America didn’t invent entrepreneurship – but we sure do love it here. Even President Obama is getting on the entrepreneurship bandwagon, announcing new programs to spur technology innovation that will lead to new companies being formed and hopefully, more jobs. Read More >>
Happy summer everyone!
I recently did an interview with Tom Aageson, the Co-Founder of the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship (who also happens to be my dad), for my personal podcast, The Big Vision Podcast, and personal blog, Have Fun, Do Good.
I thought I’d cross-post our conversation below, in case any of you would like to read it. You can also listen to the interview on the player at the bottom of this post, on the Big Vision Podcast landing page, or on iTunes.
We started our conversation with Tom describing what cultural entrepreneurship is:
Tom Aageson: Cultural entrepreneurship is an effort on the part of an entrepreneur who is very committed to cultural development and sees opportunities. They’re really visionaries. They’re catalysts for economic development for cultural workers to develop enterprises that are either for-profit, or not-for-profit, it can be either, that generate employment.
They also enrich the community’s culture, and they use cultural capital. That can mean, for example, language; it can mean architecture; it can mean food; it can mean artisan work, or artistic work. It’s all a resource that can be converted into an enterprise for a community.
They can also use things like creative tourism to develop an enterprise based on people coming to experience the culture.
Britt Bravo: Can you give an example, or tell a story so that if someone saw it, they’d say, “Oh! That’s what that is. That’s cultural entrepreneurship.” Read More >>
I’ve got a round up full of goodies for you today!
Events and Education
Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs in Seattle August 13-15, 2010
“The mission of the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs (CCE) is to create a small business conference addressing the needs and disparities of the designer, artist and handcrafter (Creative Professionals).”
Flying Lessons: Tips + Tricks To Help Your Creative Business Soar (e-course) by Kellie Rae Roberts starting May 30, 2010
“It’s finally here….an inspiring and informative e-course where I share everything I know about how to start, grow, or expand your creative business. It’s going to be informative, inspiring, and fun, fun, fun.”
CraftyCon 2010 in Chicago October 21-23, 2010
“One day some people were talking about how awesome it would be to have a conference for crafters that allowed them to learn business skills, network with other crafters and professionals in the industry. They were frustrated with the lack of events created for crafters, by crafters. So they decided to just make it happen!”
Happy Earth Day GCCE’ers!
Below are a few cultural entrepreneurship related sites and opportunities I thought might interest you.
1. Culture Label: Living and Breathing Cultural Entrepreneurship by Mark Nagurski on iddictive.com
Check out Mark’s article about a service called Culture Label, a “one-stop-culture-shop, bringing you an edit of products currently available from over 70 leading museum shops, galleries, artists and culture institutions from around the world.“
Here’s what Culture Label has to say about cultural entrepreneurship:
“For us, cultural entrepreneurship is all about connecting culture and consumers – demolishing walls and supplying enormous mainstream demand. In doing so, over and over we’ve seen vibrant new relationships develop between museums, galleries and the world at large.”
2. Craft Research Grants from the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design
Below are a handful of articles and sites about cultural entrepreneurship that have come across my desk this month.
If you have sites, blog posts, events, or articles that you think should be shared with the GCCE community, please post them in the comments, or email links to me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com.
1. How to Become a Cultural Entrepreneur by Corey Kahler in CityArts
“Genevieve Tremblay, the Bellevue Arts Commissioner profiled in City Arts magazine (Seattle and Eastside editions) this month, shows that there’s not only a place for more structural and economic development in Bellevue, but also cultural expansion.”
At the end of piece Corey links to a handful of cultural entrepreneurship resources:
• Trembley’s business, Cultural Entrepreneurs: “Cultural Entrepreneurs provides strategic innovation planning for organizations at the convergence of the arts, education, and technology.”
• The Social and Cultural Entrepreneur blog: “On this blog we would like to explore entrepreneurship from a cultural and social point of view.”
• And the GCCE! (Thanks, Corey!).
2. Artists in Creative Enterprise (ACE)
“Artists in Creative Enterprise is a community interest and social enterprise partnership between published and professional writers, poets, storytellers, performers, filmmakers, and publishers who use the creative arts to enable individuals, groups and communities to create and benefit from new opportunities.”
3. HandEye Magazine and the HandEye Blog
Read More >>
Happy Thursday, cultural entrepreneurs!
While searching for listings of 2010 conferences related to cultural entrepreneurship, I came across the 4th International Conference on Culture and Economy happening June 29-30, 2010 in Bolzano-Bozen, Italy (pictured above).
The European Academy of Bolzano-Bozen and the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt are organizing a Scientific Track within the conference, and have put out a call for papers. The deadline to submit your abstract is May 3, 2010.
Here’s a little description of what they’re looking for:
“The Scientific Track of the conference will address various topics on the intersection between culture, economy and entrepreneurship. Academics and practitioners are invited to submit research papers relating to one of the following areas / topics:
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This week I listened to an inspiring interview on the Tranquility du Jour podcast with Poppy King, the founder of Lipstick Queen, and author of Lessons of a Lipstick Queen: Finding and Developing the Great Idea That Can Change Your Life.
One of the ideas she came back to over and over again was embracing and incorporating your personality into your business, and allowing your own uniqueness to set your own apart.
She also talked about the importance of understanding why you created your business, and sharing that story with your customers:
“Often people who start something, they’re shy about saying why they did, when really, that’s what makes something capture people’s imagination. It’s not so much, what it is, but why it is.”
In the case of King, she started her own lipstick brand in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of 18, because she couldn’t find a lipstick she wanted to wear.
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One of the best facilitated networking events I’ve attended was produced by a local branch of eWomenNetwork. We sat at tables with 6 or 7 other women entrepreneurs, and were encouraged to introduce ourselves by saying (in this order):
What I learned from this exercise, that can be applied to more casual networking situations, is:
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Are you a mid-career museum, preservation, or historic site professional with a desire to change your institution and engage your community? Do you wants to learn how innovators in cultural institutions apply the tools of successful businesses, and acquire the skills of an entrepreneurial leader?
If you just answered yes and yes, consider applying to be a fellow for the First Cultural Entrepreneurship Institute at Cooperstown happening May 2-5, 2010. According to the call for applications on the Museum Association of New York’s site, 20 fellows will be selected to receive the 3 1/2 day training, plus room and board, for only $200. The deadline to apply is March 22, 2010.
Read More >>
