Experiencing

With all else going on in our respective universes it creeps upon us, not unlike the proverbial frog that boils to death in water … slowly, slowly, until we’ve been overtaken. This is an acknowledgement before the “nature morte” is fully focused; in large measure because we are so wedded, so familiar with, and have so much invested in product. Oh, you might say there’s always “service”, but this does more than extend or twist or even reinvent service as such.
Why did (virtually) ALL the McDonald’s shift over to “Café” culture (or for that matter, do you really think five dollars is merited for a cup of coffee at Starbucks)? Why is Amazon the only real threat to Walmart when (so far) you can’t even see or touch the products? Speaking of Walmart, what makes IKEA so “cool” (I submit it’s a mash up of Walmart and Disney World)? Are theme parks just for children? If you’ve ever been to Vermont you know that country stores exist in nearly every village … but have you been to “Thee” http://www.VermontCountryStore.com/‎ (it is a well evolved tastefully and consistently appointed consumable theme park of Vermont)?
It may well be, and it certainly seems to me, that the businesses of the future, particularly the entrepreneurial successes, will fold in more and more of selling you an experience over product and even service. Oh yes, product and service will still be there, and indeed be what generates the bulk of the income (unless we’re just talking admission fees), but the differentiator, the competitive advantage, will be the experience. Woman’s clothing stores would do well to have more seating for men; indeed, perhaps even with tethered tablets at hand. Is it enough for a Cinnabon to blow the baked cinnamon goods scent? Perhaps; it is after all a limited experience by design … but you can readily see how other scents might apply elsewhere? Can one think of settings where a free cup of coffee or iced tea might come in handy? What ever happened to coat racks/rooms? When might it be useful to “try before you buy” (I remember being impressed with http://www.BillJacksons.com/, in Pinellas Park, Florida – of all places – offering an indoor opportunity to try ski’s (!!! – on a wide, long, and massive conveyor belt of carpet))?
Let’s apply what we’ve considered, to really get context we’ll scan “hardware”: there are smaller Mom & Pop hardware stores, and they have largely survived because they’re usually museums of everything, with knowledgeable staff. Often floor to ceiling affairs of bibs and tubs of what is essentially a history of American hardware going back usually at least one hundred years. You have faucets from decades ago, these are often the only places that can help. They already are “thee experience”. On the other hand is Lowe’s and Home Depot; the Walmart-type behemoths of few choices of everything hardware/construction. But what of Aubuchons, Ace, and similar chains caught in the middle. How much of the above could be applied (having a coat room available, try before you buy as much as possible, scenting the air discreetly … bread in the kitchen area, pine around the winter holidays, varying sawed wood near lumber, linen or “ocean” near paint (we’re after “fresh”, not turpentine), etcetera. Would it hurt to offer free cups of coffee or iced tea? How about a “work area” where folks could sketch things out and get support for the resolution of various issues?
I was speaking with a youth the other day and she shared her vision of starting her own business … a café, but with lap animals from a nearby shelter (cats and dogs). What do you think? I think the kid is right on target and has a very bright future! And as for Art & Business – isn’t the value of art the experience, your growth through experience? THIS is art and business blended without question, and the larger point; quite likely the future competitive advantage for business.

UVM offers Arts and Entrepreneurship week

I’ll seek to embrace and weigh as much of this as I am able.
Arts and Entrepreneurship Week

1/24:  Arts Alumni panel 5:30 Memorial Lounge, Waterman Arts alumni from FTS, Theatre, Music and Dance, Art and Art History will talk about their experiences in forging their successful careers in the arts.

1/25: Careers in the Arts 5:30 Memorial Lounge, Waterman The directors of the Flynn Theatre, Lane Series, Burlington City Arts and Shelburne Museum will discuss career options, what employers seek in potential employees, and what undergraduates can do to prepare themselves for the job market

1/26: Michael Spalter, “Cultural Entrepreneurship: Celebrating the Artist and Designer”   5:30 Memorial Lounge, Waterman Mr. Spalter is Chair of the Board at the Rhode Island School of Design, founder of the Entrepreneurship Forum at Brown, and on the advisory board of the Cultural Entrepreneurship Institute at Harvard. (open to public)

1/27 Careers in Music and Arts Management 1:00pm Memorial Lounge, Waterman Light lunch will be provided for attendees. Everyone in the UVM community is welcome, but you must rsvp to cas@uvm.edu by January 26. Space is limited to 35 people.
Kath Buckell is a renowned singer/songwriter based in New York City and an agent with APA Agency, who represent Dolly Parton, Judy Collins, 50 Cent and comedy artists such as Amy Shumer, Louis CK and Aziz Ansari.
Yael Deckelbaum is an award-winning Israeli/Canadian singer-songwriter, founder of the legendary trio Habanot Nechama,  and an activist, whose songs have been featured by the movement Women Wage Peace and on “the L Word” TV series on Showtime.

Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Vermont for further information, contact Associate Dean Kelley Helmstutler Di Dio at kelley.didio@uvm.edu

the Vermont Leaf Company !

It was quite the journey, and we’re halfway into our prime season; still, the Vermont Leaf Company went LIVE today! Help us get the word out! If you know folks who would be interested, let them know. If you’re feeling generous, share the post. Check out the FB page and like us – and please feel encouraged to share your own leaf photos!
Vermont Leaf:
site: http://vermontleaf.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/vermontleaf

       What’s this have to do with business, marketing, things global, or the applied arts? This is a relatively pure marketing endeavor. The inventory is free, small, flat, and easily mailed (ideal for e-commerce). Vermont is renowned for a variety of things, and one is the world’s best foliage … yet, no one is just selling leaves. Of course, many folks rake bags worth with disgruntled attitudes and strained backs, but we’re not looking to sell locally. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes; it’s a sweet experiment in entrepreneurship.

the Gestalt of the Frontier

There are many folks who care about the arts; many who “get” the gravity of the importance of art in our daily lives, in our personal growth, in supporting us being more whole people. Many of these folks, of course, are artists themselves. However, many (whether artists themselves or not) are “warriors” on the frontier of supporting the arts from a myriad of directions. Which begs the question: why would anyone need to defend a dynamic so magnificent, precious, and needed? But thoughtful folk know the answer before the question ends: with what little middle class there is left, the “spoils” of the arts in this economic divide go to the wealthy minority. Who else can afford a fourteen dollar museum admission per person, theater tickets, etc? Unless it’s a free gallery; but then, who even has the time?

One warrior supporting the arts is Grace Alfiero (http://artsinactionllc.com/); a hero of mine since we first met over her willingness to be interviewed early on in my last graduate degree. Grace advocates for the arts holistically, and understands the business of the arts with mastery; and has always been sharp, authentic, and seeking to be difference making. She does phenomenal work, and it is my enduring hope that the Consulting arm of the DAVIS School of Business echoes the same path. Well, we met in Florida, but I hope to run into her today! Check out some of the work: the Of Land and Local exhibit at the Coach Barn… http://www.burlingtoncityarts.org/Exhibition/land-and-local-2015. Another decent link to today’s exploration is http://www.burlingtoncityarts.org/shelburne-farms.

So, we’re all over the place; by design and practicality – we have to be. And, participating in the arts as much as one can is as much as we can hope from the general public at this time …. so, with appreciation, come on out!

The Business of Life and Business

I gotta tell you, standing up a business is no small matter. Is it an advantage to have an advanced degree in business – absolutely. Is it an advantage having taught this material for a decade – again, absolutely. But here’s the tricky part: that stuff really isn’t the same. The little unseen details, or the little unknowns, that reach out and hold you up for weeks on end. Being reminded that nothing can be left to chance or theory in reality … and so every nook and cranny needs to be addressed … for example, the entire business plan. I try to be as proactive as possible, gathering information and acting on it, trying to stay ahead of any request on the business … but for all one may know (and the quote is falsely attributed to Rumsfeld, it’s actually Werner Erhardt), one cannot possibly know what one does not even know what one doesn’t know.

Among the greatest rationales for the slow and steady pace, especially in the time like this period of incubation, is the ability to look around holistically and notice that significant parts of the enterprise have already changed dramatically; in some instances several times. It’s notable that other details get designed, and redesigned, and redesigned again. And, however rudimentary the Gantt chart, it’s gratifying to add a new milestone (or mini milestone) to it; like the business receiving its first junk mail today.

And, unless it’s one of those simple straightforward samurai types of businesses, where it takes almost nothing to piece together (a car wash predominantly based on elbow grease, a roadside pop up produce stand, or a one-man window washing deal), not only is there an explosion of minutia, and then treble that for the unknowns, there is also one’s family (presuming one has one). So when it comes to work-life balance, this is where snags occur. Nonetheless, it seems to me that as long as I can wear this like a loose jacket, even snags on a regular basis can be woven into the fabric of the larger challenge.

Two songs come to mind: Ringo Starr – It Don’t Come Easy (…and no one said it would be, while I strive to be “big enough to take it” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvEexTomE1I), and Chumbawamba – Tubthumping. The latter perhaps not the best pairing of melody and lyric – to me, but I’ve adopted it these last handful of years and its proven to be perennial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc.

Re-visioning Artists with Business for Success

In prep for a talk I’ll be giving in a few weeks on marketing for artists, one thing led to another, and yesterday I found myself writing a book. The book actually began here with a couple previous blog posts. I never published an e-book before, so this morning I did that, too.
If this applies to you, check it out – it’s only three bucks! AND, I would LOVE to have your feedback.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=re-visioning+artists+with+business+for+success&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Are-visioning+artists+with+business+for+success

By the way, as the Davis School of Business is listed as the publisher, this constitutes the schools first publication, too : )

on the integrity of commercializing art

Let’s deconstruct some semantics. The relationship between communication and creation is, essentially, overlapping. If you want to communicate effectively you have to find the open listening. I’m speaking to all of you and I am doing so in a way that most if not all of you can hear what I have to say. It’s possible that I could be in a university classroom and I would need to speak to the lowest common denominator or risk losing some students as I explore a higher abstraction. Similarly, I would not want to be talking past what you would be willing to listen to. Noting for a moment of what you might create, if the process is an exercise of one’s own muse, naturally there’s nothing wrong with that. Yet if you’re looking to market the given piece of sculpture or an image you have to ask yourself the question who would buy it? This isn’t selling out; this is the natural leveraging of your talent, of what you have to give to the world. Of course you’re going to have to return your own muse, your own self fulfillment, your own well from time to time. But hopefully we’ve already covered that you can’t live there exclusively and just wish that the world is going to pay you to turn out whatever you happen to create. The performance artist may practice in isolation, but they’re practicing to perform in front of others.

Once upon a time I had some LPs that I was looking to sell online to underwrite a project. I did my research and I found out what the Blue Book value of these particular items was. I was so dismayed at what people were willing to offer me (a fraction of their published worth). And I’ll never forget what my brother once told me at that time: “Frank, the albums are only worth what somebody is willing to pay you for them.” It doesn’t matter what somebody writes in a book; he was right, that’s where the rubber meets the road.

So before we start marketing what you have, perhaps we can start taking a look AT what you have and consider adjusting what you’re offering so that it speaks to a particular clientele. Can you think of what you do in a different or new way? Can you imagine your creative output somehow shifted or adjusted or tweaked so as to meet someone else’s need? Again, this isn’t selling out. This is you adapting. Darwin is quoted as saying, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change”. And that makes a lot of sense. It’s much easier to market something when there is a natural audience willing to buy it

There’s a story about going down the river rapids and getting out of the floating device and just going down the rapids body-wise. The teller of the tale confirms that those who went with the flow went around the rocks, while the ones who tried to assert control got inserted into rocks.

Without taking away from the muse, without prostituting one’s vision, if we really are going to seriously look at marketing your art, your voice, what you have to offer to the world, adapting to go with the flow is a fundamental place to start.

(postponed)

The meeting with the Mayor is postponed until Sept. 25th.

An Ace is a “hole in one”. I need an ace.

Among the original Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) members are numbers 49 & 50, Ryan and Tatum O’Neal, who participated at the 1974 World Frisbee Championships at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. But we don’t need to go that far back to acknowledge the notable. Last fall the Pope was presented with a disc. Though his passing was in 2002, the founder of disc golf, Steady Eddie Headrick’s ashes was interred into a line of discs, made available last year starting at $200. a piece. On September 20th 2014, 360 players attended an Ace Race in Largo, FL. Last winter someone showed up in The Price is Right audience dressed as a disc golf basket. There’s an underground disc golf course in Crystal City, MO. National and World Championships have been played for years, but perhaps the most significant development was when this spring the Olympic committee decided to include disc sports for the first time ever. Disc is now an Olympic Sport!
Why am I sharing all this? Once upon a time, in a land long ago … I moved to this Burlington, VT area (about a year ago) and shortly thereafter had brought to my attention that Burlington College was about to release a significant amount of its preserved land because it had not stewarded its own funds properly/well enough. Naturally, this is a significant bruise to the College, but as well to the city. What as of now is still a significant amount of unspoiled land along the edge of Lake Champlain, however, is slated for the further indignity and eye-sore of residential development. So, the patient owes the loan shark and the response is to have the knees caved in … is there a winner here (besides the eyesore/”busted knees”/development?); no. And while not directly invested, I nonetheless immediately began to apply my creative thinking to this issue. I worked up a delightful response! I sought to sit down with the President of the College several times, but was postponed several times (and then she quit). I then sought to meet with the interim President, but he would not even respond to my e-mails.
Here’s the thing (if you haven’t already pieced this together), disc golf is an ultimate win-win-win here. The sport is among, if not the, fastest growing, is incredibly inexpensive to play (a new disc can cost as little as $10; used, $3!), it’s a fresh air natural bonding activity for any family in the area (a classic Burlingtonian activity which even folks in their 60’s & 70’s can participate in since it’s mostly just walking-based in tree shade), does minimal impact to the environment and turns folks into natures’ champion by rooting them there, a professional championship course would likely cost less than razing a few houses near the airport, no meaningful maintenance, and the results could easily include just as many positives. A whole new draw for Burlington College, with the immediate option to start their own intercollegiate team (oh yeah, 78 respectable colleges and universities already have such teams at last count), selling not just branded discs but branded gear and energy refreshments as well in the bookstore. Naturally, many nearby businesses would likely also institute their own line of disc related product. The course becomes part of the professional circuit and draws world champions and spectators alike. And the city is also a winner here, a big winner. If it pulls an eminent domain (or whatever it takes) and saves the land from development, it also helps bail the College out, and the investment has long term pay off; not the least of which is the preserving of the visual, natural Lake-front beauty.
By the way, on a personal note, my daughter was the 15th best in her age category – in the world – in 2014; and we have yet to play since we moved here because the nearest course is too far away in Stowe! I am well enough connected in the disc golf world that I’m already in touch with course designers; and that includes 11 time world champ Ken Climo (so I could even help). Oh, and yes, people do play in the snow (sometimes even at night!). So, why would such an uber business proposal be shared here (besides this being a blog of business, marketing, and the arts)? Because someone is finally sitting down with me Friday: the Mayor; a youthful politician that would likely prefer a nice feather in his cap than the stain of selling out lakefront property under his watch. Wish us (Burlington and I) luck!

image caption: [my daughter, Karina Davis, PDGA number 62421, with signed discs by national and world champions (not minis, tags, or scoresheets), L-R] S Brinster, V Jenkins & N Doss, C Roque, (PDGAdisc), CR Willey, D Scott, D Scott, C Harbachuck C Chist and D Eilers, K Climo, P McBeth, and P Paige

the Glide of Businessland part deux; the Davis School of Business & Consulting and its website

I’d make the website here, but I’m still learning wordpress (and wix seemed idiotproof). One thing I want to amend about the last post is that *I* found it easy to become an LLC. Apparently that’s a state by state phenomenon, so your experience may be different.

Having said all that I’ll share the new website as: http://professorfrankdavi.wix.com/biz-consult-school. I didn’t want to spend a plug nickel on it, and it appears I didn’t have to. A better domain name is the first consideration of constructive critique, but that’s the first hook in a well considered business model to get you to spend (more) money. As I see it, most folks link to a site anyway, not really processing character by character. As I’m bootstrapping from desperation, I’m insisting on keeping costs to at or near zero.

But the point of all this is to celebrate that the foundational considerations are falling into place. The Davis School of Business & Consulting is a real thing.

web page

http://professorfrankdavi.wix.com/biz-consult-school

like us on FB

https://www.facebook.com/DavisBusinessSchoolandConsulting/timeline

blog

https://businessglobalmarketingtheappliedarts.wordpress.com/