Seth Godin to Speak at TCG National Conference in Boston

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces that digital-marketing pioneer and best-selling author Seth Godin will speak at the 22nd annual TCG National Conference in Boston from June 21 to 23, 2012. This multiday convening will bring 1,000 theater practitioners together from around the world to conclude TCG's year-long 50th anniversary celebration.

Seth Godin was named one of the top 21 speakers for the 21st century by Successful Meetings magazine, and has written 13 books that have been translated into more than 35 languages. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, leadership and most of all, changing everything. Using real-world examples from extremely successful companies, Godin reveals the benefits of using creative, remarkable thinking to transform business ideas and practices. He has been called "America's Greatest Marketer" by American Way magazine, "The Prime Minister of Permission Marketing" by Promo magazine and "a demigod on the Web" by Forbes.com.

Godin joins DJ Spooky and Howard Shalwitz in the growing line-up of plenary speakers, with more to be announced soon. Plenary and breakout sessions will explore the Conference theme of Model the Movement: transforming the theatre field into a movement, one new model at a time. The Conference will focus on what works – how theatre-makers can better share, measure and adapt the models already making a difference. Working groups will collaborate on these models and ideas as part of a year-round online conference community, which will continue through to the 2013 National Conference.

"Seth Godin's ideas – from the 'purple cow' to his latest book, Poke the Box – are an inspiring reminder of the necessity of creativity and authentic engagement in building community and leading change," said Teresa Eyring, Executive Director of TCG. "Having Godin speak at the same conference as the innovative multi-disciplinary artist DJ Spooky and one of our pioneers in theatrical risk-taking, Howard Shalwitz, will ignite our conversations on how we might 'model the movement'."

"The TCG National Conference has been important to my professional and personal growth for over 30 year, as a forum for meeting heroes and making lifelong friends," said Michael Maso, Co-Chair of the Host Committee and Managing Director of the Huntington Theatre Company. "I am delighted by the chance for Boston's burgeoning and innovative theatre community to exchange ideas with the national field, and to show off a bit of what we have accomplished in Boston in recent years."

"I have been lucky enough to attend the TCG National conferences since 1995 and be on the TCG board since 2006," added Co-Chair Kate Warner. "Like with the power of live theatre, there is something palpable, significant and unique about being in the same room with each other and talking about what's relevant and important to us and our audiences."

The TCG National Conference provides the largest forum for The National Theatre community to assemble for artistic and intellectual exchange, as well as a chance to explore the local theatre community. TCG will present plenary speakers, breakout sessions, workshops and performances at the Park Plaza Hotel, Emerson College and the Boston Center for the Arts. The Conference is sponsored by the Barr Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; The Boeing Company; Mayor Menino's Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and media sponsor, WGBH.

Born in 1970 in Washington D.C., Paul D. Miller is an artist, writer, and musician working in New York. Miller is best known under the moniker of his "constructed persona" as "DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid." Miller has recorded a huge volume of music and has collaborated with a wide variety of artists, writers, musicians and composers such as Robert Wilson, Iannis Xenakis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mariko Mori, Kool Keith/Doctor Octagon, Pierre Boulez, Saul Williams, Steve Reich, Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Paul Auster, and Colson Whitehead, among many others. www.djspooky.com

Howard Shalwitz is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC. He has been the visionary force behind the company for 32 seasons, steering its adventurous play selection, guiding the development of dozens of new works, building a renowned Acting Company, and leading Woolly Mammoth in the creation of an award-winning new downtown theatre which opened in May 2005. Howard has directed new plays by Jason Grote, Sheila Callaghan, Doug Wright, Amy Freed, Regina Porter, Nicky Silver, Harry Kondoloen, and many other provocative American writers, at theatres including New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Arena Stage, Studio Arena, Milwaukee Rep, A Contemporary Theatre, and the Kennedy Center. In 2011 he was a Distinguished Finalist for SSDC's Zelda Fichandler Award and winner of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Director for Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park.

The Boston host committee is led by Co-Chairs Michael Maso, Managing Director, Huntington Theatre Company and Producer/Director Kate Warner, and includes: Akiba Abaka, Artistic Director, Up You Mighty Race; Ari Barbanell, Director of Special Projects, American Repertory Theatre; Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, Barrington Stage Company; Catherine Carr Kelly, Executive Director, Central Square Theater; Matt Chapuran, Managing Director, Stoneham Theatre; David Colfer, General Manager, Emerson Stage; Curt Columbus, Artistic Director, Trinity Repertory Company; Rebecca Curtiss, Communications Manager, Huntington Theatre Company; Paul Daigneault, Producing Artistic Director, SpeakEasy Stage Company; Ruth Davidson, Director of External Affairs, ArtsEmerson; Lydia R. Diamond, Playwright; Tony Estrella, Artistic Director, Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre; John Geoffrion, General Manager, Small Theatre Alliance Boston; Matthew Glassman, Co-Director, Double Edge Theatre; Sara Glidden, Managing Director, Lyric Stage Company of Boston; Anne Gottlieb, Actor; Julie Hennrikus, Executive Director, StageSource; Jennifer Johnson, Director, Charlestown Working Theater; Jeremy Johnson, Member Services Manager, StageSource; Shawn LaCount, Artistic Director, Company One; Veronique Le Melle. Executive Director, Boston Center for the Arts; Steve Maler, Artistic Director, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company; Allison McDonough, Assistant to the Managing Director, Huntington Theatre Company; Rob Orchard, Executive Director, ArtsEmerson; Jamie Parker, Vice President for Marketing and Communications, WGBH; Paula Plum, Actor; Abe Ryebeck, Artistic Directo, The Theatre Offensive; Scott Sinclair, Marketing Associate and Audience Manager, SpeakEasy Stage Company; Kate Snodgrass, Artistic Director, Boston Playwrights' Theatre; Anita Stewart, Executive and Artistic Director, Portland Stage; Joey Thomas, Artistic Associate, Company One; Christine Toohey, Management Assistant, New Repertory Theatre; and Adele Traub, Manager of Artistic Operations, Actors Shakespeare Project.

For more information and registration for this year's conference, visit www.tcg.org/conference.

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