The Art of Digital Transformation
The Digital Leader Fireside Chat, hosted by Munir Y. Mandviwalla, featured Vince Ford, who is the Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy & Innovation at the Curtis Institute of Music. He introduced the topic of Digital Transformation by comparing it to survival, revealing that the American Performing Art community isn’t foreign to bad reputations and expectations. Performing Arts have been able to survive throughout the decades because they remain significant to America’s culture and economy. The pandemic has not changed the challenge of survival. The way this industry has been able to remain is because there is a lot more going on that what is on stage.
Ford described the most important part about performances – and business overall – to be the relationship built with the audience. Having an audience is part of the performance and the experience: The audience has just as much importance as the stage. He demonstrated this idea by comparing the stage to a bakery. “If there’s not a deep connection with the audience, the ‘pastry’ (the service) will be sitting on the shelf all day”. Munir had trouble with his connection so the discussion moved into Q&A. The discussion ended with the question: “Will technology affect the ‘live’ aspect of performances in the future?” Ford responded that he is optimistic he can continue to provide deep and meaningful quality and that he is excited because there is a lot to be discovered still.