ArtsMarketing.org

Day and Time: Saturday, October 31, 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Track: Marketing

Although the marketplace is changing, cultural tourism continues to have a positive impact on arts institutions, visitors, and residents. By creating a packaged destination, the collaborators in two New England small cities crossed borders, and connected contributors in for-profit, nonprofit, artist, and governmental sectors. Learn how their efforts dramatically improved their ability to attract and serve the tourist market, maximized marketing dollars, and stretched resources to attain results foreseen and unforeseen.

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Moderator

Meri Jenkins
Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston, MA

Meri Jenkins is the Manager of the John and Abigail Adams Arts Program at the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The Adams Program is a cultural economic development initiative that fosters cultural assets in economic development efforts. She was formerly the Principal Manager of Business in the Arts South in the U.K., focusing on relationships between the commercial and cultural sectors.

Presenters

Julie McConchie
North of Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, Peabody, MA

Julie McConchie is the Executive Director of the North of Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. A strong advocate for the promotion and awareness of the arts & cultural organizations in the region, she serves on the board of ArtsNorth, Essex National Heritage Commission, Creative Economy of The North Shore, The Actors Studio of Newburyport, Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council, and the Skal Club of Boston. Julie’s prior experience includes eleven years at the Museum of Science in tourism and meetings marketing, sales, and operations.

Megan Whilden
City of Pittsfield, Pittsfield, MA

Megan Whilden has served for four years as the Cultural Development Director, for the City of Pittsfield, MA, which was the first city to win the statewide Creative Community Award in 2009. Megan has over a decade of experience in nonprofit arts marketing and communications. She is a past editor of The Artful Mind, a monthly arts magazine, and a former columnist and feature writer for the Berkshire Eagle and other publications. She serves on the Board of Directors the Berkshire Visitors Bureau the Berkshire Creative Economy Council, and is a member of the Pittsfield Commission on Tourism.

Elaine Aliberti
Arts Consultant, Groveland, MA

Elaine Aliberti has been an arts marketer for the past eight years, including experience at the Peabody Essex Museum, the Boston Ballet, and the international division of Massport (Logan Airport). In 2006, she played an integral role in the creation, development and execution of the Art Escapes program in conjunction with the North of Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Ryan Weightman
Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Pittsfield, MA

Ryan Weightman currently serves as the Manager of the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, a community arts center in Pittsfield, MA, and is the project manager for Pittsfield Contemporary, a new alliance of nonprofit, for-profit, and city arts spaces. He is also the performance coordinator for Third Thursdays, an award-winning monthly street festival held May through October in downtown Pittsfield. He is a graduate of the University of Montana with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.