Skip to main content

Post AftA12

What a phenomenal weekend at the Americans for the Arts annual conference, held in beautiful San Antonio, TX. I have so many anecdotes, stories, lessons, and meetings I want to process and share.

It's been over 15 years since I've flown anywhere, 16 since I've worked a conference, and--unless you count a layover in Dallas when I was 8--I've never been to Texas. This had felt very magical, at times surreal, and I've had to think of it as my debutante ball in the arts administration world. The weekend had made me question what my path is and what the next steps are I need to take.

I will share many of the stories and insights soon, after I've had a chance to reflect and, well, unpack (miracle of modern technology: writing this on my phone in an airport). For now, I just want to thank the folks who were instrumental in making this weekend happen:

*Megan Cornett, director of Marketing, Admissions, and Communications for the graduate programs at Goucher,
*Katja Hill, who bravely tackled the box office while I was gone,
*MariaLaura Leslie, my networking partner and famous colleague,
*Kim and Dulcie, my Goucher table cohorts,
*Kristina, my link to brisket and beer,
*Ramona, the most perfect program director and the big picture thinker to my detail planner,
* and the most spectacular Liz, my AA fairy godmother and mentor.

Yeah, the music played me off stage a while ago. I'll say more later.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hello Again! My 2024 Reading List

My final read of the year (oh, wow, I didn't realize I hadn't done one of these since 2020's list. What is time.) I read 48 books in 2024, slightly off my goal of a book a week, but not too shabby over all. As always, some books that will stay with me, some that were meh-for-me, and a bit of "book candy". This list is not the complete list (you can check my Ig highlight for that) but instead, the ones I really enjoyed or meant the most to me for this time of my life. These are in chronological order to when I read them. Memorable: Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel This new book is a fantastic antidote to our current chicken little the sky is falling media culture (which he actually talks about it "Crazy is Normal. Calm plants the seeds of crazy.") The chapters are short, so overall a quick read, but one packed with thoughtful points. I'm pondering writing my own post about "The grass is always greener on the side fert...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Year, New You Vision Board

VISION BOARDS! Let's get a couple of things clear, right at the start. THERE IS NO WRONG WAY TO MAKE A VISION BOARD. THIS IS NOT SCIENCE. You believe that putting pieces of pretty paper on another piece of paper calls into your life your deepest hopes and dreams, then you believe it with all your heart and soul. These are inspirational devices, not architectural blueprints. Ok, now that we have some caveats taken care of, the briefest of background before we get to the supplies and instructions (OH MY GOD THIS IS WHY THE ONLINE RECIPE BLOGS ARE LIKE THIS) I've been making vision boards consistently every year for my birthday (ish, usually on the new moon closest to my actual natal day) for a decade and before that on and off since college. I've always considered paper art as my chosen visual artistic medium, so vision boards were right up my manifestation alley. At one point in my life I wanted to work in magazine publishing (scratch that, I still do) so buying and keeping...
Post a Comment
Read more

Death & The Theater

I was listening to a recent episode of the Tim Ferris podcast and the guest, happiness scholar Arthur C. Brooks, was discussing death meditations. And the little lightbulb in my brain turned on with the thought, "We need to talk more about death in theaters." I know, I know, that seems like an illogical statement because it feels like we're always talking about the death of theater. This whole summer has been filled with articles and op-eds from across the country about how large regional theaters are dying in major cities. But that's not the kind of death Brooks was talking about, and in reality, it isn't death these articles are complaining about, either: they are trying to stay alive in a “E’s just resting” fashion, to find some kind of life-support for the theaters, to keep them going, receive new money from new audiences or donors, new shows, new gimmicks to draw more or different people in the door. Anything to keep from dying. We don't talk about death...
Post a Comment
Read more