From Artistic Planning Tyranny to Collaborative Success
I've worked with arts organizations run by tyrannical despots who wield power through secrecy, but fortunately the industry has evolved. If your organization is achieving its mission through collaboration and communication, venue management software can help unite everyone around creating unforgettable experiences for your audience.
Beyond "What's the Date?"
Most arts organizations have landmark events that create the foundational structure for their calendar - core seasons, annual conferences, main fundraising events. Everything else needs to fit around these tentpole moments.
Roadblocks appear when "what is the date?" and "what time does it start?" are the very first pieces of information shared with others in the organization. By the time those details are finalized, extensive preparation and communication has already happened without the full picture. Critical decisions get made in isolation, tracked in spreadsheets that can't capture relational complexity.
The real planning questions are more nuanced:
What is it? Not just "a concert" but understanding whether this aligns with your mission. As stewards of your venue, you can't accept every event. Some present polarization risks, compete with your programming, or have costs that outweigh benefits.
How likely is it to happen? Events move through confirmed, hold, or pending stages. Someone is usually collecting information before it has a date, with scheduling held up by pending approvals or early sales cycles.
Who is it for? I once managed a concert hall where a Georgian organization kept mentioning the president’s attendance and presentation. I assumed they meant their organizational president. Only when Georgian secret service called to schedule a walk through did I realize they meant the president of their country!
The Collaboration Challenge
Traditional venue management systems were built assuming dedicated administrators would input everything and distribute reports through hierarchical structures. That worked when organizations had executive assistants managing information flow and clearer departmental boundaries.
Today's reality involves remote and hybrid work models where staff collaborate asynchronously across departments and time zones. Critical event information lives in multiple places - venue management systems, shared Google Drives, Slack channels, individual databases. Without proper version control and centralized coordination, nobody's sure which calendar is current.
Moving Beyond Secrecy
Confidentiality remains crucial when working with artists and public figures, but the solution isn't information hoarding. Modern venue management platforms have configurable security settings that allow you to share operational details with colleagues while keeping personal information and unpublicized planning under lock and key.
The whiteboard, paper datebook, or Excel file might feel secure, but they don't scale. Venue management systems provide tools to help organizations become more collaborative while maintaining necessary confidentiality controls.
When you can categorize events and create approval workflows, you ensure diverse programming while maintaining oversight. Visibility into potential resource usage lets you see where you might be overbooking inventory or need external suppliers.
The shift from planning tyranny to collaborative success isn't just about better software - it's about creating systems that support the kind of transparent, mission-driven work that makes great art possible.