They took our group of business students to the Odgen Museum of Southern Art and then to dinner a few blocks away at Lucy's. Both of these places are located in the up-and-coming warehouse district of New Orleans.
We were supposed to meet with Roger Ogden, who is perhaps one of the most important real estate developers in New Orleans. He has been the leader in development in many commercial properties including shopping centers, hotels, and office properties. He co-founded Stirling Properties, developed the Wyndam and Loews Hotels, co-owns the Shops at Canal Place, and founded the Ogden Museum with over 1,000 of his personal art pieces. This was probably the most surprising things I learned throughout the night. It amazed me that the museum was originally created solely from Ogden's personal art collection. Many assume that to have collected all of the art he has, he must be at least 100 years old but in actuality, he is thriving in his 60's, still making business deals.
Unfortunately, Roger Odgen was unable to meet with us. Instead we met with the CEO of the company, who is also a professor at UNO. We able to interview and receive a tour from him. He was extremely informative, telling us all about the history of the museum and the surrounding area along with telling us how they manage to make a nonprofit such as the Ogden successful.
The key to the success of the Ogden is being innovative. Such innovation was required after Katrina in order to revive business and make people want to come back to the city. This is why the museum came up with the idea of hosting the event "Ogden After Hours". Every Thursday this event is thrown at the museum with live music (Danon Smith performed when we were there), wine, food, and not to mention...exquisite Southern artwork. The manager informed us that the key to making money from an event like this is to keep the customers coming back. This way, word-of-mouth becomes great advertisement. In addition, selling membership packages is very profitable. They advertise memberships as "50 concerts for 50 dollars", which is not only a good marketing slogan, its a damn good deal.
The event attracts a slew of guests ranging from trendy college students to old-school art buffs. When the recession began to affect the way businesses were run, the Ogden decided to branch out and attract another demographic, families. At first, some were skeptical because the event had typically been marketed towards an older crowd (hints the wine and jazz music). However, the museum decided to employ an art teacher who comes up with a new art project each week. She creates projects that have to do with an exhibit in the museum so the children and other participants can draw from that inspiration. This has been a huge hit because it allows parents to get out of the house while still being able to do something fun with their children.
In addition to learning about the promotion and marketing strategies the Ogden uses, we learned a range of other important facts including the following:
1. The Ogden staffs about 20 employees.
2. The exhibitions change quarterly.
3. There is a vast amount of artwork in storage that is switched out quarterly as well, sometimes more frequently.
4. The art comes strictly from the South and ranges from classic old pieces to contemporary experimental art pieces.
5. The Museum is affiliated with UNO.
6. Many artists seek out the museum wanting to show their work; however, the Ogden doesn't just let anyone show. They do accept donated artwork as well as paying large sums to host an exhibit. Exhibit prices can escalate to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
7. The museum's history can be learned about here.
I feel that I benefited exponentially through this experience. I was able to experience a new part of the city that I hadn't been able to experience before, enjoying beautiful art and music and learning about the warehouse district. And more importantly, I was able to learn about the business of nonprofits and creative ways to innovate while expanding my network to a different crowd. I'm very thankful that Meg and Joe planned this for our group and I hope to be able to have more opportunities like this in the future.
