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8.23.2005
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Volume Three
Issue Eight
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Welcome to our August Monthly Update. This issue we bring you an interview with Jody Leshinsky of the Broward Cultural Division in Florida, who shares with us her view of how the organization has changed over the last two decades and how Web-based marketing has become such an integral part of all they do. Read on...
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Client Feature: Broward Cultural Division
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Broward Cultural Division's Web Site
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Client since: October, 2003
Starting e-list size: 400
Current e-list size: 1,400
The Broward Cultural Division is the designated local arts agency for the Greater Fort Lauderdale area. Since 1980, the Division has grown from a two-person office to more than 30 full- and part-time employees. An agency of Broward County government, BCD has a 23-member advisory board that recommends programs and the distribution of government and private resources for the visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, museums and festivals.
Among BCD's many initiatives is a marketing program that provides information about the more than 450 not-for-profit cultural organizations in the county to the general public through the Cultural Quarterly fine arts magazine, the Cultural Division website, the 24-Hour Arts and Entertainment Hotline and the Cultural Information Center.
In the Q & A that follows, Marketing Director, Jody Leshinsky, describes this vast organization for whom she has worked for over two decades, highlighting how things have changed over time and the great changes that e-marketing has brought in recent years...
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Q & A with Jody Leshinsky, Marketing Director for Broward Cultural Division
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Jody Leshinsky, Marketing Director for Broward Cultural Division
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You've been with the County for 25 years. Tell us about your role and responsibilities and how they have changed over the years.
I joined the County in 1981 as a Recreation Leader for the Parks and Recreation Division. From there, I moved into Parks and Rec administration and helped create their marketing section. In 1985, I became the Public Information Officer for the County Administrator and in 1988 joined the Cultural Division as a Publications Specialist.
Over the years with Cultural Division, my responsibilities have grown with the job. Without the assistance of a computer until 1989, I would proof read and edit the Cultural Quarterly magazine with typeset gallies. My graphic artist would use rubber cement and hot wax to paste down the galley type and we would have to send our photographs to the print shop to have them professionally scanned which was very costly.
Today, as the Marketing Director, I am still responsible for the production of Cultural Quarterly, but automation has simplified the process. In 1995 the Cultural Division's website went live for the first time. That meant learning new programs, maintaining the information and finding better ways to present the information for our constituencies.
My department's primary responsibility is to be the in-house "ad agency" for the Division. Among our many duties, we design and print arts-related publications, send out press releases to the media, handle publicity requests from the not-for-profit cultural organizations, and serve patrons in the Cultural Information Center.
As a support organization for the arts, you serve a particular "clientele." What is your "target audience," so to speak? Who is on your e-mail list?
The Cultural Division has three "clienteles" - the 1.6 million residents of the Greater Fort Lauderdale area, the more than 450 local not-for-profit cultural organizations, and individual artists. The mailing lists reflect these constituencies. Depending on the nature of a campaign, the Division may choose one or all of these segments as the target audience.
For example, in August, the Division sponsored the "Learning World Cultures through the Arts" Conference where 14 instructors from the Kennedy Center presented more than 25 full- and half-day workshops to help Broward County school teachers learn about arts education while earning credits toward their accreditation. The original target audience was school teachers, so the initial e-mail campaign was sent to a small list. However, registration was eventually opened to anyone interested in attending and we selected the entire e-mail list. This year's conference attendance exceeded 500, an increase of 300 from 2004, which we believe was a result of using PatronMail.
Since your focus is not on selling tickets or increasing attendance, how has e-mail been used by your organization? What is your overall e- marketing / communication strategy?
The Broward Cultural Divison's e-mail program is used primarily to inform and educate people about programs and services available to them - something that is still very valuable from a marketing perspective. E-marketing is one part of the Division's overall marketing plan. It is included as an integral part of communicating our messages to each target audience.
Tell us about the Voices and Venues newsletter? How does it work and what purpose does it serve?
Voices and Venues is actually a "website newsletter" designed for artists, cultural organizations and supporters of the arts throughout South Florida and is produced by the South Florida Cultural Consortium. The South Florida Cultural Consortium, formed in 1985, is an alliance of the local arts agencies of Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties and operates under an inter-local government agreement to coordinate projects and share resources for the growth of South Florida cultural activities, organizations and artists.
Updated weekly by the South Florida Cultural Consortium, the Voices and Venues website keeps the South Florida area informed of opportunities, employment, conferences, meetings and deadlines.
How have your e-postcards worked?
The Broward Cultural Division sends out regular e-postards directing readers to the the Voices and Venues news site. After our first e-mail campaign was sent there was an incredible increase in traffic to the website! From February, when the campaign was e-mailed, to March the total visitors increased 107 percent and the total page views increased 83 percent.
Any techniques or tips for other service organizations you can share with the field?
Make sure that the general public is able to find the "Join Our Mailing List" link on your website. For newsletters, experiment with different colors and fonts, it makes a huge difference in the look of the campaign! Monitor your campaign results. Don't forget to preview your campaign by e-mailing it to yourself and to your staff so that it can be proof read by several eyes before you send the campaign!
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