Alan Brown

Friday Morning Plenary Speaker:

Alan Brown is a leading researcher and management consultant in the nonprofit arts industry, focusing on understanding consumer demand for cultural experiences and helping cultural institutions, foundations, and agencies see new opportunities, make informed decisions, and respond to changing conditions. Recent projects on assessing the intrinsic impacts of arts experiences include evaluation and assessment projects for the Doris Duke Charitable Trust (Creative Campus grant program) and Dance/USA (Engaging Dance Audiences). With Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf, he develops new approaches to measuring the ‘creative capital’ of children, families, workers and whole communities. He has conducted studies for the Philadelphia Orchestra, Steppenwolf, Welsh National Opera, and the Major University Presenters consortium. He is presently working with other consultants to develop the next generation of marketing databases for the arts industry that will incorporate survey data as well as transaction data. Brown serves in a volunteer capacity on the Research Advisory Council of the League of American Orchestras, and has served on the organizing committee of the National Arts Marketing Project annual conference since its inception. He speaks frequently at conferences in the U.S. and Canada, as well as the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. Prior to his consulting career, he served for five years as executive director of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, where he presented Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and many other artists. He holds three degrees from the University of Michigan: a master of business administration, a master of music in arts administration and a bachelor of musical arts in vocal performance.