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In This Issue
Welcome!
Location, Location, Location
Building Success
Once and Future Gems
A New Facility for Houston's Fastest Growing Community
Our Changing Audience
The Community's Arts Educator
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to Insights, the electronic magazine of AMS Planning & Research!
Insights was designed with you in mind. As a valued client or industry colleague,
you are the inspiration for this new publication.
The foundation of our firm is service: to our clients, our colleagues,
our industry and the communities around the country we hope benefit from
the work we do together.
For nearly 20 years now, we've striven to serve our clients and our industry
with rigorous and innovative planning and research services. We've learned
a great deal from this work, and together with many of you, are examining
and working to develop responses to many of the challenging trends and
developments affecting the arts, culture and entertainment fields.
With the ease of web communication, we saw a new opportunity to be of
service by sharing with you our understanding of, and experience with these
trends and developments — our 'Insights' if you will — in the
hope they can be of use in your own efforts.
You'll notice perhaps we don't call this a 'newsletter.' Our intent with
this magazine is to go beyond the news, providing accurate, insightful
and above all useful interpretation of the 'news' of our industry and how
it may affect you and those you work with. And because we know many of
you receiving this publication are those making the news, we invite you
to join us by sharing your own learning, views and experiences as a contributor
to Insights in the 'Views from the Field' section. In this way, we hope
to help build a network of leaders committed to the role of the arts, culture
and heritage in our communities.
Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't take this opportunity to thank you
for your continued support and confidence. Our client relationships are
truly reciprocal, and we often learn as much as we're able to share. With
this publication, we hope to return the favor!
Steven A. Wolff, CMC
Principal
Robert H. Bailey
Principal
Insights
Location, Location, Location
Designed to serve their burgeoning urban population, many of the new and existing
cultural facilities we work with are located in dense urban areas. However,
as populations have moved outward from their city's urban cores, civic leaders
have examined how best to bring needed services to these new population centers.Transportation
infrastructure planning could serve as an interesting example regarding a city's
cultural services. more...
Building Success
Regardless of the venture — be it the production of a new play, the commissioning
of a dance work or, at the largest scale, the development of a major new arts
facility — we've come to acknowledge that the ultimate success of any endeavor
is often founded on just a few key factors. From an analysis of our work in the
arts and cultural sector, five factors in particular seem associated with those
projects which proceeded most smoothly, were most effective and had the greatest
impact. more...
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About AMS
AMS Planning & Research Corp. is the nation's most experienced arts management
consulting firm. For 17 years, our consultants have provided counsel, planning
and research
services
to hundreds of arts and cultural organizations across the country and throughout
the world. Founded in the belief that arts, culture and entertainment enhance
people's daily lives and the communities in which they live, we promote successful
cultural ventures by working in partnership with arts and community leaders
to better understand their industry, customers and environment, and with
that knowledge develop innovative and sustainable business practices.
Our services include:
• Cultural
Facility Feasibility
• Business
Planning & Strategy
• Audience & Market
Research
• Community
Cultural Planning
Client Experiences
Once and Future Gems
We often think of historic theaters as ''gems'' (a prize, treasure, precious
stone) because these buildings once stood out among other structures in their
neighborhoods and often served multiple purposes: sources of pride for the
community, gathering places, spaces where the talented artists of the day
would contribute to the livelihood of neighborhood activity by sharing their
talent. Despite this once-treasured status, many of these buildings are now
literally falling down. more...
A New Facility for Houston's Fastest Growing
Community
A recent (and unscientific) survey of friends and colleagues
reveals a stereotypical image of Houston, America's 8th largest metropolitan
area,
identifying the area with suburban sprawl, uncomfortable humidity, and a
sports-crazed populace.
Others might point to the Houston of world-class cultural institutions (its
Museum of Fine Arts, Symphony and Opera, in particular), iconic skyscraper
architecture,
and fine restaurants serving much more than country-fried steak. But few have
noticed that Houston's fastest-growing minority group — recently estimated
at 10% of the population — is composed of Asians and Asian-Americans. more...
Latest Research
Our Changing Audience
Recent research we've conducted for several regional theatres and performing
arts centers suggests both subscribers and single ticket buyers cite flexibility
as a key component of their decision-making process. However, flexibility
is defined in very different terms by these two groups of buyers. more...
Views from the Field
"We're interested in your insights and perspective! Click here to share your thoughts on these and other industry issues with
our clients and colleagues."
The Community's Arts Educator
The dramatic decline in public school mandated arts programs over the last
two decades is an often discussed theme at Industry conferences and conventions.
As a national management consulting firm, our work has afforded us an opportunity
to witness this decline and its effects upon arts organizations around
the country. What we see are more and more arts organizations — among
them museums, performing arts companies, community cultural facilities
and performing
arts centers — responding to this decline by introducing extensive
education programs that target both school groups and families. more...
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