"The client team members were a joy to work with," Dr. Heumann says. "They knew they needed leadership, they wanted solutions, and they were eager to help in every way possible. I  look forward to working with them again." [end]

Next, the consultants guided the group through a SWOT analysis, addressing the organization's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. "FCAC's greatest strengths," Dr. Heumann says, "are the people involved: their commitment, diversity of views, experience, and determination. Those qualities were all confirmed in how the members conducted themselves during the goals and strategies phase of the conference: imaginative, honest, cooperative, serious, focused on the issue. I'm really impressed with these folks."

From this point on, the FCAC members met in smaller groups and addressed significant issues in the light of the SWOT analysis. For each assigned issue, a group identified one or more goals and strategies for reaching those goals, then presented them to the assembly for discussion and ratification

One early outcome: the Friends of the Cultural Arts Center renamed themselves as the "Ozark Regional Arts Council." "I was pleased with this change," Mr. Blair says. "It reflected the shift away from building an arts venue, toward meeting the community's expressed need for arts programs." Ultimately, the Ozark Regional Arts Council defined nine essential goals and strategies for realizing those goals, and Blair and Associates prepared the Strategic Plan.

Success for Blair and Associates rests in the client's satisfaction. In this case, Past President Jana Cowgill spoke for the Arts Council: "It was one of the best conferences I've ever attended. We all learned a lot, about strategic planning and about ourselves." The members expect to start implementing their highest-priority strategies after Labor Day. [end]
 

All told, 587 people were interviewed, and the results were impressive, even surprising: strong support for the traditional and fine arts and for the establishment of an ongoing arts program. The Friends of the Cultural Arts Center were encouraged to move forward with their plans.

The final phase of Blair and Associates' needs assessment was a series of focus group sessions conducted by Don Blair in May and June. The primary participants were members of local arts and crafts groups and members of civic organizations. The focus groups provided greater definition to the notion of an effective regional Arts Program.

The Friends of the Cultural Arts Center took heart from this study, and they commissioned Blair and Associates to conduct the next step, the Strategic Planning Conference. Don Blair, himself a part of the north central Arkansas community, is gratified too, and not just by the results of the study. "We at Blair and Associates were especially pleased that we could elicit and confirm these results by applying best practices--in particular, face-to-face interviews and focus groups. We had heard that another consultancy was conducting its surveys by mass-mailing questionnaires. In general, their approach seemed to me 'at arm's length,' not really engaged with the people here. We committed to methods that were more statistically reliable and helped raise community awareness in a much more lasting way." [end]