Optional Pre-Conference Seminar: Capital Campaigns in Tough Times –
A Real Life Case Study of Great Lakes Theater Festival's Renovation of the Hanna Theatre!
- Optional, pre-conference seminar with additional registration fee
- Level: Intermediate through advanced; limited to 35 attendees
- Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM; Wednesday, July 15th, 8:30 – 11:30 AM
- Wyndham Hotel at Playhouse Square
- Click here for seminar presenters' biographies
Designed for staff and board members of historic theaters in search of capital dollars, this 1-1/2 day seminar focuses on strengthening your fundraising skills and effectiveness in these challenging times through practical and helpful techniques based on a real life case study of fundraising challenges and success. We encourage teams of key volunteers/board and staff to attend this seminar together. (Additional 20% discount per person available to member teams of three or more registering at the same time.)
Topics include:
- Basics of fundraising success: case, confidence, constituency, leadership, and organizational fundraising capacity. Cultivating new relationships and deepening the commitment of current donors.
- Capital campaign and construction timelines, components, and sequence.
- Leadership campaign: Developing donor and leadership interest through "details" and "involvement" – retreats, strategic planning, facilities master planning, feasibility studies, prospect research, and business/financial planning.
- Identifying, recruiting, and motivating the campaign leaders.
- Combining your capital, endowment, and other organizational "needs" and creating a compelling case – packaging the dream so others can buy into it!
- "Gracious" fundraising and campaign materials.
- Creating a "culture of fundraising" – dynamic fundraising roles of the chief executive, board, other key volunteer leaders, fundraising staff, and all staff and volunteers – to build credibility and confidence for a successful campaign.
- Motivating board members to give and fundraise.
- Example of successful board/former board campaign.
- What does an active volunteer leader expect from staff and vice versa? Examples of moving from passive to active board involvement.
- Thanking donors and encouraging them to give more.
- Attracting foundation, corporate, and government support.
- Overcoming call reluctance and making effective calls face-to-face. Planning the call, making the case, requesting the funds, and saying thank you.
- Launching the public phase of the campaign, attracting new donors, and broadening your base of support.
- Setting priorities to strengthen your fundraising in these tough times – an interactive learning experience about "setting priorities" and "fundraising.
Seminar Presenters: Halsey and Alice North, The North Group Inc.; Bob Taylor, Executive Director, Great Lakes Theater Festival; Heather Sherwin, Director of Development, Great Lakes Theatre Festival; Janet Neary, Life Trustee, Great Lakes Theater Festival.
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A Time of Change! Time for Change?
Opening Luncheon
Wednesday, July 15th, 12 noon – 1:30 PM
Wyndham Hotel Palace Ballroom, 2nd level
Steven A Wolff, founding Principal of AMS Planning & Research Corp. and Audience Insight LLC, reports on trends associated with the current economic crisis to help us better understand how the economy is impacting historic theatres during his keynote address at the Opening Luncheon.
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Creating and Sustaining Collaboration
Wednesday, July 15th, 5:15-6:15 PM
Palace Theatre, Playhouse Square
Collaboration, a process that gets people and organizations working together in new and mutually beneficially ways, often spawns new collaborative ventures. Collaboration, the hallmark of downtown Cleveland's theatre district, Playhouse Square, is a continuing phenomenon producing a wide range of results. Join Art Falco, President & CEO of PlayhouseSquare Foundation, and Jerry Wareham, President & CEO, ideastream, in investigating a unique collaboration in which the arts and technology have come together in new ways, creating and sustaining a place for learning, rehearsing, performing and broadcasting where arts, education, technology and ideas serve the public.
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BackStage with . . . PlayhouseSquare's Education Collaboration
Thursday, July 16th, 2:00 – 3:15 PM
Idea Center, Playhouse Square
A joint educational and programming initiative of PlayhouseSquare and ideastream, BackStage with provides a behind the scenes view of groundbreaking Broadway musicals, introducing masters of the performing arts – composers, writers, producers, stars and more – for an intimate look at the creation of the shows we all love. Join Colleen Porter, PlayhouseSquare's Director of Arts Education, and Gina Vernaci, Vice President of Theatricals, in a discussion of this successful education program. A tour of Idea Center follows their presentation.
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Recession Survival Techniques: Lessons from the Great Depression
Friday, July 17th, 2:00 – 3:30 PM
Severance Hall, University Circle District
Visit Severance Hall, home of The Cleveland Orchestra and hailed as one of the most beautiful concert halls in the country for more than half a century and learn how historic theatres around the country are weathering these turbulent times. What strategies and tactics have they developed? How are they investing limited resources in new ways and developing new alliances or collaborations? What do their communities need most from them?
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Hanna Theatre Transformation
Saturday, July 18th, 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square
PlayhouseSquare’s re-imagined 1921 Hanna Theatre is the revolutionary new home of Great Lakes Theater Festival, one of the country’s pre-eminent regional theatres. A visionary performance setting and social meeting place, this fully flexible 550-seat thrust stage features a range of new technologies and amenities. Join Paul Westlake, Jr., FAIA of Westlake Reed Leskosky, architects, engineers and historic theatre specialists for the project, and Bob Taylor, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Theater Festival, in a discussion of the company’s new $14.7 million home and presentation of a project that features a highly collaborative design effort, meaningful reinvestment in PlayhouseSquare and downtown Cleveland, restoration of an historic American theatre, LEED-CI registration and historic tax credits. A tour of the theatre follows their presentation.
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Historic Theatres: Catalysts for Community Redevelopment
Saturday, July 18th, 3:30 – 4:30 PM
Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square
From Cleveland's downtown Theatre District, Playhouse Square, to the West Side, historic theatre renovation has sparked community revitalization. Powerful combinations of new businesses, housing, the arts and neighborhood beautification are infusing millions of dollars in economic development in Cleveland communities, creating cultural amenities attracting audiences throughout Northeastern Ohio and new jobs that attract educated, creative, young workers. Hear how they did it from a panel of community leaders.
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Tools & Techniques (Concurrent Sessions)
Panel discussions, hands-on workshops, case study presentations and presentations of research from the field will be offered on a variety of topics related to best practices and emerging trends during a segment each day of the conference. All sessions will be repeated following a short refreshment break, so you can attend twice as many sessions this year. Note: Subject to Change
Session 1: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 2:00–3:15 PM and 3:30–4:45 PM
- 10 Steps in Historic Theatre Project Planning
- Strategies for Successful Group Sales
- Film Presenting in Historic Theatres: What Works in Your Community?
- 56,000 Reasons to Subscribe: How America's Oldest Theatre Built America's Most Vibrant Subscription Audience
- Using Federal Historic Tax Credits to Help Finance Historic Theatre Rehabs – Impact on Organizational Structure, Budgets and Operations
- Product Demonstration: Rigging System (at Hanna Theatre)
Session 2: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 9:45-11:00 AM and 11:15 AM–12:30 PM
- Programming as Mission
- Evacuating People with Disabilities: Training and Programmatic Issues
- Food and Beverage Management at Playhouse Square
- Building Successful Audience Development Strategies in a Challenging Economic Climate
- Raising the Curtain on Contracts: A script for Better Communications Between Artists, Managers, and Presenters
- Securing New Markets Financing for Theatre Projects: How to Find an Allocatee
Session 3: Friday, July 17, 2009, 9:45-11:00 AM and 11:15 AM-12:30 PM
- Booking Broadway
- Expanding Capacity through Collaboration: Cleveland's Joint Marketing Project
- The Historic Theatre Advantage – Converting Ticket Buyers to Theatre Donors
- From Rust Belt to Artist Belt
- Non-Profit Board Responsibilities: New IRS Form 990
Session 4: Saturday, July 18, 2009, 9:45-11:00 AM and 11:15 AM-12:30 PM
- Volunteers in the House: Recruiting, Training and Retaining Front of House Volunteers
- The Times Are Changing and So Is Your Light Bulb
- Security - What's Appropriate?
- Bringing Back the Basie, or 100 Reasons I Should Have Been a Dentist
- After the Storm: Getting it Back Together
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Eye Opener Breakfast Sessions
Join your colleagues for discussions in a variety of formats on topics of mutual interest during breakfast each morning in Wyndham Palace Ballroom East, 2nd level.
Eye Opener Breakfast: Nuts & Bolts Discussion: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 8:00 – 9:15 AM
Seek advice from your LHAT colleagues and share experiences in historic theatre operations, programming, management and facilities rehabilitation through a highly interactive information exchange. Engage the League's national network of experienced theatre resources and practitioners for improving your theatre, your business and your community. Facilitators: Killis Almond, FAIA, Killis Almond Architects, San Antonio, TX; Maureen Patton, Grand 1894 Opera House, Galveston, TX.
Eye Opener Breakfast Session: Green Strategies for Rehabilitating and Operating Historic Theatres: Friday, July 17, 2009, 8:00 – 9:15 AM
Allen Hershkowitz, Ph.D., principal environmental advisor to the Oscars, the GRAMMYs, the Broadway League, Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the USTA, will introduce our breakfast discussion by describing what some of the world's most visible and culturally influential organizations are doing to reduce their contribution to global and regional environmental pressures. He will also explain the ecological and market basis of why these organizations are embracing environmental initiatives.
Eye Opener Breakfast: Peer Discussions : Saturday, July 18, 2009, 8:00 – 9:15 AM
Seek advice from your LHAT colleagues and share experiences through concurrent round-table discussions on a variety of topics related to historic theatre operations, programming, management and facilities rehabilitation. Actively engage the League's national network of experienced theatre resources and practitioners for improving your theatre, your business and your community.
- Community Engagement
- E-marketing in Historic Theatres
- Executive Directors from Theatres with 1,200+ Seats
- Facility Growth and Creative Space Development
- Greening Historic Theatres
- Leveraging the Historic Theatre – Value Added Programming
- Merchandizing Policies for Historic Theatres
- Revenue Development in Hard Times
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Resource Area – Historic Theatre Information Exchange
In response to members' suggestions, the Resource Area this year will be limited to materials from historic theatres, only. Bring copies of your season brochures and programs, as well as volunteer or front of house manuals, tech sheets and other useful materials to exchange with your colleagues from other historic theatres. The Resource Area will be open throughout the conference, adjacent to the Registration Desk, Wyndham Hotel Lobby, 3rd level.
