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Programming

THE NATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS CONVENTION
June 10 to June 14, Denver, Colorado

What you'll find at the Convention

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.

Pre-Convention Programs and Seminars

General Sessions

(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.

  1. The Power of Community Building

    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 Mitch Landrieu, lieutenant governor of Louisiana; Bill Rauch, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper; Erin Trapp, director, Denver Department of Cultural Affairs; and others TBA.

  2. From Good to Great and the Social Sectors

    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.

  3. Radical Ideas from Beyond the Border

    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; Madhusree Dutta who founded Majlis, a center for rights discourse and multi-cultural initiatives in Mumbai, India; 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.

  4. AmericaSpeaks Caucuses and A 21st Century Town Meeting®

    • AmericaSpeaks Caucuses

      Caucuses are Wednesday, 4:00pm - 5:30pm; Thursday, 10:00am - 11:30am; Friday, 10:00am - 11:30am

      Three caucus sessions will be held, one each day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The caucuses are designed to cull ideas and create an action agenda for consideration at Saturday's Town Meeting, aimed at ensuring a strong future for the performing arts in the years to come. Each caucus will have a core question and a specific outcome, and the responses of 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.

    • A 21st Century Town Meeting

      Saturday, 10:00am-12:30pm

      The ideas that surface at the caucuses the previous three days will be addressed at Saturday morning's 21st Century Town Meeting. Using the latest technologies, topics will be consolidated, discussed and voted upon by thousands of your peers, each with an individual touch pad. Results will be projected on large video screens in order to identify and hone an agenda to be ratified by this newly unified performing arts community.

      The Convention will culminate in an action agenda, determined on the spot and positioned to build a better future for the performing arts in America for years to come.

Sponsored Sessions

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.

In-Depth 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.

Breakout Sessions

75-minute discussions on over 40 topics

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.

Art-Making Sessions

3-hour intensive, hands-on programs covering several disciplines

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.

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