Arts leaders guiding the creative to become economic innovators

The headline:  “Michael Kaiser: For Arts Sake”, Wendy Helfenbaum, Lifestyles Magazine, Summer 2009

The story:  As president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Michael Kaiser is leading the move by American arts organizations to become stronger business managers and marketers in the face of a stagnant economy.  Kaiser, who has an impressive record as the ‘turnaround king’ of the arts world, has called on foundations to increase arts spending and tax breaks.  At the same time, he is encouraging the formation of corps of better trained managers to find resources, attract audiences and provide support to artists.  In these tough economic times, Kaiser’s overall message is that now more than ever society needs creative people to challenge and excite audiences (see this Minnesota Public Radio interview).

The hope:  With an arts management philosophy based on the mantra of “great art, well marketed”, Kaiser and other accomplished leaders are helping the centers of creativity reassert out-of-the-box thinking and inspiration for the economy.  Rocco Landesman, the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, said that he plans to focus his federal agency’s efforts on both the role of the arts in K-12 education and on promoting the arts as an economic engine for cities and towns (see this story in the Chicago Tribune).  Living his approach, Kaiser has managed to set aside over $20 million over the last number of years which is being used by the Kennedy Center as a rainy day fund to help with times of crisis such as the current economic slowdown.

The background:  Since 2002, Kaiser has mentored the arts administrators of 35 African American, Latino, Asian American and Native American arts groups.  He has also been advising arts groups from around the world about strategic planning, fundraising and marketing.  In early 2009, the Kennedy Center launched Arts in Crisis, a virtual hotline offering troubled arts organizations emergency help and the chance to brainstorm with established arts managers.

Kaiser’s recent book, “The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations”, offers 10 rules for arts organizations to achieve success:

 1. There has to be a/one leader who, at the end of the day, says “This is what we are doing, where we are going, and how we are going to get there.”

2. The leader must have a plan, a strategy, for getting from here to there.

3. You can’t save your way to health. It makes you look irrelevant and you don’t compete well.

4. Focus on the present and the future, not the past.

5. Extend your planning calendar. It costs nothing to do so.

6. There has to be one spokesperson, and there can be only one – positive – message.

7. Marketing is more than just brochures.

8. Don’t aim fundraising gift solicitations too high or too low.

9. The board has to be willing to re-structure itself.

10. You have to have the discipline to do the first nine rules.

The Kennedy Center relies on private funds to direct its performances and educational activities, although it does receive some direct appropriations for its operations from the federal government.

Chinese and American cooperation could spur the next industrial revolution

The headline: “Chinese and American utilities to cooperate in capturing carbon from coal,” by David Biello, Scientific American, August 10, 2009

The story: Leading energy providers from two of the world’s biggest carbon emitters – China and the United States – have agreed to work together to develop renewable and clean energy technologies. China HuaNeng Group (CHG) and Duke Energy will launch a series of meetings to exchange information and explore potential long-term cooperative initiatives to reduce coal plant and other greenhouse gas emissions. The partnership was announced following the signing by the two countries’ governments in July 2009 of a formal memorandum to “Enhance Cooperation on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment”.

The hope: According to the Boston-based environmental advocacy organization which helped facilitate the contacts between these utilities, the arrangement will serve as a “model for how the two countries can work together and find common solutions”; in this case, to accelerate the development of cleaner energy technologies.

The background: CHG and Duke are among the largest electric power groups in their respective countries and both have growing portfolios of renewable energy assets. China is pushing ahead with renewable technologies in what many believe will be the next ‘space race’. According to this Christian Science Monitor report, Chinese factories already make one-third of the world’s solar cells and next year China will become the largest market in the world for wind turbines.

Auto industry turmoil is helping consumers

The headline:  “Ten Good Things About the Auto Recession”, Hannah Elliott, Forbes, July 17, 2009

The story:  Despite the turmoil in the auto industry, Forbes is reporting that “the slump is forcing automakers to bring about [positive] change that affects everyday consumers.  They are prioritizing lighter, more efficient vehicles that save money at the pump.  And consumers have taken to keeping their vehicles longer, thus reducing pollution and waste.”

The hope:  Forbes has identified “10 reasons to be happy about the auto recession”:

1.  Auto companies get leaner. For example, the pruning of GM has resulted in structural costs that are now at least 25 percent lower.

2.  Innovation in fuel.  A recent UC Berkeley study says that the cost of electric vehicles and combustion vehicles will equalize by 2012.

3.  Innovation in design.  Some vehicles hitting the market will be understated in their exterior design (the Chevrolet Volt being one exception as designers have to cope with the need to hide the large batteries of electric vehicles).

4.  Higher vehicle retention.  It is estimated that it will take approximately 25 years for the U.S. to turn over its existing car fleet.

5.  Arrival of new, innovative companies.  One California-based car manufacturer, called Coda, is planning to bring a lithium-ion-powered car to the U.S. market by June 2010.

6.  Improved efficiency.  BMW engineers say they can coax another 10% in efficiency from the combustion engine.

7.  Creative incentives.  For instance, Hyundai recently launched the Assurance program which promises new-car buyers that they can return their car if they lose their job.  Ford and GM have introduced similar programs.

8.  Trickle-down effect.  Reduced sales of new cars means the beginning of long-term relationships between consumers and their auto dealers and service providers.

9.  New sales methods.  Cars are increasingly being marketed through the Internet as a means for auto companies, new entrants in particular, to distinguish themselves and their products.

10.  It’s become cheaper to buy new.  Manufacturers have been offering unheard-of incentives like $8,000 (U.S.) cash rebates and 0% financing on new vehicles.

The background:   The auto industry is experiencing the worst sales slump in a quarter of a century, with domestic sales expected to drop this year by more than 6 million units off the 2006 all-time high.  Two of Detroit’s Big Three – General Motors and Chrysler – are crawling out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, closing 1,000 and nearly 800 dealerships, respectively, in the process.  GM alone has laid off 75,658 workers since last fall.  However, many experts are now saying that the market has at least bottomed out.  Last month, vehicles sales were down a comparatively benign 28% from June 2008, while total retail sales rose 10% over the previous month.  Analysts from J.D. Power and Associates are calling it a “marked improvement”.

The push is on for the ‘old wisdom’ of the family meal

The headline: “PARENTING: How to get quality back into family time”, Business Day, July 8, 2009

The story:  Over the last two decades of the Internet age, family time has been seriously eroded by parents and children spending more alone time with technology (i.e. their computers, televisions, cellphones, etc.) and less together time without these distractions. Various experts are saying that regular family time, family meals in particular, are important for parents and children in so many ways.

The hope:  Despite the troubling statistics, there are many discussions taking place about the old wisdom of family time and, according to a leading U.S. researcher, Dr. William J. Doherty, many young parents are following this wisdom. The author of “The Surprising Power of Family Meals”, Miriam Weinstein, describes them as: “[the] magic bullet – something that would improve the quality of your daily life, your children’s chances of success in the world, (and) your family’s health, something that is inexpensive, simple to produce, and within the reach of pretty much everyone.”  Many experts concur with this view, saying that the benefits are both in body and mind.  According to Dr. Doherty, studies have shown a direct correlation with academic and psychological adjustments in teens; for instance, helping to reduce drug and alcohol use, promiscuity, depression and eating disorders.

The background:  In 2005, a joint White House and YMCA study found that only one in four parents said that their families eat together four times or less a week. One in 10 said they eat only one meal a week with their kids, if at all. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) has undertaken extensive research on family eating patterns.  Its conclusions have been so strong that in 2001 the Center launched a National Family Day to reiterate the importance of family meals.  A 2009 New Years’ piece by CBS news featured a recommendation for family meal time as one of the most important resolutions parents could make for the year.

Iran: Change from within and beyond

The headline:  “Week in Review – end of the beginning”, by Paul Woodward, The National (an English newspaper based out of the United Arab Emirates)

The story:  Written from a nearby Gulf state, this media story summarizes analysis written by some of the main U.S. news outlets with respect to the post-election unrest in Iran.  The National concludes that the Iranian people’s opposition has “exposed a widespread loss of faith in the government’s legitimacy and opened a rift inside Iran’s political establishment” that will not be resolved in any short order.

The hope:  The U.S. media (quoted in the Abu Dhabi article) made several hopeful predictions of what is in store for the government of Iran, the opposition and the Middle East as a result of the recent election protests ….

• Newsweek (Fareed Zacharia):  “When Khomeini established the Islamic Republic of Iran, …. velayat-e faqih, rule by the Supreme Jurist, was at its heart. Last week that ideology suffered a fatal blow.”
• TIME magazine (Tony Karon), referencing U.S.-based Iranian scholar  Farideh Farhi:  “‘To assume that this will lead ultimately to a victory of one over the other is unrealistic as well as dangerous because it may come at the cost of tremendous violence.’  More likely … is the pursuit of some sort of compromise that allows the regime to back down to some extent, without necessarily surrendering.”
• The Washington Post (David Ignatius):  “As the mullahs’ grip on power weakens, there are new opportunities to peel away some of their allies. The United States is moving quickly to normalise relations with Syria, and there’s talk of working with the Saudis to draw elements of the radical Palestinian group Hamas away from its Iranian patrons [....].”
• The New York Times (Roger Cohen):  “Repression will be broad and ferocious in the coming months. The acquiescent have already become the angry. You can’t turn Iran into Burma: The resistance of a society this varied and savvy will be fierce.”
• Another from The New York Times’ article:  “… Iran’s international rhetoric, effective in Ahmadinejad’s first term, will be far less so now. Every time he talks of justice and ethics, his two favourite words, video will roll of Neda Agha Soltan’s murder and the regime’s truncheon-wielding goons at work. The president may prove too much of a liability to preserve.”

The background:  The National is an English newspaper based in Abu Dhabi.  The paper says its role is  “to reflect society, help that society evolve and, perhaps most importantly, promote the bedrock traditions and virtues that must be preserved even in times of change” and “[to] help reinforce Abu Dhabi’s status as a global economic centre, as well as a political, cultural and social leader of the Arab world.”

U.S. Democrats and Republicans agree that food safety requires further government intervention

The headline:  “Congress Finally Gets Tough on Food Safety”, Michael Weisskopf, TIME Magazine, June 12, 2009

The story:  TIME reported on the “unusual bipartisan consensus” that was reached among U.S. Republicans and Democrats this week for the most sweeping reform of food safety in almost 50 years.  The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee approved new legislation to broaden the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) powers to regulate food production and distribution in the aftermath of major recalls of food (and other products) over the last three years.  The FDA regulates 80% of the U.S. food supply.

The new legislation would give the FDA a number of enhanced powers including the ability to: quarantine potentially unsafe food or products, issue regulations to require every company in a food product chain (manufacturers, processors and transporters) to maintain records for the origin and distribution of food, and require food companies to pay an annual fee for each of their facilities to cover the costs of FDA oversight.

The hope:  The support of both American political parties reflects the desire by stakeholders from across the food safety spectrum for further government intervention .  The food industry is supportive of the legislation as a means to maintaining consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply.  The FDA called the legislation “a major step in the right direction”, although it stressed that more money will be needed to achieve aggressive inspection targets.  The Consumers Union, the product testing organization which publishes Consumer Reports magazine, said “[t]he bill would go a long way towards preventing outbreaks like the ones we have seen with spinach and peanut butter.”

The background:  The last several years have seen an unprecedented number of product recalls in North America, to the extent that U.S. consumer organizations named 2007 the “Year of the Recall”.  An estimated 76 million people in the U.S. get sick each year with food borne illnesses and 5,000 die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  A study by a group of leading U.S. consumer groups in 2008 demonstrated that the situation worsened, with a 22% jump in the number of recalls of toys and children’s products in the first half of that year.

Philanthropy to developing world remains robust

The headline: “Philanthropists step up in global decline,”by Christoph Wilkening, The Washington Times, May 24, 2009. 

The story: Looking at trends in global philanthropy, the 2009 Global Index on Philanthropy and Remittances suggests that the amount of money given abroad – largely in the form of remittances by migrants and private donations – will not suffer a significant downturn even though the economy has slowed.

The hope: Utilizing World Bank predictions that remittances and private donations are going to decline by only 5 to 8 percent, the Index’s author, the Center for Global Prosperity at the Hudson Institute in the U.S., predicts that these sources for global philanthropy will play the most important role in helping developing countries weather the financial crisis. 

The background: The 2009 Index was released by the Center for Global Prosperity on April 27.  One of the most significant Index findings was that 2007 marked a large shift for global philanthropic giving, with private philanthropy, remittances and private investments now surpassing government aid as the major funding source. Both Canada and the United States exceeded the United Nations’ target for global philanthropy to developing countries, which is 0.7% of gross national income (GNI).

In 2007, Canada’s flow to the developing world was 1.02% of GNI or $14.3 billion, with $9.3 billion being in remittances ($8.9 b) and philanthropy ($1.4 b), and $4 billion in official development aid.  The U.S. flow was 1% of GNI or $213.4 billion, via philanthropy ($36.9 b), remittances ($79 b) and private capital (97.5 b), compared with $21.8 billion in government aid.