TRG’s Blog on arts consumer behavior
Colorado, Springs, CO (April 2, 2010) – TRG CEO Rick Lester has launched TRG’s blog, Analysis from TRG Arts, as a forum for what the firm is seeing as it studies arts and culture consumer behavior. In his inaugural offering, Rick says the blog will be a platform for great ideas and new trends that TRG sees from its perspective of sitting “atop a mountain of data” and working with “some the brightest folks on the planet.” Watch for new posts coming soon.
Chicago Community Cultural Database Launches with 1.2 Million Households
Chicago, IL (April 12, 2010) --The League of Chicago Theatres has launched the Chicago Community Cultural Database, a cooperative, web-based patron community database, built and operated by TRG. With more than 1.2 million unique households and 40 participating organizations; this is the first database of its kind to surpass one million unique households at its launch. Full media release.
Conferences Feature TRG on Pricing Strategies
Colorado Springs, CO (March 26, 2010) -- TRG CEO Rick Lester will lead a three-hour clinic The Art of Pricing on June 17, on opening day of the 2010 Theatre Communications Group (TCG) national conference in Chicago. The session and the conference are open to members of TCG, the national organization for the American theatre. TCG Members may register now.
Rick also was a featured panelist for presentations on pricing at the 2010 INTIX and PacNet member conferences and led the Arts Pricing Day March 16th at the Arts Reach National Marketing and Development conference in New York. If you missed these presentations, find out how your organization can learn about TRG’s pricing strategies by contacting us.
TRG-Managed Houston Community Database Tops 1 Million Patrons
Houston, Texas (November 17, 2009) – Houston Arts Alliance announced today that its Arts Database Management Program (ADMP) has exceeded one million patron households in its first year of operation.
The Alliance is lead agency and TRG manages the community cooperative, designed to provide a centralized, accessible database to Houston area arts organizations for the purposes of audience outreach and development. More than 40 organizations are part of the ADMP’s inaugural season. Full news release.
TRG Noted in Portland Dynamic Pricing Practices
Portland, Oregon (November 2, 2009) -- An article headlined Some Portland Arts Groups Turn to Dynamic Pricing by Marty Hughley in today’s The Oregonian cites TRG counsel as the basis for their ability to generate more revenue on well-selling performances.
Jim Fullan, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Portland Opera, recalled hearing TRG CEO Rick Lester introduce demand-based pricing as a business practice for the arts at an Opera America conference several years ago. Erik Jones, Marketing Director of Oregon Ballet Theatre, said TRG "developed and preached [demand-based pricing] to groups around the country."
Mr. Fullan, Mr. Jones and other colleagues in Portland addressed in the article their approaches to following patron demand and making ticket price adjustments dynamically. Full article.
Phillip Matthews is TRG’s New Senior Consultant for Community Programs
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (October 19, 2009) -- Phillip Matthews , nationally recognized for his work in audience and community development initiatives, has joined the TRG Arts staff team as Senior Consultant, effective today. Phil will be responsible for building, managing, and developing the firm’s relationships with arts and culture communities and service organizations nationwide.
Phil comes to TRG from Theatre Communications Group (TCG) where he served as Director of Audience Programs for the national service organization of America’s not-for-profit theaters. He managed TCG’s audience development initiative, Free Night of Theater, from its inception in three cities in 2005 to its expansion nationwide. Full announcement.
Making Ticket Prices Right is Dynamic Not Static Process, TRG’s Rick Lester Counsels at ArtsReach Conference
LOS ANGELES, CA (October 9, 2009) – Contrary to common industry perception, demand for tickets at any price is not a static variable, according to TRG CEO Rick Lester at his Making The Price Right workshop at the ArtsReach Conference here today. Perceived demand for seats drives patron behavior, Lester counseled. TRG’s national data analysis shows that demand can drive ticket prices whenever an organization manages its prevailing circumstances. The workshop outlined the objectives of demand management, offered strategies for optimizing revenue from TRG price and demand techniques, and cited several client success stories. Download the session presentation.
TRG CEO Rick Lester Joins Bay Area Panel on Weathering the Financial Crisis
BERKELEY, CA (October 5, 2009) -- TRG Chief Executive Officer Rick Lester offered new rules for 21st Century revenue growth at a forum and panel discussion in Berkeley, CA presented by the arts service organization, Theatre Bay Area, in partnership with Theatre Communications Group (TCG).
The forum is set on the findings of Taking Your Fiscal Pulse 2: A Report on the Fiscal Health of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Community. The report is a fiscal snapshot that provides an overview of Bay Area theatres’ financial standing and includes strategies that theatres have put into place during this economic downturn.
A panel of Bay Area theatre leaders examined present-day strategies that their theatres have enacted in reaction to the crisis. Rick Lester and fellow panelists focused on the future, looking at what tomorrow holds for the Bay Area theatre community in terms of income streams, resources and new tools for developing and keeping audiences.
For more information on Theatre Bay Area’s exploration of innovation in crisis, including audio and blog coverage, go to: http://www.theatrebayarea.org/
TRG Vice President Will Lester Advises New York Theatres on Patron Loyalty
NEW YORK, NY (September 24, 2009) -- Will Lester, the architect of TRG data management and analytic services, advised theatres participating in New York’s Free Night of Theatre program on how to convert trial theatre-goers into loyal patrons at a workshop presented by Theatre Communications Group (TCG).
TRG observes that Free Night, a TCG audience development initiative, serves as a strategic entry or low-risk opportunity for new theatre-goers or patrons unfamiliar with a theatre’s offerings. Patrons who begin attending through Free Night can be cultivated and developed into long-time patrons, as TRG points out.
Free Night of Theater 2009 opens across the country on Thursday, October 15, 2009. For more information on the national program participants visit http://www.freenightoftheater.net.
TRG Paid Patronage Study Helps Guide Philadelphia’s Engagement Growth
PHILADELPHIA, PA (September 21, 2009) – A TRG study of five-year paid patronage trends was released today as part of the Research Into Action Report: Pathways to New Opportunities, the most recent research by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.
TRG’s study revealed strong success in attracting new patrons each year, but serious challenges in retaining these patrons beyond a one-time experience (or transaction). The key finding from the study is that in the Philadelphia region, two out of three patrons who attended a cultural event did not come back to any of the 17 study group organizations the next year. Read the full report or a synopsis.
The Cultural Alliance report offers specific insights into how the Philadelphia region's diverse population engages with the arts. It provides specific strategies for cultural organizations looking to build stronger audience connections. For highlights and the full report, go to: http://www.philaculture.org/research/reports/research-into-action
TRG’s Making the Price Right is featured session at ArtsReach Conference
LOS ANGELES, CA (October 9, 2009) -- TRG’s pioneering counsel in pricing and demand management are the focus of the firm’s presentations at the ArtsReach national arts marketing and development conference in Los Angeles October 9-11.
Rick Lester, TRG CEO, will give a 90-minute workshop, Making the Price Right, and will lead roundtable discussions and one-to-one consultation sessions built on the firm’s best practice recommendations for managing ticket inventory, monitoring patron demand, and setting prices. Jill Robinson, TRG President, and Will Lester, TRG Vice President, also will offer counsel to conference participants.
For conference details, go to: http://www.artsreach.com/conference.html
