Ms. Lisa Mallette

Making Connections through Radical Hospitality

Posted by Ms. Lisa Mallette, Oct 20, 2016 1 comment


Ms. Lisa Mallette

Engagement and marketing are not the same thing, but they can work very well hand in hand. As a marketing tool, engagement has everything to do with fostering a richer, fuller experience for those who are already in the building, and then, in turn, encouraging them to tell others about their experience.

As an executive artistic director, not a professional marketing director, I do believe that we need to work hand in hand as well. Giving everyone a meaningful, engaging experience through all aspects of my work gives my marketing director so much more to work with in her job.

Engaging audiences and artists is at the core of our work at City Lights Theater Company. We produce six mainstage shows, as well as the Lights & Music Concert Series and Lights Up!, an annual festival of new plays. Of our six productions, three are generally lesser-known or entirely new works; at least three are regional, national, or world premieres. We treat our patrons, artists, staff, and board members with the utmost warmth, respect, and what we call “radical hospitality,” in every way possible.

Since we have established radical hospitality as a core value, we have seen a significant increase in ticket sales, season-pass holders, individual contributions, and board engagement. In fact, over the past three seasons, City Lights’ operating budget has grown 51%, due largely to our increased attendance for all productions—including our new and lesser-known work.

For us at City Lights, radical hospitality is the forging of lasting, authentic connections to each other, and to our audiences and the stories we tell. We do this by focusing on creating a warm and welcoming environment for our audiences, artists, staff, and board with friendliness and generosity of spirit.

This is an essential aspect of who we are and what we do; our personality is fun, positive, collaborative, supportive, and above all welcoming. We’ve created a culture of care in everything we do.

To cultivate a loyal and trusting audience base, a happy staff, a strong pool of artists, and an active, supportive board, we must help each individual feel connected to the organization as a whole, not simply to one play.

What do we do, exactly? We begin by having someone from the inner family, a staff or board member, in the lobby at every performance with the sole purpose of graciously meeting and greeting everyone. We believe developing a loyal family of artists and audience members takes place one soul at a time. It is relationship-building.    

We host a party on stage for artists, production staff, and audiences after every performance at City Lights, all year round. Food and drink provided are tied to the themes of the play, and all are invited on stage. We play music (again, tied into the play’s themes), serve refreshments, and encourage a more personal connection to the storytelling we have been engaged in together.

After Lauren Gunderson's play "I and You," a moving work with themes of friendship and poetry, audiences were invited to create their own poetry on a magnetic board on stage after the show.

In doing this, we create an authentic environment in which audience members interact with the artists, asking questions and sharing thoughts about what they just saw. They share personal experiences with the artists and each other. Our artists say they love feeling the impact of their work through organic, one-on-one conversations, and our audiences feel included in a more meaningful way. They also have fun! This deepens everyone’s relationships with the work, the organization, and each other.

We also create a small gift, also tied into the theme, to give to each audience member after the show. This is a tangible souvenir, because that eye-to-eye, hand-to-hand, personal moment between audience members and City Lights staff, artists, and volunteers is the point. It is personal.

Some examples are magnetic poetry (including words from the play) for our recent production of Lauren Gunderson’s I and You; origami paper with directions to make a heart, designed for our production of Rajiv Joseph’s Animals out of Paper; and embossed chocolates for our world premiere, commissioned production of Truce: A Christmas Wish from the Great War, by Kit Wilder and Jeffrey Bracco. We have handed out some 45,000 customized gifts over the past five years. 

We often have an interactive activity in the theater before or after performances, again tied into the theme and intended to encourage creative expression and interaction. For I and You, audiences could not only take home small poetry sets, but also created poetry on a large magnetic board displayed at the parties. For Build, a Michael Golamco play about video-game designers, we set up a Nintendo console in the lobby and projected patrons' Tetris games on a wall.

These activities provide our marketing director with a lot to work with to market a show and other events.  Photos, testimonials, and video all come out of these activities for use on social media and beyond.

Colleagues often say their organizations cannot afford this kind of hospitality. While we do budget for these activities, it is not really about money. We are being generous with our time and attention; we are listening to our audiences and connecting with them. Our activities foster genuine relationships with the people who come through our doors; they end up caring about the organization, not just about what show we happen to be producing that night. We can’t afford not to treat our patrons in this manner.

We focus on including both staff and board in many decisions and activities, and we make sure we give space for social interaction before and after every meeting. We ask, listen attentively, and respond openly.

We work together as a team around a common vision, be it a particular play or the mission and the future of City Lights. Everyone feels valued. We strive for truth, transparency, and trust in every encounter, and we keep it fun and interactive.

In everything we do, we lead with our hearts, not with our egos. This creates an environment where everyone feels valued and cared for. This takes place from the inside out; it begins in the office, board meetings, and rehearsal room; it continues in the lobby, in the theater, and on stage at the after-parties.

I believe all people do their best work when their walls are down and they are in a safe place to take risks. I believe when people make a conscious choice to put their best self forward, true, authentic relationships can blossom.

Lisa Mallette is a member of Americans for the Arts.

1 responses for Making Connections through Radical Hospitality

Comments

October 20, 2016 at 3:44 pm

Thank for the great post.  Looks like you're doing everything right.  And any 'expense' is paid back by return ticket buyers for the next show!
And also appreciate the term 'Radical Hospitality'.  In some ways, it's 'radical theatre.'

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