Preliminary Schedule Announced for Chicago Theatre (anti-) Conference, 8/5-8/7

Theater Wit has announced a preliminary schedule for the second annual Chicago Theatre (anti-) Conference, presented in association with the League of Chicago Theatres, August 5-7, 2011 at Theater Wit's new home, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago.

The newly-posted schedule indicates the weekend will be jam-packed with community-driven presentations of key importance to Chicago performing arts organizations large and small. All sessions are hooked to this year's umbrella theme "secrets of excellence." Unlike most such industry trade events, however, each session will start with a speaker presentation limited to only 12 minutes, with the majority of time reserved for group discussion, knowledge sharing and Q&A.

The registration fee for the weekend is $45 in advance; $75 onsite, and includes three catered evening parties and lunch both days. In addition to theaters, dance companies, performance artists, independent artists, designers, production professionals, performers, directors, choreographers, video artists, music ensembles, orchestras, and opera companies are encouraged to participate. Visit theaterwit.org for complete information, to view schedule updates and to reserve a conference pass online. Or, send an email to ctac@theaterwit.org or call the Theater Wit box office, 773.975.8150, for further information.

2011 Chicago Theatre (anti-) Conference session highlights (at press time) follow:

(anti-) Conference Kick-Off: Drinks n' Food @ Theater Wit (Friday, 6:30 pm, Theater Wit lobby)
Check in, meet, mingle and nosh with fellow attendees for the upcoming weekend.

Partners for Sacred Spaces: A New Model for Shared Space (Saturday, 10 am, Theater One)
Gianfranco Grande, Director of Regional Offices of Partners for Sacred Space, will talk about successes in other parts of the country uniting underutilized sacred spaces with arts organizations with space needs.

Back from the Brink! (Saturday, 10 am, Theater Two)
Emerald City Theatre Company board president Len Shankman will present a case study of how the theater diagnosed potential financial difficulties, and undertook creative ways to avoid them.

From Mad Scheme To Funding (Saturday, 10 am, Theater Three)
Theater Wit Development and Communications Director Mercedes Rohlfs introduces a session on how to turn big ideas into fundable programs. Bring yours and the group will help turn it into gold.

Arts Journalism in the 21st Century: New Models and Old Frustrations (Saturday, 11 am, Theater One)
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune; Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago; and Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times; with moderator Jeremy Wechsler, Artistic Director, Theater Wit, will lead a frank discussion about the changing role of arts journalism. Topics include the always shifting landscapes of traditional print and broadcast media, and how social media have changed the critics' relationship to the arts community.

Who Says Marketing and Development Can't Work Together? (Saturday, 1:30 pm, Theater One)
TimeLine Theatre's Lara Goetsch (Director of Marketing and Communications) and Lydia Swift (Development Manager) will share how they have successfully partnered on audience development and fundraising efforts using the "Cultivation Pyramid" model.

Transfers, Remounts, Extensions and Tours or "Chris Jones gave us 4 stars, now what the hell do we do?" (Saturday, 1:30 pm, Theater Two)
Jason Epperson, General Manager, Mercury Theater, will lead a session on the strategies and pitfalls when companies contemplate taking a hit show to the next level.

Ensemble Theatre Identity: Relevance, Management and Impact (Saturday, 1:30 pm, Theater Three)
Four distinguished Chicago ensembles with varying longevity (The New Colony, House Theater, Teatro Vista and American Blues Theater) share their experiences and field questions: How does your theater differentiate from others? How do you choose leadership, shows and new membership? Gwendolyn Whiteside, Artistic Director, American Blues Theatre, leads the discussion.

Keep it Simple (Saturday, 2:30 pm, Theater Three)
All the "cool" kids think strategic planning is the bees-knees. "But I say, forget about it! There is no use in planning for a world which changes every day," counters Moderator David Schmitz, Managing Director, Steppenwolf Theatre. Schmitz will lead a discussion on how to take advantage of opportunities, adapt to challenges and set short and long term goals which actually mean something.

New Plays and the American Theatre (Saturday, 4 pm, Theater Three)
Chay Yew, Artistic Director, Victory Gardens Theater, and one of Chicago's newest artistic directors comments on new play development and leads a discussion on the state of the landscape these works exist in.

Don't Kill the Messenger. Or Each Other. (Sunday, 10 am, Theater One)
Alison Dornheggen, Babes with Blades, will lead a panel on how to safely integrate violence into your production.

Chicago Services for Artists (Sunday, 11 am, Theater One)
John Carnwath, Chicago Artists Resource, and Julie Burros, Director of Cultural Planning, will present findings from the Creative Chicago Survey and detail a variety of programs that the city provides.

Louder than a Bomb (Sunday, 1:30 pm, Theater One)
Kevin Coval, founder of Louder than a Bomb, fronts a discussion on slam poetry.

Theater Advocacy 101 (Sunday, 2:30 pm, Theater Two)
The city of Chicago just pressed a giant reset button. We have a new mayor, 15 new alderman, a new commissioner of cultural affairs, a new chief of schools, and that's just to name a few of the fresh faces in City Hall. Ra Joy and Scarlett Swerdlow of Arts Alliance Illinois will offer action steps to take right now to build support for your theater with Chicago's new political leaders.

League of Chicago Theatres (Sunday, 3:30 pm, Theater Three)
Deb Clapp, Executive Director, and Ben Thiem, Director of Member Services, League of Chicago Theatres, will explore some things people might not know about the League and how theaters can use more and better services.

In addition to these sessions and many more, time has been set aside on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon for Affinity Groups, where attendees can find, network and brainstorm with folks of like interest. Groups/topics created at last year's inaugural conference included artistic directors, freelancers, new play development, zoning and construction, web design and multimedia design.

"One of the goals of this year's (anti-) Conference is to discover what Chicago arts organizations do really well. We also want to talk about change. How are you changing? Artistically? Organizationally? Conceptually?" said (anti-) Conference organizer Jeremy Wechsler. "Participants will get to hear perspectives from individual artists, from organizations large and small, as well as business and civic leaders who can bring a new perspective to get us all thinking differently."

For complete information on the 2011 Chicago Theatre (anti-) Conference, visit theaterwit.org.

 

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