Current — AMT Lab @ CMU

Guest_Correspondent

To Stream or Not To Stream: Is that the right question anymore?

To Stream or Not To Stream: Is that the right question anymore?

The current status of digital programming and investment varies widely across the arts and cultural sector. Some organizations have abandoned the streaming technology they experimented with, while others continue to incorporate digital programs and performances into their offerings.  The following research reveals U.S. streaming trends and audience behaviors.

Using Venmo for Non-Profit Fundraising

Using Venmo for Non-Profit Fundraising

Fundraising is the lifeblood of any non-profit organization. Not only is it the primary way to raise money for your organization’s cause, but it also keeps your organization running day-to-day to work on sustaining its mission. Your nonprofit should always be looking for new donation tools as part of your digital strategy. Non-profit fundraising has been made easier than ever before with the creation of technology and apps, such as Venmo

The Challenge to Keep Millennials and Gen Z Interested in Long-Form, High Quality Content: Part Two

The Challenge to Keep Millennials and Gen Z Interested in Long-Form, High Quality Content: Part Two

Social media is infused into the daily lives of Gen Z and Millennials. In order to reach and meaningfully engage with IND18-35, organizations should build a thoughtful social media presence to funnel the IND18-35 community to specific content. Initially, organizations should identify existing Gen Z and Millennial parties as key stakeholders and partner with them to create interactive, promotional content on social media. The focus should be on TikTok and YouTube as 75% of survey respondents ranked one of these platforms as their primary source of short-form content.

The Challenge to Keep Millennials and Gen Z Interested in Long-Form, High Quality Content: Part One

The Challenge to Keep Millennials and Gen Z Interested in Long-Form, High Quality Content: Part One

Millennial and Gen Z consumers have forever altered the entertainment landscape. Shifts in their viewing habits are being motivated by a sense of community, increasingly short attention spans, and pragmatic decision-making spurred by coming of age in a digital and internet-driven environment. To fulfill these motivations, they have increasingly turned their attention to short-form content. this article offers insights on how and why Gen Z and Millennial consumers watch content.

Managing Privacy, Identity, And Virtual Worlds In Video Games: Part Two

Managing Privacy, Identity, And Virtual Worlds In Video Games: Part Two

In Part Two investigating video game user privacy, the authors highlight the study’s user research and give an analysis of how gamers and companies perceive data privacy, as well as which video game companies provide the most options in terms of privacy settings.

Managing Privacy, Identity, and Virtual Worlds in Video Games: Part One

Managing Privacy, Identity, and Virtual Worlds in Video Games: Part One

The video gaming business is now a world-leading entertainment industry with nearly 180 billion U.S. dollars in market value (Statista, 2021). As more private information and in-game data are collected and utilized to support gaming, it may also threaten the safety of gamers' privacy. Therefore, it is essential for gaming companies to understand the business implications of collecting and using gamers’ private information. There have been studies that take account of the privacy landscape across industries, but privacy in the gaming industry remains less examined given its complexity and rapid recent growth.

Expanding our Live Streaming Future: Refining and Developing New Arts & Entertainment Experiences

Expanding our Live Streaming Future: Refining and Developing New Arts & Entertainment Experiences

Livestreaming has become a burgeoning global industry, recording eight billion hours of content watched in the last quarter of 2020 (May, 2021). This research projects examines the industry before the COVID-19 pandemic, how it evolved during the pandemic, and its future opportunities. From October to December 2020, over eight billion combined hours of content were watched as livestreams on the top three largest platforms, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Live (May, 2021). Using data from industry leader interviews, a national survey, and case studies the team reveals the power and current technology limitations to livestreaming for the live entertainment industry.

Young, Diverse, and Loyal: Engaging a New Audience

Young, Diverse, and Loyal: Engaging a New Audience

Many institutions are rethinking their approach to diversity in the light of renewed protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Theatre companies throughout the nation are a part of this wave, rethinking everything from season planning to staff structure. Yet one of the largest issues at hand is the lack of diversity in audiences. Theatre audiences are dwindling, and those audience members that remain tend to fall into a very narrow set of demographics: usually older, white, and affluent. Theatre companies will have to reach out to new groups If they want to continue working and thriving well into the future.

Creating Success in the Unscripted Video Industry: Part 2

Creating Success in the Unscripted Video Industry: Part 2

The landscape of the unscripted video industry is changing. Part 1 of this series explores four case studies demonstrating the current landscape and what features are most appealing to audiences. In this section, the researchers look to experts in the video industry and fans to explore how the landscape is changing and what content providers should expect. This research is applicable to any content provider of unscripted videos. Furthermore, this research serves as an excellent study for understanding what audiences are seeking from the entertainment industry.

Trends in the Unscripted Video Industry through 4 Case Studies: Part 1

Trends in the Unscripted Video Industry through 4 Case Studies: Part 1

The Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) platform is changing the way viewers watch home entertainment and traditional studios. It is increasingly more difficult to understand an audience’s viewing habits in the over-saturated unscripted programming industry due to the lack of viewer data collection capabilities of SVOD platforms. Through the research and case studies presented in this study, one can better understand a potential audience and what compels them to this type of entertainment.

Fixing the Video Game Inclusivity Problem: Part 2

Fixing the Video Game Inclusivity Problem: Part 2

This report presents research findings on the inclusivity problem in the video game industry based on a quantitative survey and professional interviews. The survey findings are presented below, followed by four recommendations for strategies the gaming industry can use to combat this problem.

Exploring An Equity & Inclusivity Problem: Gender & Ethnic Diversity in Video Games: Part 1

Exploring An Equity & Inclusivity Problem: Gender & Ethnic Diversity in Video Games: Part 1

The video game industry expanded rapidly in the last decade with the U.S.A games market exceeding revenues of $43 billion in 2018. While there is growth, the industry is also facing an increasingly apparent and problematic disparity among audiences. In many traditional PC and console genres, women and non-white ethnicities are underrepresented both among the player-base as well as on-screen; furthermore, the player experience for underrepresented players is markedly different than their over-represented white male counterparts.

Fostering Environmentally-Friendly Practices in Collegiate Theatre

Fostering Environmentally-Friendly Practices in Collegiate Theatre

As the public becomes increasingly aware of the disastrous effects of climate change, individuals and businesses across the globe have tried to decrease their waste by pursuing environmentally friendly and sustainable practices. The theatre industry has made some attempts to follow suit, but their expenditure of resources is still extremely high. Environmentally friendly theatre practices taught at the collage level have the potential to impact the industry at large in the near future.

21st Century Lessons from Capacity Interactive's Digital Marketing Bootcamp

21st Century Lessons from Capacity Interactive's Digital Marketing Bootcamp

Guest Correspondent Randolph Jones of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival attended Capacity Interactive's 2015 Digital Marketing and left elated and hopeful. The conference focused on the intersection of technology, marketing, and the arts and featured presenters from across the sector. To learn more about what these presenters had to say, and to see what insight Jones draws himself, read the full article here.

The Art of Data Management

The Art of Data Management

This post, originally published on Analysis from TRG Arts, is the second in a series of blog posts sharing success stories and best practices to highlight the benefits of effective data management. Find the first post here.

Data isn’t about numbers. It’s about people. When analyzed, data tells stories about people and their actions. Right now, in your database, a story exists about the decisions that people in your organization make. And, a story exists for every patron, which chronicles their relationship with your organization. 

A Data Management Love Story

A Data Management Love Story

This season at Dallas Theatre Center (DTC), a great love story unfolded; however, it was not presented on the stage. During a recent TRG Executive Summit, Managing Director Heather Kitchen shared a tale of romance which both inspired and invoked a bit of envy from the other participants. It was the story of her data manager and the two departments that loved her.

This post, originally published on Analysis from TRG Arts, is the first in a series by TRG’s VP of Data Services Steve Loyd addressing data management and how it can help organizations. 
 

Tips for Choosing a Grants Management System: Part 2

Tips for Choosing a Grants Management System: Part 2

Throughout the process of selecting and implementing a grants management system (GMS), an arts organization must consider many factors in order to ensure positive results. These factors fall into four main categories: vendor interviews, data migration, integration, and training. All of equal importance, these categories must be weighed to find the optimum balance of system features and vendor characteristics.

Today we focus on the last two categories—integration and training. To read the first part of this two-part series, click here.

Tips for Choosing a Grants Management System: Part 1

Tips for Choosing a Grants Management System: Part 1

Throughout the process of selecting and implementing a grants management system (GMS), an arts organization must consider many factors in order to ensure positive results. These factors fall into four main categories: vendor interviews, data migration, integration, and training. All of equal importance, these categories must be weighed to find the optimum balance of system features and vendor characteristics.

Today we focus on the first two categories—vendor interviews and data migration.