ArtsMarketing.org

I'm the director of ArtsLehigh; an arts engagement program that's now in its fifth year of programming. ArtsLehigh's mission is to facilitate and deepen engagement in the arts at Lehigh University among students, faculty, staff and the local community. We believe that by effectively connecting information about the arts research and activities at Lehigh, others will be better equipped to make learning connections to the multiple opportunities the arts provide at Lehigh.

Once upon a time, I happened upon a demonstration of some things a colleague was doing in his course work. He was doing video production. I thought, “Gee, that's cool. I wonder if I could do that in my class.” See, at the time I was teaching for the Music Department, and I thought that if the students could effectively tell a story about a living composer, they would be on the right track for future audience engagement. As an artist, I believe that we must not only perfect our craft, but we must constantly strive to connect with our audience. We must be certain that they understand the context of the arts with which we are responsible for preserving, nurturing and creating. As an educator, we must encourage each artist to find their voice to make the connection. For some, it's writing; for others, public speaking. Why not video production? So I tried it in class. No detailed guidelines, no manuals – just jump in and figure it out. Believe it or not, the students managed to put together some incredible pieces, mostly due to the capable support of the Digital Media Studio staff. The students were satisfied with the knowledge they gained from doing it, rather than simply reading about it.

After some regrouping, I wanted to continue exploring video production to help inform a wide audience about the arts at Lehigh. One Lehigh student produced a brilliant short video of Koji Kakinuma, Lehigh's Artist in Residence (April 2007). We embedded his video on the ArtsLehigh website (http://www.cas.lehigh.edu/artslehigh). Clearly, we had to keep moving forward. I had a prototype video developed by high school students during the 2007 Governor's School for Entrepreneurship program. I thought, “If seven high school students could produce a 6 minute video of a Lehigh Jazz concert (Beneath the Stacks) surely, college students could as well.” Two courageous faculty members were willing to jump in the pool.

Professors Ravi Chitturi and James Maskulka, faculty in the Marketing department of the College of Business and Economics were on board. The project also had support from the arts faculty. They had to be willing subjects, as video production could complicate rehearsals, or other preparations for each event. I also had to make sure that all concerned parties understood the activity was primarily a class assignment, and not intended to be used as part of the standard promotional activities of the Zoellner marketing department. This is a message I’m constantly repeating.

There were multiple Digital Media Specialists brought in as consultants to the assignment. All are staff with the University department of Library and Technology Services. Project guidelines, video production milestones, and a bevy of helpful tips were shared with students. Students were divided into teams and were each assigned a separate arts or cultural event on campus. They only had one prototype to model. Also worth noting, these students had no experience with the arts. It was a great way to introduce them to the quality arts experiences available to all students, and made by their peers.

My colleague and greatest supporter, Steven Lichak ran multiple video shooting and editing tutorials. The rest of the Digital Media Studio staff was (as many students said) “ridiculously helpful” with every step of their project. I assisted the student's arts research, supplying copies of scripts, recordings, background readings, or program / concert notes and a list of potential interviewers for each project. All the rest was accomplished by the students. The pioneering semester (Fall 2007) turned out 9 total videos. This semester turned out twelve podcasts. All podcasts can be viewed to campus access only through the Student Art Work folder of the “Arts & Entertainment" area on Lehigh's iTunesU page (http://www.lehigh.edu/itunesu).

These assignments taught the students more than video production. They experienced the future of information delivery. They understood the complexities of various forms of digital media delivery from the producer and consumer point of view. Professor Chitturi states: “… Based on my own observation and the feedback from students, it is clear that the students learned something novel and tangible that would benefit them in their careers. My class has a 50/50 split between marketing and finance majors. It is important to note that the feedback has been equally positive from marketing as well as finance majors. Given the advances in PDA/Communication technologies during the past few years, PODCAST is an excellent tool for information sharing, promotion, and marketing. By the end of the PODCAST project the students clearly understood the power of the tool and how it can benefit marketing of new products and services.”

A greater measure of success for ArtsLehigh’s mission, was seeing a statement from a student interviewed in one of the video productions. She said: “I didn't know anything about ArtsLehigh, or the plays... The only thing I knew about the Zoellner [Arts Center] was their parking garage. Doing this project made me more aware of all the different opportunities you have a Lehigh to get into the arts.”

So where does this project go from here? We're now experiencing the challenges of delivery method options for sharing this work in order to further the research of podcasts. Marketing students will want to know if their work is effective. ArtsLehigh certainly wants to capitalize on all information sharing about the arts so that others may learn how they can connect to the arts research and practice at Lehigh. So which delivery method is best; iTunesU, Facebook, YouTube, Blackboard, home websites? We'll have to find out which method provides a bit of access control, while keeping options open for others to view the work.

For more information about this project, contact Silagh White at siw205@lehigh.edu.