“If you had invented Facebook, you would have invented Facebook.”
In the movie The Social Network, the character Mark Zuckerberg says this to two competitors who had an idea similar to Facebook—very similar, but not as successful. Zuckerberg comes across as a total jerk. A rich, successful jerk who created something that millions of people participate in. That thousands of businesses cooperate with. That continues to succeed in its mission of “making the world more open and connected,” even as the little people continue to learn the price in terms of real dollars and intellectual property rights.
In the tech industry, money is made by convincing investors to fund micro-variations on a basic premise such as a social network (myspace/ning/facebook) or image sharing (mopho/instagram/mlkshk). Leaders accept that ideas will be co-opted and they address this with elaborate techniques involving unmapped buildings and non-disclosure agreements.
Lately I’ve been wondering how this approach to innovation translates to the arts sector, particularly regarding programming and fundraising. Once upon a time someone (I think it was arts impresario Courtney Fink) decided to have a Monster Drawing Rally and there are now at least four by that exact name around the country. There are at least ten printmaking Monothons. Live, radio and ebay auctions are nothing new.
However, as we look at more recent innovations: mixed-reality events, socially networked programming, crowdsourced fundraising, etc.—imitators are easier to spot. What are the ethics, and where’s the rulebook? Where do we draw the line at adopting a similar infrastructure—is it Geography? Sector? Artistic genre? Demographics served?
Many nonprofit organizations would serve their missions best by imitation rather than innovation—perfecting, NOT re-inventing the wheel. We have a moral responsibility to serve our mission in a thoughtful, focused way. How do arts workers and funders approach this conundrum in a sector that is less secretive but … to put it plainly … hella territorial?
One of the resources of San Francisco is the beautiful weather and the fact that there is some kind of race almost every weekend. So I was completely inspired by Sara Seinberg’s Run for Radar Productions. I want to do this. I want ten people I know to do this. I don’t really care if it’s for SOMArts or some other organization (okay that’s a lie). But really, I want this idea to catch on. Because Seinberg just did this on her own and look at all the good that comes of it:
-people talk about it, hear about her and discover her work
-RADAR gets $5k to continute building community through literary arts
-fabulous health benefits
Every now and then I get emails from my arts friends who are running a 5 or 10k for a cause—usually health related—and I always think, why not run for art? Training for a run is social, it’s healthy, and it is something that can raise money on a shoestring. These health people have their fundraising DOWN. Why do the arts organizations throw big expensive parties and auctions when if we do our jobs right, every single event we have is a chance to meet artists, be social, learn about and enjoy art, and it’s usually free?
Having big galas for small, grassroots organizations usually feels status-y and weird. The people you are selling tickets to are usually about 90% different from the people who use your services on a day-to-day basis, and because of both the similarities and the differences it is hard to create an effective fundraising event that like a true celebration of the work. Few organizations get it right, and the ones that feel right in SF are usually called fundraisers but described behind the scenes by staff as “more friend-raiser than fund-raiser.” (Aside: what is with this trend of calling every concert and performance a fundraiser? I don’t understand the long-term benefit of giving people a false impression that what they are paying is above and beyond the cost of doing the work).
Of course, I hurt my foot and I’m getting married in a mont so my own Run for the Arts may have to wait a little bit. But my lame excuses only serve to make Seinberg’s success seem all the more awe-inspiring.
Photo credit: 5k, woohoo!
