Spring Conference 2016

Join us for drinks and hors d’oeuvres with your colleagues as our hosts welcome us to Dallas! This networking event is part of the conference and included with your full or Friday-only registration.

Sponsored by Dallas Summer Musicals

Sponsored by Dallas Theater Center

Margie Johnson Reese is an arts advocate with wide-ranging experience in Dallas, nationally and abroad. She will speak on her vision for eliminating barriers to creative expression, arts innovation, and changes taking place on the national level.

Reese is currently Executive Director for the newly created Wichita Falls (TX) Alliance for Arts and Culture. Previously, she was Vice President for Programs at Big Thought, where she leveraged public and private sector resources to provide arts education experiences for children and their families; Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs for the City of Dallas; General Manager for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; and advanced cultural projects in West Africa for the Ford Foundation.

At last year’s Spring Conference on fundraising, we discussed the fact that most patrons don’t see your theatre as a collection of departments, simply as a theatre. The same principle applies to marketing and audience development. How can your whole organization work together to get people in the door and keep them there? Where do the lines get drawn when something falls into multiple jurisdictions, like community engagement?

Moderated by Phil Santora (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley), with Angela Cassette (Music Theatre Wichita), Cheryl Farley (Ogunquit Playhouse), Darcy Koch (Dallas Theater Center) and Greg Patterson (WaterTower Theatre).

Sponsored by R&H Theatricals

Concurrent breakout sessions.

Marketing and Community Outreach
Where do these two areas overlap and how do they differ? Where is the line between education and audience development?
Education Center (9th Floor)

The Culture of Discounting
Have patrons come to expect discounts to everything? Are we setting our prices just so we can discount them later?
Sky Lounge (10th Floor)

Collaborating With Other Institutions
From list-sharing to connected programming, how do theatres work with other arts organizations in their communities? What are the benefits and the pitfalls?
Potter Rose Performance Hall

Marketing on a Budget
Tips, tricks and commiseration on getting the most bang for your marketing buck.
Wyly Theatre Lobby

We all know how powerful and useful data can be — and also how easy it can be to get buried under it. As technology and tools evolve, how is your organization keeping up and using information to better serve your customers and find new ones? How can theatres pay for new systems and the people to run them?

Moderated by Buck Mason (McCoy Rigby Entertainment), with Drew Francis (Red Mountain Theatre Company), Shyam Oberoi (Dallas Museum of Art), Maura Sheffler (The Arts Community Alliance) and Zannie Voss (National Center for Arts Research).

We’ll break into groups for further discussion of each of today’s topics. Pick the one that most interested you or that you want to learn more about.

It’s All About The Patron
Wyly Theatre Lobby

Making The Most of Your Data
Potter Rose Performance Hall

Buses will drop those attending End of the Rainbow at the Kalita Humphreys Theatre prior to the show for dinner on your own. It is a short walk to a wide variety of restaurants (directions and recommendations will be in your conference packets).

Uptown Players invites us to the opening night of their regional premiere production of End of the Rainbow. Written by Peter Quilter, End of the Rainbow is a musical drama of Judy Garland’s “comeback” concerts during December 1968. With a six week booking at London’s Talk of the Town, it looks like Judy Garland is set firmly on the comeback trail. The failed marriages, the suicide attempts and the addictions are all behind her. At 46-years old and with new flame Mickey Deans at her side, she seems determined to carry it off and recapture her magic. But lasting happiness always eludes some people, and there was never any answer to the question with which Judy ended every show: “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh, why, can’t I?” End of the Rainbow is a savagely funny drama featuring a glorious ensemble of Judy Garland hits and infused with the glamour and the melancholy of stardom. This production will star Janelle Lutz (The Boy from Oz) as Judy Garland.

This event is part of the conference and included with your full or Friday-only registration, though registration is required when you register for the conference to guarantee tickets.

Sponsored by Uptown Players

Transportation will be provided from the theatre back to the Magnolia Hotel in at least two shifts, following the performance and later in the evening for those who wish to stay for the reception.

Sponsored by The Hollywood Pantages

Shows come and go, but your theatre is constant. How do you make it the star? More importantly, how do you position theatre as a thing to do on par with other attractions in your area, with people who may not know they love theatre yet?

With Michael Ballam (Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre), Dan McMahon (Goodspeed Musicals) and Michael Murphy (The Old Globe).

For years we’ve been hearing that the subscription model is dying, but is it? What’s the current state of subscriptions among NAMT members? We’ll hear case studies from theatres with successful subscription programs and those who are trying new models.

Moderated by Wayne Bryan (Music Theatre Wichita), with Robert Fleskes (Ticketmaster), Jeff Loeb (The Hollywood Pantages), Jeff Rane (Uptown Players) and Nena Theis (North Carolina Theatre).

Getting new subscribers is just the beginning; how do we keep them? What about single ticket buyers? Are our theatres welcoming spaces? What do audiences really want and expect from us?

With Lindsay Anderson (TRG Arts), Garrett Collins (Center Theatre Group), Brad Pritchett (Dallas Theater Center) and Danyel Siler (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma).

Sponsored by Music Theatre International

How has the shifting media landscape affected your ability to get preview press, reviews and word-of-mouth? Have digital publications, content marketing and social media made up for the loss of print critics? Have your methods for reaching audiences evolved in recent years?

Moderated by Kwofe Coleman (The MUNY), with Steven Box (The Human Race Theatre Company), David Dombrosky (InstantEncore), Amanda Farrow (Dallas Summer Musicals), Tony Joy (Dallas Summer Musicals) and Craig Lynch (Uptown Players).

We’ll break into groups for further discussion of each of today’s topics. Pick the one that most interested you or that you want to learn more about.

Making Your Theatre The Attraction
The State of Subscriptions
Old and New Ways of Creating Buzz
NAMT’s New Strategic Plan

Transportation from Dallas Summer Musicals to the Magnolia Hotel.

If you’re staying in Dallas on Saturday night, join your colleagues and the NAMT staff for dinner for some final networking and socializing time before heading home. This is an add-on event for attendees who are staying this evening; you will be able to sign up and pay for dinner when you register for the Conference.

(Iron Cactus is next door to the Magnolia Hotel.)