Organizational Sustainability: Community Relevance, Artistic Vibrancy & Capitalization
Live Teleconference with Alan Brown facilitated by Jerry Yoshitomi and In Person Interactive Sessions with Skilled Facilitators
Pre-Conference Professional Development Day
Thursday, March 29, 2012, 9:00 am to 3:00pm
Hilton Vancouver Metrotown, 6083 McKay Avenue, Burnaby
Fee: $300 (plus HST) for 2 members of organization
$200 for single registration
Contact BCTC for groups of 3 or more
Registration NOW CLOSED
Historically, sustaining an arts organization meant generating enough earned and contributed revenue to fund current operations. With so much continued change and turmoil in the arts industry, WolfBrown reconsidered what sustainability means today:
Why are some arts groups able to persevere – and even thrive – when they are chronically “under-capitalized” and perpetually on the brink of extinction? On the other hand, why are well-established, large institutions with sizable endowments filing for bankruptcy? What, besides strong finances, does sustainability require? Is it possible that financial security actually deters sustainability?
Reflecting back on several decades of work with funders and arts organizations, Alan Brown of WolfBrown proposes a more nuanced and multi-dimensional view of sustainability, requiring a balancing act with three interdependent but sometimes competing priorities:
- Community Relevance
- Artistic Vibrancy
- Capitalization
Together, these elements give organizations the ability to excel in a permanent state of flux, uncertainty and creative tension.
In a thought provoking, all-in participatory workshop, you’ll assess current conditions, discuss new methods, and begin drafting your Sustainability Workplan. To encourage teamwork within an organization, the registration fee provides for two people from an organization to attend for one fee. Face to face work sessions, inspired by live online presentations.
In advance, we ask that with colleagues within your organization and Board of Directors
- Read the ground-breaking WolfBrown paper on Sustainability
- Collectively (or individually) respond to the online Sustainability Survey (Scores will be shared in the aggregate, without identifying individual respondents)
Bring to the session on March 29:
- A personal and organizational commitment to improve the Sustainability of your organization
- Ideas and questions on how you might increase your capacities in each of the 3 areas
It’s our intention that will leave with
- The beginning of your draft Sustainability workplan
- Conversation points to continue discussions back home
- The first steps to a more sustainable future.
| PROPOSED SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY | |
|---|---|
| 9:00am | Welcome by Joanna Maratta Personally meaningful sustainability experience (moderated by a co-facilitator) Introductions Review of pre-Workshop Survey |
| 9:30am | Organizational Sustainability:Community Relevance, Artistic Vibrancy & Capitalization (Alan Brown Live PowerPoint via teleconference, facilitated by Jerry Yoshitomi) |
| 10:15am | Questions/Answers |
| 10:30am | Morning Break |
| 10:45am | New Capacities Rotation 1- Facilitated by ………. (Community Relevance, Artistic Vibrancy & Capitalization) We encourage those from the same organization to join different rotations |
| 11:35 am | New Capacities Rotation 2 |
| 12:25pm | Lunch Break |
| 1:00pm | New Capacities Rotation 3 |
| 1:50pm | Afternoon Break |
| 2:05pm | New Capacities in Community Relevance – Report outs from Each Group (Alan & Jerry rejoin the Workshop via teleconference) |
| 2:25pm | New Capacities in Artistic Vibrancy |
| 2:45pm | New Capacities in Capitalization |
| 3:05pm | Potential collaborative work in topic areas? |
| 3:15pm | Key Take home Messages, What will you do next? |
| 3:30pm | Adjourn |
Alan Brown, principal of WolfBrown, is a leading researcher and management consultant in the arts and culture sector worldwide. His work focuses on understanding consumer demand for cultural experiences and on helping cultural institutions, foundations and agencies to see new opportunities, make informed decisions and respond to changing conditions. His studies have introduced new vocabulary to the lexicon of cultural participation and propelled the field towards a clearer view of the rapidly changing cultural landscape. He speaks frequently at national and international conferences about audience behaviors, trends in cultural participation, and the value system surrounding arts programs.
Jerry is an independent cultural facilitator and Chief Knowledge Officer of MeaningMatters, LLC. MeaningMatters, LLC is engaged by foundations, public arts agencies, and arts organizations to research and provoke innovative new practices that have changed the landscape of arts practice in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Organizations and artists have successfully implemented methods from his writings and workshops to diversify attendance, deepen engagement, enhance customer experience and increase earned and contributed income. 
Jerry is the facilitator for a collaborative of Performing Arts Presenters at major research universities and a series of Learning Workshops to increase participation in the arts for the Washington State Arts Commission. He also chaired the U.S. National Task Force on Presenting and Touring the Performing Arts, coordinated by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, resulting in the 1989 seminal report, An American Dialogue. His recent keynote remarks at the Arts Marketing Association – UK in Glasgow focused on the changing behavior of arts audiences and consumers.
In addition to past presentations at Pacific Contact, presentations in Canada have included the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, the Canadian Performing Arts Presenters Association (CAPACOA), Canadian Public Arts Funders (CPAF), the Ontario and Manitoba Arts Councils and the Regional Performing Arts Networks.
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