2011 Town Hall

As part of our current Field Conversations between independent artists and theatres, we are encouraging theatres to organize a Town Hall-style meeting in which artists and theatre staff talk openly about successes and challenges they face in working together.

Participation is entirely voluntary - just fill out the following registration form, and TCG will email you the suggested talking points. There will be a (very) short report form to fill out after you have held your Town Hall.

Town Hall meeting guidelines::

•TCG will provide talking points taken from Roundtable conversations to be used as starting points for dialogue;

•Host one 3 hour session held between January 24 –February 15, 2011 on a date/time that works for your schedule;

•Meeting location is at your discretion – at your theatre if you have a facility, at a local coffee shop or via SKYPE;

•The size of the meeting is at your discretion, but we ask that the participants include non-staff individual artists in your area, as well as theatre staff;

•Try to include a range of performing artist disciplines – including but not limited to actors, directors, playwrights, designers and dramaturges;

•Someone should be appointed to facilitate the conversation and you can decide the best person for this  – it could be someone on the theatre’s staff, an artist associated with the theatre, a theatre trustee or someone from your community, TCG does not expect you to formally contract a facilitator;

•Someone should be appointed to take notes of key discussion points, report back to TCG on the attached form and return the form to TCG by February 18, 5pm EST;

•Notify TCG if you are able to offer the option of calling in to join your meeting either via a landline or SKYPE. TCG staff is trying to observe (listening only and not participating in the discussion) as many of the Town Halls as possible.

If you have already submited the "Join In" form and would like to submit your Key Points form, please click here now.

If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Bitterman .

All Fields Required except as noted.

Town Hall "Join In" Form
Theater name:
City:
State:	AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VI VA WA WV WI WY
Theater Website:
Contact Person:
Email Address:
Phone:
Date of Town Hall Meeting
Time of Town Hall Meeting
Meeting Venue
Approximate No. of participants
Theatre's Annual Operating Budget	Please Select $50,000 $50,000-$499,999 $500,000-$999,999 $1,000,000-$2,999,999 $3,000,000-$4,999,999 $5,000,000-$9,999,999 $10,000,000 and above
Yes No  Will a TCG staff member be able to observe the conversation, via teleconference or skype?

Talking Points:

These themes are meant to help you jumpstart the conversation. Also, please feel free to include other discussion topics. We hope that your discussion will bring up successful ways in which theatres and individual artists can and are working together as well as challenges you're currently facing. Do the artists and theatres in your area agree or disagree?

Ownership
Many participants want individual artists working with an organization to feel a sense of ownership in the art they and the organization create together. How can theatres help to create an increased sense of ownership and collaboration?

Several theater leaders and staff want individual artists to recognize the responsibility that comes with ownership, and commit time, effort and focus accordingly. What activities can artists initiate or participate in that would benefit the theatre and its community?

Some people expressed that, even as artists long for an artistic home and a sense of ownership in artmaking and institutional processes, artists need to preserve a certain amount of independence. Given that the goals and values of institutions and artists will rarely overlap 100 percent, what can be put in place to bring the two closer together?

Institutional Structures
Many people perceive that it is not easy for institutions to change their processes or ways of thinking! Established mechanisms like contract and funding structures may reduce an organization's flexibility. What strategies can be used to address this issue?

Cross-sector Collaboration
Many participants in the conversations have been intrigued by the promise of cross-fertilization—the energy and ideas that might come from reaching out to other disciplines, as well as breaking down boundaries between administrators and artists. Have theatres and/or artists in your community collaborated cross-sector?

Mentorship
Many meeting participants have been enthusiastic about mentorship. Some have suggested that the concept and practice of mentorship be expanded to include established organizations mentoring younger ones and vice versa. What type of sharing (both information and resources) would be helpful?