Day .5 at the National Arts Marketing Conference

#NAMPC10. The hashtags are flowing heavy. But are we perhaps to involved in our own tweeting cleverness to pay attention?

I am. I got distracted during the "Future Arts Managers" break-out session by the cold room and the blister on my feet, so ducked out and went on a short walk in the San Jose sunshine for some band-aids. I'm in a warm room, reflecting, and feel much better, thank you.

I have to say it is an ENORMOUS treat to be surrounded by smart people, thinking about the work I do. But this conference, so far, is raising a lot more questions than answers, and I suppose that's ok.

The keynote this morning was incredible. Chip Heath (author of SWITCH and MAKE IT STICK) is my new personal hero. He was bright, he was personable, he presented some really interesting ideas and "a-ha" moments in ways that made you actually think you could go home and do something with them. My favorite points were the ideas of the "curiosity gap" — where you intrigue people by hinting that you are going to give them some new information (value-added, I suppose), and the "curse of knowledge," where we know SO much about our subject that we risk overwhelming our audience with too much information, stimulus, activity.

His advice? A mis-spelled acronym, with incredible potency:
Simple
Unexpected
Concrete
Credible
Emotional
Stories

Of course, it begs the question — if we ALL tell emotional, evocative, heart-rending stories, won't our missions be lost in a sea of personal anecdotes? Will what we do be lost to who it effects?

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More later. Break-outs so far not so amazing, but I'm going to give them more time. Meanwhile, looks like we are now on official "networking break." Yesterday that included ice cream bars, so I have high hopes.

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