Hi all,

I'm writing to our network of greater Los Angeles preservation organizations and historic sites to introduce you to a new program you might find helpful. The Los Angeles Conservancy is excited to be a new partner in the National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP), which helps small to medium-sized arts and culture organizations enhance their marketing skills in order to better understand, serve, and expand their audiences. NAMP is run nationally by the Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts and is funded by American Express. The Los Angeles partner is the LA Stage Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes and supports local performing arts organizations.

The project features a series of workshops each year on nonprofit marketing, as well as online resources at artsmarketing.org. While NAMP has traditionally served arts organizations (theatre, dance, music, museums, etc.), AmEx has long supported historic preservation and wants to expand the project to include preservation groups.

As you know, getting the word out about our preservation efforts is increasingly difficult but crucial to saving L.A.'s historic resources. We have a lot of "accidental marketers" in preservation (including myself), who get into it out of necessity and without a lot of training. Most preservation groups don't have marketing plans or budgets either, and we just do what we can and figure it out as we go along.

I went to some of the NAMP workshops last year, and they're great. I wouldn't recommend them unless I truly believed that they're a good use of our very limited time and resources, and can help advance the cause of preservation throughout Los Angeles.

NAMP workshops feature panel discussions with local experts in various marketing areas. Workshop topics for 2008 include:

- Reaching diverse audiences (next Thursday - register today for free parking)
- Email marketing essentials and Web techniques
- Blogging, social networking, and YouTube
- How to write a marketing plan (and why you need one)
- Strategic partnerships and collaboration
- How to market effectively with no money and no time (case studies/idea exchange)

Workshops last around 3 hours and cost $35 (if enough preservation groups start participating, we might be able to get a discounted rate of $25). If you register for all six, you get the sixth one free. They usually take place in downtown Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Times building, and parking is free if you register by the Friday before the workshop.

If you're interested, you can download the 2008 schedule and registration information here:
http://www.laconservancy.org/events/NAMP_workshops_2008.pdf

I'd also be glad to e-mail you the PDF; just let me know. And of course, I'd be happy to talk with you more about the project or the workshops.

PLEASE NOTE: The next workshop (on diversity) is next Thursday, March 20 at 10 a.m., and you'd need to register TODAY (Friday) in order to get free parking at the LA Times building. I'm very sorry about the late notice and apologize for any inconvenience.

I hope you find these workshops of interest, and I highly recommend them. I'll be at all of them and hope to see you. If you do decide to attend a workshop, I'd appreciate your letting me know, and of course I'd like your feedback on it. As a partner and a member of the local NAMP steering committee, the L.A. Conservancy can help shape the content and direction of these workshops as we move forward, and of course we'd like your help.

Please see the links below for more information, and let me know if you have any questions or comments. I think this is a great opportunity for the greater Los Angeles preservation community to enhance our capability in marketing and communications, and I hope you agree. Many thanks for your time and consideration.

Best,

Cindy Olnick
Communications Manager
Los Angeles Conservancy
213.430.4214
colnick@laconservancy.org

2008 NAMP Workshop Schedule
http://www.laconservancy.org/events/NAMP_workshops_2008.pdf

National Arts Marketing Project
http://www.artsmarketing.org/faqs/faqs-view.cfm?category=NAMP

ArtsMarketing.org
http://www.artsmarketing.org/

American Express Partners in Preservation
http://home3.americanexpress.com/corp/gb/pip.asp

Cindy Olnick
Communications Manager
Los Angeles Conservancy
213.430.4214 (p)
213.623.3909 (f)
colnick@laconservancy.org
www.laconservancy.org