TCG Bulletin

September 2009, Volume 32, Issue 9

Also online this month:

FIELD LETTER

Teresa starts out the September Field Letter with a recap of her recent trip to Colombia, where she attended a conference sponsored by the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. She goes on to discuss recent happenings at the national level, including Rocco Landesman's confirmation and how new national service initiatives are interacting with the arts community. Finally, she reminds us of the power of collaboration and cooperation by reviewing some recent parternships between TCG and other national arts service organizations.

• Click here to view the September 2009 Field Letter.

Monthly Mental Health Moment

When you get a bunch of theatre-folk in a room, you can usually count on at least a handful who have worked in the box office. It’s a badge of honor, really. As utterly critical as the box office is to the functioning of a theatre, it can often be a thankless and frustrating job. Comedian Michael Cyril Creighton is raising awareness on behalf of ticket agents everywhere with his YouTube series Jack in a Box. In Episode 1, Jack suffers the indignity of having to read a detailed plot summary of Bros of Desire to a potential patron. Share your own box office stories with us on our Facebook page!

TCG NEWS

2009 TCG Fall Forum on Governance, Online Registration Open

UPDATED This story was originally published in the August 2009 issue of the Bulletin.
Online registration for the 2009 TCG Fall Forum on Governance, Opportunity Knocks: Proactive Leadership in a “Wait and See” World is now open. Register early to take advantage of our free Pre-Conference on financial planning as well as travel scholarships! Registration is open to staff and trustees at TCG member theatres.

Action: The travel scholarship deadline is September 11. The early-bird deadline is September 18. Visit the Fall Forum section of the website to learn more and register.

Nonprofit Finance Fund Professional Development Program

The Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) has launched a new initiative to strengthen the nation's leading arts and culture organizations. Through a grant from MetLife Foundation, NFF will provide members of TCG, Dance/USA and the League of American Orchestras with financial guidance, tools, training and support to address the challenges precipitated by the current economic downturn. The services offered will be customized based upon need and will include webinars, teleconferences, workshops and financial newsletters. The first webinar will be available for download the week of September 7 and the first teleconference is scheduled for September 17 at 1pm (ET).

Action: Visit the Events section of the website to learn about upcoming offerings from the Nonprofit Finance Fund.

The New ARTSEARCH

After reading the suggestions and comments received on subscriber surveys and reviewing other employment websites, TCG is proud to announce the launch of the new and improved ARTSEARCH. Added features will allow you to:
• Create email alerts based on your customized searches and be the first to know when the perfect job appears.
• Focus on essential details like salary range and company info with expanded job profiles.
• Save multiple searches to your profile for each of your interests.
• Navigate hundreds of opportunities more easily with improved search functionality.
• Raise the bar of your job search with the same high-quality jobs — guaranteed to be timely and accurate — that ARTSEARCH has delivered for nearly 30 years.
There’s more: ARTSEARCH is available in a printable PDF. This enhanced, digital version of ARTSEARCH offers all subscribers the flexibility and convenience of a print version at no additional cost! And we’re just getting started: in the coming months, we’ll be adding other improvements to keep ARTSEARCH the essential source for a career in the arts.

Action: Visit the new and improved ARTSEARCH. Contact TCG Customer Service at (212) 609-5900 with questions.

TCG/ITI International Travel Grants Fall/Winter Online Registration and Application Now Available

These $3,500 travel grants are designed to foster cultural exchange and artistic partnerships between theatre professionals in the US and their counterparts in Russia, Eastern Europe or Central Europe.

Action: The deadline is September 21. Visit the Grants section of the website for application guidelines and materials.

2008 Education Survey Results Now Available

101 TCG members reported on their 2008 education programming for this year’s education survey. Search and reporting tools are now available online and are open to all. These tools allow one to look at an individual theatre’s surveys or create custom reports based on budget group size, student demographics, programming and more.

Action: Visit the Arts Education section of the website to explore our search and reporting tools.

Free Night of Theater Turns Five!

UPDATED This story was originally published in the August 2009 issue of the Bulletin.
Free Night of Theater, TCG's national audience-development program, celebrates its fifth anniversary on Thursday, October 15. With Houston and the Twin Cities joining this year, Free Night will expand to more than 700 theatres in over 120 cities across the country. This is the final call for theatres to join the 2009 program.

Action: Visit the Guidelines and Managing Partners pages in the Free Night section of the website for details on theatre participation and local managing partners in your area.

2009 TCG National Conference Videos Posted Online

2009 TCG National Conference session videos are now available for viewing online. Sessions include: “Conversations with Anne,” a conversation with Anne Bogart and Bill T. Jones, “ACTivate Change,” Pre-Conference keynote address by Jeanette Winterson, “Generational Perspectives” by Nadira Hira (requires password: tcgconf09), Conference Awards and “If I Ran the TCG Member Theatre.”

Action: Visit the Conference section of the website to view the videos.

National Conference: Save the Date for 2010; Now Accepting Proposals for 2011

The 2010 TCG National Conference will be held in Chicago, IL from June 17-19, with Pre-Conference offerings on June 16. Details about the conference programming will be posted as soon as they are available.
TCG theatres and theatre service organizations in the Western Region of the United States are invited to submit proposals to host the 2011 TCG National Conference. Eligible states include: Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming. (Colorado and Washington are temporarily ineligible because recent TCG Conferences have been held in those states.)

Action: Visit the Conference section of the website for more information. For more information regarding proposals 2011, download the full RFP (PDF).

Theatre Facts

UPDATED This story was originally published in the August 2009 issue of the Bulletin.
Theatre Facts is the only document analyzing the national not-for-profit theatre field and is a vital advocacy and policy tool for trustees, foundation and corporate executives, policy makers and the national press. Stay tuned for a digest version of Theatre Facts 2008 in the November issue of American Theatre.

Action: Visit the Tools & Research section of the website to download Theatre Facts 2008.

ADVOCACY NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN ARTS ALLIANCE AND TCG

Rocco Landesman, Joan Shikegawa Confirmed at NEA

UPDATED This story was originally published in the July 2009 issue of the Bulletin.
Rocco Landesman, whose nomination was announced in May, was officially confirmed as Chairman of the NEA. A representative of TCG has already had a formal meeting with Mr. Landesman as part of the Cultural Advocacy Group’s (CAG) efforts to reach out to the new administration. Joan Shikegawa has been confirmed as the NEA’s new Senior Deputy Chairman. She most recently served as associate director for Foundation Initiatives at the Rockefeller Foundation.

Action: Visit the NEA website to view Rocco Landesman's video greeting to the American public.

TCG and Others Urge Congress to Act on Health Care Overhaul

A coalition of 23 arts groups, including TCG, has called on Congress to pass legislation that creates a public insurance plan and ensures that people can get affordable health coverage without being denied because of pre-existing conditions. The statement was signed by groups including Americans for the Arts, Grantmakers in the Arts, the National Dance Association and TCG.

National Service and the Arts

UPDATED This story was originally published in the July 2009 issue of the Bulletin.
With the new administration has come a greater commitment to community service through initiatives such as Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the Serve Act and the this summer’s United We Serve project. During a national conference call on August 27, Kalpen Modi, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, focused on service and the role that the arts and humanities play in strengthening communities. This summer of service is building towards the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11, 2009. Americans for the Arts has created a new website, United We Serve: Arts USA, as a platform for artists and arts organizations to share their service projects in the arts.

Action: Visit the United We Serve: Arts USA website to share your arts-specific acts of community service.

ARTISTIC OPPORTUNITIES IN THE UNITED STATES

PlayPenn Accepting Applications for 2010 New Play Development Conference

This 2010 conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA from July 19-25. Invited playwrights will have the opportunity to work with a director, dramaturg and Philadelphia-based professional actors over a 17 day period that allows for 29 hours of rehearsal and staged reading time.

Action: The deadline is September 30. Visit the PlayPenn website for application guidelines and materials.

Castillo Theatre Launches 2010 Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest

Castillo is seeking new scripts for the stage that engage the political, social and cultural questions impacting the world today. The winner will receive a reading and/or a full production at the Castillo Theatre in New York City during the 2010–2011 season.

Action: The deadline is November 15. Visit the Castillo Theatre website for application guidelines and materials.

New Harmony Project Seeking Scripts for Conference

This script development residency program that has convened in southern Indiana for the past 23 years is soliciting new scripts from established and emerging writers that celebrate hope and the resiliency of the human spirit for its May 2010 conference.

Action: The deadline is October 1. Visit the New Harmony Project website for Information and online submission guidelines.

ARTS EDUCATION

Secretary of Education Duncan Speaks out in Support of Arts Education

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wrote an open letter to school and education community leaders about the importance of arts in K-12 education. He followed up the letter by participating in an open conference call on August 29 hosted by the NAMM Foundation and SupportMusic coalition.

Action: Visit the SupportMusic website to read Secretary Duncan’s letter (PDF). Also visit the SupportMusic website to listen to an audio transcript of the conference call.

Wallace Foundation Releases Report on Achieving Quality in Arts Education

Commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education is a report on a study performed by Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The goal of the study was to determine the factors that lead to excellence in arts education, as well as help educators establish those factors.

Action: Visit the Wallace Foundation website to download the full report.

CONFERENCES & SEMINARS

New Independent Artists Pre-conference Offered at National Arts Marketing Project

This pre-conference on October 30 will teach artists how to take control of their marketing careers by constructing a solid marketing strategy. Sessions will include a writing workshop, a networking lunch, an artist panel and more.

Action: Visit the NAMP website to learn more and register.

Grantmakers in the Arts 2009 Recession Conference, October 18-21 in Brooklyn, NY

The theme of this year’s conference is Navigating the Art of Change. Sessions will focus on dealing with issues of access, not just to the arts, but how artists and arts organizations access audiences who have found new and competing outlets to engage in the arts to aligning grantmaking practices with relevant business models. Keynote speakers include Wynton Marsalis and John Zogby.

Action: Visit the Grantmakers in the Arts website for more information and to register.

New Island Festival September 10–20 on Governor's Island, NY

Direct from Holland, the New Island Festival will take place on New York City's Governors Island from September 10–13 and again from September 17–20. The festival will kick off the fall with provocative theatre, stunning site-specific performance, dazzling visual arts and exhilarating DJ sets all by world class Dutch performers.

Action: Visit the New Island Festival website for more information. Stay tuned for information about a mini-symposium co-sponsored by TCG on September 17 to discuss the growing popularity and forms of site specific theatre.

DEVELOPMENT

Frank Dickerson Publishes Resesarch Analyzing the Discourse of Fundraising

The Way We Write is All Wrong summarizes the findings uncovered in a corpus linguistics analysis of 1.5 million words of fundraising discourse. The research found that most fundraising copy fails to create an emotional, interpersonal connection with readers and also lacks linguistic features that produce narrative.
Action:

Action: Visit the Donor Power Blog to download the executive summary and full report.

Arena Stage Receives $1.1 Million Grant

Arena Stage in Washington, DC, received a $1.1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create the American Voices New Play Institute, an initiative to help further new play development within American theatre.

Center Theatre Group Receives $1 Million Grant

Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, CA, received a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to commission and support experimental productions through its new play production program.

Woodruff Arts Center Receives $12 Million Grant

Woodruff Arts Center, in Atlanta, GA, received a $12 million grant from the Goizueta Foundation to expand educational programs, resources and services to provide to primary and secondary school students in Georgia.

MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH

American Management Association Scholarship Program Administered by the Leader to Leader Institute

This scholarship includes one management education and professional development seminar offered by American Management Association (AMA), one year individual member benefits on all AMA products and services and a one year membership to the Leader to Leader Institute. During the scholarship year recipients will be provided with intellectual resources, opportunities and discounts designed to enhance leadership effectiveness and support excellence in organizational and personal performance.

Action: The deadline is December 15. Visit the Leader to Leader website for application guidelines and materials.

Wallace Foundation Publishes Report on Engaging Audiences

Engaging Audiences is a report on the 2009 Wallace Foundation Arts Grantee Conference held in Philadelphia, PA on April 1-3. It reports that the challenges that arts organizations face stem not just from the nation’s current economic woes, but from longer-term seismic shifts relating to new technology, changing demographic trends and an increasing amount of options for how people choose to spend their leisure time.

Action: Visit the Wallace Foundation website to download the full report.

RESOURCES

Resource Round-Up: Maximizing Your Google Tools

Google offers a number of free online tools that can be invaluable in tracking your organization's reputation and popularity online. "The Missing Google Analytics Manual" offers pro tips for maximizing your user experience with Google's web analytics tool. The Wild Apricot blog offers a two-part series called "Getting Started with Google Alerts", a guide to getting the most out of this tracking tool which keeps you up to date on the latest google results of any search term or phrase.

Action: Visit the FutureNow website to access “The Missing Google Analytics Manual”. Visit the Wild Apricot Blog to access “Getting Started with Google Alerts”

NEW TCG MEMBERS

L.A. Theatre Works

681 Venice Blvd
Venice, CA 90291-4805
tel (310) 827-0808
fax (310) 827-4949
latw@latw.org
www.latw.org
Susan Loewenberg, Producing Artistic Director
Vicki Pearlson, Managing Director
Doug Jaffe, Board President

TCG DEADLINES

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Information appearing in the TCG Bulletin may not be reprinted without permission.