Community relations and partnership building is an important service David Marketing can provide. While at UC Davis Presents, Dave worked with Dance Theatre of Harlem to establish a Dance Theatre of Harlem Task Force. It included a range of community members from the African American community in the Sacramento region: an aide to a city council member, a staff member from a highly visible community center for kids, a community relations person from a network television station, clergy, educators, community organizers. The goal was to find a way to get a full house of schoolkids to attend a reasonably priced matinee by DTH, while publicizing the three evening performances to the broader community.

Dave Webb worked hand in hand with the group, which organized itself to raise funds, find buses, and get the word out.

The short term effort was a success: sales were solid for the evening performances and the matinee sold out.

While the Task Force’s work did not formally extend into the following season, long term relationships had been forged between UC Davis Presents and the African-American community that served the marketing department for years. A solid group of volunteers were more aware of the program, they had struggled with department to achieve a victory, and they were very helpful to future marketing efforts over the years. Phone calls were always returned to the marketing director, advice given freely, entry into parts of the African-American community was enabled, and mailing lists were swapped.

All of this served well short term marketing goals. And all of it was built on having worked together, intensely, over a period of months. The relationships endured for years.