Alumni Relations: A Model of Resource Development

Mick Welling, Todd Stephenson, Michael Moore - presenters / panel Who loves your chorus almost as much as the singers? The chorus' past singers; your Alumni, that's who! This oft-overlooked group can be a great resource to the chorus; as singers, committee members, project managers, workers, production staff, volunteers, audience members, patrons, or donors. Tap into the experience of the panel, who have created and been actively running an Alumni Relations Committee (ARC) for the last SIX years. Using guidelines from Revenue Development theories, learn how to make best use of your chorus' Alumni for "Resource Development".

• The importance of Alumni database management.
• The importance of building and maintaining Alumni relationships.
• How to build an Alumni Benefits package.
• How to increase Revenue and Resources from your Alumni.
• Create a 3-5 year prioritizing plan of starting your chorus' Alumni Relations Committee (ARC)

Being the Very Best Board Chair Possible

Eve Campbell, presenter A good board chair or president can have the easiest, or the hardest, job on the board. You are in charge of which way it goes! Would you like to create greater balance and have a productive board? There are specific strategies and tools to assist in the process. These, combined with an understanding of exemplary traits of a successful board chair, can help you lead with ease.

Board Round Table

Eve Campbell, presenter Why re-invent the wheel? Join your peers to discuss and share common issues, successes and innovative new ideas. A facilitated round table discussion is amazingly informative and always one of the most popular sessions. You are not alone in your struggles…regardless the size of the budget or membership.

Bridging the Arts and Healing

Vickie Dodd, presenter The more performers are in touch with the healing they create within themselves through their performance, the more the audience can experience a healing. Bridging the Arts and Healing re-engages the essence of Art. Learn to use your voice to release stress, ease your mind, and nourish your body through sounding exercises to aid fluidity and flexibility, techniques to relax the nervous system, increased awareness of the breath, and tools that are complementary to other modalities of exercise and self-inquiry. "The power of Sound softens, relaxes, awakens and enlivens the memory of wellness, helping to create an interior environment that is more willing to receive and better able to mend. I am committed to the belief that if a person can resonate their physical body in a way that truly reflects the shaping of their emotional/feeling body, then they can engage the inherent wisdom of their physical spiritual self."

Three 45-minute morning sessions will offer a kind of contemplative beginning to the day. The sessions will build on each other, and the participants will have a focus to take with them for that day to 'practice.' The workshop will present the same material in a one-time offering.

The Conductor as Curator: A New Model for Programming and Audience Engagement

Jeffrey Nytch, presenter Performing arts organizations of all sizes and types are facing similar problems nationwide: financial support is becoming harder to come by, and audience numbers are often less than we would like them to be. Conversely, a recent report from the NEA reveals that museum attendance is at all-time highs and continues to climb. What are museums doing that we in the music world could learn from?

This workshop explores the role of the museum curator, and draws lessons that artistic directors can use in concert planning, presentation, outreach and audience engagement in order to enhance connection with our communities and revitalize our organization's mission.

De-Mystifying the Art of Conducting - A Crash Course for Everyone!

Kathleen McGuire, presenter Are you conducting - or want to conduct - but never really learned how? Know the basics but want to take it to the next level? Need a tune-up? Have challenges that need trouble-shooting? Or perhaps you're a singer and want to find out what happens on the podium? Dr. McGuire shares tried-and-true tricks of the trade that de-mystify the art of the conducting. You won't find this stuff in a book. Presented by an awarding winning choral and instrumental conductor with 30 years of experience in 5 countries.

Learning Outcomes:

• Be ready to conduct with confidence, and able to tell others they have completed a workshop at an international festival with a world-class conductor.
• Know the essential elements of conducting - e.g. posture, beating patterns, cuing techniques, score preparation, rehearsal and concert planning - and equipped with an arsenal of knowledge to deal with all sorts of conducting dilemmas.
• Walk away with information that will be a springboard to a lifetime of richer and more successful experience as a musician and as a leader.

Developing a Prosperity Mentality

Nicki Lee, presenter Some singers and artists believe that pursuing their art relegates them to a life of poverty. The truth is you can change your beliefs and change your life. Learn self-hypnosis techniques in this session and begin to cultivate your prosperity mentality.

Double Your Fundraising Auction Income Now! How to Conduct a Profitable FUND A NEED

Kathy Kingston, CAI, BAS, presenter Don't leave money in the room! Optimize your powerful Fund a Need Special Appeal - literally at any fundraising event. Discover how to deeply engage supporters, shine a laser beam on your mission and raise more money than ever before.

You will learn how to easily implement this most profitable new income stream for your next fundraiser. Gain insights on how to select and perform a compelling first person story that exemplifies your cause. Inspire generosity with Kathy Kingston's "59 second" first person testimonial method. Find your lead gift donor and determine your best giving levels and streamlined logistics. Kathy will also coach several participants to fine-tune their on-stage and personal fundraising pitch.

A highly interactive and hugely financially rewarding, not to be missed session!

The Entrepreneurial Artist: Creative Approaches to Building a Career in the Arts

Jeffrey Nytch, presenter

Artists often shy away from "the business side of things" in their careers, either because they feel they lack the necessary skills or because they fear that making money must come at the expense of artistic integrity. The result is a world where most artists make meager subsistence livings or, worse yet, are forced by economic realities to give up their art altogether. While making a living as a professional artist is never easy, applying the principles of entrepreneurship can help change the way we approach the problem. This workshop will explore what entrepreneurship is, how it can be applied to the arts, and how it can unlock new creative energy and career possibilities for individual artist-entrepreneurs.

Feel Like Going On--MUSE and Her Journey and Commitment to Diversity

Cathy Roma and Lois Shegog Cathy Roma, artistic director of MUSE and Lois Shegog, the assistance director of MUSE will share their experience in creating a choral community dedicated to musical excellence and social change. There will be time to respond to a short video and their presentation in small groups facilitated by MUSE members.

Learning Outcomes:

• See the relationship between expanding repertoire with authentic performance techniques and expanding singer and audience diversity
• Better understand the challenge of acknowledging and overcoming differences without erasing the differences

Find Your Voice and Keep It!

Mary Louise Burke, presenter This fast paced, entertaining, informative review of vocal technique will touch on all your 'singer' concerns: breath control, range, efficient vibrato, sustained singing, and vocal aging. Mary Louise Burke has a passion for vocal technique and believes that every singer can sing their best at any age, any stage of experience. This class is designed for singers of all backgrounds and levels of technical experience.

Gay Square Dancing

Bear Miller, caller Modern Western Square Dancing, particularly as practiced by Gay clubs, is NOT your grandmother's square dancing. Today's callers use all types of music from Broadway show tunes, to pop favorites (including Lady Gaga) as well as traditional western and bluegrass music for dancing. The activity is no longer couples oriented (it's a great way to meet lots of new people) and the frilly dresses have gone by the wayside (unless the guys really want to wear the petticoats and crinolines!). Gay Square Dancing is high-energy, low-impact and just a heck of a lot of fun.

Improvising a Circle of Sound

Celeste Niehaus, presenter Know and trust your own voice as you collaborate with other singers. This workshop will offer you ways to improvise in order to connect and create unique pieces in a group. A cappella, fun and sometimes wild, singing in this way can open you to new possibilities in sound and style.

Leveraging Social Media for Your Chorus

Jim Nickerson & Teddy Witherington, presenters Is it worth it? In this "how to" session, the presenters will take you through the steps of establishing goals for your use of social media that are coherent with your organizational goals, identifying the audience(s) you wish to reach, assessing your capacity for the work, measuring success and adapting to the bewildering landscape of options. Practical questions like; what is a realistic fundraising goal, what do I measure and how, and how do I build support within the organization for this work, will be answered. Using case studies, the presenters will identify best practices to follow and pitfalls to avoid that will help you to devise a successful strategy for your own chorus: one that meets your needs, fits your resources and will be a good return on investment of both time and (very little) money.