Dear Gordon, greetings. Thank you for your alctire.I am a member of the old guard who over 35 years has run major performing arts centers such as New York's City Center, currently or previously have represented significant artists from Basil Twist to Marcel Marceau, and have recently added academia to my portfolio having joined the Graduate Arts Admin faculty of the Univ of New Orleans. I must respectfully say that while I don't disagree with you about the importance of developing good quality material for websites, etc. I feel you are fundamentally incorrect in your claim that there is no difference in the application of social media to marketing culture compared to past communication options. What is already abundantly clear are two changes that are fundamental in the way our society perceives and consumes cultural offerings: a) that the relationship between suppliers and consumers has shifted from one-way to far more of a two way dialogue than was previously possible, and b) that consumers are increasingly reliant on sharing of observations and opinions from peers in making their consumption decisions and less dependent on the media experts. Secondary changes are c) the dramatically increased speed at which an event or show can go viral and be discussed, and d) the democracy of access to information by any and all events and not only those that the traditional media chooses to cover.Point (a) above has been borne out in a number of studies suggesting that the paternal and often patronizing role of arts centers post WWII and through much of the 20th Century is breaking down and no longer the operative model. Point (b) parallels very much the model by which most people now choose a restaurant or select a dishwasher wherein shared consumer experience takes priority in forming opinion (see the popularity of Yelp to give just one example). I would strongly encourage you to review the results of an in depth national survey titled How strong is your social net? that has been conducted over the past year by New York based Trudel/MacPherson Arts Consulting which will be formally presented at the upcoing National Arts Marketing Conference in Louisville next month (http:,//artsmarketing.org/conference/session/2011/how-strong-your-social-net-snapshot-digital-media-practices-and-perceptions). You may also wish to check in with a company such as Situation Interactive (www,situationinteractive,com) which is a good example of a next generation approach to bridging the outmoded advertising/public relations distinction.While I am not qualified to speak on the legal implications of any of this, I can assure you that you are incorrect in your assertion that social media is not revolutionizing marketing with respect to culture in our society. I would encourage you to review your position with care before your November presentation in LA.Thank you for allowing me to comment on your alctire. I would be happy to discuss this further if you would care to as it is a topic of considerable interest to me.With best regards,Tony MicocciPresident, Micocci Productions LLC(www.micocci.com)Professor, Graduate Arts AdministrationUniversity of New Orleans(www.uno/artsadmin)