There are people for whom the arts are a civic or charitable or educational duty -- a bucket list of sorts -- but if these were the only people buying tickets, most performances or exhibits would go largely unseen. The vast majority of arts patrons feel their love and commitment, and crave experience and connection. They are motivated by empathy, and effective arts websites encourage it with lively, people-centric images and "you"-centric text that help visitors feel they are part of the experience.

The Grand Rapids Symphony does a particularly good job of evoking personal involvement. Their website header includes both the music director and the orchestra, the site features a series of video testimonials from patrons (as one of several rotating billboards), and it uses inclusive language throughout (case in point: "We are your Grand Rapids Symphony"). Further down, nearly all of the upcoming event teasers use images of people rather than abstract symbols or inanimate objects.

The contrast with the Symphony Silicon Valley website could not be greater. Upon arrival, visitors don't know if they are looking at a website for "Exciting! Absolutely!" -- whatever that is -- or the California Theater (the orchestra's venue). Those willing to invest half a minute or more before clicking away will eventually discover the tiny "Symphony Silicon Valley" tag in the upper left corner and logo at the top of the left hand navigation bar.

However, while branding confusion is a serious problem, the reason I captured an image of the complete home page -- three or four screenfuls of text and images -- is so you can see that it includes one image of a musical instrument, six images of the venue and not a single image showing a person, living or dead. The word "you" does not appear until the "Entrances" section, which will fall outside of the first screenful on most browsers. Evidently, the symphony is marketing to people who like to spend $50 to sit on a comfortable seat in a pretty building. I can do it for free at the library or any furniture store.