HubArts.com

Pause for station identification

I'm half done with a magnum opus on last night's visit to the ART's "Sleep No More," one of the strangest theatrical experiences I've ever had. (The words "strobe-lit," "naked" and "mask" are involved.) But I have a Globe piece to finish first. Bear with me, it'll be worth your while, I promise.

Morning reading: Brandeis, Boston (the band), Beat the Press

That Brandeis committee on closing the Rose Art Museum that swears it's not a total administration sham just happens to agree with everything the administration does. Wow, then, I guess it's OK to fire the museum staff, sell the art and close the dump down. I am so totally in sync now. ... Tom Scholz is blasting promos by that car dealer's band that has a couple of former members of Boston in it. And of course one of those guys' wives fires back in the Names column (second item). If the suicide of Brad Delp couldn't shut these  people up, I suppose nothing will. But seriously, the only thing worse than not being in a huge hit rock band has got to be being in a huge hit rock band with this bunch. .... Beat The Press has a blog now. ... Keith liked the Alvin Ailey the other night, but only sorta. ... Sebastian Smee hatin' on the Cyberarts Festival. ... And a pointer to an excellent new web site for finding a band show you want to check out.

UPDATE: Wow, that was quick. I just got an email from Tom Scholz's lawyer demanding that I take down the 200px Boston band logo that was here. Kinda proves my point, no? I think it's fair use but I'm doing it just to be shut of them.

ArtsBoston.org charts course for arts online

Add me to the list of people recommending the new ArtsBoston.org. Countless syllables have been spilled dissecting the future of arts and the media in the fast-changing world of ever-shrinking newspapers, thriving blogs and Twitter. ArtsBoston.org isn't intended as journalism, but it's not exactly advertising either. It's a mashup of the old newspaper arts listings with social media and links and multimedia. And while I'm wary of the slow blurring of journalistic boundaries online - BY THE WAY, PLEASE CLICK ON OUR SPONSORS OVER THERE TO THE RIGHT - it seems to me that ArtsBoston Director of Marketing Charles McEnerney and the rest of his crew are getting it mostly right. That's what I told him yesterday, anyway, when we spent an hour on the phone walking through the beta site and talking about the possibilities.

The site revamp came about in part because ArtsBoston heard from its member arts organizations that they were "looking for help selling regular price tickets as well as the half-price offers" through ArtsBoston's BosTix program. The other big factor for those arts groups was the steady shrinkage in arts listings in the mainstream media, as the Globe, Herald and other outlets cope with their own, partly internet-induced economic challenges. "A handful of groups said this is what is lacking," McEnerney said.

Still being tweaked byArtsBoston staff and their partners at Artsopolis Network in San Jose, CA, the site offers a ton of entry points on the front page, from featured events to category listings, as well as video. Each listing, in turn, includes ticket details, other media and both "citizen reviews" and "media reviews." (McEnerney said they're still figuring out where bloggers fit.) The initial information comes from the arts groups, who fill out an online form, and it's then approved by staff before posting. The featured spots on the bright and colorful home page are reserved for ArtsBoston's 170-and-growing membership. The aim, McEnerney said, is to give "a comprehensive sense of what's happening in Boston in the arts."

I think they're a good way down the road to doing that, although we talked about a bunch of little tweaks. Among the moves I suggested was putting the @artsboston Twitter feed on the side of the home page in a widget. Other bloggers have also been doing focus groups with McEnerney. "Social media," of course, can be translated as "one hand washes the other," and while McEnerney is looking for good blog reviews of the new site, I'm looking for links back to HubArts. And of course there's a BosTix ad OVER THERE TO THE RIGHT. When old-media refugees like me say journalism on the web brings a whole new set of dilemmas, that's what we mean. But most of today's online audience is either cynically savvy about such concerns or just doesn't give a damn. We live in interesting times, and a lot of new solutions are needed. ArtsBoston.org looks like one.