May 16, 2018 / Last updated: September 13, 2024

Young Patrons Groups in New York City: Cocktail Meetup

15 or so people waving Hello and smiling

Young Patrons programs at museums and cultural organizations are hard.

Turnover is ever-present, budgets are tight, and attention spans are low.

I hosted a cocktail party in Manhattan on Monday night on behalf of Museum Hack to gather individuals who manage Young Patrons or Young Members programs. The goal is to get together and share ideas so we can all succeed together.

Young Patrons and Nick Gray
Group photo! I love selfies. Great people make great photos

Young Patrons Video Testimonial

Watch the video above (or see it here on YouTube) to hear how the event went and see a little behind-the-scenes action.

Attendees

We had attendees from esteemed New York City museums and cultural establishments attend such as:

  • Carnegie Hall
  • Lincoln Center
  • The Frick Collection
  • Brooklyn Museum
  • Apollo Theater

Attendees had job titles like:

  • Development Manager
  • Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships
  • Manager of Individual Giving
  • Senior Manager of Events and Fundraising
  • Membership Manager

Event Agenda

Everyone swapped stories and best practices over drinks and icebreakers.

Young Patrons conference room
Live shot of an Icebreaker in action: We’re introducing ourselves and talking about our favorite breakfast food

Group Brainstorming Workshop

We did a mini-workshop where we split into teams to discuss two real problems that our colleagues are facing:

  1. How to deal with membership churn?
  2. How to propose innovative event ideas when there is internal staff resistance?
Young Patrons Programs NYC
Me probably talking about why everyone in the room is so awesome
Young Patrons conference tables
Three teams, each discussing ideas to reduce churn in membership rates

More Information

I want to do it again soon! Email me if you know someone we should invite next time.

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