tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29810591887934695762011-04-21T17:25:10.766-07:00Thoughts on Arts Leadership, Relevance, Sustainability, Economic and Social Impact, and the role of Entrepreneurship. Here we are now, entertain us.Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.comBlogger101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-47219808988182034922008-12-08T07:36:00.000-08:002008-12-08T17:49:24.446-08:00

"Traditional wisdom teaches that brands win market share by offering a wide variety of products, increasing the chance of appealing to a wider variety of customers. But how happy are you when trying to find a head cold remedy at the pharmacy amid an overwhelming number of competing formulas, each slightly different than the other? It's enough to give a shopper, well, a headache."  —  Harvard

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-50535028208269329572008-11-11T17:38:00.000-08:002008-11-11T17:56:59.794-08:00

Pablo Picasso was sitting quietly at a boulevard cafe in Paris, when his reverie was rudely disturbed by a passing tourist. The tourist gushingly asked Pablo if he would run off a quick sketch for him, promising to pay for the privilege. The legendary artist acquiesced, sketched a portrait of the tourist on the linen napkin conveniently placed on the table. Awed and deeply gratified, the tourist

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-5445402441167871812008-03-18T12:29:00.000-07:002008-03-18T12:53:43.233-07:00

"Humor is the opposite of fight-or-flight emotions, especially fear and anger. I can't be laughing with you and angry or afraid of you at the same time." - John Morreall, College of William and Mary.Last month marked a major change for comedy in North Carolina. Some people fight change. Some people run away from change. But maybe if we're ALL laughing, change can be amazing. DSI announced the

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-1409107066267782352008-02-03T23:02:00.000-08:002008-02-03T23:32:25.751-08:00

"Crisis response requires both planning and improvising. Planning and preparation helps enable rapid coordinated action; at the same time plans are always insufficient. People need the capacity to read and understand a situation and improvise their approach as the reality unfolds." - Center for Creative Leadership. Crisis Leadership: When Plans Fail, Improvise.I am amazed at both the amount of

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-81811795827383074372008-01-19T12:28:00.000-08:002008-01-21T23:11:37.788-08:00

Arts Leadership readers might start to see evidence of a slightly obsessive professional crush on Albert Einstein. He says, "One of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life, with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, and from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires." In both teaching and performing improvisation, I agree. However, this DOES

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-33794956272090372902008-01-11T16:26:00.000-08:002008-01-12T00:52:24.125-08:00

"There's something special about improvised music," Ajay Heble, professor of English at the University of Guelph in Ontario, argues, "something about the kind of activist listening it demands, that helps to disrupt orthodox standards of coherence. It encourages us to hear the world anew." Professor Heble recently received a $2.5M grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-39038560621592102622007-12-25T13:54:00.000-08:002007-12-25T12:57:40.770-08:00

"With changes in audience behavior and the widening impact of technology, the live performing arts in America are facing unprecedented challenges." - Ben Cameron Ben Cameron, Director of the Doris Duke Charitable Fund (DDCF) made this statement with a November 2007 announcement of a $15M donation to the Nonprofit Finance Fund. The hopeful objective of the donation, to provide leading Arts

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-48129817657429989292007-12-24T13:32:00.000-08:002007-12-26T04:19:55.562-08:00

"In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create." - David OgilvyIn the Arts community disagreements about sustainability and subsidization have created a divide between actual working artists and "artists" who wish the world would see what they have to offer. The second group are the people who often fail to engage

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-28953841570088256792007-12-23T12:36:00.000-08:002007-12-25T12:16:59.265-08:00

Chapel Hill native and proud Carolina graduate, Zach Ward is the Founder and Executive Producer of DSI Comedy Theater and the Dirty South Improv Festival. He has been performing and directing comedy professionally since 1993. Zach has received critical acclaim from the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for DUAL EXHAUST (Critic's Choice, Highly Recommended, Top 10 "Most Influential Comedy

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981059188793469576.post-63576647825054096212007-12-22T22:07:00.000-08:002007-12-24T13:34:59.791-08:00

I have decided to start a blog about Arts Leadership, Relevance, Sustainability, the Economic and Social impact of the Arts and the role of Entrepreneurship in the Arts. Here we are now, entertain us.

Zach Wardnoreply@blogger.com0