New York | Las Vegas Study Trip 2012

New York | Las Vegas
Study Trip 2012
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It was in the air: The USA in spring 2012 was in an extraordinary situation. The upcoming presidential elections were
polarizing and the impact of the financial crisis was increasing
the tension even further - America in transition?
The now 14th New York-Las Vegas study trip will go down in
IKM history as one of the most intense. The 16 participants
and the institute’s management met very pensive media and
arts managers, artists, journalists, businessmen and scientists, who have to face ever-growing economic, media and
cultural challenges. Whether audience development, digital
revolution or customer relationships – every conversation
and discussion focused on future-orientated strategies and
options based on a well-defined corporate identity. In a dynamically changing, globalized world, only those can persist who
are aware of their mission and are able to dialogically convey
it to their audiences and customers. Despite all the differences – this unites Europe and the U.S., these are our common
and shared tasks.
We thank our American colleagues, partners and friends in
New York, Newark and Las Vegas for the inspiring experiences
and their continued hospitality.
Here’s to 2013!
Yours,
Klaus Siebenhaar
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Contents
New York
Apollo Theatre by Marie Egger ..............................................................................................................8
Donna Walker-Kuhne, Walker International Communications Group by Marie Egger ............................9
NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development by Nina Krake ....................... 10
New York Public Library by Friederike Ludewig ................................................................................... 12
Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre by Mara Radulescu .................................................................................... 14
The Metropolitan Opera by Daniela Blaschke ..................................................................................... 16
Democracy Now! by Daniela Blaschke ................................................................................................ 19
Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) & New York German Press (NYGP) by Judith Zinke ....... 21
Pro Publica by Leonie Zug .................................................................................................................. 23
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) & Center for Ethical Leadership by Judith Zinke .............. 25
Carnegie Hall by Tianyang Wu ............................................................................................................ 27
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) by Birte Bösehans .....................................................................30
Edelmann by Dorine Walz ................................................................................................................... 31
MNN - Manhattan Neighborhood Network by Marc Lippuner ..............................................................34
Gallery Tour in Chelsea by Leonie Zug................................................................................................36
Dia:Beacon by Marie Egger .................................................................................................................38
Performance Space 122 by Dorine Walz ..............................................................................................40
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) by Verena Blaettermann ...............................................................42
Las Vegas
University of Nevada Las Vegas by Mara Radulescu ...........................................................................46
The Venetian by Frederiek Weda.........................................................................................................50
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts by Birte Bösehans ............................................................. 54
The Economic and Urban Development Department by Friederike Ludewig.........................................56
Mayor Goodman by Mara Radulescu ..................................................................................................58
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) by Mara Radulescu ..........................................60
Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas by Marc Lippuner ..........................................................................................62
Hoover Dam & Red Rock Canyon Tour with Jim Pegues by Katharina Hein ...........................................65
Imprint...............................................................................................................................................68
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New York
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Apollo Theatre
Text by Marie Egger
The first day of our study trip in New York started off with a
tour through the famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem where we
met Billy Mitchell, also known as “Mister Apollo”. Billy did not
only talk about the theatre’s history but also about his almost
lifelong personal union with the Apollo which makes him a
true icon and ambassador of this great institution.
“Mister Apollo” pointed out that the Apollo Theatre, which
had once been used as a burlesque theatre, had not always
been as connected to the African American population as it
is today. However, after its re-opening in 1934, Ralph Cooper
started the first shows with African Americans performing and
invented the “Amateur night” at the Apollo, which has been
staged every Wednesday ever since. The Apollo Theatre is
famous for this talent show and brought up entertainers and
international superstars such as Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown,
Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Lauren Hill. Its audience
is said to be absolutely honest – a fact that we experienced
at first-hand on Wednesday when we visited the Amateur
Night ourselves and had a wonderful time enjoying the unique
atmosphere at the theatre.
But Billy did not only talk about the Amateur Night – he also
encouraged us to perform a little private talent show ourselves and so, a few of the IKM-students took their chances and
sang, danced and played on the famous stage of the Apollo.
Afterwards, Billy took us behind the curtain to give us a
backstage tour: he showed us the wall where all the stars and
famous fans of the Apollo such as Aretha Franklin and Barack
Obama put their signature on and we visited the dressing
rooms and the basement of the theatre where the stars and
amateurs get ready for their show. By doing this, Billy let us
be part of the Apollo Theatre and spirit and made us feel more
than welcome in this very special place!
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Donna Walker-Kuhne,
Walker International
Communications Group
Text by Marie Egger
Right after the tour with Mister Apollo, we had the pleasure to
meet Donna Walker-Kuhne, the president of the Walker International Communications Group, in the basement of the theatre. The
conversation focused on the Apollo Theatre and its role in and
for Harlem because Donna has been working as an advisor for
the theatre since 2007.
Donna answered all our questions about her company, the
structure of marketing for the Apollo and the techniques and
evaluation of Audience Development. Her company focuses on
engaging everyone for Apollo’s audience and she described
several methods of how to encourage people to come and visit
this institution. Thanks to her various examples, we clearly got a
sense of how to open our eyes towards new possibilities of promoting a show. Donna understands the theatre as very important
for the neighborhood and therefore concentrates a lot on how to
make sure people feel welcome at the Apollo Theatre.
Another important lesson we learned was that, when working
on marketing for the arts, one has to separate themselves from
their personal opinion. It is absolutely necessary to understand
what the audience thinks about the institution, to listen to what
people say about it and to show objectivity and passion for
one’s work. We learned a lot from Donna’s expertise and it was
great to meet her at such a history-charged and famous place as
the Apollo Theatre in Harlem!
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NYU Steinhardt
School of Culture,
Education and
Human Development
Text by Nina Krake
On the afternoon of our first day in New York, we went to Washington Square to visit the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture,
Education and Human Development. Carlo Lamagna, professor
of Art and Art Education at the department of Visual Arts, and
Brann J. Wry, professor of Arts Administration at the department
of Performing Arts, warmly welcomed us with some cool water
on this sunny March day. Two students from NYU Steinhardt also
attended the lecture and together, we discussed the latest development of arts and education focusing on two documents: The
Coburn Amendment and TrendsWatch 2012.
The Coburn Amendment is about a heavy debate on a legal bill
for economic recovery of public institutions that was announced
by Senator Tom Coburn and would have prohibited awarding
cultural institutions any kind of public means. Due to massive efforts by the cultural scene, the bill was not implemented. Nevertheless, the debate it caused shows that the cultural sector and
its economical value are underestimated in the United States.
There seems to be a need to make the legislators aware of the
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economical importance of museums, theatres etc. In contrast
to Germany, there is no „cultural secretary of state“ in the US
administration and therefore no strong voice enforcing the
interests of cultural institutions. Professor Lamagna described the big problem like this: “Money talks! If you don’t have
money you don’t have a voice.”
But the fight with the government for public means is not
the only problem the arts have to face. The lack of education
among the audiences also causes a high percentage of passive and uninterested citizens in the United States. Unfortunately, the arts have always been reactive (and not proactive)
against whatever was the reason for difficulties.
In order to understand the museums’ and theaters’ needs,
we looked at TrendsWatch 2012. In times of social media and
multiple options, cultural organizations have to find new ways
to get in contact with their audiences and encourage people
to volunteer. The role of crowdsourcing is growing because
people love to share and there are a lot of amateur internet
experts who could support institutions as volunteers. Therefore, crowdsourcing and microgiving should be considered as
new forms of philanthropy.
Education for kids remains very important but we also must
pay attention to older visitors because of the changing demographics. Besides audience development, cultural institutions, especially in the U.S., are vulnerable for cuts in taxdeductibility of personal donations which are likely to lose
their tax-exempt- status because of governmental debates. If
this will happen, the institutions have to respond by raising
fees, appealing more donations, cutting programs or services,
reducing staff or even close.
These tendencies underline the importance of the work of
cultural managers. We have to look for convincing arguments
towards the government and potential visitors and encourage
the position of the institutions, especially the small ones.
Professor Lamagna explained this with a great metaphor: the
arts can be seen as an island with a lot of bridges to and from
other sectors which do not only influence the arts but are also
influenced by them! Therefore, it is time for us as future cultural managers to get even more proactive!
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New York
Public Library
Text by Friederike Ludewig
On our second day in New York, we were allowed to get an
insight into one of the largest public libraries in the US: the
New York Public Library. We had our meeting at the flagship
building of the library system, the Stephen A. Schwarzman
Building on 5th Avenue. The main branch building opened in
1911 and is a prominent historic landmark in Midtown Manhattan. Already on the way to the meeting room, we managed
to get a glimpse of the magnificent interior: marble walls and
floor, historic furniture and wood paneling.
We already knew that the library is a public-private-partnership with approximately 60% of the budget coming from the
government – contrary to Germany where libraries mainly operate with public financing. We were curious to find out how the
New York Public Library manages to acquire the other 40% of
their budget from other income sources, bearing in mind that
this institution cannot ask for entrance fees. Within an hour
we got a broad and intense overview of Fundraising, Marketing and Sponsorship at The New York Public Library.
A significant share of the library‘s income derives from private
and corporate donations. Thus, the NYPL has to compete with
other cultural and educational institutions for philanthropy
in New York. Besides recognition, the library has many more
things to offer to its donors: Invitations to library events,
reductions on the library shop, lower rental rates for the magnificent library rooms, volunteer opportunities for corporate
donors‘ employees, library tours or tickets to the legendary
Fundraising Gala – to mention only a few of them. We learned
from Jessica Cassidy, Director of Membership and Online
Giving that the specific benefit depends on the position in the
donor structure: contributor classes are clearly defined according to the amount they give.
But how does the library attract all these donors? Jessica
Cassidy let us in on the process: After initial research and
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profile building, one reaches out to the potential donor best
via email. The next step is to try set up a meeting while being
“persistent but not annoying“. Once a meeting is set-up, it is
essential to build the relationship by sending information,
invitations etc. on a regular basis. If the potential donor decides to join, stewardship is the key: reaching out constantly to
maintain a consistent communication.
After this very insightful meeting, Jessica Cassidy took us on
a tour through the house and we were very happy to see more
of the beautiful historic building. Even though in Europe we
are more used to see old buildings, we were amazed by the
beauty of the NYPL, especially when we entered the famous
Rose Main Reading room.
We are very grateful to have been allowed this look behind the
scenes of one of New York‘s most important cultural institutions. We learned many things, most importantly that there is
huge range of possibilities for marketing and fundraising tools
in the cultural sector and that many German institutions have
not even started to consider those.
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Alvin Ailey Dance
Theater
Text by Mara Radulescu
After our visit of the New York Public Library, we walked
through the streets of New York to meet Amanda Nelson,
Deputy Director of Development, at the Alvin Ailey Dance
Theater. Besides an interesting discussion, we could also get
a close impression of the daily business of the company: dancers were sitting in the foyer for a break between classes while
others were attending or giving their courses in a very creative
atmosphere.
Since 2004, the company is based in Midtown. The architecture of the building welcomes everybody who is interested in
what is going on inside. Thanks to a completely transparent
glass front, you have the chance to watch the dancers of Alvin
Ailey exercise in their classrooms. It is very inspiring to see
how hard and passionate the artists work on their performances and style. So these „shop windows“ are a perfect promotion tool.
Amanda Nelson explained to us that approximately two third
of the annual budget is covered by earned incomes which are
generated through a mixture out of travelling (touring), the
Ailey extension (classes open to public), Ailey School (academy for the offspring) and performances “at home”, while
the remaining one third is gained by contributions (donation,
funds, public money, etc.). Due to its various activities, the
company is lucky to earn most part of its income on its own.
Workshops and dancing classes for non-professionals lead to
a broad public awareness of the institution. But also the public and partly historical value of Alvin Ailey makes it attractive
to potential sponsors.
Alvin Ailey can be seen as a brand which is already successfully internationally established – within an enthusiastic
audience as well within a pool of sponsors. The Alvin Ailey
brand is the key for prosperous work. Therefore it is even more
important to protect that trademark. Amanda Nelson referred
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to the basic principle to keep the art separate from the influence of sponsors.
During the financial crises in 2008, the Alvin Ailey Theater
lost sponsors. Fortunately, they could regain certain sponsorships after the crisis was over. Sponsorship for Alvin Ailey is
organized very cleverly: they set up a system with different
levels of donation. Each level is honored with specific advantages like invitation to events, free classes or discount on
merchandise articles. If you donate more than $1250 p.a., you
will become an „Ailey Partner“. Of course, these people can
enjoy a lot of extra attention by the institute. So „Partners“ are
allowed to use the image of the company for their own good,
for instance they can invite the dancers for special events or
to public dinners.
This example shows that marketing within sponsorships assumes a major role and gets more and more important. Today
the exchange between sponsor and beneficiary is not simply
idealistic anymore. Transfer of image is part of this relationship, too.
Upon the subject of the duration of a dancers’ career, Amanda
Nelson estimated that an active career ranges from eight to
ten years in the company. However, after the time of an Ailey
dancer on stage is over, the Alvin Ailey Theater saves their
dancers from possible unemployment by a career transitions:
some become choreographers and continue their artistic career staying with the core company; others use their experience
and become dancing teachers or support the versatile program of education of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.
Throughout our whole time in New York, we saw a lot of posters featuring the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation and thanks
to Amanda Nelson, we got an insight on how to build and
cultivate a world-renowned cultural brand.
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The Metropolitan
Opera
Text by Daniela Blaschke
Entering the Met through its stage entrance is an experience
that we will keep in our memories, especially after having had
a glimpse at the rehearsal schedule and realizing that stars
of the opera like Anna Netrebko had used this entrance just a
couple of hours before.
Hilary Ley, Director of Audience Initiatives and Special Projects, picked us up there and led us to one of the donors’
rooms on the first floor, crossing the foyer and giving us a first
impression of the main building and its stunning architecture.
Ley’s job profile focuses on building new audiences, she told
us – and in doing so the Met has gotten very creative. Apart
from the Live in HD program which started in 2006 and now
reaches audiences in 1600 movie theaters around the world,
the Met engages in projects with other cultural institutions
to address new (not necessarily meaning young) audiences.
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An example for such a project could be a curatorial talk at the
portrait section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that brings
the curator there together with a costume designer of the
opera and thereby reaches out to people who might already
be interested in the visual arts but have not yet been engaged
in what is happening in the performing arts. After this night,
they might be.
In this context, Stephen Brown, the Met’s Company Manager,
pointed out another road the Met is taking to raise awareness
and interest with (in this case younger) people who would
not be considered the typical opera audience: as General
Manager, Peter Gelb invited theatre and film directors to bring
classic operas to the stage, the first being Madame Butterfly
by the British filmmaker Anthony Minghella. As a commitment
to artistic as well as to audience demands, the strategy has
proven successful.
The season at the Metropolitan Opera runs September
through May – what equals to about 220 performances per
year. On average, 28 different opera productions are being
staged during that time, between six and eight of them are
new ones. A schedule that elaborate has to planned well in
advance: in March 2011, Stephen Brown had been working
on the programming for 2017, hiring artists for 2016, planning
the rehearsals for individual productions in 2015 and had just
finalized the budget for the upcoming season.
Well equipped with information on the artistic and managerial
challenges of a house like the Metropolitan Opera, we then
got the chance to take a look at the work in progress there: On
stage, the scenery for the night’s opera was being arranged,
behind the scenes, the costumes got their final touch and our
wonderful guides did not miss to point out a colorfully painted room at the end of a corridor, from where we could hear
children’s voices rehearsing. And it should not be long until
we would be able to see them on stage…
Entering the Met through the front entrance the next evening
for Verdi’s Macbeth (in line with the above outlaid artistic profile, conducted by the British theatre director Adrian Noble),
indeed felt different with all chandeliers gleaming and people
in their evening dress. Yet surely, we identified and allocated
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many elements which we had talked about two hours before
with Hilary Ley, Stephen Brown and our guides and which we
might not have paid commensurate attention to otherwise.
Macbeth proved to be a great opera with Nadja Michael as
Lady Macbeth in her company debut – very fitting for our first
visit to the Metropolitan Opera!
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Democracy Now!
Text by Daniela Blaschke
We arrived at 207 West 25th Street on a sunny New York
morning at 7.30 am. The city was already busy with people on
their way to work and with the prospect of being present at
Amy Goodman’s daily news hour The War and Peace Report,
our speed and spirits that morning were just as high.
After a strong cup of coffee and with a few more minutes to go
before the live recording of the daily news hour would start,
Simin Farkhondeh, education director at DN! and herself an
award-winning filmmaker, gave us a quick tour of the control
room, where last changes on the footage for the upcoming
show were just being made. The concentrated and at the
same time excited atmosphere made an impression on all of
us. From our seats in front of the studio window, we were then
able to watch both what was being filmed inside, as well as
what was being broadcasted to the world on screens around
us. The War and Peace Report covers the day’s headlines at
8.00 am in 60 minutes and throughout the day is broadcasted on currently more than 1000 TV and radio channels. With
interviews often continuing more than an hour after the live
broadcasting has finished, context and additional footage for
online versions of the show is provided.
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After recording had been finished, Simin Farkhondeh made
time for a talk on DN!’s mission and structure as well as the
challenges independent journalism is facing in this context. DN! can be perceived as realizing the original idea of a
counter public, bringing to the fore what “has not been said
yet”, focussing and providing background information on
topics that fall through the grid of mainstream media. In this
context, DN! uses social media not only to connect to citizen
journalists or activists but also to create public awareness for
a topic, which then can be no longer ignored by the big media
corporations. Financing comes from licenses that DN! receives from the channels who broadcast the show and to a large
amount from individual donors (most of the time themselves
readers, listeners and watchers) or foundations. Sponsoring
or advertising is not part of the financing model.
Since 1996, when The War and Peace Report started as a radio
show, DN! – as many other counter public media – has been
experiencing professionalization processes in various fields.
“It is an interesting game” says Simin Farkhondeh: style and
technical equipment of the show have developed over time,
resulting in a very professional look and a high level of technical quality today. At the same time, content is where DN!
holds on to its original methods of selection and presentation, to the ideas of alternative journalism and counter public.
DN! still takes a direct turn on its topics and refrains from
rather soft news. The challenge of a balance between professionalism and credibility is one that DN! is willing to take.
On a last round trip (at DN! the offices are literally put around
the heart of the institution, the studio and the control room),
one of Simin’s colleagues told us about some aspects of technical developments that have made his job easier over the
last years. He is the one taking care of DN!’s archives, making
sure that e.g. books, articles or news agency material are selected, properly organized and preserved for future research.
Back where we started off, in front of the studio window, a
short talk with Amy Goodman was a great honor to all of us
and once more an example of how approachable and credible one can remain while being extremely professional at the
same time.
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Wall Street, New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE) &
New York German
Press (NYGP)
Text by Judith Zinke
When Jens Korte, president of New York German Press, took
us to the balcony of the New York Stock Exchange, we had just
missed the Mad Men cast ringing the famous Opening Bell in
inauguration of the new season. However, we could catch an
impression of the current events overlooking the booths of
the listed companies.
Different from what most of us expected after having seen
movies like Wall Street by Oliver Stone or Trading Places with
Eddy Murphy, the trading room was not brimming over with
yelling brokers. Quite the contrary occurred: only few employees stood next to their booths and Jens Korte clarified that
other than ten years ago, most of the trades are now made
online. Only two of former seven trading floors are still open –
technological evolution made the trading floor almost dispensable.
Still, the NYSE is the biggest stock market worldwide, trading
800 millions stocks and transferring 60 billion dollars every
day. Nowadays more than a trading floor, it has become a
platform for various news stations. Only a few months ago, a
big studio of CBNC opened on the floor, Bloomberg and Fox
Business have their offshoots there, cameras are installed all
over the floor supplying the world with visual material, the
NYSE even provides technical equipment for free as part of
their marketing strategy.
Furthermore, we got a short glimpse into the media and
marketing department on the third floor, getting an idea of all
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the different channels and media stations reporting daily from
and are connected to the NYSE – media-wise, the NYSE is very
well cross-linked. Just as Jens Korte is well reputed within the
NYSE appearing there almost daily producing reports for various German and Swiss media: his independent press agency
New York German Press, covers financial and business news
for German media, be it TV, radio or newspaper, all handled
by five persons – from research, recording, production, postprocessing as well as distribution.
Living in the US for more than 12 years now, Jens Korte experienced some major changes particularly in regard to the NYSE,
like the emergence of internet trading as well as the financial crisis that started in 2008. The first important thing we
learned from him: crises are very cost-effective for journalists.
During the financial breakdown, Jens Korte made up to twenty
live reports a day. So now when American economy seemingly
is recovering, times get harder for him as a journalist. However, by selling reports to more than one customer and being
virtually a monopolist in American economic news coverage
for German-speaking media, the agency may not expand but
is doing quite well.
After leaving the NYSE, we made a short walk to Zuccotti Park,
a site that since September 2011 is not just the place anymore
where white-collar professionals eat their lunch out in fresh
air but now is known as the centrepiece of the Occupy Wall
Street movement. Only few days after the demonstration on
the occasion of the movements six month anniversary that
ended with numerous assaults and arrests, almost nothing
was to be seen of it anymore except one vacant NYPD watchtower at the edge of the square that gave hint to what was going
on and perhaps will recur.
So, whereas Wall Street and NYSE as physical spaces may lose
their importance to the trading activities and rather become a
representational picture of the financial market serving more
and more as a media platform, what happens around it may
be the starting point for some changes.
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Pro Publica
Text by Leonie Zug
“To expose abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust
by government, business, and other institutions, using the
moral force of investigative journalism to spur reform through
the sustained spotlighting of wrongdoing.” - Mission Statement of Pro Publica
We met Mike Webb, Director of Communications, at the Pro
Publica newsroom in Lower Manhattan where he showed us
around, so we could get an impression of the daily business
of the reporters working there. Mike told us about the idea of
Pro Publica, a non-profit news desk for investigative journalism which started in 2007 when Herbert and Marion Sandler
decided to invest a significant amount of money in serious
journalism. The couple had asked Paul Steiger who was the
Chief Editor of the Wall Street Journal, for advice where to
invest their money in and Steiger came up with the idea of Pro
Publica. He is now Pro Publica’s Editor-in-Chief and one of its
board members.
Starting with an annual operating budget of 10 Million Dollar
which was, for the first three years, donated by the Sandlers,
Pro Publica is now trying to get more money through fundraising from different individual donors and foundations.
Today, the Sandlers are still the most important donors for the
company. However, Debbie Goldberg who is also part of the
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Board of Directors, is doing an incredible job in fundraising
and other foundations such as the Ford Foundation, the John
S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation
and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are contributing
smaller amounts of money to the budget as well. Although
Herbert Sandler is part of the Board of Directors, he has no
influence on the content: it is one of the fundamentals of Pro
Publica to stay independent from their donors.
About thirty reporters are now working for Pro Publica and
they are treating all kinds of topics. Their articles can be easily
republished by other media as long as they are following the
terms and regulations of the creative commons license. That
means they have to credit the author and Pro Publica in the
byline and they are not allowed to resell it or modify the article in a significant way. By providing their contents to other
media, Pro Publica tries to reach out to a bigger community. It
is their very own contribution to the current media crisis in the
US where print media are having serious problems financing
the time-consuming research which is needed for investigative journalism. Pro Publica also collaborates with media partners like ABC News, The New York Times, the Huffington Post,
The Guardian, The Sunday Times (U.K.) and The Washington
Post.
And success proved them right: Pro Publica journalists already
won two Pulitzer Prices over the last two years. In 2010, Sheri
Fink won the price in the category of Investigative Reporting
for her article „The Deadly Choices at Memorial,“ on euthanasia at a New Orleans hospital in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
- an article which was published in partnership with The New
York Times Magazine. And in 2011, Jesse Eisinger and Jake
Bernstein have been awarded in the category of National Reporting for their stories on Wall Street bankers who enriched
themselves during the financial crisis.
We also had the chance to talk to Lois Beckett, a young reporter who just finished her internship at Pro Publica and then
got hired as a permanent reporter. She was talking with such
a strong passion and energy about her job and her belief in
the future of investigative journalism that we could all feel the
enthusiastic working spirit of Pro Publica which must be the
secret of their great success.
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New Jersey Performing Arts Center
(NJPAC) &
Center for Ethical
Leadership
Text by Judith Zinke
From the “Big Apple” to the “Brick City”: after a 20-minutes
trainride from New Yorks Penn Station, Newark welcomed us
with sunshine and spring-like warmth. Even warmer, we were
welcomed at the NJPAC by Dana Bochna and Joanne Hsu from
the Centre for Ethical Leadership at Rutgers Business School
who kindly had set up this trip for us, and Joan (the incarnation of civil society), a NJPAC volunteer who had already given
tours when NJPAC was still under construction.
During the tour around the performing arts centre, we learned
about its history, its program and above all what the NJPAC
meant and still means to the city of Newark that suffered
from social upheavals and urban demolition since the riots
in 1967. Newark was considered one of the most dangerous
cities throughout the United States. So when former New
Jersey governor Thomas H. Kean proposed in 1986 to build a
Lincoln Center-like performing arts centre in Newark, he was
thought to be insane. Far from it! Seeing and experiencing
what is going on around the NJPAC and in downtown Newark
now, it seems to be quite successful as well as accepted and
appreciated by the city’s residents. Contributing greatly to the
upgrading and urban development of downtown Newark, it
turns out to be one of the rare positive examples of gentrification. This can surely be ascribed to the openness of NJPACs
founders and operators towards the residents, knowing that
only by involving the communities from the beginning on the
performing arts centre can create acceptance and success.
The comprehensive Arts Education Program, being the fourth
largest in the US, contributes its part to it, too.
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After having got to know the building with its large inviting
windows opening to the city, we had a delicate lunch in the
rehearsal hall together with James Abruzzo, co-founder of the
Centre for Ethical Leadership and long-time friend of the IKM.
John Schreiber, the new CEO of the NJPAC, joined us for the
talk, too. We heard about the challenges the NJPAC has to face
attracting diverse audiences in Newark itself and from other
cities nearby (not from New York City, obviously) as well as we
learned about the challenges the new leader John Schreiber
has to deal with, being the successor of the founding president Lawrence P. Goldman who is closely connected to the
history of the NJPAC.
Later on, we enjoyed a historical tour throughout downtown
Newark given by Professor McCabe of the Rutgers-Newark History Department, informing us about Newarks role as starting
point in American immigration history, having been home
for almost all nationalities of immigrants before they moved
further west in the country. Along the way, we could witness
both the degeneration the city had to struggle with as well as
the urban revival that is taking place right now.
With no exaggeration one can say that Newarks NJPAC in its
approach as well as in architecture is a show case of how culture can have impact on sustainable community relationship
building and urban development.
26
Carnegie Hall
Text by Tianyang Wu
Our visit to the world famous Carnegie Hall began in the offices building of the music hall with a talk to IKM’s long friend
Mr. David Wyeth, director of Marketing. He gave us a brief
introduction to Carnegie Hall before we continued with a Q&A
part and lively discussion.
Since Audience Development is the major issue of all cultural
institutions, we first asked about Carnegie Hall’s knowledge of
their audiences. Being in a city like New York where all cultural
institutions are fighting for audiences, this is definitely a huge
challenge for the people working in marketing. The majority of
the ticket buyers come to Carnegie Hall for performances only
once a year and are mostly from the local market - this surprised us a bit because being one of the most prestige music
halls of the world, we reckoned that the proportion of international audiences at Carnegie Hall would be much bigger.
Mr. Wyeth later on explained how they build up the relationships with their audiences, focusing on the strategies in social
networks where the big question is how to convert online fans
into ticket buyers. Mr. Wyeth shared with us the sentence
“We define art while the audiences define services”, which
explains best what an audience-oriented cultural institution
should look like. Talking about the services, they have done
a lot online as well as offline. For the online part: Carnegie
Hall set up “Live Ticker” discussions on Twitter and Facebook,
they have put up artist interviews and special performances
on their YouTube channel; 3000 pre-concert emails were sent
this year and they are planning to send post-concert emails
as well. For the Offline part, free food and some post-concert
talks were provided. Combined with their membership strategies, we have learnt a lot about their philosophy of Audience
Development: losing some audience is normal but one should
always remember that keeping the old audiences is more
important than acquiring new ones.
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Traditionally, the education program belongs to Audience
Development. However, in Carnegie Hall they separate it because of its great importance. Every year more than 350,000
people are involved in the huge education programs of Carnegie Hall, such as corporations with the national orchestra and
with the Royal Academy of Canada. These education programs
do not only show Carnegie Hall’s responsibility for the public
but also help to create future audiences.
Another big question we discussed was about the brand “Carnegie Hall” since only 25- 30% of the performances in Carnegie Hall are internal productions. Up to 75% of the events
are organized by externals. We asked about the concerns of
Carnegie Hall mixing the brand with external operators. Mr.
Wyeth pointed out that the marketing of external events was
run by private renters. Besides, they strictly forbid the usage
of Carnegie Logos for private rentals and almost everyone
could rent their concert halls for performances.
At last, we talked about the position of classical music in our
society as well as the volunteer programs of Carnegie Hall.
Throughout the whole exchange, we could all feel the love Mr.
Wyeth showed for the music, especially the classical music industry. In the end, everything is about personal relationships
and only with the passion for music as David Wyeth has got it,
you can work as wholeheartedly as he does at Carnegie Hall.
After this interesting talk we were taken to Seventh Avenue
where we started our tour of the historical building of Carnegie Hall. “Music Ambassador” John showed us around the
house, trying to tell us as many background stories of Carnegie Hall as possible: from the history of New York City to the
personal life of Carnegie; from the German immigrants in New
York to anecdotes of many musicians who have performed
in the famous music hall. In the building, we could also see
many photos of the people who once performed in Carnegie Hall. They were not only musicians but also dancers and
other artists. People associate Carnegie Hall with classical
music but Carnegie Hall has more to offer than that: Andrew
Carnegie wanted the place to be the crossroad of America.
There have been lectures here, political rallies, there was a
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circus and a belly dance. Even a typing contest took place at
Carnegie Hall during the recession! They have had comedians,
dance, even operas and Carnegie Hall has a long history of
jazz and popular music, too. The Beatles played here in 1964.
And also Lady Gaga appeared at the Carnegie Hall.
We would like to thank our hosts at Carnegie Hall for taking
their time to talk to us! We really enjoyed our discussion and
got a lot of inspiration from you. And we hope that Carnegie
Hall will become the “crossroad” of America again!
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The Museum of
Modern Art (MoMA)
Text by Birte Bösehans
On our arrival at the famous MoMA building in Midtown, we
were warmly welcomed at the front desk. On one of the higher
floors, our hosts introduced themselves: Meagan Johnson,
Director of Membership, Rebecca Stokes, Director of Digital
Media and Jay Levenson, International Program.
Meagan Johnson started the meeting by explaining the
Membership program of the MoMA to us. She pointed out the
significance of the members as well as the patrons because
they got a high level of reliability. She explained the many
ways the MoMA tries to reach new members and to keep them
afterwards. Therefore, it is a great advantage that the MoMA
can offer its members the experience of visiting the museum
and the exhibitions.
The second topic we talked about was marketing. At MoMA,
Rebecca Stokes told us, their main goals are to raise awareness and bring new people into the institution. Therefore,
they use search engines, Social Media (Foursquare, Facebook,
Twitter, etc.), e-news and advertisement.
Jay Levenson introduced the international program of MoMA
– a topic we all found very interesting. It started in 1952 and
aims to bring different exhibitions to other parts of the world.
Their new geographical goals are East Europe, Latin America
and Eastern Asia.
The next point on the agenda was the Fundraising Department. We were told about the importance of individual donors
as well as corporate donors in the United States and even
other parts of the world. The MoMA just started events to
raise the attention of individuals from abroad. Therefore, they
invited members in Mexico, Berlin and Brazil to an exclusive
event to encourage them to give money to the museum.
We are very thankful that the MoMA gave us the possibility to
learn so much about the different aspects of the work at an
outstanding museum like this!
30
Edelman
Text by Dorine Walz
After our interesting lecture at the Museum of Modern Art, we
headed downtown to Edelman, the world‘s leading independent Public Relations firm. Richard Edelman himself welcomed us at his company and gave us a very interesting overview of the Trust Barometer 2012:
In 2008-9, when large, global companies such as Lehman
Brothers and AIG collapsed, trust in business imploded. At
that point government implemented new regulations and
helped businesses with bailouts. But the extremism that
followed in the politics in 2011, paralyzed government and the
public lost confidence.
Throughout the world, people blamed their governments –
more than any other institution – for the financial and political
crises that endured in 2011. In Europe, the loss of trust hit the
hardest in France, Spain and Italy. Fortunately, trust in government held steady in Germany and despite all the political
discourse, trust remained stable in the United States as well.
Businesses who lose trust because of a lack of transparency,
can regain it by offering good operations - an option governments are not able to implement easily. Having lost their trust
in both business and governments, people tend to lay their
trust into friends and family. Institutions have to use the four
leaf clover of media (Mainstream, New, Social, Owned) to
engage the public and join into a continuing conversation.
After this interesting overview, Richard Edelman took his time
to answer our questions and then passed on to his colleagues.
First, an employee from the Consumer Product department
presented a campaign about the product placement of a new
razor they had done for Schick, a big producer of hygiene
products in the United States. Schick’s biggest competitor,
Gilette, has, in contrary to Schick, huge marketing budgets
and was going to launch a new product the week after Schick
did. However, thanks to Edelman, Schick invested their smaller budget in public relations in a more useful way. A research
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had shown that men got enthusiastic about the razor after
having tested it. Obviously, it was not possible to send razors
to every household in the U.S. but Edelman came up with the
idea to bring a test place to a show where the razor would be
completely out of place and therefore raise attention: a trade
fair for electronic devices. For this fair, Schick had customized
a barbershop booth where men could get a free shave. The experiment was successful: the night before the public opening
of the trade fair, the New York Times published a story about
the campaign, many visitors and reporters walked by the
booth, saw others get shaved and talked about the booth and
told other people about Schick – a great way to raise attention in other media than men magazines.
After this innovative case study, an employee from the
Technology Department followed with a lecture about Juniper
Networks, a company specializing in security technology that
is somewhat smaller than its competitor CISCO. The goal in
this case study was to raise the profile of Juniper Networks
using the clover leaf. The challenge in this area is to explain
complicated processes in an understandable and interesting
way. The Juniper Networks Office in Ohio had done a lot of
research about security problems in the internet, not only for
computers but also for smartphones. Edelman created info
graphics about these information and rose a lot of awareness.
Worldwide, many people tweeted about the report and Juniper
Networks got many followers.
Last but not least, we heard another case study from the
Corporate Reputation department. The employee talked to us
about a big campaign Edelman did to reposition General Electrics, one of the biggest companies in the world. Every year,
the GE reflects the positioning of the brand and 2012 they
realized that many people still do not know about the variety
of sectors General Electrics works in. Therefore, the company
asked its employees about their understanding of the brand
and the inquiry resulted in a new positioning of the company which now had to be communicated to the public. The
campaign was first shown at the Super Bowl 2012 and was
accompanied by tweeds with the hashtag #whatworks. Also,
in a four-day-long meeting, 2100 business leader, students
and politicians met to examine American competitiveness.
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Edelman did the media for the events. To be present in the
cities where General Electrics is important, they worked out a
series of city initiatives varying in each city. These initiatives
are going to run throughout the summer. To monitor the success, there will be a tracking survey every quarter to evaluate
the change in the image people have of General Electrics.
After having heard these three cases out of the EdelmanPortfolio, we were taken on a tour of the offices and left the
creative surroundings full of new impressions and ideas.
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MNN —
Manhattan
Neighborhood
Network
Text by Marc Lippuner
The Berlin-based TV station ALEX-TV offers the chance to create personal TV shows to almost everybody. Our master degree
course Arts and Media Administration broadcasts two selfproduced shows on ALEX-TV regularly: Kultinger, a 15- minuteshow that introduces our numerous projects like exhibitions,
events or workshops to the public, and NewSchool, a show
that presents short movies, clips and reports that are created
by ten and eleven year old kids supported and mediated by
our students.
That’s why it was very interesting for us to visit a similar
broadcasting station during in New York. We got a valuable
insight into the Manhattan Neighbourhood Network (MNN),
describing itself as “the pulse of New York City” because their
program is made by and for New Yorkers.
Zenaida Mendes, the Director for External Affairs, answered a
lot of questions – and she did it with enthusiasm and patience.
MNN operates since 1992, employs 40 people full time, and
is currently funded by Time Warner Cable, Verizon and RCN
Corporation in a franchise agreement with New York City. We
picked up a lot of similarities between MNN and ALEX-TV, although MNN is much bigger than its equivalent in Berlin. MNN
is a non profit-organization that operates four public access
stations in Manhattan while ALEX-TV, a non-profit as well,
has just one broadcasting channel. Just like in Berlin, MNN‘s
diverse shows include more than just news: talk shows, interviews, debates, documentaries, travelogues, live music, and
sketch comedy. For younger people (under 25 years old), MNN
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established the Youth Channel in 2000 with the aim to give
kids from all background the opportunity to create community
media, foster dialogues, and engage in social activism. They
broadcast 24 hours a day: The four channels “Community”,
“Lifestyle”, “Spirit” and “Culture” offer 672 hours of television program every week which makes MNN the largest public
access station in the United States.
Like its German smaller equivalent, MNN really is a public station: They have to broadcast everything they receive, unless
it is immoral, offending, illegal or unethical. So, MNN was the
first TV station that broadcasted “Democracy now!” with Amy
Goodman and they were very present in informing about “Occupy Wall Street” in spring 2012. In contrary to ALEX-TV, MNN
has to broadcast political election campaigns or promotions
real estate shows but they are not allowed to show commercials except announcements for following shows.
MNN is not allowed to censor their program but the producers
have the ambition and the mission to broadcast good quality
programs. This is MNN‘s educational mission and the reason
why they offer – like ALEX-TV – free workshops for television
production in which Manhattan residents are able to learn
the basics of using a video camera and computer programs to
cut and edit their videos, do their own lighting and sound for
videos, and develop their own video projects. For different location shoots, MNN lends professional equipment. They own
four studios for indoor productions and have many computers
for editing the shows. A great 95 percentage of the broadcasted shows are produced with the equipment of MNN and
during our information tour through the headquarters of MNN
at 537 West 59th Street, we could catch a glimpse why: Many
of the computers were occupied, a lot of different people
where editing very different shows. We had some interesting
talks backstage and stumbled into a live show by accident.
Manhattan‘s people have a lot to say. And about 500.000
people watch their shows on TV – you can imagine how many
people in addition watch the live stream on the internet!
35
Gallery Tour in
Chelsea
Text by Leonie Zug
On Saturday afternoon, we met German artist Thomas Eller
who took us on a tour through the most important galleries
for contemporary art in Chelsea. Our first stop was the David
Zwirner Gallery at 525 West 19th Street. Like many other gallery owners, Zwirner started his gallery in SoHo and moved to
Chelsea in 2002 due to the high rents forcing gallery owners
to find new affordable spaces. The dispersion and marginalization of gallery districts had already begun in the late 80ies.
Most of the galleries moved into the inexpensive warehouses
and garages of West Chelsea, so by 2007, there was almost
no place available to lease anymore. At the Zwirner Gallery,
we saw the show “decades” by minimal artist Fred Sandback
which included a reconstruction of Galerie Heiner Friedrich,
Munich, a space for which many artists had designed works
in the 1960s and 1970s. The show was part of the gallery’s
program of recreating historic presentations of works by their
artists.
36
At Anton Kern Gallery, where paintings from Ellen Berkenbilt
were shown, we had the opportunity to talk to the gallery’s
director Christoph Gerozissis who told us about the main differences between the art market in Berlin and New York. While
Berlin always has to come up with special events like the Berlin
Biennial or the Gallery Weekend to get collectors into the city,
New York has never had such a problem. The most important
collectors live in the city and are frequently attending the openings or just pass by once in a while. Berlin galleries are always
forced to travel to the international fairs to make business, for
the New Yorkers it is more a strategy of networking and showing
presence.
We also visited the two Chelsea spaces of Larry Gagosian, one
of the most powerful gallery owners in the world. Currently, he
is running eleven different spaces: three in New York, two in
London, one in Beverly Hills, Rome, Athens, Paris, Geneva and
Hong Kong. He is representing some of the most influential and
expensive contemporary artists in the world, such as Richard
Serra, Damien Hirst, Georg Baselitz and Cindy Sherman. On
24th street, we saw a show of Roy Lichtenstein “Landscapes in
the Chinese Style” and at the enormous gallery space on West
21st street, they were showing works by Georg Baselitz.
Among others, we saw galleries and exhibitions by: Klemens
Gasser & Tanja Grunert (Grayson Cox / The Water’s Fine ), Jack
Shainman Gallery (Vibha Galhotra / Utopia of Difference) , Paula Cooper Gallery (Dan Walsh), Pace Wildenstein, and Andrea
Rosen (Group Show / Cultural Production).
At the end of our tour, we were invited to German freelance curator Birte Kleemann who is also working for the New York branch of Michael Werner Gallery. At her enormous loft in Brooklyn
which she regularly uses for art performances, we sat together
and had an interesting discussion about the concept of curating, the specifics of the art market in Berlin and New York and
the working conditions in the art sector in general.
Thanks to Thomas Eller, we saw a lot of impressing artworks in
the overwhelming gallery spaces in Chelsea but also got a special insight into the New York art market and some of its main
stakeholders.
37
Dia:Beacon
Text by Marie Egger
Our excursion to the Dia Art Foundation began with a lovely
train ride along the Hudson River on Sunday morning. Starting
off at Grand Central Station, we left the Big Apple behind and
passed the beautiful scenery of Bear Mountain State Park, Fort
Montgomery and West Point on our way to Beacon.
After we had arrived at Dia:Beacon, Professor Dr. Siebenhaar
gave us a quick introduction to the Art Foundation. We learned
about the history of collecting art in Germany and the U.S.
within the period of Cold War. Heiner Friedrich and Philippa de Menil, who are also the founders of Dia, had mainly
assembled the collection during the 1970s. From 1990 on,
it was significantly augmented. Today it contains numerous
works of artists of the 1960s and 1970s such as Joseph Beuys,
Imi Knoebel, Dan Flavin, Walter de Maria, John Chamberlain,
Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, Richard Serra, Sol LeWitt, Agnes
Martin and Bruce Nauman.
38
The Dia:Beacon opened in 2003. The space is a former printing-factory building of about 27.000 square-meters (300.000
square-feet). The name Riggio Galleries results from a donation of the couple Louise and Leonard Riggio. One thing we
all found the most special and interesting about Dia:Beacon
was that every artist was given their own room to present their
works in. Sometimes, the size of those areas would extend
usual known sizes of gallery spaces we know from Berlin.
The presentation of the collection is organized quite simply
and yet very differently from how “normal” museums as for
example Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, work: by showing
one artist per room, the focus really lies on the work and gives
a good overview on the collection. The heights and widths
of the rooms allow the presentation of huge works such as
Richard Serra’s. Especially the collection of several works of
each artist per area makes the museum a great place to study
and refresh our knowledge of art history.
We were also able to take a very special souvenir with us: the
instructions for Bruce Nauman’s work “Body Pressure” (1974).
Printed on pink paper, it is on display at Dia:Beacon for the
visitors to take back home. We took that chance and now pinned to our apartment walls in Berlin, “Body Pressure” reminds
us of our trip to this very special museum in Beacon!
39
Performance
Space 122
Text by Dorine Walz
Our second to last visit in New York held ready another highlight: we met Vallejo Gantner from Performance Space 122. As
the home base of the performance art theatre in East Village is
currently under construction, Vallejo Gantner and his staff moved their offices to a creative neighborhood in Brooklyn, full of
start-ups and micro-industries. We were cordially received by
Mister Gantner and sat down to get a worthwhile introduction
to the history of and insights into the activities of PS122.
PS122 started out in hard times when the city was threatened
with bankruptcy. A handful of artists moved into a closeddown school building in historic East Village, a back then
poor neighborhood. Beginning as a studio where artists could
40
experiment, it gradually developed into an important institution for New York, situated within now rich surroundings.
Although PS 122 nowadays presents more finished works, it is
still a place where artists are able to show unexpected, risky
performances that challenge its audience.
When Vallejo Gantner came to P122 seven years ago, he encountered a sense of fatigue. The self-perception of New York
as the most important place in the world for performing arts
and the East Village as THE place for young artists was outdated and Gantner had to face the challenge of forming a new
identity for PS122. It was no longer possible just to talk about
the past and about a New York that did not exist anymore. He
accepted that the new performing arts come from all over the
world and that art from New York is not good just because it
is from New York. Due to this redefinition, PS122 nowadays
presents New Yorker, national and international artists who
address critical topics. The new mission statement focuses on
the experience for the audience and sets the goal of establishing PS122 as a place of relevance that has an impact in
society where art is seen as a place to get new ideas.
As the old building did not meet any modern standards (concerning problems with asbestos, air conditioning, fire prevention among others) the city of New York invested money for
an extensive renovation which will take some years to finish.
The PS122 is therefore confronting a big challenge: to stay in
mind of the visitors without being able to perform at the home
base. Fortunately, this challenge is not regarded as a problem
by Vallejo Gantner and his staff but as a chance to get out of
the imprisoning building. Now, PS122 as the presenter can sit
down with the artist and talk about the artist‘s needs and find
an adequate place for the presentation of his work throughout the city. This gives a new freedom and the possibility
to go out to where the audience is. The opportunity to reach
a broader audience and to meet the artist‘s needs in a more
satisfying way is a something PS122 wants to do even after
the re-opening of their “headquarters” by continuing to do
off-site-shows.
We wish Vallejo Gantner and his staff from PS122 all the best
and thank them for this fascinating lecture!
41
Brooklyn Academy
of Music (BAM)
Text by Verena Blaettermann
Even before our visit, we noticed the BAM advertisements
“BAM and then it hits you!“ on the subway, so we became really curious about our visit at the oldest operating performing
arts center in the United States.
BAM can be seen as the artistic bridge to Europe, so no matter
what you are interested in: BAM has something to offer for
you. The program ranges from dance and theater to music,
from avantgarde to traditional pieces. Once we arrived in the
entrance hall, we were greeted by Louie Fleck who works at
the archives department. He revived BAM’s history by the
help of several historic pictures and gave us an inspiring tour
through the Howard Gilman Opera House with its 2.109 seats,
the BAMcafé and the BAM Rose Cinemas. But the highlight of
our tour was the Harvey Lichtenstein Theatre on Fulton Street.
It took our breaths away! Louie Fleck explained the infrastructure including all the important facts but also told us interesting stories which made his tour unforgettable - for example
the story of Harvey Lichtenstein, a successful fundraiser,
dancer and administrator, and how he developed the Brooklyn neighborhood. Harvey Lichtenstein is seen as a pioneer,
who tried new things and who made the BAM the unique
institution it is today. Visiting artists such as Pina Bausch or
Robert Wilson remained loyal to him and the opportunities he
gave them, so they only performed at BAM when they came to
NYC. We learnt that it is all about the relationships between
the artists, administrators and the employees to make a difference. Louie Fleck, thank you so much for providing us with all
the information and at the same time passing on your passion
for BAM!
Meeting the General Manager Patrick Scully was a great way
to learn more about the structures at BAM from a managerial
point of view. He has been with the institution for 16 years
now and his tasks include contracting, budgeting, coordina42
ting and project management. He sees his department as a
hub, so it is important to him to keep everyone on the same
page. BAM is a presenting and not a production house, it only
does its own productions from time to time. The cinemas are
the only profitable part at BAM. When it comes to the staff,
instead of understaffing, which is quite common these days,
the BAM registers a growth in all departments which led to
a shortage in space. It has a total of 140 full-time employees
and 600 part-time employees. Patrick Scully gave us an
insight into the audience and budget structures as well as the
education program, which is of ever growing importance. We
learnt that the audience is quite young (in their mid 40s) and
that there is a rising number of locals coming to the performances. He explained why the Brooklyn Academy of Music
has such an immense impact on the local community, for
example by offering a diverse program and generating income
for the local community. We also learnt about the importance
of fundraising for BAM: the only department which is on every
floor is the fundraising department! Patrick Scully, thank you
very much for taking the time and giving us all the information
we needed to understand why BAM is such a landmark institution and how it stays up to date. It was pleasure to meet you!
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44
Las Vegas
45
University of
Nevada Las Vegas
Text by Mara Radulescu
At the beginning of our inspiring visit at the University of Nevada Las Vegas UNLV, Su Kim Chung, Manuscripts Librarian of
the university, gave us a brilliant introduction to the library’s
rich archive, the Special Collections of the library and the
history of the city of Las Vegas by using an accurate selection
of maps, documents and photographs. The library of the UNLV
opened in 2000 and is certified as a green building. It is home
to the very valuable Special Collections which have played a
major role in documenting the 107 year-old history, culture
and environment of the City of Las Vegas. “It is now the largest
and most widely used repository and provider of original
historical material from and about Las Vegas and its unlikely
environmental setting in Southern Nevada in the middle of
the Mojave Dessert” (In: University Libraries: Special Collections. Profile.). Major themes in the region throughout its
comparatively young history have always been: the natural
water supply, the construction of the railway, the agricultural
destination, and mining. These factors also facilitated the
birth of the city of Las Vegas. Recently, the existing dichotomy
between the community of Las Vegas and the city as a tourist destination - due to the large entertainment and gaming
industry- has moved into the center of attention and is the
centre of research.
In the second part of our visit at UNLV, we got the chance to
meet and talk to Dr. Daniel C. Villanueva, Visiting Professor
of German Studies who has origins in Los Angeles, started
learning German in high school when he spent one year as a
student in Germany and later studied in Berlin at the OttoSuhr-Institute for Political Science for two years. Furthermore,
Dr. Villanueva worked for one year in the German Bundestag in Bonn and since 1999 he is professor for German and
European Politics at the UNLV. Currently, the university has
unfortunately been dealing with severe financial and structural problems. While last year about 1000 professors were still
employed, this year only 700 are left and cutbacks have also
46
affected other staff members. However, the good news is that
no further job cuts but constant growth is planned. 28,000
students, of which 5,000 are graduate students, are studying
in ten different colleges at UNLV. Only 2,000 students live on
campus, while the great majority commutes to campus. 50%
of the students come from outside the state; many of them
from California and about 90% of the students from Las Vegas
remain in Las Vegas after their graduation (also because of
family ties) – predominantly in Downtown Las Vegas. There
are three very popular majors at UNLV: Hotel Management
(only four schools in the US have good programs on this
topic), Business and Psychology. The Department of Foreign
Languages is also constantly growing and encompasses the
following languages: German (twelve majors a year), Spanish
(200 majors a year), French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and
Hebrew. The average time of study represents four years for
undergraduates and three years for graduates.
As far as the funding of the university is concerned, 60% of
the budget comes from fees paid by students (4,000 $ per semester for Nevada locals: 2,000 $ is directly allocated to the
university, 1,000 $ to other parts of the university and 1,000
$ to the state; 8,000 $ per semester for out-of-state students;
18,000 $ p.a. for foreign students), 30% is subsidized by
the government (but the subsidized amounts are constantly
decreasing) and 10% is collected from various donors. Most
of the donations are made by alumni and first generation students are often supported by donors. Also, the Heritage Circle
for planned giving brought into being by the UNLV Foundation,
contributes to the funding of the university but a lack of community support still exists. This is why there is urgent need
of increase in professionalism and awareness as regards the
fundraising and development department.
Currently, the university is dealing with a lot of different hot
topics in terms of research but also in terms of social development and integration. City development, cultural diversity
and social justice have always been of great interest at UNLV
but also the maintenance and development of the connection
to the community of Las Vegas through college sports (e.g.
basketball) and cultural events such as the Creative Writing
Program which is an important issue. As gaming benefits the
community, the UNLV has also set up a Center for Gaming
47
Research which awards fellowships for graduate students who
are interested in research on both gaming and Las Vegas. A
solar energy research division has also been set up recently,
as well as research groups on water conservation and the
development of cheap energy alternatives. The challenging
development of ethnic groups is also dealt with for instance
in the context of cultural festivals. Our conversation with Dr.
Villanueva continued in the cafeteria of the university in presence of two of his students.
Our meeting at UNLV was very informative and inspiring and
we are thankful for the warm welcome and the open-minded,
interesting discussion. We would like to thank both Dr. Daniel
C. Villanueva and Miss Su Kim Chung for taking their time, for
the elaborate preparation and for providing us with an insight
into the history of Las Vegas and the operating mode and
focal points of the university!
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49
The Venetian
Text by Frederiek Weda
The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino and The Palazzo are with
7,128 suites the largest hotel complex in Las Vegas. Considering this, the following questions raises to mind: How can a
major enterprise like The Venetian, a Mobil‘s Four Star rated
Resort, secure its quality 24/7 and fulfill its guests individual
requests?
Paul Dungo, internal communication director, and his assistant welcomed us in the lobby of The Venetian and took
us on a tour that made us understand the foundation of the
internal structure of the Resort-Hotel-Casino. Based on the
Renaissance ideology of the Venetian, the guest takes up the
central place. An optimal service is provided ranging from
high-standard luxury suites to 34 different restaurants and a
high-quality entertainment program. The key to customer satisfaction, so Dungo, is providing the exact same quality every
day to satisfy the guests and meet their expectations.
Although the satisfaction of the customer is priority, meeting
expectation is not enough. Paul Dungo took us to visit a stunning hotel suite and to the 23rd floor of the Palazzo to present
us The Prestige Lounge. This Lounge shows how The Palazzo is
not only concerned to meet t heir key values but also to secure
their leading position on the Resort-market. From a private
check-in desk to unrivaled amenities and personal touches,
The Prestige Lounge gives the customer an absolutely exclusive experience.
The central position of the guest finds its outcome in the
program Eco 360°. The Palazzo is the largest LEED-certified
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building in
the world, so to say a green building provided with natural
light. Concerns about the costumer during the short visiting
period turn into a sustainable care-taking.
The question that remains is: who makes this all possible?
And the answer is: the Resort’s 9000 employees that provide
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the guests with incomparable service. Care doesn‘t stop by
the customer, said Paul Dungo, The Venetian offers his team
members a safe and healthy work environment. The underworld of The Venetian and The Palazzo has its own infrastructure, including i.e. dining rooms with free food and beverages,
an on-site childcare, a playground and a gym. A good working
environment enhances the resort experience of the guests.
This positive interaction between the resorts atmosphere,
their employees and their guests made The Venetian and The
Palazzo the benchmark for extravagance, impeccable service
and hospitality.
In the end, the fundament of a well-run enterprise like the
Venetian is its responsibility towards its resources: the employees as well as the customers and the environment that you
make use of. From the top floor to the basement, our meeting
at The Venetian and The Palazzo was a very interesting visit
with exciting inside information and an instructive case study
on the management of major resorts!
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The Smith
Center for the
Performing Arts
Text by Birte Boesehans
After last year’s group had visited the construction site of the
Smith Center for the Performing Arts, we had the pleasure to
see the finished building which had only been open for 19
days when we went there. We were welcomed at the impressive building by Myron G. Martin, President and CEO, and got
a tour of the park and the building afterwards. The Symphony
Park was our first stop where we could admire Tim Bavington’s
wonderfully colored sculpture and where we had a great view
of the building and especially the tower with the bells. We
learned that the architecture of the Smith Center by David M.
Schwarz was inspired by Art Déco and particularly by the way
the Hoover Dam was built. All over the new building one can
find details referring to the Dam.
During our instructive talk we learned that this new building is
outstanding because of its tower with 47 bells, a huge stage
with a curtain wall, great acoustics and that its sustainable
architecture. The Smith Center combines three theatres: the
main stage, one black box theatre and a cabaret/jazz theatre
with 238 seats. But not only the building is impressive but
also the art shown in the rooms is delicately placed and made
by well-known artists like Ellsworth Kelly. Additionally, there is
an education center in the second building to involve children
with art.
It is the Smith Center’s goal to reach the local public with their
shows – an aim which is not very easy to achieve because:
how do you make the population of Las Vegas become
interested in a Performing Arts Center? However, the idea of
a center for all kinds of arts encouraged many supporters to
give money and thus, the residents of Las Vegas together with
the government made the dream of a Performing Arts Center
in Las Vegas come true.
Right before our visit, the Smith Center had opened its gates
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with amazing success: there had already been 10 sold-outshows within 19 days and many famous artists are to come,
for example Jennifer Hudson and The Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. We wish the Smith Center all the best and great success
for its inaugural season 2012 and its future!
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The Economic
and Urban
Development
Department
Text by Friederike Ludewig
After our visit of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Jim
Pegues took us to his former working place: the Economic
and Urban Development Department (EUD, previously known
as Office for Business Development). The EUD is part of the
city government and its function is to create, coordinate and
encourage new development and redevelopment throughout
the city of Las Vegas. It increases and diversifies the city’s
economic base, and creates jobs, through business attraction, retention and expansion programs. During our meeting
we learned how the EUD approaches all these goals.
The first thing we noticed was that everything looks brandnew: The department had just moved into the recently
finished City Hall building. In fact, this is one of the office‘s
latest projects: As part of a broader plan that aims at redeveloping the Las Vegas Downtown district, the new City Hall is
supposed to set up a chain reaction of redevelopment in the
surrounding area. In addition it is supposed to create jobs,
bring in private investment and new tax revenue.
The elevator brought us up to the meeting room on the sixth
floor. From there, we had a great view over Downtown Las
Vegas. Not far from the building is the Symphony Park – another current project: A 61-acre mixed-use urban community.
The public-private project is being developed by the city of Las
Vegas and its project manager, Newland. This new community
is home to some of Las Vegas’ largest economic, cultural, and
civic projects, including a park, the two-acre open space core
and the Smith Center for the Performing Arts.
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The Smith-Center is one of the projects that would not have
been built without the government’s financial support. “For
these kind of projects, you have to consider the opportunity
costs if you don‘t build it. The Smith-Center contributes to
the education of the community, it affects everybody‘s value
system, so you have take into account the public-value“,
explained Redevelopment Officer Scott Carter. A previous
study had shown that the education level in Las Vegas is really
low; “people here can make money without education“, Scott
Carter told us. Thus, cultural projects like the Smith-Center
become even more important.
Many of the projects aim at attracting business to the city.
One of them is the reactivation of the railroad which is very
important for urban people who move to Las Vegas and thus,
another argument for companies to settle in the city. Other
important incentives are the tax atmosphere or the provision
of cheap land. But there are also good lifestyle arguments:
The broad range of entertainment, travel connections (international airport) and, of course, the climate. Scott Carter summarized: “It takes vision, money and building blocks to bring
business to Downtown Las Vegas“.
For us as students it was very refreshing to leave the Strip
for a few hours and to learn more about the “real” City of Las
Vegas. The meeting really broadened our view and it was great
to understand what kind of activity is going on besides the
tourist and entertainment industry - especially with regards to
the connection between the government and the development
of the cultural sector.
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Mayor
Goodman
Text by Mara Radulescu
During our meeting at the Town Hall of Las Vegas, we were all
excited about having the honor to meet such a legendary personality as the former Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar B. Goodman.
Born in 1939, Goodman is a lawyer and politician (former
member of the Democratic Party, now independent). In Martin
Scorsese’s movie “Casino” (1995), he appeared as himself.
In 1999, he was elected the 19th Mayor of Las Vegas receiving
65% of all votes. The following two elections he won receiving
86% respectively 84% of all votes. In June 2011, his wife,
Carolyn Goodman, became Mayor of Las Vegas while he now
owns two restaurants named after him (“Oscar’s”) Downtown.
Mister Goodman has always regarded developing Downtown
as his mission because, as he became Mayor, he found Downtown in a horrible condition and was determined to undertake
a beautification of the city starting by putting the focus on
its great advantages (beautiful weather, low taxes). His effort
was worthwhile because Downtown seems to be nowadays
indeed flourishing and his wife is carrying on the projects
started by him. A big problem the city is still facing today is –
in Goodman’s opinion – the education that is not regarded as
important (one can get a well paid job in a casino also without
having a high level of education) and as a result does not
have the impact it should have on the population.
Lately, Mister Goodman became Head of the Permanent Host
Committee of Las Vegas that deals with convincing the community of living Downtown and of the importance of tourism
for the city development. It is Goodman’s vision that Downtown will soon develop and become the new business and
cultural center of the city (as opposed to the current cold City
Center with buildings made of steel and concrete). He actively
supports the implementation of this project. At the same time
he is aware of the fact that businessmen from the Strip will
keep trying to undermine every single project in this direction
and sees this as a challenge that needs to be faced.
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At the end of this inspiring and dynamic meeting Mister Goodman shared with us one of his life philosophies: he always
admits mistakes – he does them for sure, but he is always
prepared to admit them. Thank you for taking your time to
talk to us that frankly and share your rich experience with us,
Mister Goodman!
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Las Vegas
Convention and
Visitors Authority
(LVCVA)
Text by Mara Radulescu
In the last part of our session at the City Hall, we got to meet
Miss Lisa Jacobs, Senior Manager of the Las Vegas News Bureau, an agency within the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors
Authority. She talked to us about the advertising campaign
that started in 2003 during the Super Bowl with the slogan:
“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” (allusion to adult
freedom because Las Vegas is still called “Sin City”) and
about the Las Vegas Convention Center that was built back
in the 1950s in order to attract more visitors to the city. The
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority basically is a city
marketing agency that came into being as a public-private
partnership (it has a board of directors that consists of public
and private entities and a president). It is mainly funded
through the room taxes existing in Las Vegas of which it gets
a certain portion and its mission is to help generating tax
money for the entire municipality and promoting the image of
the city.
The Las Vegas News Bureau was created 65 years ago after
World War II by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce in an
effort to boost tourism. Back then (1947) the Chamber of
Commerce started a marketing campaign for city publicity
through photography (Don English’s well-known photography
“Miss Atomic Bomb”, an icon of the nuclear age, from May
1955 belongs to this series of photography illustrating the
entertainment culture of the 1950s because back then atomic
testing in the dessert used to be a tourist attraction). Today,
the Las Vegas News Bureau has an amazing archive of the
history of Las Vegas and is cooperating with the UNLV Special
Collections, parts of which we had the chance to see during
our visit at the university.
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Today, the Las Vegas News Bureau distributes photos and
films of and about Las Vegas all over the world and organizes
photography exhibitions. The public relations team of the
bureau is very international and the News Bureau cooperates
with an advertising company which creates advertisements
and also gathers journalist style photographs for them. All in
all, the mission of the Las Vegas News Bureau is to promote
the Clark County as a whole through tourism, conventions
(4,000 conventions per year take place in Clark County) and
meetings. We would like to thank Miss Lisa Jacobs for the
interesting insight into her work!
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Hofbräuhaus
Las Vegas
Text by Marc Lippuner
It is a „Must“ for more than ninety percent of all German tourists visiting Las Vegas to have a look at the Hofbräuhaus on
Paradise Road. So we went there as well, following an invitation of Bavarian-born director Klaus Gastager who has built the
first German beer hall and restaurant in Las Vegas and opened
it eight years ago just on plain desert ground vis-à-vis the
Hard Rock Hotel.
We received a very warm welcome and were seated at two
huge tables with a perfect view onto the stage where an
Austrian band performed German evergreens and traditional
“Wiesn”-Hits. The Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas is proud to present
an authentic and unforgettable Bavarian experience including
brass band music, Dirndl dresses and savory proper food. The
realistic reproduction of the legendary 400-year-old original
Hofbräuhaus in Munich with its 75.000 roof tiles made in Germany has 800 seats, spread over a beer hall (called Schwemme) with about 380 seats and an – typical Las Vegas – indoor
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beer garden with 430 seats, picturesque fountains and an
artificial blue sky the whole year.
Before taking an interesting tour through the restaurant,
we enjoyed a typical „Bayrische Brotzeit with a variety of
cold cuts, ham and cheese, radish and huge warm and soft
pretzels. Ordering small pints of beer was - with a lovely smile
- not accepted by the waitress so we had to drink at least one
„Maß“ (34 oz.) of the “wheat juice” that is shipped in huge
barrels to Las Vegas all the way from Munich.
But not only the beer crosses the Atlantic, Klaus Gastager
told us. Many products and ingredients that are part of the
Bavarian meals are imported and even some of the chefs
were recruited from Austria or Germany. The dedicated chefs,
who cook about 1.200 meals every day, are specialized in
certain meals – the whole organization is aimed towards the
costumer‘s satisfaction. The menu is filled with southern German and traditional Austrian delicacies such as Black Forest
Ham (Schwarzwälder Schinken), Beef Goulash (Biergulasch),
White Sausages (Weißwürste), special German Noodles with
Cheese (Allgäuer Kässpätzle), varieties of Cutlets (Schnitzel),
Munich Style Sausage Loaf (Leberkäs), Roasted Half Chicken
(Grillhendl) or desserts like Apple Strudel (Apfelstrudel) and
the famous Black Forest Chocolate and Cherry Cake (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte). To retain the image of being “authentic
in every detail“, Gastager does not allow any concessions in
changing the menu, for example by replacing the side dishes:
A Pork Roast has got to be served with Potato and Breaded
Dumplings (Semmelknödel) although this side dish is not very
common in the United States.
This thoroughgoingness is the reason why the Hofbräuhaus
still has got its image of a folkloric and traditional restaurant
all over the world. Caesar‘s salad and hamburgers are the only
tribute on the menu to American cuisine - without offering these dishes, you cannot run a restaurant in the United States,
Klaus Gastager said.
His waiters and waitresses have to have an average check of
35 U.S. Dollars per guest, so they are not only order-takers in
leather trousers and Dirndls, they have to be sales people as
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well. On our tour through the restaurant and the backstage
area, Klaus Gastager told us that it took several years and
12 million U.S. Dollars investment from the idea of bringing
“every day‘s Oktoberfes” to Las Vegas to the opening in January 2004; and he admitted that in any other city in the United
States, it would be much easier to be successful than in Las
Vegas, one of the toughest culinary market in the world.
Nevertheless, Gastager abandoned nationwide advertising,
believing in word-to-mouth-advertisement, knowing that the
best publicity is passed on from person to person. He publishes an own newspaper that is free for the guests. The HB
Good Times provides an insight into the world of the Hofbräuhaus and tells its readers about the latest events and
shows that take place in the restaurant. In addition, merchandising products like glass or ceramic steins, beer-pictured
t-shirts or other clothes and souvenirs help to stay visible and
transport the fame of the Hofbräuhaus around the USA and
the world. Besides, the merchandising sales add up around 8
percent of the total turnover.
Almost eighty percent of more than 200.000 visitors a year
are tourists – many of them coming from different parts of the
U.S. So it was surprising for us to see everybody – guests and
staff – standing up and singing the national anthem of the
USA with enthusiasm, strangely enough accompanied by the
Austrian brass band.
After the information tour, one of our last evenings in the
United States was not over yet. We returned to our tables and
were invited to have more drinks and a Bavarian main dish as
well. We would like to thank Klaus Gastager and his team for
their great “Gastfreundschaft” – the visit to the Hofbräuhaus
was a lovely and delicious way to say “Goodbye America”!
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Hoover Dam & Red
Rock Canyon Tour
with Jim Pegues
On the last day of our study trip, we left the flashing lights of
Las Vegas behind and headed towards the desert of Nevada.
Thanks to IKM’s good friend Jim Pegues who proved to be the
best tour guide in town, we had a private bus on our disposal
and were provided with enough water to make it through this
warm day.
First, Jim took us to Hoover Dam, a concrete dam in the Black
Canyon of the Colorado River on the border between the US
states of Arizona and Nevada. Constructed between 1931 and
1936 by thousands of workers, the dam, which was built in
Art Deco style, is not only generating electricity for Arizona,
California and Nevada but is also a major tourist attraction in
the area. We were very impressed by the size and beauty of
this architectural and technical marvel.
Afterwards, we went to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in the Mojave Desert, located about 15 miles west
of Las Vegas. Driving on the scenic drive, climbing the rocks
and enjoying the breathtaking landscape, this was certainly a
great end of our study trip to New York and Las Vegas!
We would like to thank our friend Jim Pegues for opening the
doors to many interesting institutions in Las Vegas and being
such a great tour guide to us!
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Imprint
Publisher
Freie Universität Berlin
Institut für Kultur- und Medienmanagement
Fachbereich Philosophie und Geisteswissenschaften (WE 8)
Director: Prof. Dr. Klaus Siebenhaar
Magaging Director: Dagmar Boeck
Habelschwerdter Allee 45
D-14195 Berlin
www.ikm.fu-berlin.de
Project Director
Prof. Dr. Klaus Siebenhaar: [email protected]
Project Coordinators
Katharina Hein, Pauline Püschel, Louisa Seelis
Layout
Karen Obenauf - [email protected]
Students
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