Among the wide array of workshops and burning issues forums during the Association of Performing Arts Presenters 50th Annual Members Conference in New York was a so-called super session on "Engaging The Next Generation" with Rebecca Ryan, founder and CEO of Next Generation Consulting.

Although Ryan’s remarks focused on trends, facts and strategies for getting younger people involved in arts leadership, the research her team conducted with the Arts Council of Indianapolis sheds important light on positioning — what venues and acoustic music presenters throughout the country can do to better reach those in the 20-40 age-range, assuming there’s an interest in doing so.

According to Ryan, the age of the average arts patron in the USA is 52 and inching up. She said that the research conducted by her firm revealed that: arts organizations are not intimidating to younger people; lack of arts education contributes to lack of interest in arts and culture; and young patrons (ages 20-40) are starved for leisure time (The Indianapolis study showed them to have an average of 17.2 hours of leisure time per week).

Based on the research, the overwhelming majority (78%) of 20-40 year-olds decide whether to attend a performance or event within two weeks of it, and most do so online. The Indianapolis study also revealed that young patrons use alternative sources for event information — word-of-mouth being the primary means, followed by e-mail listservs, Web sites, traditional media and alternative media outlets. With respect to word-of-mouth, the research indicates that 75% of initiators are women, that they are the ones more likely to invite others. Noting that some of your patrons are more important than others, Ryan said this can impact how you craft your messages. She noted that the risk for venues is going up as most people, ages 20-40 or not now wait until two weeks prior to an event to commit to attending.

While acknowledging that ticket prices and what people are willing to pay may vary regionally, Ryan noted that her firm’s behavioral-based research in Indianapolis revealed that the average ticket price paid by 20-40 year-olds was $22.50 and that only students seek less or free. Not surprisingly, the research revealed that people are willing to pay more for tickets if going someplace outside of their own home area, in which case it is considered more of an event.

Arts organizations and venues that desire to attract younger audiences must leverage certain marketing and programming enhancements, according to Ryan. She suggested the following marketing enhancements:

  • word-of-mouth is everyone’s job
  • provide free monthly e-mail listing of events
  • Enable visitors to your Web site to “sign-up” on home page “above the fold.”
  • Add an “Invite Someone” link.
  • Track click-through rates and forwards of e-mail. E-mail blasts will work in the short-term, while tracking helps you refine your key audience.

On the programmatic front, Ryan said that Next Generation Consulting’s research showed that young patrons prefer programming that enhances their learning (a desire to be intellectually stimulated), connecting (to be social, to support an artist or organization) and sensing (they crave multi-sensory experiences). According to the research, they do not merely come to venues for the arts — "the experience is more than the art."