Tag: 07.24.18

Boston Is Still Very Much A Pre-Broadway Tryout Town – That’s The Problem

Responding to the Boston Globe article about the city’s attempt to reclaim its place as the preeminent place to test Broadway-bound shows, Bill Marx argues that the tryout business never left Boston at all: it just moved to the area’s nonprofit companies, especially American Repertory Theater under Diane Paulus. “Major regional theaters … were initially established to produce a non-commercial response to the safe fare of Broadway. … Isn’t this a betrayal of the theaters’ mission?”

How Artificial Intelligence Might Change The Ways We Measure Human Intelligence

Rose Luckin’s latest book, Machine Learning and Human Intelligence: The future of education for the 21st Century, argues that if we want to avoid turning our kids—and their teachers—into robots, we have to radically redefine intelligence. She advocates using AI to help us develop and measure human intelligence in various forms to better prepare students for a workplace that requires constant adaptation and learning.

How Silicon Valley Has Changed Philanthropy

Silicon Valley companies transformed the way we shop, search for information, connect with friends, and consume entertainment. The people who made millions or billions from these companies are now changing yet another sector of the American economy: philanthropy. They’re forcing nonprofits to become incubators and disruptors, rather than just service providers, and to think about how they sell themselves, how they measure what they do, and what programs will attract money.

Ireland’s Proposed Ticket Reselling Ban Won’t Fix Scalper Problem

Banning bot use is a no-brainer but how will that practically be put in place? Will companies such as Ticketmaster be obliged to monitor and report any attempts to buy tickets in such a way? Will they be willing to invest in the security and personnel required to catch such nefarious activity? What is needed is legitimate secondary marketplaces operated by the primary ticket resellers. In Spain, Redtkts allows ticket buyers to resell tickets bought from them directly in an anonymous and safe marketplace with a cap of 15 per cent on the original price.

What Has Come Of The Wallace And Knight Foundations’ Grants To Expand Audience Engagement?

“Wallace has been methodically rolling out its findings in the intervening months, publishing case studies on Ballet Austin’s efforts to expand audiences for unfamiliar works, Seattle Symphony’s efforts in engaging new residents, and the Denver Center Theatre Company’s success in attracting younger attendees. A read of each these case studies underscores the complexity of the engagement challenge. … If it’s more cutting-edge tactical approaches you seek, … turn to the other end of the spectrum, where the Knight Foundation resides.”

Naming Rights Are On Sale At Philadelphia’s Mann Center

The performance center in Fairmount Park, which was built as a summer venue for the Philadelphia Orchestra but has since branched out into other genres and art forms, is trying to bring in the final third of its $43.5 million fundraising goal. (The money will finance new community initiatives, an endowment and cash reserves, and badly-needed repairs.) So naming rights are being made available for everything from individual seats ($500) to the pavilion ($5 million) and even the entire center ($25 million to put your name in place of Mann’s).

Record Number Of Cable Cord Cutters

This year, the number of cord-cutters in the U.S. — consumers who have ever cancelled traditional pay-TV service and do not resubscribe — will climb 32.8%, to 33.0 million adults, according to new estimates from research firm eMarketer. That’s compared with a total of 24.9 million cord-cutters as of the end of 2017, which was up 43.6% year over year (and an upward revision from eMarketer’s previous 22 million estimate).