Are you brave enough to allow real voices on your arts blog ? The Curtis Institute of Music is. has a fledgling blog called Backstage at Curtis , written by students and faculty, truly in their own words. It sounds like a student blog – there’s no official, corporate feel to it at all. Curtis (which, by the way, has its own iPhone app ! ) That’s what I like most about it.

link to my post led me to a terrific blog by smArts and Culture by Maryann Devine in Philadelphia that focuses almost entirely on the arts and social media. [...] ...Tags: I’ve been thinking and reading and tweeting and posting a lot about the effect of the recesssion on arts organizations in the last week or so. A A

At the end of her post, Beth suggests, “Maybe arts organizations need to be doing ‘Social Capital Impact’ studies along with other forms of advocacy?” I’m not sure if this is exactly what Beth was getting at, but sort of in that vein, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance on Friday launched what they’re calling the Cultural Engagement Index (CEI). The document released on Friday reports the findings of the project’s first survey, conducted during the summer of 2008 in the Philadelphia region. As I noted last Friday , Beth Kanter , Alison Fine , and Katya Andresen all weighed in recently on the recession and its effect on arts organizations.

Outdoor classical concerts are often more casual. I’ve never been to Wolf Trap, but the lawn seats at Philadelphia’s Mann Center are very relaxed and social. People who prefer a more formal experience can sit in the main open-air hall. What do you think? (Hat-tip to @wfiuarts .) --------------­----------- Stressed about blogging for your cultural organization? Click here to According to the Baltimore Sun , the National Symphony Orchestra will tweet program notes during a performance of Beethoven’s Sixth at Wolf Trap on July 30, 2009 .

Maybe you should, too? Register here . Intro to Arts Blogging Tuesday, May 5, 2009 2 - 3 PM Eastern Time Teleclass I’m giving a class, too. Arts nonprofit people know that a blog will help their organization. Some already have blogs up on their sites. Whew! These are a busy few days coming up. Why does everything I want to do seem to happen at once? Learn Insanely Helpful Stuff without Leaving Your Office Nonprofits and Social Networks Webinar Wednesday, May 6, 2009 1 PM Eastern Time Free The actual name of this webinar is

The Philadelphia Inquirer ’s Peter Dobrin thinks so . Tags: arts arts marketing blogging blogs copy writing cultural clipping service cultural marketing culture facebook management marketing Music nonprofit marketing NPtech online social media social networkin Do symphony orchestras need a new business model? Facebook as Google What Makes Good Online Content The Benefit of the Benefit Your favorite volunteer brought muffins in to the office! Time to take a little break and go over the doings of the past week:

Reminds me of this post I wrote a while back: Are Comments Cool on Arts Blogs ? Blow Up Your Brand panel at IMA09 from Kristen Taylor on Vimeo . Tyler Green takes the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago to task. Are Comments Cool on Arts Blogs? It's Friday. Wasn't it Monday just yesterday? If you've been super busy or super focused, you might have missed these good tidbits.

If you’re in the Philadelphia region, and you’d like to rub shoulders with the local geek-erati, there are a couple of fabulous events coming up for you. G2: Geeks Who Game When: Thursday, April 2, 2009, 6 – 9 PM Where: Tattooed Mom on South Street in Center City Philadelphia Admission: bring 1 jump drive OR 1 package of school supplies (pens, notebooks, highlighters, etc.) Geeks Who Give host a super-fun game night and mentor drive for Philadelphia Futures , a local nonprofit that matches kids with, you guessed it, mentors. They’re not arts-specific, but there’s a nonprofit connection, and fun with games and maps.

Workshop Mapping and Geographic Information Systems for Nonprofits Philly Net Tuesday Tuesday, November 3, 2009 6 – 9 PM Buffalo Billiards (second floor) 118 Chestnut Street Philadelphia PA Free We’re seeing more and more creative uses for mapping and GIS. Matthew Fisher of Night Kitchen Interactive will share the upcoming PhilaPlace.org which aims to "illuminate the history and culture of Philadelphia's unique neighborhoods" through an interactive map of personal stories connected to specific locations. Has the  National Arts Marketing conference put you in the mood for learning?

KickApps lets you build customized widgets for video blogs, video sharing, groups, and personal profiles and add them to your own website, even if your website is a profile or group on a social network site like MySpace or GoingOn. And Beyond As these new tools evolve and others emerge, the potential of online advocacy grows. Rosenblatt was part of the core team that founded Media Bureau Networks (MBN), a streaming media industry leader based in Philadelphia. Tis the season for email marketing. We can help .