I had hoped when I got back last Sunday to post a wrap up to the 2009 TCG conference, but with having been sick the week before the trip I had quite a load of work in front of me. Bad Dates opens this weekend and subUrbia is in rehearsal now, the shop and office are in the process of being moved, and there's all the work to do for next season.Posting a blog has not been easy to get to.
While this year's conference was less overwhelming then the NPAC conference last year in Denver, I still felt like I missed out on some things I wanted to do. There were a few schedule changes and conflicts that threw off my schedule, but the events I did get to attend were very worthwhile. Some events that I particularly enjoyed were:"Loyalty, Retention and Lifetime Value of a Patron" moderated by Rick Lester, CEO, Target Resource Group. The seminar taught the importance of not merely searching for new patrons all the time, but learning to keep and maintain those patrons season after season.
and
"Addressing Burnout" which focused on continuing to love working in the arts while keeping from unmanageable stress levels. After a long 25th anniversary season, this was a session I knew I had to make time for. (It was quite heavily attended I noticed...)
In the two video blogs, and the audio blog I posted previously, I talked about some of my favorite parts of the conference, the #1 was meeting John Waters. Our primary conversation was about the films of William Castle (a major nerd moment for me), and the rest of what we talked about is probably inappropriate for posting. It probably helps if you know that Mr. Water's speech in the program was titled "Filthy Words." I'm hoping that TCG will post the video of his speech soon so that I can link it to the blog.Mr. Waters' speech was at the Hippodrome Theatre where the conference was held, but the opening night 
reception where he was a guest was held at the American Visionary Arts Museum. Meeting John Waters and seeing the AMVA were basically enough to make the drive to Baltimore worth it. Most of the conference was hampered by rain so the trip to the museum was one of the few things I was able to do which allowed me to enjoy the culture of Baltimore. I really can't say enough amazing things about the AVAM, if you ever have the chance you must make the trip to see this place. My one regret was that the museum did not allow photographs so I can't share with you some of the amazing exhibits. The robots on the left were one of the few photos I snapped before realizing the restriction. In the permanent exhibit room was a sculpture that may haunt me the rest of my life and I requested a photo of it at the gift shop. Unfortunately they didn't have any at the time, so I've been camping out at the museum's 
website ever since waiting for a copy to become available.
I definitely could have spent another day in Baltimore, or taken the detour to Philly that Kim took after the conference closed, but after a marathon solo drive back to Lexington, and being greeted at the door by a very relieved dog, I felt quite happy to be home.
There may be a pile of work in front of me, and a long summer of planning, but it feels very good to be back in Lexington and back to work at the Actors Guild.
reception where he was a guest was held at the American Visionary Arts Museum. Meeting John Waters and seeing the AMVA were basically enough to make the drive to Baltimore worth it. Most of the conference was hampered by rain so the trip to the museum was one of the few things I was able to do which allowed me to enjoy the culture of Baltimore. I really can't say enough amazing things about the AVAM, if you ever have the chance you must make the trip to see this place. My one regret was that the museum did not allow photographs so I can't share with you some of the amazing exhibits. The robots on the left were one of the few photos I snapped before realizing the restriction. In the permanent exhibit room was a sculpture that may haunt me the rest of my life and I requested a photo of it at the gift shop. Unfortunately they didn't have any at the time, so I've been camping out at the museum's 
website ever since waiting for a copy to become available.I definitely could have spent another day in Baltimore, or taken the detour to Philly that Kim took after the conference closed, but after a marathon solo drive back to Lexington, and being greeted at the door by a very relieved dog, I felt quite happy to be home.
There may be a pile of work in front of me, and a long summer of planning, but it feels very good to be back in Lexington and back to work at the Actors Guild.
