Arts organizations -- dance companies, classical music ensembles, art museums and the like -- are by their nature old-fashioned. They also depend on attracting a constant flow of ticket-buyers and other funding to survive.

Some 120 arts officials from around the nation came to Pittsburgh for two days last week to look at the cutting-edge techniques for bridging the old world to the new, and drawing new people and energy to the arts, at a Technology in the Arts conference at Carnegie Mellon University.

The question at the conference -- hosted by Carnegie Mellon's Center for Arts Management and Technology -- was not whether technology should be part of how people see, experience and support art. It already is. Instead, the challenge was how to adopt it best, given the dwindling staff and budgets non-profit arts organizations are facing nationwide.

The good news is there is plenty going on in technology to help artists create new works, arts organizations to support them and ultimately for art fans to experience them.

One of the coolest things discussed was www.chicagoartistsresource.org, a Web site launched last year that lists massive amounts of information to help artists thrive.

The site is constantly updated, often with information from artists and other users of the site -- both of those components (updates and user-generated content) are increasingly becoming keys to all thriving Web sites, tech experts said.

Keeping things fresh works for artists, too, said Faith Ringgold, an internationally acclaimed painter and children's book author. Ms. Ringgold has worked in painting, sculpture, mosaics (commissioned for the 125th Street subway station in Harlem, where she grew up) and quilts.

She has also placed a story on her Web site (www.faithringgold.com), that she asks children to rewrite or illustrate and send back to her, taking another step in audience interaction over the Web. "Different kind of work brings in a different kind of audience," she said.

Web interaction is also helping drive new patrons to old arts organizations.

Arts officials use their sites not only to provide information (on performances, artworks and so on) to current supporters but to woo tech-savvy young ones. From a business side, arts officials can use information gleaned from their sites -- such as what performances they buy tickets for and what events elicit the most comments -- to study what their patrons like.

The give-and-take of information by site visitors develops a sense of ownership or commitment in what an arts organization is doing. The key is keeping the site fresh with blogs and other new material, to keep those interested new souls coming back.

"You need a daily commitment to engagement with an audience," said Suzanne Connor, the programs and grants coordinator for another Chicago group, the city's Arts and Business Council, which created a successful site in March (www.chicagoclassicalmusic.org) for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and other classical music groups.

"There is no difference from talking to someone on the phone or meeting them in the lobby -- it's about personal involvement."

How do you pay for the bells and whistles? Successful sites -- besides drawing in new patrons -- were often funded by pulling lots of separate arts organizations together and collaborating on technological costs and know-how. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust provides such a bundle of ticketing and administrative help to smaller arts groups Downtown.

Many arts technologies are also free, using open source software.

"Technology is expensive, but it's a finite dollar amount. Usually it won't cost twice as much to add another organization onto an existing product," said Cary McQueen Morrow, executive director of the CMU center.

"With how fast technology is changing there are a lot of opportunities for arts organizations out there to capitalize on ... But the arts organizations are really, really busy doing their productions and other things -- which are the reason they exist -- so we thought we could help with that."