Theatre Services Committee Note April 2010

Theatre Bay Area's Theatre Services Committee had it most recent meeting last week. Minutes of the meeting follow. Please contact Dale Albright, Director of Membership Services with any questions at dale@theatrebayarea.org.

TSC Meeting Notes
April 21, 2010
TSC Members Present: Daren Carollo, Diablo Theatre Company; Rachel Fink, Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Liz Lisle, Shotgun Players; Jessica Robinson Love, CounterPULSE; Dan Meagher, Hillbarn Theatre; Nina Meehan, Active Arts Theatre; Karen Altre Piemme, San Jose Rep; Jonathan Spector, Just Theater; Lisa Tromovich, Shakespeare’s Associates; Marissa Wolf, Crowded Fire.
Theatre Bay Area Staff Present: Dale Albright, Brad Erickson, Clayton Lord, Rebecca Novick, Kendra Oberhauser
I. Meeting called to order at 10:05am
II. 10:05am TBA news and updates
• Members peruse the handout of TBA news and updates.
• Landisman Fellowship deadline is coming up on May 24th.
III. 10:07am Ticketing Software.
• Theatre Bay Area is currently looking into different ticketing systems, primarily for use by member companies and possibly for any full price ticketing that Theatre Bay Area provides for its members. TSC members discuss pros/cons of each. A decision will soon be announced.
IV. 10:25am Arts Advocacy
• Brad asks the TSC members to get behind AB 1777: http://www.californiaartsadvocates.org/AB1777.html
• It is projected to generate about $30million for the arts, which should put California up to somewhere around $.10 per person spent on the arts, up from $.05, currently putting California below every other state in the union.
V. 10:30am Intrinsic Impact
• Theatre Bay Area is receiving funding from various foundations to perform a multi-city survey (continuing the work that Alan Brown performed here in San Francisco on intrinsic impact). http://blog.theatrebayarea.org/2010/04/taking-intrinsic-impact-to-next-level.html
VI. 10:40am Annual Conference
• The Theatre Bay Area Annual Conference is on May 10 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco.
• What used to be the Expo is now incorporated in the evening as the Vendor Fair from 4pm-8pm.
• More information and registration here: http://www.theatrebayarea.org/programs/annualconference10.jsp
VII. 11:10am Media Access Office Presentation by Doug Gordy.
• Media Access Office represents disabled artists in the entertainment industry. They link people to training and opportunities. http://www.edd.ca.gov/jobs_and_training/Media_Access_Office.htm
• Doug encourages the organizations to include actors and workers with disabilities as a part of non-traditional casting. He can also provide some assistance when needed in working with accessibility issues.
VIII. 11:25am APASO check-in
• The annual APASO conference was hosted by Theatre Bay Area this year on March 25-27. It went very well.
IX. 11:30am TSC Conversation
• TSC Members discuss current format of TSC meetings.
X. Good and Welfare/Check-Ins

Next meeting: May 19, 2010, Theatre Bay Area, 1663 Mission Street, Suite 525.

Theatre Bay Area's Theatre Services Committee Notes

Theatre Bay Area's Theatre Services Committee met recently. The notes are provided below. Please contact dale@theatrebayarea.org or 415-430-1140 x14 with any questions or, of course, feel free to comment on this post.

TSC Meeting Notes
February 17, 2010
TSC Members Present: Serge Bakalian, Golden Thread Productions; Akilah Crossdale, The Jewish Theater; Victoria Evans-Erville, Woman’s Will; Melissa Hillman, Impact Theatre; Clark Lewis, Roustabout Theater; Jessica Robinson Love, CounterPULSE; Lisa Mallette, City Lights Theatre Company; Leslie Martinson, TheatreWorks; Dan Meagher, Hillbarn Theatre; Emily Morrison, California Shakespeare Theater; Raelle Myrick-Hodges, Brava; Karen Altre Piemme, San Jose Rep; Julie Saltzman, Aurora Theatre Company; Jonathan Spector, Just Theater; Marissa Wolf, Crowded Fire
Theatre Bay Area Staff Present: Dale Albright, Brad Erickson, Clayton Lord, Rebecca Novick, Kendra Oberhauser

I. Meeting called to order at 10:05am
• New and returning members introduce themselves.
II. 10:09am TBA News.
• Members take a few moments to peruse the outline of news and updates.
• Will Glickman Award is announced. In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl is the 2010 winner.
• Annual Conference is coming up on May 10th at Herbst/Green Room at War Memorial.
• South Bay Auditions are coming up on June 26th at Foothill College.
III. 10:17am General Audition Recap
• General Auditions were held Jan 29-31 at Marines Memorial in San Francisco. Dale asks members for their feedback, and the members discuss.
IV. 10:30am Critical Conversation (Rebecca).
• Theatre Bay Area is looking towards how to create an environment where honest, critical and constructive conversation can take place. One way to do this is to have more “community conversations” like the Outrageous Fortune meeting held at the Aurora.
• Likewise, the theme of the Annual Meeting this year something about "fostering excellence.”
• Members discuss possible methods to have successful meetings with large numbers of people.
V. 11:27am Conference structure.
• The Annual Conference will be at the War Memorial on May 10, 2010. It will be all day, and will absorb the EXPO by including a vendor fair and topics/resources of interest to individuals.
• Members spend some time writing out any ideas for the conference.
VI. 11:36am CA$H Evaluation report.
• Theatre Bay Area collected data from past applicants to CA$H, both grantees and non-grantees.
• What we found was that people really respond to the program but that some little changes will take place. These will be evident on the new CA$H application available now online.
VII. 11:43am Lemonade Fund curtain speeches.
• ISC drafted a letter to send out to companies asking them to give a curtain speech at a performance asking patrons to donate money to the Lemonade Fund. The letter also includes a sample curtain speech.
• We've moved this project back to summer (originally it was slated for spring) to remove it from all our other events.
VIII. 11:48am Actors Fund.
• Brad and Dale met with the CFO of Actors Fund. Investigating SF services.

Notes from December TSC Meeting

Theatre Bay Area's Theatre Services Committee met recently. Below are notes from this meeting. Questions? Contact Dale Albright, Director of Membership Services at dale@theatrebayarea.org or 415-430-1140 x14.

TSC Meeting Notes: Strategic Plan
December 16, 2009

TSC Members Present: Daren A.C. Carollo, Diablo Theatre Company; Akilah Crossdale, The Jewish Theater; Rachel Fink, Berkeley Rep; Jeanette Harrison, AlterTheater; Clark Lewis, Roustabout Theatre; Jessica Love, CounterPULSE; Lisa Mallette, City Lights Theatre; Leslie Martinson, TheatreWorks; Emily Morrison, California Shakespeare Theater; Jim Neuner, A.C.T.; Lisa Tromovich, Shakespeare’s Associates; Marissa Wolf, Crowded Fire.
Theatre Bay Area Staff Present: Dale Albright, Rebecca Novick, Kendra Oberhauser

I. 10:17am Meeting called to order

II. Meeting and Strategic Plan Overview
· This strategic plan is different because a lot has been changing with TBA and the world, so this has been a very comprehensive project. TBA is looking to get a lot clearer about where we are and how we can serve the whole community.
· This strategic plan includes the audience as part of the theatre community.
· The format of the written plan is supposed to be less boring. It’s like a "play", with Acts, Cast of Characters, etc.

III. TSC Member Input.
· The TSC members go around the table, responding with the 3 things that struck each of them the most, be it positive, negative or surprising.

IV. 11:37am Last remarks.
· Staff discusses any last thoughts.

V. 11:44 News and updates
· The Big List is hitting the 1,000,000 mark.
· New Works Fund will go back to supporting two $8,000 grants.
· TBA database restructuring is underway, but barely begun.

VI. 11:50 Good and welfare

Notes from latest Theatre Services Committee Meeting

Theatre Bay Area's Theatre Services Committee recently had its November meeting. The notes are below.

Please contact Dale@theatrebayarea.org with any questions, feedback or how you might get involved!



TSC Meeting Notes
November 18, 2009

TSC Members Present: Leah Abrams, Custom Made Theatre Company; Akilah Crossdale, The Jewish Theater; Jeanette Harrison, AlterTheater; Melissa Hillman, Impact Theatre; Jessica Love, CounterPULSE; Lisa Mallette, City Lights Theatre; Nina Meehan, Active Arts Theater; Emily Morrison, California Shakespeare Theater; Raelle Myrick-Hodges, Brava! For Women in the Arts; Julie Salzman, Aurora Theatre Company; Lisa Tromovich, Livermore Shakespeare Festival; Marissa Wolf, Crowded Fire.
Theatre Bay Area Staff Present: Dale Albright, Brad Erickson, Clayton Lord, Kendra Oberhauser

I. 10:05 TBA News and Updates.
· News and updates are passed out with the agenda.
· CA$H evaluation is underway.
· Grants for the Arts Presentation about theatre space, Friday, Nov 20, 2-4 Magic Southside Theatre.

II. 10:22am TSC Logistics
· Some TSC memberships are up for renewal with the new year.

III. 10:26am TBA's role in excellence in the field
· TBA is in the middle of strategic planning. Extremely exciting work happening around this currently.
· Should TBA foster “excellence in the field”? And how?
· Possibly as a conference theme.
· “Excellence” is meant to mean whatever each company or individual determines as excellent for himself/herself (outreach, innovation, customer service, etc.).
· Should TBA hold or sponsor an award ceremony to reward excellence in the field? TSC members discuss.
· Excellence of arts education should be addressed and rewarded as well. Because it’s not in public, it would be interesting to know about those little successes in the classroom.
IV. 11:19am Focus Group
· TSC Members serve as a focus group for a new program.

Next meeting: December 16, 10am -12noon. Location: New TBA offices, 1663 Mission St., Suite 525.

Theatre Bay Area recently had its latest meeting of its Theatre Services Committee

The notes from this meeting are below.

TSC Members Present: Akilah Crossdale, The Jewish Theatre; Jeanette Harrison, AlterTheater Ensemble; Liz Lisle, Shotgun Players; Clark Lewis, Roustabout Theatre; Leslie Martinson, TheatreWorks; Jessica Robinson, CounterPULSE; Maxim Tumenev, Ilkhom Theatre, Uzbekistan.
Theatre Bay Area Staff Present: Dale Albright, Brad Erickson, Clayton Lord, Kendra Oberhauser

I. 10:12am Theatre Bay Area News & Updates.

II. 10:18am Free Night of Theatre
Server crashed due to highest traffic volume ever.
TCG will continue Free Night, though it may manifest in different forms in some regions.
· Members discuss the ways that they get the FNOT patrons to come back: follow-up emails with discounts, encouraging reviews, writing those people who did tried to get your tickets but were not able to.

III. 11:05am Big List
· The signup is right now, and now includes the North Bay.
· Last week, TBA held 4 meetings in the 4 regions, two funded as NAMP workshops.

IV. 11:09am Annual Conference
· The Annual Conference is scheduled for May 10 at the War Memorial and including the Herbst Theatre for the plenary sessions and some breakouts.
· This year, it will also include the Expo, but will not extend the day by all that much.
· Themes and tracks are still being worked out; TSC members discuss some options.

V. 11:46am Phone List
· Each member of the TSC received a list of companies to touch base with as a representative to the TSC.

VI. 11:49am Individual Membership
· There are new options for individual memberships: shared, bring a friend, and multi-year. Company membership rates are staying the same.
VII. Good and Welfare.

Notes from Individual Servies Committee Meeting: Sept 2009

Theatre Bay Area's Individual Services Committee recently met. Below are notes from the meeting. Please contact dale@theatrebayarea.org with any comments, questions or suggestions.
ISC NOTES
September 14, 2009
1. Theatre Bay Area news and other TBA updates
a. News Summery to be distributed pre-meeting in the future.
b. Membership report: numbers are down. Members brainstorm marketing and outreach ideas.
c. Welcome Wagon
2. Lemonade Fundraiser
a. Plan for February 2010
b. Have a week of curtain speeches in February
c. Potential committee members:
i. J.P.
ii. Maggie
iii. Bonnie

3. EXPO/Annual Conference
a. Location still being worked out
b. Potential Theme: Art as Ambassador
c. 3 breakout sessions for Individuals. Topic ideas:
i. Panel of TITAN winners to speak about the importance of planning, having a mentor, etc.
ii. Self Producing (finding venues, dealing with contracts)
iii. Interview skills for technicians/designers (or do this via an EXPO booth)
iv. Negotiating a job/contract, prioritizing amongst free lance jobs, how to bid fees
v. Panel of commercial theatre reps on nat’l level
vi. Other media: voiceover, TV/film, radio
vii. Building relationship between theatre companies and critics
viii. (Offer breakout sessions that cater to different career levels)

4. TBA Awards
Still hoping to develop!


Confirm next meeting
November 16 at new office: 1663 Market St, Suite 525

Theatre Services Committee Notes September 2009

Theatre Bay Area's Theatre Services Committee recently had their September meeting. Notes of the meeting are below. Please contact dale@theatrebayarea.org with any questions or suggestions.

TSC Meeting Notes
September 16, 2009

TSC Members Present: Daren Carollo, Diablo Theatre Company; Akilah Crossdale, The Jewish Theatre; Rachel Fink, Berkeley Rep; Jeanette Harrison, alterTHEATER; Melissa Hillman, Impact Theatre; Clark Lewis, Roustabout Theater; Jessica Love, CounterPULSE; Lisa Mallette, City Lights Theatre Company; Leslie Martinson, TheatreWORKS; Nina Meehan, Active Arts Theatre; Emily Morrison, California Shakespeare Theatre; Raelle Myrick-Hodges, BRAVA!; Karen Altre Piemme, San Jose Repertory; Jonathan Spector, Playwrights Foundation; Lisa Tromovich, Livermore Shakespeare Festival; Marissa Wolf, Crowded Fire.

Theatre Bay Area Staff Present: Dale Albright, Kendra Oberhauser, Brad Erickson

I. 10:07am. Welcome and Theatre Bay Area News & Updates.
· Dale hands out agenda, with the news updates written on the back. News & updates are now communicated in this manner in order to save time in TSC meetings.
· Theatre Bay Area has moved to 1663 Mission St., Suite 525, San Francisco, 94103.

II. 10:13am. Talent Pool Brainstorm.
· What is the state of the talent pool in the Bay Area? Members share their experiences.

III. 10:52am. Mentorship.
· There is no funding for this program at this moment, but many members stress the importance of it, and the willingness to mentor with or without compensation.

IV. 10:58am. Annual Conference.
· There are location challenges for the Conference. More information to come.
· Members discuss possible themes and speaker ideas.

V. 11:24am. Individual membership.
· Individual membership is down.
· Members discuss marketing and outreach strategies

VI. 11:35am. Phone tree.
· TSC Members each have a number of companies on a list to call or email in order to be a liaison between them and Theatre Bay Area/TSC.

VII. 11:46am. New company fee structure.
· Discussed pros and cons of eliminating gold membership option (all company members have access to ticketing services).

VIII. 11:50am. Meeting about economy, October 5.
· On October 5, from 2-6pm at Berkeley Rep, there will be a convening about looking forward in these economic times. Email kendra@theatrebayarea.org if you wish to RSVP.

IX. Good and Welfare.

Next meeting: at New TBA offices, 1663 Mission St., Suite 525.