The Convention team has shaped a program that covers the varied needs and styles of all Convention participants, with meetings that range from large sessions to intimate discussions, from formal cocktail parties to fun networking events, from hands-on workshops to lectures from renowned experts. You'll find it all at NPAC 2008!
Come to NPAC 2008:
Following is a complete listing of NPAC meetings and sessions, divided up into Pre-Convention Programs and Sessions; General Sessions; Sponsored Sessions; In-Depth Workshops; Breakout Sessions; and Art-Making Workshops.
Social events, performances and other events are planned for throughout the Convention. Check the Schedule tab for more information.
National service organization programming: A portion of each day has been made available to the planners from the service organizations for different disciplines—to view those contents please look on the individual websites. Click here for a list of organizations with additional, valuable programming and activities. You can also view information on the registration pages. Please note that many of these sessions will be limited to members of the respective organizations.
Click on the individual links below to find more detail on each type of event. And be sure to check back often, we'll be updating the site frequently as information becomes available.
Taking Action Together—Special Topics in the Business of Arts and Culture™
—pre-conference programming developed and presented by National Arts Strategies:
National Arts Strategies will lead a unique executive education program for performing arts professionals as NPAC begins on June 10th. Learn new approaches to partnerships that will help you and your organization realize your vision, and tap all the creativity energy of the performing arts, the broader cultural sector, and the for-profit world.
Choose the session that is most interesting to you, or send team members to each session to build the capacity of your whole organization. Each session is focused on a key challenge to achieving your mission in our richly connected communities:
Registration for these seminars is open to all attendees on a first-come, first served basis. Click here for a full description of the NAS Pre-Convention Programs. Cost: $225 per person
On Wednesday morning, June 11, additional seminars will be offered by some of the participating service organizations. These sessions may be used to provide focused presentations on pressing issues, for training courses on specific topics or to serve the needs of a particular constituency. Some of these sessions are for members only, but registration for many is open to all attendees. Check the registration pages for more information. The following are seminars that are open to all attendees (with additional registration & fees required):
Orchestra Leadership Academy Seminars Two seminars are offered by the League of American Orchestras, which is committed to recognizing and encouraging effective and visionary leadership in the orchestra profession and for the performing arts. Cost: $165 per person through April 11; $190 thereafter
A pre-Convention Seminar is presented by Chorus America and OPERA America: To Your (Vocal) Health! A Morning with the Experts at the National Center for Voice and Speech. Additional information is available in NPAC's registration system. Cost: $95 per person
(open to all delegates)
Come together with all National Performing Arts Convention delegates in an inspiring and informative General Session each day. Speakers from both within the performing arts community and from the world beyond share experiences and insights that will open up your view of what is possible.
Wednesday, June 11, 2:00-3:30pm
Celebrate the performing community and share exciting visions of what the future of the performing arts could be! With Bill Rauch, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper; Erin Trapp, director, Denver Department of Cultural Affairs; and others TBA.
Thursday, June 12, 12noon-1:00pm
Best-selling author Jim Collins discusses his groundbreaking theory on what makes the difference between a "good" organization and a "great" one, and how to achieve superior performance in the social sector.
Friday, June 13, 1:30pm-3:00pm
Celebrate the innovative work being done in other countries by our speakers. Each one has introduced bold strategies that establish the arts at the center of community life. Meet José Antonio Abreu, the visionary founder of El Sistema, the Venezuelan music education miracle, and Germaine Acogny, award-winning dancer and choreographer and the founder of an International Centre for Traditional and Contemporary African Dances in Senegal. Moderated by Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Caucuses are Wednesday, 4:00pm - 5:30pm; Thursday, 10:15am - 11:30am; Friday, 10:00am - 11:30am
Add your voice to facilitated cross-disciplinary conversations identifying a shared vision, common opportunities and challenges, and shared strategies designed to create a vital performing arts future. Today's conversation is the first of three discussions, one each day, concluding at Saturday's Town Hall meeting. We urge you to participate in as many of these sessions as possible.
Convention participants will be organized into round tables of ten. Each table will engage in an interchange of ideas tied to a core question and a specific outcome. Responses from all of the tables will be compiled every day and shared with the full convention to form the basis of the following day's work. Sit down with strangers to forge a new arts community; you'll stand up with colleagues.
The National Performing Arts Convention has engaged AmericaSpeaks to lead this process of caucuses culminating in a town meeting, using methods and technologies that they have refined in over a decade of work nationwide helping citizens be heard on important issues. You'll find a level playing field where every voice is equal, where all ideas are written down and considered. Join the discussions—let your ideas, opinions and hopes help shape the ideas, opinions and hopes of others.
Your room assignment is provided to you on the back of your name badge. If you are unsure of where you should report, please proceed to the Korbel Ballroom foyer for assistance.
Saturday, 10:00am-12:30pm
Facilitator: Daniel Stone, senior associate, AmericaSpeaks, Washington, DC
Reflections: Eric Booth, consultant and teaching artist, New York, NY
Guided by AmericaSpeaks and aided by the latest technology, thousands of arts professionals will identify, consolidate, discuss and vote on strategic priorities for the arts. Each participant will participate in the discussion through an individual touch pad; responses will be projected on large video screens. The process will allow a newly unified performing arts community to articulate and ratify agreed-upon strategies.
Let your voice be heard, and your vote count, so that we can speak with one voice and together ensure a vital future for the performing arts.
The Town Meeting on the Performing Arts is the culmination of three intensive days of small-group caucus meetings held against the backdrop of an extraordinary array of performances, workshops, meetings and social time. Immersed in the richness of our entire sector we have explored common challenges, considered a vision for the arts in America and distilled our most pressing priorities. At today's town meeting, delegates representing all performing disciplines will agree on strategies we can commit to together that will ensure the future of the performing arts in America.
A number of our sponsors will be providing useful and informative sessions on a number of topics and that are open to all. Click here for a full description of these sessions.
Click here to learn about almost a dozen 3-hour comprehensive sessions on a range of topics.
Hear thoughtful presentations from experts on big issues, engage in active problem solving and exploration in small groups, and, in many cases, create take-away plans and ideas to inform your work back home.
75-minute discussions on over 40 topics. Choose two!
Looking for a practical approach to a specific problem? Then these rounds of shorter, topic-specific breakout sessions will appeal to you. Because these breakout sessions will be multi-disciplinary, participants will be able to learn from experts and from one another in ways that are not available at regular annual conferences. Click here for a full description of the Breakout sessions.
3-hour intensive, hands-on programs covering several disciplines. Most art-making sessions will repeat Friday afternoon.
Regardless of the kind of role you play on a daily basis, you're in the arts and attending this Convention because of your devotion to the art itself. Stretch your creative wings and take a master class with an artist from your own discipline or another—and take home something you create yourself! Workshops are open to anyone at the Convention, whether novice or expert. Click here for a full description of the art-making sessions.