The first time Lindsey Coates’ wheels started spinning on arts and iPhone applications, she was sitting at a Social Expedition breakfast listening to a presentation from Resolute Games. Now, that seed of an idea is a bona fide app — it’s been live for less than two weeks and ArtsMemphis is already etching out a plan to market it to other cities. And what better place to talk about the new app than where it all began: a Social Expedition breakfast.

Coates spoke to the Expeditionaries this morning not just about the app, but also about how ArtsMemphis is using social media at large to reach the next generation of arts supporters. They’ve got a group for arts fans under 40, but it doesn’t stop there: ArtsMemphis also has a separate Facebook presence for the group, called ‘Bravo,’ and communicates with its members in an entirely different way. Their e-mails are quick, bulleted and digestible, for example, because they’re young, busy professionals who need to get their info quickly.

Lindsey Coates laughs with the Social Expedition Breakfast

Coates said that the strategy for Bravo and for ArtsMemphis’s online presence as a whole is identical to their offline strategy. Connect, embrace, engage, interact. It’s the philosophy that guides them on Facebook and face-to-face. She said a major key to their success in social media has been embracing the learning process, and taking lessons from their own mistakes. For example, when they launched ArtsMemphisTV, the first episodes were 15 minutes long. They quickly realized that short and sweet would be far more likely to keep people coming back for more.

“We’ve learned a lot,” Coates said. “Make mistakes, make more notes and move forward with what you’ve learned. I didn’t want to over-promise and underachieve, but I had to get over that — this was unknown territory. We had to try new things and be willing to make mistakes.”

That learning curve has gone a long way for ArtsMemphis, leading them to their latest innovation: the iPhone app. It’s an interactive arts calendar with events from arts organizations city-wide. You can buy tickets, map locations and read and post reviews all from your iPhone. The app is a free download.

Not only has the feedback already been overwhelmingly positive on the application, Coates said ArtsMemphis is working toward selling the model to other cities. “We haven’t found anything as comprehensive that allows for so much engagement in any other city,” she said. “We’re excited to have Memphis on the forefront of that.” The app is sponsored by Iberia Bank, and it’s already gotten 14 reviews in the iTunes store — Coates said the entire office is pretty excited with the results in just two weeks.

As the app begins to gain traction, Coates and ArtsMemphis aren’t resting on their laurels. She said the Web site will be undergoing what she calls “Web site Botox” soon — not a total redesign, but a tightening-up, so to speak. New colors and new pictures should help to keep things fresh, she said.

After Coates’ presentation, the Expeditionaries broke into core conversation groups on LinkedIn, blogging and WordPress design. And of course, much like Jell-O there’s always room for a little more networking and connecting. If you missed this month’s breakfast, be on the lookout for more information about our evening meet-up, TwilightCamp, coming Oct. 21, or our next breakfast on Nov. 4.

Tags | applications, breakfast, iPhone, Social Expedition