"That's just crazy!"

Louisville, Kentucky


Ben Cameron delivered the keynote speech to the Performing Arts Exchange today. The PAE is the Eastern/Southern booking conference, and Ben is arts program director for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.


Ben recounted the application received from a dance company seeking a grant to buy land on the internet's "Second Life" in order to construct a building in which to hold virtual performances. Second Life is an alternate, virtual universe in which $1.6 billion of real world money transactions occur daily.


At its Second Life facility, the dance company sells out its performances and has added performances in order to meet the demand for tickets.


All of us at our luncheon table said "That's just crazy!" -- at the same time we furiously took notes about this latest frontier.


In the culture wars for survival, organizations that wish to thrive must step up the pace and brainpower of their marketing and fundraising efforts.