It happens here: Consumer-centric Innovation in Charlotte and beyond

Rephrase the question by Nheeda Enriquez

Arts organizations are no strangers to a budget shortage, but in the last 24 hours, I’ve heard and read a lot about the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s efforts to make up the decreased 2009 funding from the city’s Arts and Science Council.  They’ve had remarkable success in just straight out asking for a specific donation during their popular Southpark Pops series.

Not only are concert-goers forking over $5 for free performances, some are offering suggestions on how to expand interest in them.  On today’s episode of Charlotte Talks, local representatives of the arts community talked about this issue, and how they’ve had to think even more innovatively than before.  Beyond traditional cost-cutting measures, one panel member mentioned a solution where he intentionally chose shows that had minimal sets and fewer cast members for this season.

This made me think about how sometimes rephrasing a question or challenge more specifically can help us get past the obvious.  Rather than asking “How can we save money?” you could think about it as “How can we use lighting more creatively?”  Or “How would we acknowledge the actors without using paper?”  Or “How might we double the number of ears listening to our musicians for each performance hour?”

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