AZERBAIJAN     2009  

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Baku
September 7-10, 2009

At the invitation of The Fund and with the support and guidance of Mr. Jahangir Selimkhanov, Director of the Arts and Culture Program of the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation in Baku, Charles Croce, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, traveled to Azerbaijan for an intensive four-day series of meetings, discussions, and workshops focused on marketing strategies and practices for cultural organizations.

Mr. Croce conducted the first of several workshops at the State Museum of Azerbaijan Carpet and Applied Art (Carpet Museum), which houses a collection of carpets and textiles dating from between the 18th and 20th centuries. A group of twenty managers and staff from many of Baku’s museums were invited to a presentation and discussion on American museums, with a specific focus on the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Following the workshop, Dr. Roya Taghiyeva, Director of the Carpet Museum, invited Mr. Croce to meet her staff and to discuss their preparations for opening their new Museum, planned for the fall of 2010. The discussion centered mostly on management structure, titles and functions and reporting systems. It was suggested that before assigning titles to staff and management, written job descriptions should be developed for each staff position, after which evaluating job functions and titles would become more apparent. As a result of his visit, Mr. Croce was asked if he would agree to continue the dialogue and consult on occasion with the Museum as it developed its plans for the new building.

The Russian Drama Theatre hosted a workshop for a group of twelve theater administrators on the organizational structure and working relationships between the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and its eight resident companies, including an opera, ballet and chamber orchestra, as well as the renowned Philadelphia Orchestra. The discussion focused on the need to generate revenue through ticket sales and other revenue streams, as well as the constant need to build audiences, sustain education programs, and develop patron loyalty initiatives.

The presentation stimulated a lively debate among the various participants about the need to attract audiences and how to go about building a core audience base. Half the group, mostly senior directors and managers, felt that their existence alone and their presentations were enough to appeal to potential theatergoers, while a more vocal, younger group felt that there was little or no attempt to reach a more youthful audience, and expressed the need for relevance in order to engage them. An outcome of the dialogue pointed toward the need for communication between the older school of thought on audience development and a newer, more demanding younger theatergoer who feels disconnected to the presentations currently being offered in the region.

An afternoon was spent meeting with a group of middle and senior management staff members at the National Museum of Azerbaijan History, led by its Director Naila Velikhanli, who is also Vice President of the Academy of Sciences. Much of the discussion centered around building a membership base, increasing attendance, offering amenities such as a gift shop and café, and working toward increased signage and visibility. The Director was intensely interested in budgets and was very curious about the amount of money budgeted to run a major American museum. In the discussions, the need to fundraise, increase admission fees, or develop a membership program were unfamiliar concepts. There was agreement that the need to build and launch a website was necessary for the museum as a way of widening their global audience reach. Work is underway on establishing their internet presence.

Mr. Croce met with Ahad Kazimov, Program Manager for the Eurasia Partnership Foundation, and a few of his colleagues to discuss corporate social responsibility and the need to develop more public/private partnerships in Azerbaijan. Much of the work of the Foundation focuses on developing a strategic approach to giving versus pure philanthropy, using best practices gleaned from the European and American corporate sectors.

Cause-related marketing was also discussed, and the Foundation has been very successful in encouraging companies to use their public space for free performances as a way of promoting the arts through partnerships. The Foundation appears to be gaining traction in promoting partnerships with several of the major industries in Azerbaijan including banking, shipping and telecommunications.

Charged with developing tourism to the old walled sector of Baku, known as the Inner City (Icheri Sheher), Mr. Croce met with Anar Guliyev, Head of Department, Cultural Heritage Research and International Relations, and two of his colleagues, Milayil Najafov, Head of Division, Development of Tourism and Relations Services, and Samir Nuriyev, Head of Department, Strategic Development and Regulations. These leaders are charged with overseeing and developing a master plan to restore and conserve the old city, which has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site.

After briefly touring the Inner City, Mr. Croce led a discussion on ways to attract tourists and make the site a main tourism destination. Topics included charging admission to the sector, developing amenities and partnering with the hospitality industry in the region, and presenting more performances, bazaars, craft shows and demonstrations to garner local awareness of the hidden treasures that exist within the walled city, one of only 50 in the world.

There was a lengthy debate and exchange of ideas regarding the timing of launching a public relations initiative to gain attention and build awareness of the restoration work now underway in the Inner City. Interestingly, the management team felt strongly about waiting until more tangible development of the restored site was evident; while Mr. Croce encouraged activity now, particularly with recognized architectural organizations and tourism industry leaders to begin the work for setting the stage for what will eventually be a major attraction in Baku.

An unexpected and late addition to the schedule included a visit to the exquisite Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall for a brief meeting with its Managing Director, Mikayilov Afet. Mr. Croce discussed the differences and similarities between the use of the performance spaces in Baku and Philadelphia, focusing on the relationships of resident arts organizations, which is common to both cities.

Set to open to the public in 2010, Mr. Croce was fortunate to be given a private tour of the new Modern Art Museum, where over 1000 works are on display, mostly by artists from Azerbaijan. The strikingly handsome building has a deceivingly large and architecturally interesting series of interior spaces, to include two cafes and a gift shop with a small reading area. Four galleries are devoted to special exhibitions, while the remainder of the museum space contains works on permanent display.

Mr. Croce’s final meeting was at ARGO Public Relations, where he held discussions on positioning Azerbaijan and Baku from a public relations viewpoint with the director, Tamilla Nagiyeva, and several of her staff members. Presenting Baku as the major center of Islam was of particular interest as it relates to global culture and how that may be of interest for religious tourism opportunities.

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