As we entered the 2012 Arts Marketing Blog Salon, I said that we were taking cues from change agents, entrepreneurs, and business leaders. All true, but we were also visited by The Giftgiver, The Cowboy, and The Court Jester.

More so than any label, I would say all our bloggers are Supreme Storytellers.

That’s our world of marketing today—tell a great story. And that has always been the world of the arts. From early Greek amphitheaters, to medieval art, to Picasso’s Guernica, to Isadora Duncan’s game changing barefoot dances, to Jenny Holzer’s LED word art, to Cirque du Soleil’s gravity-defining acrobatics.

We tell great stories. Hopefully memorable, sticky, transformative, life-affirming stories.

Thank you to all our storytellers this week: Rohit Bhargava, Doug Borwick, Kevin Clark, Adam Cunningham, David Dombrosky, Ron Evans, Jennifer Hubbartt, Shoshana Fanizza, Laura Kakowleski, Sara Leonard, Will Lester, Clayton Lord, Katherine Mooring, Amelia Northrup, Adrion Porter, Jill Robinson, Nina Simon, Devra Thomas, Jenifer Thomas, Adam Thurman, and Mary Trudel.

Our storytellers demonstrated that we need to make it personal, be visually engaging, listen to our audiences, stay real, and share awesome. They said it in different ways, with different examples, but it always came back to a relatable story.

We hope you will join us in Charlotte at the 2012 NAMP Conference to hear more stories about successful arts marketing and engagement.

And we hope you will go out there and share your own stories. May you find your voice as The Nurse, The Communist, and The Weird Guy with the Beanie.