Howley, ORBI Project Director at PO Box 3, Chloe, WV 25235.

Here is the link to the survey form Word document to download and print.

Click on this link to download Survey Form

If you need some basic information about the Business of Art project and the Community Conversations, feel free to take any and all of this press release template for your publicity materials:

In collaboration, Hocking College, Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Designer Craftsmen, and Ohio River Border Initiative are presenting a two-day Business of Art workshop at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio on October 20 and October 21, 2007. The workshop sponsors are planning much more than just a workshop.

Throughout the spring and summer of 2007, sponsors and other collaborators including Ohio University’s Voinovich Center, ACEnet and the Ohio River Border Initiative are conducting a series of community conversations to help create the workshop. Colaborators are inviting artists and craftspeople across Appalachian Ohio and western West Virginia to share their experience and ideas with the workshop planners.

The goal of the community conversations and the October workshop is to strengthen the ability of artists and craftspeople to respond to their business challenges by helping them build viable support networks that link them to fellow artists, to local business communities and to new marketing and financial resources. The community conversations, hosted by local arts organizations around the region, are the first step in this process.

If you are an artist or craftsperson and want to learn from other arts business people, start with the community conversation in your area and get involved in the Business of Art workshop in October.

[Local organization name] invites you to attend our Business of Art Community Conversation on [date] at [time] at [location with full street address].

The Community Conversations are designed to help participants connect with other arts business people in your area and identify local businesses and organizations that can support your work.

Here are the confirmed dates & locations for Community Conversations throughout the summer.

Please contact the location at the phone number provided to confirm dates and times. If you are involved with one of the unconfirmed Conversations, and you have a date and location to confirm, just post a comment, and we will update this list.

Riverside Artists, Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Marietta, OH

Tuscarawas Center for the Arts, Tuesday, June 26, 2007

New Philadelphia, OH 330-339-2787

Zanesville Art Center, Thursday, June 28, 2007

Zanesville, OH 740-452-0741

ArtWorks Around Town, Thursday, June 28, 2007

Wheeling, WV

The French Art Colony, Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Gallipolis, OH

Southern State Community College, Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Fincastle, OH

Pike Arts Guild, Thursday, August 2, 2007 6:30 pm

Waverly, OH 740-222-3859

Arts West, Tuesday August 14, 2007 6:30 pm

Athens, OH 740-592-4315

Markay Theater, Thursday, August 16, 2007 6:30 p.m.

Jackson, OH 740-286-6355

Carroll County Community Arts, Friday, August 17, 2007

Carrollton, OH 330-627-3739

Nelsonville Public Library, Tuesday August 21, 2007 6:30 pm

Nelsonville, OH 740-753-7135