Arts Engagement Exchange
The Arts Engagement Exchange home page.
An Example AEE Events page.
AEE forums in action.
AEE Resource listings.
Chicago arts organizations get a new community-based web resource for sharing audience engagement techniques.
The Arts Engagement Exchange (AEE)—a partnership between Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Chicago Community Trust—aims to build arts audiences in Chicago by creating a learning network among Chicago arts and cultural organizations on topics related to audience engagement.
OUR APPROACH
The project kicked off with an afternoon-long focus group that featured representatives from a cross-section of Chicago arts orgs sharing ideas, pain points, and other frank discussions about what could help them better engage their audiences. The resulting analysis clearly pointed toward a community-driven site that offered:
- Forums on arts engagement topics
- Community profiles for member organizations
- Event and resource listings
- A blog that features guest writers covering arts and digital engagement techniques
Armed with all this valuable data, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work creating a plan that would bring the online community to life.
IMPLEMENTATION
Our ExpressionEngine-based solution helps members collaborate and share best practices through the following features:
- It alerts members to upcoming knowledge sharing events
- Offers perspectives written by marketing industry and arts organization professionals
- Provides discussion opportunities through blogs and forums
- Makes resources available from past presentations
The site is also a blueprint for building potentially similar resources in other thriving arts communities.
THE RETURN
The AEE site has seen a steady climb in participating organizations since it was launched in 2009. It also won a Hermes Creative Award and a Communicator Award of Excellence in 2010 (see above left).