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Episode 14: Alabama School of Fine Arts (with guest Dr. Tim Mitchell)
55 Plays1 month ago
We're thrilled to welcome another special guest to our show: Dr. Tim Mitchell at the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA). Dr. Mitchell is the President of ASFA and has worked with us both in his current role, as well as his former role at the Flint Hill School. He spoke with Librettists Nancy Boissonnet and Connor Ferguson and reflected on the work we did with ASFA circa 2021.
In this episode:
- Dr. Tim Mitchell, President, ASFA
- Alabama School of Fine Arts (website) (Libretto case study)
- Hamnet (book) (movie)
- The Seven Dials
- Six Seasons of Pasta
Hosted by Nancy Boissonnet and Connor Ferguson
Produced and Edited by Tiffany Carlson
Music by Coma-Media, via Pixabay
© 2026 Libretto. All Rights Reserved.
Recommended
Transcript
Welcome to Well Put Podcast
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome to Well Put, a podcast about communications for mission-driven organizations from Libretto. I'm Connor Ferguson. And I'm Nancy Boissone.
Featuring Dr. Tim Mitchell from ASFA
00:00:22
Speaker
Today's episode will feature a discussion about Libretto's institutional messaging engagement for the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, Alabama.
00:00:30
Speaker
I'm very pleased to introduce our guest, Dr. Tim Mitchell, the president of the Alabama School of Fine
ASFA's Unique Educational Approach
00:00:37
Speaker
Arts. Tim was our client on ASFA's institutional messaging platform, which we completed, i think, in 2021.
00:00:44
Speaker
But Tim also worked with us in his former position at the Flint Hill School, which goes back to, I believe, 2014. Tim, it's great to see you. Thanks for joining us.
00:00:57
Speaker
Thank you very much. andm so glad to join you. Yeah, we're happy to have you. We'd love to hear a little bit about you, about ASPA. If you wanted to give us a little introduction, you can lean on that messaging platform as you do so. Yes, I will. oh i sir I certainly, certainly will. Okay, so let's start with the Alabama School of Fine Arts. It is ah like a unique school in our state, almost unique. We have a couple of others that fit our model. And only a handful of schools are quite like this across the country.
00:01:29
Speaker
So there are two things to know. One is that we are grades seven through 12 public school, but we are entirely independent of the Board of Ed in our state.
00:01:41
Speaker
We are a specialty school and we are focused, a focused education. And so kids come here to study creative writing, dance, music, theater, visual arts, or math and science. We actually have some math and science. That was one of the challenges. It wasn't in our title. So how to talk about all of that.
00:02:04
Speaker
And libretto really helped us with the four key pillars that I think actually describe the school really well.
Libretto's Role in ASFA's Messaging
00:02:11
Speaker
And the first of those is a deep dive. And by deep dive, we really mean that, you know, the kids come here and in the morning they do a high expectation high school program.
00:02:21
Speaker
But for four or five hours a day, they're with other high potential peers and practicing teaching artists. And so they are really doing a deep dive with other peers who share the same strength.
00:02:36
Speaker
And they are able to get very, very good at what they do as a result. They are really given the time as well as that energy from the other peers to study. I mean, we have an extended day that actually runs to 5.30 p.m. for some of our specialties. And we are focused in this deep dive in such a way that really you are doing what is in your area of focus and not a lot of extracurriculars. We don't have, for example, athletics.
00:03:03
Speaker
right We're just focused and focused and focused. So the second of those key ah pillars is ah a solid foundation. And I mentioned that we do have those morning high expectation, high school classes, they're sort of accelerated, but they're also tailored to the needs of students who are going into these areas and these fields. And they are such transferable skills that they give you a solid foundation for whatever you do.
00:03:30
Speaker
We couldn't do it without supportive culture. That was our next pillar. ASFA has a particular history of being a welcoming and inclusive and safe space, especially associated with creativity, especially associated with kids who find a home with us, who find their people with us, who find a way to express themselves with us in without the pressures of like ah and other schools.
00:03:58
Speaker
So in many, many ways, you are set up for success when you come here, because not only are you crossing all of those specialties in the morning and making friends, but then your whole afternoon, your you're you're studying with an ensemble or you're putting getting ready for an exhibit or you're doing a critique or you're having a rehearsal. And as you make those connections, you are crossing all the lines that would otherwise be clicks and making some really deep connections. So that deep kind of deep dive also exists.
00:04:28
Speaker
But the supportive culture aspect of it, whether it's welcoming kids from ah multiple numbers of religions, which is a a little less ah usual in our area schools, whether it's welcoming LGBTQ students, whether it's welcoming, ah you know, we have a strong community.
Challenges and Successes of ASFA
00:04:49
Speaker
Asian American contingent here that includes a lot of people who are are first generation to the country. And we are actually at this moment about 53% students of color.
00:05:01
Speaker
So just crossing those particular lines, we have socioeconomic diversity that people didn't know that we had. All of that relies on the support of culture. And then the last one was extraordinary outcomes. And extraordinary outcomes is so good for our messaging guys. Thank you thank you for putting that words together because, you know, our students are thriving.
00:05:25
Speaker
And as they go on to their first of all, they can have extraordinary outcomes when they're with us. We had over 500 state, regional, national and even a few international recognitions, awards, team wins last year. i think for a school of 350 kids, that's more More than one per kid. So yeah it's pretty pretty outstanding work already. But then when they go off to college, it's really, we have the kids that that people want. So typically our class is over 90%. But last year, 94% of our graduating seniors received merit scholarships.
00:06:02
Speaker
And that totaled about $19.1 million dollars for class of They were down by about in their overall class, but million, dollars that's like over per kid on average. But here's my favorite.
00:06:18
Speaker
We asked, how many of those are free rides, like full rides? Like, I don't mean free rides. I mean, full rides. Yeah. you know Where you don't just get tuition, but you get room and board. And it turns out that 23% of our graduating seniors got full rides last year.
00:06:36
Speaker
And so we compared that. Thank you. Compared that with the national student body that that gets 0.1% full rides. Amazing. 0.1% versus almost a quarter. um And our kids are going to amazing places from Alabama. And they're not, I mean, 56% will stay here in the state and go to U of A. And we had four kids get accepted into the University of Alabama early medical school acceptance program last year, which is An unbelievable number, that is an extraordinary outcome.
00:07:08
Speaker
But for those who are leaving the state and going to, they are going to all of the conservatories and the and the schools that that you've ever heard of for for the arts, math, and science. And even within those statistics, we have three kids who went directly into dance companies and began their careers.
00:07:24
Speaker
Wow. So, you know, we really do have an amazing, extraordinary set of outcomes. And we're very, very, very pleased that these students can take advantage of that.
00:07:38
Speaker
um So that's who we are. And then we were just in a pickle. Can I say pickle on your podcast? Sure. ah When I first arrived, it's like everybody here knows this is like a great place to come as a student. it's But the perceptions out in the community were off that people thought we were a private school.
00:08:03
Speaker
And we don't even charge for the we have boarding We have residential boarding here for 20% of our kids. We don't charge for that. So it's really important that the whole state understand that they have this opportunity um and that we are a public school. And there had never been advertising done across the rural areas of our state, just and not too much done outside of Birmingham itself.
00:08:30
Speaker
um And so we knew that was important. The other thing is when you go lobbying for your state budget, a normal district has got a geographical district representation in their rep and their senator.
00:08:46
Speaker
But we don't because we're statewide. So nobody has to think of us as their district. So we have to be pretty convincing that we are bringing a benefit to the state and to the students in the state. And that means a very strong lobbying message.
00:09:00
Speaker
And the school traditionally had no development office. There was no annual fund. And we were establishing one. And we've now we're now headed towards our campus master building plan, which I'm sure we'll talk about at some point. But yeah it was just amazing to say, look, we need these audiences. So at the same moment that everybody says, oh, we know them, they're a gem in downtown.
00:09:23
Speaker
But they don't know what we do. You know, our families know it. but but they don't really know. and And for us to correct the issues of misperception and actually say that they're, try to understand this deep dive and especially these extraordinary outcomes,
00:09:41
Speaker
and And it's almost an equation, isn't it? A deep dive plus a solid foundation equals the extraordinary outcomes, you know? So. um So i I don't know if that's enough of an intro. I'll just add about myself that, ah you know, I had an arts background and I had a school administration background. You add one to the other and I ended up here.
00:10:01
Speaker
Yeah. Been a great fit. I went to a conference of art school leaders not long ago and they said, oh, At a certain point, everybody just thinks you're a school administrator and they totally forget that you have an arts background.
00:10:13
Speaker
I can totally get that. I think, you know, after the ninth budget meeting and the meeting on plumbing
Strategic Planning and Messaging at ASFA
00:10:19
Speaker
and the meeting on roof and the meeting on roof leaks and the meeting with the architects, that could happen. You have to interject a little circus performance in the middle of all of those meetings. Exactly right. And so and so you remember that I spent some time in a circus. Yeah. But yes, I started it as a commercial actor as a kid doing television commercials. um And then as I grew older, um i I really, you know, got into sort of the more academic side of theater. I actually spent a great deal of time doing community engaged theater, like theater in prisons or theater in different placements with people over an 18 19 year career. period where a group is looking for a way both to engage in education, but also self-advocacy. And so I got involved in that. That's what took me into my PhD in theater.
00:11:11
Speaker
And then it kind of swung swung back around because Flint Hill School had an amazing arts program. And ah eventually I just... ah you know, was flourishing there with that and didn't think I would ever want to find something else. And along comes a school just dedicated just to what, like if I could have designed my dream curriculum and my dream schedule and career, And and, you know, gone. Yeah. So this is an audition school, of course, but it's a it's kind of a friendly audition process. And I will say that thanks to the messaging and positioning platform, another extraordinary outcome is our growth in enrollment up to our school capacity and a little bit beyond. And this year, again, our applications are up another 32 percent over last year. And last year they were up about 15% over the year before.
00:12:08
Speaker
And we are, if we can build the buildings that we have planned, then then we can probably grow by by another 75 to 100 students in the next few years.
00:12:19
Speaker
That's so great. that's That's a great introduction. And I'm so glad that you were able to hit on all four of those those pillars from from the messaging platform. And it does, I mean, it's incredibly rewarding because we don't often we we we don't often get to hear the the sort of multi-year outcomes of these sorts of projects because, you know, a messaging platform like this is a lot of work. It's not going to just change everything overnight, but now that it's been several years since we developed this thing, it's great to hear that it that it's really sort of worked its way into into your culture and and had some tangible outcomes.
00:12:57
Speaker
Hey, Connor, do you remember writing this? And I use this, I'm sure I modified certain words, but at every open house, I say, you know, you are going to meet more kids like you than ever before. I do remember writing that. That other kid who wants to study two instruments, not just one, and maybe go on. And the other kid who, for some reason that I don't understand, wants to spend and three to four hours a day at a whiteboard with math problems. don't know. You know, and and on and on. I said, going to meet more kids like you than ever before. But you're also going to meet more kids who are not like you than ever before, because of all of the students that we bring from urban and rural and all those other forms of of belonging that I mentioned earlier. And and so that's really that's been a powerful message in each of our open houses.
00:13:46
Speaker
I'm so glad to hear it. Yeah, that's, I mean, I i do remember writing that and and coming up with that that that idea. And, you know, it it i I say came up with it. i wouldn't I wouldn't say that we should take all the credit for that because, it you know, that really came authentically out of our conversations with your community. And you know Just like pretty much every project that we do, it's not about us coming in and sort of imposing a view and imposing ah a narrative on you. It's really about teasing out the the threads of narrative that are already authentically a part of who you are. So it's it's so good to hear that that's ah that that still resonates.
00:14:29
Speaker
um I was wondering if we could sort of hear a bit more about the genesis of this messaging project from your standpoint. um Particularly, we're interested in the fact that you you undertook this messaging engagement with us before you went into a strategic planning process, which is, ah I would say, a a unusual approach for most of our clients. Most most of the time, a strategic plan is established and then ah messaging and communications kind of follows on that plan. But ah this was a little a little different, and I was wondering sort of
00:15:08
Speaker
What made you approach it that way and how did that ultimately impact the strategic planning process? Well, thanks for asking that. You know, I put a lot of thought into that. I'm not sure why it is so unusual not, you know, to go in the other direction. I mean, a strategic plan can include something like we have right now, which was a plan for, you know, our middle school studies, a plan for purpose built facilities, a plan to move into a more purposeful residential life.
00:15:40
Speaker
Okay, that's very different. It seems to me that that that if you could start with the whole community on the same page of being able to describe who we are and what we do, um then you know you can really get more into the sort of design and production part of a strategic plan.
00:16:01
Speaker
So, you know, we had a like, that 22 page? think it's like a very long 22 page messaging platform. But part of it, you know, really serves to go into each area. Like we have a message for each of our six specialties.
00:16:19
Speaker
Right. We have an institutional message for our theater and its role in the community. Right. We have a message that we thought would be useful for development was, you know, but ah we have one for lobbying.
00:16:32
Speaker
um We have one that's merely descriptive of the mission. ah By doing that, I think we were doing the strategic planning process.
00:16:44
Speaker
I think we were doing the part that some people spend a little time on mission or vision or what have you. But by by doing that, we were sort of saying, yes, and you based it on something. It wasn't, it had a a discovery process. It had plenty of one-on-ones. It had small groups. It had ah a lot of ah trying to identify the language.
00:17:10
Speaker
that would describe something that you know that that we all see here and be able to compellingly communicate it to others. Well, once you have that in place, um then I think you can go into a process that's a little more focused on, not not current needs, but future aspirations.
00:17:32
Speaker
Right. Right? Because you're building off a foundation of really deep conversations that you've had and um training sessions that you've gone to. where You don't have to describe the who you are and what you do now you can get to the why and the so what for the future work. So so I just think it is part of strategic planning. I like the arc that we created. And and I talk about this arc sometimes. ah At the same time that we were building the messaging platform, we were building infrastructure for a lobbying effort. And we were building infrastructure for a development office.
00:18:16
Speaker
So the messaging was we were able to use immediately without waiting then to go on to the strategic plan to be finished. But right after that, the strategic plan followed up on all of that stuff. And we were sort of like, we already know who we are and what we do and how we describe it. And we already know what our goals are in these areas.
00:18:36
Speaker
uh now we can focus on sort of a design advisory group we took a little bit from the stanford d school you know design thinking and said we don't want committees per se we really want people to do that sort of empathy then plus protocoling and maybe designing the thing that we want next and then we came out of that process And we went to to do an architect selection. And then we went to work with architects. They wanted to do a discovery process again. And we're like, we have our priorities and here they are.
00:19:10
Speaker
yeah you know So they still met with everyone because they needed to understand it for their own designs. but But they already knew very precisely and with language that could really describe why exactly what our priorities were and why.
00:19:26
Speaker
Did you give the messaging platform to the to the architects to as part of their sort of process? That was part of their process too, right? Yeah. And then that that that really made a difference, I think, in how they presented the campus master building plan. And by the way, if we had taken the a path that went the other way, I don't think we would be sitting on nearly $17 million dollars for the campus master building plan from the state right now.
00:19:53
Speaker
And heading into it, we're already in a silent phase for our capital campaign. And that, depending on where you sit in the country, that may or may not sound like a lot of money. It's a $31 million dollars in phase one. So that's that's like just about half.
00:20:07
Speaker
which is kind of kind of, you know, so it's very of good yeah we were able, and that it's historic because ah the nature of the school is that it was, you know, a public private partnership earlier in its life. And so the buildings and the grounds and all that are leased by the state, but not owned by the state.
00:20:27
Speaker
And they had never provided capital money before. Wow. Wow. So so we i could say I could say that it was fantastic to be sitting in a room with architects and and talking about a new building and whatever, but that wouldn't go anywhere if we didn't already have messaging in place working for us.
00:20:48
Speaker
That's fantastic. Boy, you're doing our job for us. this is I know. I mean...
00:21:04
Speaker
Tim, I'm curious, you mentioned the um the discovery process, and I wanted to talk a little bit more about that. as Connor and I were reflecting back on the project, we were realizing that the ASFA project was really the first that we did fully virtually and when it came to the discovery.
00:21:24
Speaker
now That was because it was mid-COVID. We started speaking to people and we spoke to it in really long list of folks. for More than 100 people all told. Not necessarily 100 conversations. 125 different people were involved. um And that included students, faculty, staff. It included lawmakers.
00:21:46
Speaker
It included alums, peers. da um it included lawmakers it included alums tears organizations that you worked with, other schools in the state. So it was a huge, broad effort.
00:22:01
Speaker
And I remember that originally we thought, oh, you know, we're going to have to figure out a way to get down there.
Marketing and Outreach Strategies
00:22:06
Speaker
And and then we started having these conversations and people were just speaking so very vividly about the school and we really felt like we knew the place and we really felt like we'd been immersed in an incredible way. And then we finally did come down for the messaging trainings and we met all of these people that we had spoken to over the course of many months and who we really felt like we knew and it had this kind of sense of being a homecoming for us.
00:22:34
Speaker
And it was also a really wonderful validation that everything we had heard was really true, that we got to see it and that it it was all, you know, it was all put into action and we could see it on the ground when we were there. So I was curious about what that discovery process was like for you and any feedback that you got from folks. um And if if it sort of met the expectations that you had when we set out to do this project.
00:23:01
Speaker
I guess that was a little scary because, you know, I'm a very in-person sort of guy until we hit the pandemic. um You know, certainly had had some exposure to what was, I guess, back then interviewing people by Skype and stuff. Skype, yeah's cut yeah. Uh, that it wasn't, it wasn't the, the comfort level we have like today on this podcast. Certainly. um it wasn't, um, but, but, but there was one thing that stood out and that was that we needed momentum.
00:23:36
Speaker
We needed not to wait to do this work. The school really, if it was going to come out of the pandemic strong, then it needed immediate care.
00:23:49
Speaker
I mentioned our admissions, but our admissions, even just before the pandemic were a little bit low here. um you know And even during the pandemic, they were a little bit low. So the immediate worry that I had was, oh, you know if we don't get ourselves out there now and do this work, maybe we're gonna run into some real trouble.
00:24:12
Speaker
In terms of numbers and budgets and things like that. And I could see that across the country, sadly, talking to other art school heads that, yeah, they took a huge enrollment hit and or very shortly thereafter, a very large budget hit.
00:24:28
Speaker
And then they had a lot of hard choices to make. So on the one hand, ours was very, very aspirational. We just want to, that the strategic plan had been overdue. They'd had an interim director. They'd had a, you know, it was it was overdue, right? And I just feel like it was evident that we had to reinvent how people would get to know us.
00:24:55
Speaker
So here we are thinking we have to reinvent how people get to know us. We're suddenly doing virtual auditions and we're doing videos. The previous videos were, I don't, I don't, they were not very focused on perspectives or whatever.
00:25:11
Speaker
um You know, so we're, here we are sitting here trying to invent an entire new virtual audition and, ah you know, like process for admissions. and right And at the same time, we're going into marketing research.
00:25:25
Speaker
And I hope people just embrace that concept because educators shy away from the word marketing. But they they should not because it is about you cannot admit a student who is not in your pool, you know, and you cannot ah collect budget from people who've never heard of you.
00:25:47
Speaker
Right. And I wouldn't even shy away from the word brand, you know, like here's a school that's very proud of itself. what's but And it has got these extraordinary outcomes as we now call them.
00:25:59
Speaker
But but how did how did, it was just like, oh, it's a great school. That tells you virtually nothing about ASFA that I mentioned earlier. Right. Right, right. Yeah. Oh, I've heard great things about that school, but I, ah you know, ah my nephew wanted to go, but he couldn't afford it. I'm like, it it's public. It's a public school. What do you find?
00:26:18
Speaker
ah You know, or, oh, I didn't know you had math and science. Right. Or what is creative writing as ah as an art form? Or how does that relate to college preparation?
00:26:29
Speaker
It's a question I ask myself every day. Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, we're asking all over again now that we're now that we're in this era.
00:26:39
Speaker
but um But I think so the virtual thing was scary, but it was, that was the, do you remember everybody like walking around saying, what's your pivot? You know, i I was thinking what's going to be our momentum.
00:26:55
Speaker
And i really do think that we came out strong. You know, we grew immediately in in enrollment. We grew immediately in budget. The operating budget is up 62% over five years.
00:27:08
Speaker
bow Wow. Okay. um ah it's It's amazing how much... we weren't doing. That now that we are connected to people in a new way, we're doing like we're doing things all over Birmingham with you know our guest artists and with the collaborations with other schools and and now a new student ah film minor and welcoming students from other schools to Saturday classes. And I could go on and on with the joint concerts and the and street performances and things like that. And now it's beginning to ripple out further into the state. Well,
00:27:43
Speaker
All of those partnerships also begin with you hearing of who we are and what we do and why it's different. And caring. Yeah, and caring. yeah And the public school for a public good. Like when this school had a... That's another one, Connor, right? That's another one we wrote. That's another one. because Because the thing about public school for a public good is this school was excellent for the students enrolled.
00:28:09
Speaker
But how would it be a resource statewide? How would we... you know, how would we be providing, like, be the site school or the visionary school for arts education in Alabama or for education generally in Alabama, you know, or for a number of things. I mean, obviously, you know, the state thinks that we're doing a great job right now, but yeah there there was some some fear of even being known about the state.
00:28:40
Speaker
Which is ironic, but true, right? Like, so what is our benefit? ah our benefit Like, and making our, not just our attributes, but our benefits known, I think that was a a key part of it. So I would say the virtual research was, in the end, it was fine. It was like what we're doing today. It's a real conversation and you're listening to the words. You guys were great at listening to the words and and and and kind of...
00:29:11
Speaker
coalescing those words into um the right kind of language to use. Yeah, and really is something that comes yeah comes sort of out of the out of those conversations right because you know I think we we sort of find the nuggets and create something. and and There was another thing about virtual that was, i think, just for that time, which is that everyone all over the place had to rethink who they were and what they were doing.
00:29:41
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So it was specially poignant time. And, you know, it's true I think that, you know, like maybe in normal times, you're busy with a lot of things and you come to one of these sessions and you're like, what's it about? You enjoy it. You don't, you contribute, you don't. But I think at this particular point of time, everybody was like, yeah, where are we going?
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah. A lot of soul searching. Who are we? Who are we? And how are we doing? Yeah. And, you know, I think that we then had the opportunity to come down and do some actual face to face work with folks. And one of the things that really stands out in my memory of the project is, you know, we had done it all virtually. We had seen recordings. We had been given tours of the theater virtually on an iPad.
00:30:30
Speaker
But we came down and one of the first things that happened is we were giving a messaging workshop and we asked folks to participate and to get up and to speak.
00:30:42
Speaker
yeah And one of the dance instructors said, you know, this is inspired in me a dance and I'm going to dance my feelings for you. And it was just this incredible moment because it was his expression of what ASFA means to him. But for him, that expression happened in dance. And to be there all in the same room and to have him go ahead and do that was a really remarkable culmination of what this project had been for us and hopefully what it was for other people, too.
Storytelling in Advocacy and Funding
00:31:14
Speaker
Yeah. well Well, when, when you come back, uh, you can see all the new signage up around the building, 360 degrees around. You can see the brand new recital hall.
00:31:25
Speaker
Yeah. And, uh, and And, you know, there there there is that sense of place that we just keep improving. And we could show you the new campus master building plan, but nothing will match going in and visiting those specialty students and chairs. That's really what you're talking about. And, and sitting you know, i our strong sense of place, we we learned that, yeah, we could we could maybe not be able to access all of that.
00:31:57
Speaker
Right. it may It makes you sort of right understand that you can't take it for granted. Right. Yeah. And but on the other hand, ah we we did allow for in we did a flip where we sent home the the regular classes and kept all the specialties in in kind of rotating pods until finally all back in. I think i think we also learned the value of being in person. So coming out of the virtual time, i would also put a plug in for having revalued what in person means.
00:32:27
Speaker
Absolutely. yeah Absolutely. Yep. And I think that was also what we took away when we came down for that messaging um training. Like, wow, we did we did all this work and we did...
00:32:39
Speaker
Really, we had really meaningful conversations with folks, but then to be able to set foot on the campus finally and to be able to so experience it was really incredibly meaningful.
00:32:50
Speaker
I'm wondering, I wanted that was sort of my the next question that I wanted to ask was about those messaging workshops. um You know, so after we had solidified and and and finalized that that version of the platform, we came down to Birmingham and and had these workshops both with some, you know, staff, i think that couple of, i mean, maybe four or five different groups of of people. We definitely...
00:33:15
Speaker
work with faculty, we work with some board. And i was curious to hear from you what some of the reactions and responses to those activities were helping people sort of internalize this messaging so that they can ideally, hopefully do ah do what what you just did at the very beginning of this podcast, where you were able to expertly deploy those four pillars and talk about the school.
00:33:42
Speaker
But recently, I was at a meeting of faculty and staff. It was really a kind of a classic flat faculty meeting. And one of the folks in the meeting was the registrar.
00:33:58
Speaker
And um the registrar was invited to go to a conference recently on... I don't know what it was exactly related to the world of registrars, but I remember approved professional development, go and do it. There's conference for everything. yeah there's a conference for everything. She arrived at the conference and did not realize that there was this huge, um I guess this group of career coaches and things like that that work with schools and they had expected her to speak.
00:34:34
Speaker
They expected whoever came from our school was gonna give a presentation. hope She thought she was going- Right, yeah. but she She thought she was going there to observe and to participate and just, you know, normal conference attending.
00:34:50
Speaker
And they're like, okay, here's your 30 minutes. And, you know, hope we you get would you like a lavalier and do you have a PowerPoint?
00:34:58
Speaker
So she leaned in hard ah and went ahead with it. And she told the audience, you know, no, I didn't really expect to speak today, but I would like to tell you about the Alabama School of Fine Arts. And I believe that, you know, she felt comfortable doing that because of all these trainings and all the things that we've talked about. And we keep re-upping this stuff.
00:35:20
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And it comes through our magazine and it comes through our faculty meetings and it comes through, you know, the open house talks and all that. So she kind of had the drill.
00:35:31
Speaker
Right. yeah And who says to her. Yeah. She told this story because she was like completely put off by, oh, my God. and she's not exactly a performer, you know, in that way. ah And but she said I had a ah lovely things to say. And she said at the end, you know, she keeps getting these emails from these other folks. And just yesterday, our vice president was in my office and he brought like five folders.
00:36:01
Speaker
And these folders are all of kids who applied after their career coach recommended them from different parts of the state. They were at that conference. They heard her speak.
00:36:13
Speaker
Oh, wow. That's amazing. Yeah. So so it's, I reckon- There were some things I just wanted to say that I realized maybe we shouldn't, maybe we can say pickle on this podcast, but I probably shouldn't say the words that are coming to my mind right now. That's remarkable. Well, certainly not if they throw you on stage and say, please, it's your turn now to be the keynote.
00:36:36
Speaker
Oh, wow. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. And apparently the other speakers were like talking about like software integration or something. don't know what. so so So that's a great outcome, you know, and it's a good test because this is either year four, ah four or five, I think.
00:36:56
Speaker
um But I really believe that we're not at a refresh point because we we have really done what we do with the students.
Diversity and Media Campaigns
00:37:06
Speaker
we've you know We've kind of gone deep on it and it's been ingrained now. And I think even students have heard this language a lot.
00:37:13
Speaker
So, because you know the other thing too is as despite ah despite our fantastic ads, which I still haven't told you about that, but despite that, um word of mouth is still important.
00:37:27
Speaker
But word of mouth is like, oh, yeah, my kid is enjoying visual arts there. Not necessarily I know what to say to you about the whole school program and about music and about philosophy and about the outcomes. and but So these talking points are really important for word of mouth. The other thing I believe is if we counted only on word of mouth, we'd be the same school with the same people replicating over and over from the same neighborhoods with the same amount of diversity and or not and so on.
00:37:55
Speaker
Right. By actually putting our message out there, we're inviting in new people. Then they come here and they have a good experience, and then they can be word of mouth in a different way.
00:38:07
Speaker
right i think there that ripple effect right right now there's a crisis with hispanic students skipping school we know about this right now and i know that at our school we've doubled our number it's a small number but we've doubled our number and that was taking our message into spanish language um you know publications and uh partnering with a local latinx organization called hika and taking our dancers and having them spend a whole year learn Latin dancing and then going to support the Latin fiesta in the state and, you know, things of that nature. So it's very interesting how you can take um exactly why you call it a platform.
00:38:47
Speaker
Right. And and and build it into another direction. And so, you know word of mouth means something else now. Right. Yep. Yeah. and And finally, I will mention that marketing campaign because that's I already put in a plug for marketing.
00:39:02
Speaker
ah And I have ah ah I share a little bit of a marketing background with you all. And I know as a public school, we were not going to be able to do a broad campaign. And, you know, we we finally got private support through, you know, private donations to do some. But we.
00:39:21
Speaker
We could make a ah very good in-house 30 second or 60 second. But what are we going to do with it? So we focused on media buying. And we took the concept of public school for public good and said, for every bit of media we buy, we want you to give a lot of it to us for free if if you have openings and spots and whatever.
00:39:42
Speaker
And that has led to extraordinary. We started looking for statewide audiences, even if you wouldn't expect to see us there. And maybe especially if you wouldn't, like we were in the Super Bowl one year, we were in the Iron Bowl another year.
00:39:56
Speaker
But those families have kids that could be at our school. Sure. you know And those those audiences are statewide. And then we did the Summer Olympics last year. That had 7.5 million impressions for us.
00:40:11
Speaker
um And we did over the top streaming and we had about 98 percent completion on the over the top streaming things. um And we targeted like the black belt in our state and other rural areas where where we had never had ads before and we were able to do it on streaming platform.
00:40:28
Speaker
And in fact, some people got so tired of seeing our ad over and over. That they got to know us. After three years, we finally made a new one. So, yes, we're still on kind of ah a shoestring compared to ah a private effort. But I will say we've had an outsized impact with those. I just heard the other day that we were, you know, we we do all kinds of placements. We were we were placed in Saturday Night Live here in Alabama.
00:40:55
Speaker
We did, you know, we're now all around. We've rarely focused on Birmingham, though, because we have 60 percent of our kids from Jefferson County. We really want the Mobile. We want, the you know, Dothan. We want Florence. We welcome to Alabama, folks. I'm throwing cities and towns at you. We want everywhere.
00:41:15
Speaker
Beyond the urban area. Beyond the urban area. Well, and find that so interesting that you said that it's it wasn't just that you were using the ideas and the language from the messaging to like create the these these ads, but that you drew inspiration from the idea of public school for the public good, which is one of the the the key messages in the platform, to inform your media buying strategy, which is- yes That's right. That's an application of of messaging that I don't think I've ever actually heard somebody share that they that they employed, but it's great. I love it.
00:41:56
Speaker
Yeah. and And, you know, um the the very first ad was based on that ah the pillars along with we're a public school.
00:42:07
Speaker
Yeah. Along with we even though we say we're a public school, we also said we were tuition free. right But this latest one is more like a kind of ah an inspiration off of that. And it's it's it's about how kids learn in our specialties.
00:42:25
Speaker
So it's it's not, it's, you know, first, the first time out, it was surely the words and the matched with great shots of students around the school doing whatever. And that was really effective. But this next one actually has a kind of story to tell.
00:42:40
Speaker
ah about what it's going to be like to you know um try and fail, to iterate all the time. Our latest magazine was called Iteration. And you probably remember that's in a key message.
00:42:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yes. ah Yeah, our our magazines, ah a lot of the titles have been about deep skills, what we call future-proof skills. But some of the titles of the magazines have also come out of um some of the key messages. And so the, yeah, the latest magazine is called iteration and that's right on page. I don't know what, what, what page it's on. Yeah. One of the pages of the message. It's not a It's not a novel.
00:43:23
Speaker
But, but, but there's somewhere in there where we talk about iteration is a key part of arts education. Uh-huh. And sure enough, you know, that is a really important skill. You don't start with the final product. It's process over product.
Legislative Relations and Support
00:43:39
Speaker
so So we really talked about iteration. You know, you find it everywhere from drafts in a writing workshop to, um you know, drawing to painting or from, you know, um reading music to memorizing it or from arranging painting.
00:43:55
Speaker
producing your you know the all the things. um But it was also right there in the key message too. So I think it actually is ah inspirational. We're still pulling from it. That's so great to hear.
00:44:18
Speaker
I remember you telling us that you had used the messaging as a basis for, um, some speaking engagements that you did at the state house and that you were raising awareness there. I was curious if you could tell us a little bit about how that played out. Cause that's not, I don't think a normal, um use for our messaging platforms. So I thought it was pretty interesting.
00:44:41
Speaker
Well, that may be normal more normal than you think, because I, I kind of think of, um, Lobbying and I'm going to use that word, but ah legislative relations.
00:44:54
Speaker
I think of legislative relations as a kind of fundraising development effort. right you know You want not to do a drive-by ask. You don't want a one-time ask. You want somebody's values to align. You want to ah essentially have a relationship over time. and and And it's also an education effort in that like,
00:45:17
Speaker
Yeah, you you know where we are and that we're on the budget line, but do you really know what we do? And, you know, do you really know about the outcomes? And do you really know about um the the, I think that, you know, actually using sometimes a key message when you only have a a short meeting can really help keep us on track.
00:45:42
Speaker
Mm-hmm. but also can help us ah take you into another part of our program. I remember before we had the messaging and positioning platform, one of my my things was to say, well, ah the amount of merit scholarships our kids win each year is more than our state budget.
00:45:58
Speaker
So that was my first effort. Right. But that's not really about the school. You know, I mean, it is. And it takes it it takes a second for somebody to sort of like hear that and think, all right, what does that mean? Oh, okay. I see what that means. Yeah. That's ROI. Right.
00:46:15
Speaker
Yeah. you you What you put in, we're not asking you for too much because look at the out outcome, look at the benefit, right? Yeah. but um But it's way more effective than to, for example, when we were introducing our campus master building plan,
00:46:30
Speaker
who um We did not focus, or at least I did not focus on here's the here are the pictures. Here's the square footage. Here's the but more about what is the story of our readiness to have these buildings? What is the story of our blocked learning as it exists now? Where where are we taking this next?
00:46:52
Speaker
And, you know, like it's a, you know, an understanding of the type of education that you have already invested in and enabled. But, you know, what do we what do we need to continue that or carry that forward or see it through? And and so it is much more of a story.
00:47:09
Speaker
That's something we always say when we're talking about capital campaigns, that if if folks are interested in the organization, they're going to care more about what happens in the buildings than they are about the buildings themselves. Right. So the fact that you were able to use the messaging platform in that way to talk about what happens in the buildings and why it matters, um I think that that really gets at that idea of pulling on the heartstrings. helps to bring around some students sometimes. But sometimes it's like the this year, my message was really different because we have, you know, last year we went to the Ways and Means Committee and I made this presentation about this whole type of education. And I spent two thirds of that on who we are and what we do, m not two thirds on the building plan that I'm asking them to fund.
00:47:58
Speaker
I didn't spend one third on the building plan because, hey, i got to talk about so that's what we need the money for. But but now why, right? Like why? right but um ah But this year I was able to go and say, well, you know, this is my this is our however many meeting and I saw you in the Ways and Means Committee and you know about our outcomes and you know about this and that and the other thing. And I said, so, you know, this year is different in terms of funding.
00:48:27
Speaker
And um here's what we're trying. We're trying to get onto a bond issue. We can't do that. We're trying to do free market tax credits. That may or may not work. You know, I gave them a rundown of how much we had so far, how much the capital campaign could feasibly do. And I said, so now that you know all that and you already know us, like, how do I ask you this year?
00:48:46
Speaker
oh You put it back on them. Yeah. I i said, I could come in. you You are ready for me to come in here and ask you, but i you know, like, how are we going to ask you this year? You know what we need, but you know,
00:48:59
Speaker
And it was really interesting because the head of the educational trust fund said to me, well, um I want you to, he said, there's, there you're right. The supplemental funding this year, for example, is going to be very different and it's going to be maybe less than it was, he said. But there will be some.
00:49:17
Speaker
He said, I want you to put a proposal and give it to me directly tomorrow for the opening of the legislative session. And so they already have a bill on there that's got an extra 1.5 million for us Wow.
00:49:31
Speaker
And of course, nobody's voted on it yet. yeah we Knock on wood. knock We have time to get that up. We have time to raise that. We can raise the roof on that. But but that's they often start and then they don't go down. They just go up. Usually, usually. I should you always say usually.
00:49:47
Speaker
We're very cautious about things that haven't been voted on.
Reflections on ASFA's Messaging Success
00:49:50
Speaker
sure um But I think that because of the effectiveness over time of telling our story, we could reach that point where we're talking about, so so how, you know, how do we move forward?
00:50:06
Speaker
Right. and And I think they were like, yeah, you absolutely have to move forward. So that's good. its In an environment where honestly, it we have a certain kind of, what's the right word? Precarity at all times, because we are a single line item.
00:50:25
Speaker
On the educational trust fund, and we are not funded like district schools. We don't have any local money. We really don't have any federal money other than free and reduced lunch. What we have is state money from our state legislature and whether they all embrace everything we do or not.
00:50:44
Speaker
So it's very, very important that they also know what to say to their colleagues. Right. Yeah. Yeah. This is not just about how you how you talk about the school. It's about how people go on to talk about the school once they've heard you talking about it.
00:51:02
Speaker
Right. Right. and I think so. Yeah. And we've had a couple of legislators who have put forward a couple of kids and said, please give this kid every consideration. But I know you're in audition school and it's very selective. There's no guarantee. Yeah.
00:51:15
Speaker
But also, as I said to my vice president the other day, they know us well enough now. They're not recommending kids who don't have a shot. That's great. that That's a success case. yeah Right. Because that it wouldn't work.
00:51:29
Speaker
Right. So hopefully. so far So far. So far, so good. Yeah. yeah yeah awesome Well, Tim, it has been so great to get to catch up on it with you and hear about um some of the ways that the messaging has blossomed into other things. yeah
Personal Recommendations and Wrap-Up
00:51:47
Speaker
I think that your project in particular gives us so many examples of different ways that messaging can then go on and support other initiatives at an institution.
00:51:58
Speaker
It's really inspiring and best of luck to all of you as you keep moving forward with that. We look forward to hearing more about it soon. um Before we close our episode, we often talk about what each of us are loving right now, what you're reading, what you're watching, a podcast, a book. um Anything that comes to mind of something you've been loving lately?
00:52:22
Speaker
You know, there are many, many things I could pick. Like I read that book, Hamnet, love that. you know And I'm so excited to see the film. I haven't seen it yet. I could pick something like that. But for the first time in 15 years, I bought a new car. How exciting. I love it. I love it. And yeah, for 15 years, I had this great relationship with this old GTI that, well, it was new in 2011, but also it it was challenged in recent years to, but, and I felt kind of emotionally attached to it. And, and finally I decided, yeah, there's there's too much investment that I'm going to have to make to keep this going. You know, it's basically been,
00:53:05
Speaker
other than emotionally totaled. ah But getting rid of it totaled you emotionally. So I was like, what could be fun now? My daughter's grown up. She's, you know, even got her own car. i mean, you know, like all this stuff. And so I landed on a yeah a convertible, kind of a sports convertible. So I figured like I'm taking advantage of being down here in Alabama,
00:53:31
Speaker
In fact, even the other day before the ice storm, I was out there at the top down because it was sunny and it was like 65. I love it. Tim, I am loving this for you. Yes. So when you say that's what I'm loving, of course, my family, I'll mention them after the car. But oh I think that's great. We're going have to come back down to Alabama and get a ride in that convertible. I think so. I think Nancy, what about you? I'll take the car to see Hamden. How's that? Yes. There you go. Perfect. There you go.
00:54:06
Speaker
um ah So I was thinking about what I've been living lately. Just last week, I watched the three episodes that just came out. It's a three episode miniseries of ah The Seven Dials on Netflix.
00:54:19
Speaker
I love an Agatha Christie and um I really enjoyed it. Great production values, fantastic costumes. The acting was great. I really liked the casting. um Highly recommend.
00:54:31
Speaker
ah Not as exciting as a new convertible, but. You know, the convertible has as many dials as I want because the dashboard. Way more than seven.
00:54:43
Speaker
but no I love Agatha Christie too. I'm just saying. Yeah. Connor, how about you? ah So i'm I realized that I was taking a bit of a risk letting you go first, Nancy, because there was a strong chance that you could have picked the thing that I'm about to say. That does happen. Which is this a new cookbook called Six Seasons of Pasta um by Joshua McFadden. um This is a a follow up to his book Six Seasons from a number of years ago, which is based on the whole idea of like breaking the year into Rather than just four seasons, it's six seasons where like ultra fresh produce and vegetables are are available. um And this book follows the same principle, but it's all just pasta sauces. And the thing that I love the most about it is like it's a pasta cookbook, but it's all for dry pasta. like It's not about like, oh, yeah, okay, spend three hours making the fresh pasta for yourself, and then here's the recipe for for the sauce. Yeah.
00:55:47
Speaker
Every recipe is just assuming, no, you're just going to start with dry pasta. like you know You can get good dry pasta. It's good. And now focus on the great in-season vegetables. So it's a book about something that you may actually do rather than book about making pasta. Exactly. And for a book about pasta, i've I've already made like three or four of the recipes. Whereas if it were all about just fresh pasta, who knows whether I would have done that. And we actually got we bought the book.
00:56:15
Speaker
um In the end of December, there's a place called Seven Acre Farms that's near us here in in Madison, and ah they do these chef pop-up sorts of things. And Joshua McFadden came there to do a sort of almost like the equivalent of a book signing thing, but it was...
00:56:35
Speaker
you know Rather than like reading from the book, he served us pasta from the book. We got three of them. so um It was a lot of fun. so and i've You're saying six seasons, seven dials, and eight speeds.
00:56:50
Speaker
Exactly. Wow. I love it. Way to summarize it. Wow. Tim, thank you so much for joining us. It was great to catch up and to reflect back on our process together for the messaging project. We hope to hear from you again soon.
00:57:06
Speaker
Thanks everyone for tuning in as well. This has been Well Put, a libretto podcast. I'm Nancy Boissanet. And I'm Connor Ferguson. If you want to learn more about libretto and what we do, you can check libretto-inc.com. That's libretto-inc.com.
00:57:24
Speaker
Well put.
00:57:29
Speaker
Oh, that was so cool.