Whether you are a managing director, outreach coordinator, or executive director, I want to suggest that you set aside one hour a week related to "keeping a pulse on the field." This is time well spent. It is a form of professional development; it is marketing and PR research. 

This kind of work can take many forms.

In Person is Best

Whenever possible, attending in person meetings or conferences will offer information, introductions, and personal connections. Are there meetings in your community that bring together arts organizations? Here in the Bay Area, when I was the Director of Education for the Lincoln Center Institute program in Berkeley, I regularly attended about three meetings a month. I attended the Arts Learning Alliance meetings through the Alameda County Office of Education; I also attended a monthly brown bag series of education directors from various Bay Area arts organizations. If there is not something in your community, consider starting a monthly gathering. 

Nationally, attending the Dance/USA Conference and the NDEO (National Dance Education Organization) Conference are valuable experiences. 

Weekly Reading

When I refer to "one hour a week of research," this does mainly refer to reading up on other artists and organizations in the field. At times, I have penciled in an hour slot on Fridays to catch up on reading. This could be journals, dance articles in the New York Times, blog posts, and Twitter posts.  Keep websites on your bookmarks bar for easy access. Make a folder in your email inbox for "weekly reading."

Membership Organizations

As just mentioned, Dance/USA and NDEO are two key organizations to know about. Their weekly emails truly provide the pulse on professional dance in the US and on dance education. Ask your employer to purchase the memberships.

Dance/USA

NDEO

Guiding Questions: Be Curious and Inquisitive

As you do your weekly reading and internet searching, consider the following questions:

• What other organizations are doing similar work, locally and nationally?
• Who is our "competition" for audiences, students, and funding? (Yes, even non-profits have competition.)
• Who can be our allies/partners/collaborators?
• Who could I turn to for advice? Who has a similar job like my own?
• How can I learn from others?
• How can I be inspired by others?

Six Names to Get to Know Now

• Dance/USA
• DEL – Dance Education Laboratory
• NDEO – National Dance Education Organization
• Americans for the Arts
• AEP – Arts Education Partnership
• Luna Dance Institute

City/County/State

Get to know your local arts councils too! Find out what meetings they offer, who are the key contacts, and if there is a weekly email to subscribe to.

Aggregate Sites: Twitter, Bloglovin, and ArtsJournal

Last, I want to recommend three sites that you can browse each week to read information from a variety of sources.

Twitter. I really have come to like Twitter as a dance resource. Select 5-15 dance organizations to follow. The format of Twitter allows for easy browsing, and a simple click onto topics that you want to investigate further.

Bloglovin. If you like reading blogs, Bloglovin (like Twitter) can neatly organize your subscriptions. I personally subscribe to the following dance blogs:

• ArtsJournal
• Dance Advantage
• Dance Beat
• Dance Tabs
• danceviewtimes
• Life as a Modern Dancer
• movement research
• Stance on Dance
• Dancers Using Technology
• Dancing Words
• From the Green Room

ArtsJournal. You can subscribe to ArtsJournal through bloglovin, but you can also simply bookmark it on your browser. ArtsJournal is an aggregate site and pulls relevant dance articles from publications all over the globe. If you want to keep a pulse on professional level dance, this is the site to check out. 

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Creating a regular practice of reading up, conversing with, and learning from other arts organizations will support you in your role and strengthen your organization on levels – programming, scheduling, grant writing, collaboration, and much more.

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