Read Online They Told Me Not to Take that Job: Tumult, Betrayal, Heroics, and the Transformation of Lincoln Center by Reynold Levy - Free Book Online

the first few years of the twenty-first century were not kind to this source of revenue.
    Meanwhile expenses rise. Unionized labor contracts with high levels of compensation and extraordinarily rigid and costly work rules prevail. Heating, air conditioning, and maintaining and securing public spaces and artistic facilities in a first-class fashion is extremely costly. So, too, are artistic expenses. And at Lincoln Center, it would be difficult to find an advocate for reduced rehearsal time, or skimpy sets, or less than ambitious productions mounted on our stages.
    Moreover, in the arts, expecting productivity gains is highly unrealistic. One cannot play Beethoven faster. A chamber music quartet always requires four players. 2
    This collision between the constrained sources of revenue and spiraling expenses did not bode well for the future of Lincoln Center and its resident artistic organizations. Therefore, I wished to create a new economic model, one that would not only strictly contain administrative expenses, but would also identify and secure reliable new or enhanced sources of net revenue.
    In fact, the Lincoln Center board’s finance and new venture committees set as a goal that within three years, at least 50 percent of the $10–12 million of annual ticket revenue would be garnered from these novel or enriched initiatives. We set our minds to exceeding that target and accelerating that timetable.
    Tackling this opportunity was a self-imposed challenge. It meant lifting our sights as an organization. It demanded different skills and new learning. Ambition and self-sacrifice were required. We wished to prove that Lincoln Center was neither complacent nor self-satisfied, but rather energetic, tenacious, and hungry.
    First, we more than tripled our net revenue from food and beverages in the form of restaurants and catering.
    Second, we took full advantage of our resplendent new campus by attracting Channel 13 as a tenant, yielding in excess of $1 million per year, and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, yielding $3.2 million annually, the latter to be divided among Lincoln Center’s constituents.
    Third, taking a cue from the transformation of marketing Broadway tickets, Lincoln Center engaged in yield management of its “inventory,” or dynamic pricing. In essence, when demand is high for a given performance, we “rescale the house” to increase the number of high-priced tickets or simply raise prices, always leaving a critical minimum number at an accessible cost for a public that cannot afford the higher range. This practice has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in incremental revenue each year.
    Fourth, Lincoln Center introduced a facility fee: first $2.00, then $2.75, and then $3.50 per ticket. Unlike in other New York City venues that imposed such a charge but have in fact offered few if any improvements, the paying public could not fail to notice Lincoln Center’s burgeoning physical transformation. Contrary to the fears of some, not a single objection was lodged. Within two years, virtually every constituent at Lincoln Center introduced its own facility fee on tickets as well.
    Fifth, Lincoln Center’s staff began modestly to sell its services to constituents and to lessees in the areas of marketing and sales, customer service, and information technology.
    Sixth, Lincoln Center negotiated a contract with John Wiley & Sons for an imprint exclusively devoted to performing arts and carrying our institution’s name and imprimatur. To date, twelve books have been published, and handsome royalties have been generated by them, simultaneously advancing and enriching our mission. 3
    Seventh, Lincoln Center operates one of the largest underground garages in all of New York City. Being president of Lincoln Center involves understanding how to manage the economics of a huge parking lot and the safety and comfort of tens of thousands of customers who use it. There are early-bird parkers. There are performance parkers.