Press and Media

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SMU DataArts Receives $30,000 Grant from National Endowment for the Arts to Fund Expansion of Work with TRG Arts’ COVID-19 Sector Benchmark Dashboard

Grant will help support data collection project enabling arts organizations to understand effects of COVID-19 on their operations

Dallas, TX—July 14, 2020--SMU DataArts, a national center for arts research, has received a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This grant will support expansion of a data collection project conducted by TRG Arts, SMU DataArts’ longtime partner in advancing the culture and arts sector, which is helping arts organizations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. understand how the COVID-19 virus has affected their operations.

The project is the COVID-19 Sector Benchmark Dashboard, developed by TRG Arts in collaboration with U.K.-based audience analytics company Purple Seven, and launched in early April. The dashboard, which is free, provides near real-time intelligence and advice to help arts leaders see results as they respond to the pandemic.

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TRG Arts Study Reveals U.S. Performing Arts Organizations’ Creative Plans for Autumn Return

63% of All TRG U.S. Clients, 100% of Multi-genre/PACs and 87% of Dance Organizations Expect to Return to Performances in 2020 

Colorado Springs, CO, USA—June 18, 2020—Results of a study released today by international arts management consultants TRG Arts reveal that of its clients surveyed across three countries, U.S. performing arts organizations have the most optimistic outlook. The new study, “Arts and Culture 2020 Comeback,” finds 63 percent of U.S. venues are planning an autumn return, compared to 54 percent of clients overall surveyed in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom who are planning to return to performances by the end of 2020 after shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic.

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TRG Arts Reveals First International Analysis of Effect of COVID-19 on Performing Arts Ticket Sales in North America and the U.K. North American 

Sales Fall 71% During One Week in March 2020, Continue to Slide Toward U.K.’s 92% Collapse 

Colorado Springs, CO, USA—June 10, 2020--Today international arts management consultants TRG Arts and U.K. arts data specialists Purple Seven have released the first major study comparing the impact of COVID-19 and venue closures in North America and the United Kingdom. The “COVID-19 Sector Benchmark Insight Report” for May 2020 is the first of a series that will be published during the pandemic crisis and recovery.

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SMU DataArts and TRG Arts Release Report on Critical Strategies and Structures Cultural Organizations During and Post-COVID-19

May 18, 2020 (Dallas, TX) – SMU DataArts and TRG Arts today release a white paper aimed at helping arts and culture organizations consider key questions and variables as they plan for reopening and a post-COVID-19 future. Titled “In It for the Long Haul” and co-authored by Dr. Zannie Giraud Voss, director of SMU DataArts, and Jill Robinson, CEO of TRG Arts, the report synthesizes survey data with historical and projected financial data to estimate the pandemic’s effect on the nonprofit arts sector and identifies three critical propositions along with related prompting questions for organizations to consider. The report underscores that COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges for arts and culture organizations and proposes specific steps that organizations can take to address the crisis so that they can orient themselves toward sustained action. Voss and Robinson stress that those cultural organizations who have the bandwidth to think beyond near-term survival have an opportunity to contemplate their core values, strengths, and purpose coming out of the crisis—and that such analysis and preparatory work is imperative for organizational and sector health. The report can be read and downloaded here.

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COVID-19 Impact on Theatre Sales Uneven Across the UK 

Scotland and Northern Ireland felt greatest initial impact before UK theatres were shut down  

Bristol, UK—27 April 2020--Today international arts management consultants TRG Arts and UK arts data specialists Purple Seven have released new analysis of the impact on daily sales in different parts of the UK. 

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Presenting Houses feeling greatest impact on advance sales

First 30 Days of Theatre Shutdown See Producing Houses Marginally Outperform Presenting Theatres and Concert Halls in Tough Market for All

Bristol, UK—21 April 2020--Today international arts management consultants TRG Arts and UK arts data specialists Purple Seven have released new analysis on the on-going scale of the impact on daily sales at UK theatres.

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NPS® Creator to Discuss Patron and Employee Loyalty for Survival and Success of Arts Organizations During April 23rd TRG 30 Webinar

TRG Arts Adds Six Weekly 30-Minute Webinars to Series   

Colorado Springs, CO, April 16, 2020—TRG Arts, a global data-driven consulting firm, announced today that Fred Reichheld, Bain Fellow and the creator of the Net Promoter® Score and System for determining customer engagement and loyalty, will be a guest presenter for the free TRG 30 webinar being held on April 23. Reichheld will discuss the heightened urgency of building customer and employee loyalty in the arts and culture sector during the COVID-19 crisis. TRG is also expanding its webinar series for an additional six weeks due to the enthusiastic response to the 30-minute sessions, which combine TRG’s consulting expertise, guest perspectives, industry data and participants’ questions to address the sector’s most pressing needs.  

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Latest analysis of live sales data by Purple Seven and TRG Arts reveal green shoots with loyalists 

First Ten Days of Theatre Shutdown Sees Average Drop in Advance Ticket Sales of 93%

Bristol, UK—31 March 2020--Today international arts management consultants TRG Arts and UK arts data specialists Purple Seven have released new figures on the on-going scale of the impact on daily sales at UK Theatres and some encouraging analysis on customer behaviour in the UK and North America.

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TRG Arts Provides Survive and Thrive Guidance for Arts and Culture Organizations

Colorado Springs, CO, March 23, 2020— To ensure the field of arts and culture thrives now and after the COVID-19 crisis, TRG Arts, a global data-driven consulting firm is offering a range of free resources for cultural and arts professionals throughout the U.S., Canada, the UK and the EU. TRG will share its crisis counsel and best practices through a new webinar series, TRG 30; on the TRG 30 Virtual Network on LinkedIn, where arts professionals gather and have their questions answered by TRG consultants; and on the TRG blog.  

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TRG Arts and Purple Seven Launch New Partnership to Support the Cultural Sector Amidst Current Challenges 

Day One of Theatre Shutdown Sees Drop in Advance Sales of 92%

Bristol, UK—18 March 2020--Today international arts management consultants TRG Arts and UK arts data specialists Purple Seven have announced a partnership to provide intelligence and advice to the sector in the wake of the closure of most of the nation’s arts venues.

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TRG Arts Announces Leadership Promotions as Company Realigns to Support Record Growth   

Colorado Springs, CO, March 11, 2020—TRG Arts, a global data-driven consulting firm for cultural and arts professionals, announced today the promotions of its senior leadership team to expand service capabilities to further drive innovation and growth. Since 2013, the firm has doubled in size, established a base in the United Kingdom, and served more than 1,200 clients in the United States, Canada, Australia, the U.K. and Europe. In 2019, TRG earned the highest revenue in its 25-year history.

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