Jason Roberts is the founder of the Oak Cliff Transit Authority, originator of the Better Block project, co-founder of the Art Conspiracy and Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, and a former candidate for U.S. Congress. The Better Block project takes blighted blocks with vacant properties and converts them into temporary walkable districts with pop-up businesses, bike lanes, cafe seating, and landscaping. The project has now become an international movement, occurring everywhere from Melbourne, Australia, to Tehran, Iran, and has been featured in the New York Times, Dwell magazine, TED Talks, and National Public Radio. Robert’s consulting firm, Team Better Block, was showcased in the U.S. Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Biennale, and he will be one of the keynote speakers at the 2015 Performing Arts Managers Conference in San Francisco, February 15-17.

IAVM: Our members sometimes have to deal with city officials who do not share a love for the arts as much as our members do. How do you convince them to your side (i.e., how to you show them value that they will accept)?

Jason Roberts: This is a pretty common problem that we’re faced with when beginning projects. The problem I ran into early on was doing too much discussion and planning in order to get people to understand the concepts that I was trying to have implemented on a block project. In the end, we found it was best to have people experience our work, then make the judgement call on its value after it was put on the ground. Prior to that, people make assumptions or even come up with worst-case scenario on why something will or will not work. And in some instances, they may be right, but at the end of the day, people respond best to feelings and emotions, and with the arts, you have the opportunity to create things that people have to engage with and decide for themselves. We’ve had a lot of people that initially opposed ideas we came up with, but quickly changed their minds and even became strong allies once they experienced the work and saw for themselves how it brought communities together and created an environment that people loved to be around.

IAVM: What is the responsibility of city officials when it comes to projects that the public supports but that maybe they don’t?

JR: Good question. I’d say the responsibility for the staff or elected officials is ultimately to do the work that the community desires. The problem I’ve seen in my own community is city officials that have personal objections to projects and purposely work to slow or stop initiatives. Or worse, even help get them created but make them as weak as possible in order to prove a point. This is where you have to organize your community, demonstrate, and even rally a bit in order to fire up people to take part, put pressure on their elected officials, and keep pressure constantly in order to make sure your work comes to life. It can be exhausting, but I’ve found that I have to continue to come up with new and interesting ways to keep bringing people to the table, have them understand the value of our projects, and to keep being a squeaky wheel.

IAVM: How have you changed since starting Better Block as it relates to working to bring opposing groups together?

JR: Initially, we tried ways to build mass consensus in projects but quickly realized that many factors existed that created opposition to initiatives that were just human nature issues (e.g., personal objections, historic rivalries, strong egos). At some point, we had to find the common causes that everyone agreed were important (safety, well-being for children, job opportunities). From that standpoint, we could then begin crafting designs for public and private spaces based on ideas we found working around the world. With our projects, much of what gets built is new and potentially counter-intuitive to communities (taking away parking, thinning streets, etc.). Opposition is very normal when you’re introducing radical changes to a landscape. What we had to understand was, how we could communicate better that the work was temporary and that we really wanted to build things with the community to test and see if changing landscapes created improved social and economic conditions. Those early projects, we were far more direct with what we felt worked. With time, we evolved and were able to understand greater issues within communities and have the residents help craft changes that we helped guide with our work.

IAVM: What are two takeaways that attendees of your talk can immediately use as leaders in their venues?

JR: First of all, you don’t have to be the expert when you’re getting started. I knew things were broken and didn’t necessarily know what needed to be fixed or how to repair them, but I knew we just need to begin working. From those early stakes in the ground, I was able to see how our projects effected change and study that work and improve my own understanding of how communities thrive. Second is to realize that most “leaders” don’t feel like they are truly leaders. What I found is that if you’re passionate about something, you really have all that’s necessary to become a leader. That passion is picked up by communities, and they will help you bring your ideas to life.

Registration is open for the 2015 Performing Arts Managers Conference. See you San Francisco! 

La Scala, the famous Italian opera house in Milan, doesn’t like tarty guests. For years, it’s had a strict policy forbidding late arrivals from entering until an interval during a performance. However, that policy is now changing due to increasing aggression from guests toward ushers.

Performances will now begin five minutes after their scheduled start time.

“Every time spectators who had paid full price for expensive stalls tickets were stopped from going in, even if they were only one minute late, they would invariably take it out on the ushers,” Alexander Pereira, La Scala’s general manager and artistic director, told the Corriere della Sera. “Introducing this grace period means that anyone arriving more than five minutes late now has no grounds for protest.”

Maybe not, but I imagine just knowing you can be five minutes late will just lead to people being 10 minutes late.

(photo credit: jimforest via photopin cc)

Unmanned aircrafts (a.k.a. drones) will be popular holiday gifts this year. The Federal Aviation Administration knows that and has partnered with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, and the Small UAV Coalition to educate prospective users about the safe and responsible operation of unmanned aircraft systems.

Their campaign, Know Before You Fly, released the above short video explaining what you can and can’t do with your new drone. Check it out, and fly responsibly.

Maybe all you need to feel better is a hug.

According to new research from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), hugs act as a form of social support and help protect stressed people from getting sick.

“We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses,” said Sheldon Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty University Professor of Psychology in CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety. We tested whether perceptions of social support are equally effective in protecting us from stress-induced susceptibility to infection and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and themselves protect a person against infection.”

After questioning perceived support, interpersonal conflicts, and the frequency of hugs of 404 healthy adults, the researchers exposed the study participants to a common cold virus and monitored them for signs of sickness.

The researchers found that perceived social support mitigated infection risks, and hugs accounted for one-third of the “protective effect of social support.”

“This suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the deleterious effects of stress,” Cohen said. “The apparent protective effect of hugs may be attributable to the physical contact itself or to hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and intimacy. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection.”

(Image: GLady)

The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) Arena in Alabama is undergoing a name change. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2015, it will be known as Legacy Arena.

The Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority approved the five-year, $2 million agreement, and a new logo will be visible on the venue’s interior and exterior, as well as in ads, social media, and digital platforms.

“We’re proud to partner with a local institution expressing Legacy’s values, and we’re excited about the co-branding opportunities this agreement brings to both our organizations,” Dennis Lathem, board chairman of the Jefferson County Civic Center Authority, told the Birmingham Business Journal.

The 18,000-seat arena opened in 1976 and averages 36 events a year. The BJCC is home to two exhibition halls and three entertainment venues.

(Image: Facebook)