TCG Conference Day 2 - RAW NOTES

Budget Affinity Group
Friday Morning... (too early)
ideas/concerns mentioned

find ways to get information out there so that people know who is doing what within a network and find ways to decrease replication, increase partnerships, and supplement each other in the things each of us does well
- do what you do well
- find other people who do other things well
- partner together to do it/more

what does "new works" mean?

put a sign in the lobby "everyone is a critic" and encourage all your audience to go home and do what they do: blog, tweet, facebook their experience, spread the word

summit for a select group of bloggers - help raise the bar of discourse, and find a way of centralizing/aggregating their reviews for audiences

free arts newspaper? print. that pulls together the writers who write about art and have been let go by the regular news outlets.

TECHNORATI.com - look up readership levels and such about bloggers

stop inviting the papers, when they start having Book Writer or Movie Critic reviewing theater to save $ - because they just don't know anything about theater.

Papers: reviews are not doing anything anymore in terms of box office (up-ticks or down-ticks) for many people. Word-of-Mouth...

stop audience members on their way out, video tape them telling you what they thought of the show, and then post it to youtube - up-tic in sales.

Marketing VS Criticism & Advocacy what is the purpose of the Review?
Criticism is necessary for artists, for advocacy, for discussion....


choose strategically 5-6 community partners who participate from the beginning of the project. - social, or other kinds of affinity with the show you are making... take them along the entire trip, get them involved and "participating' in the making of the work. Choose partners carefully, choose diverse partners.

Who are the people who NEED to see THIS project - perhaps it is not about building an audience for the Venue, it is about relying on the 'venue' audience to come when you invite them, but you build targeted audiences for each particular show/project - CUSTOMIZE audience development.

360-degree theater - full experience that is more than just seeing the show.

put a 22 year-old on staff who is fully entrenched in social media.

think about your video offerings the same way you think about the marketing: it has to be diverse to reach diverse audiences as well...
videos, podcasts that are substantive, and then also maybe the dumb funny one that shows the personality of the place...


how do you cope with the TIME it takes to keep up with the social media?
get an intern to prepare them in advance a whole block, make it their job, and then put them in your calendar so that it bings you to tweet.
advertise on craig's list for young videographers for the documentary type things and they might shoot you a two-minute thing...
don't just use the social media to send the info out... also request content from the audience.

'subscription' package - scaled to when they buy it - can buy it at the beginning of the season for whole season & get 1 ticket to each show, or 1/2-way through and get 2 tickets to each show left in season, and 2/3rds of the way through they get 3 tickets for each show left...

Dept of Labor is cracking down on intern compensation - either you have to pay them nothing or you have to pay them minimum wage and pay benefits etc. no more stipends, no housing (it is compensation),
One possible solution is finding a way to call it a scholarship? Make it into an education program, job training program, partner with University so they get credit of some kind. Intern may have to pay something for it, but if you provide accommodations etc in exchange you can offset their expenses.

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NEA LUNCH
Bill O'Brien, Deputy Chairman, obrienb@arts.gov
things discussed...
-Cultural Diplomacy/Exchange
-Artist Core
-Summer of Service (Issue an alert to volunteer)

How are we active in advocacy?

Summer of Service (Issue an alter to volunteer)
- how can we involve more volunteers? are there programs in place that can use volunteers to lift up? add value, add civic value, and be able to articulate that value better...

Artist Core
not sure what this is yet, they would like to fold in what we have all been doing entrepreneurially...


NPDP website go visit it


If you have ideas send them to...
Art Education & Artist Core send to Carol:
Carol Lanoux Lee, Acting Director, Theater, lanouxc@arts.gov
International ideas send them to Eleanor:
Eleanor Denegre, Musical Theater & Theater Specialist, denegree@arts.gov

Question regarding ties b/w NEA & State Dept.:
in general more conversation between agencies incl. State Department...and White House
Anita Decker - Government Affairs Director & White House Liaison
Yosi Sargent - Communications Director (Yosi Sargent from the White House Office of Public Liaison)
right now the agencies sometimes fund projects without even knowing they are both funding them, so hopefully there will be more communication across these agencies to increase cultural exchange nationally & internationally

Minister of Culture is still a question up in the air... perhaps there are other ways of achieving the results we want from an 'arts czar', ex. the Obama's doing Date Night at the Theater...
MP: the issue then is what exactly do people want a Cabinet Level Arts position for? is it just promotion?

The Performing Arts Alliance - advocacy group look 'em up. ADVOCATE - join them in making sure that the Arts is included in government budget discussions...

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Managing Stakeholders in Crisis
Moderated by David Hawkanson, Executive Director, Steppenwolf Theatre Company Panelist(s)
Lynn Deering, President of the Board, CENTERSTAGE
Susan Medak, Managing Director, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Kent Thompson, Artistic Director, Denver Center Theatre Company

ideas mentioned that stuck out to me:

always be asking yourself:
what is the core of what you do
what are the artistic priorities and important you staff/board/audience

no endowment - instead an "operating initiative campaign", operating fund.
regularly find ways to reduce fixed costs
crisis opportunity to fix problems

think about scale-backs and changes as LONG-TERM decisions that affect the organization positively going forward, rather than band-aid solutions to get you through short term issue

leadership has to be thinking very far out, and start sharing ideas with staff/board etc early, among other things however long it to you to come to an idea, it will take them that long to understand/process it for themselves and get on board with you.

many small meetings with trustees & lead staff - scheduled open for handful to attend, informal discussions and getting to know each other. - not Board Meetings,- meetings/coffees etc at homes, offices, restaurants.

outsider stake holders - also try to have informal coffees/meet-ups with them and use it to talk about what the org is trying to do to trun this into an opportunity
- government advocacy
- be sensitive to the pressure sthey are under
- provide them with information, data etc that tools for them to make the case for you to their boards/committess
- but individual donors are maybe special: they want to know - are they in too much trouble? are they just fine and don't need my gift? or are they in some trouble, but they'll make it through, so they really can use my help?
- corporate folks: we increase quality of life, which attracts good employees
- but now there is a branding/sponsorship issue, want the brand attached specifically projects that are "meaningful" and not "frivolous".
- economic advantage, workforce advantage, quality of life, & art
- so how are we competing "with" the social-good activities that corps want their names on? (n.o. really had an answer for this, lots of nodding heads)

Risks & Opportunities
- toss the "balance" sheet
- instead over-view the risks and opportunities that the org is going to take...
what are risks, what can go south, what might be trouble spots
vs
what are opportunities, what might exceed expectation/go up, what can bridge the gap from a 'loss'

if people have context they will make good decisions.
manager should provide broad context for decisions we have to make.
what are you hearing in the field, from peers, etc? give your board that information, so that they understand a. you are an expert, b. your orgs difficulties & ideas are being shared/discussed by others, c. you'll be able to empower them to help you achieve the goals of the decisions