News

ISPA invites you to NY06 Congress

9 November 2005

Please find hereafter the invitation and more information on the ISPA congress in New York from our colleague Johann F Zietsman, chief executive officer: Dear ISPA colleagues Our upcoming Congress in New York (January 17-19), themed “UBUNTU: I am because we are” is shaping up very well under the co-Chairs Paul King and Wally Chappell. An updated schedule will be posted soon – this includes more detail about the content of sessions, and the participants, as well as some confirmed sponsors. THEME AND CONTENT Our theme has inspired some lively debate during the planning sessions, and we will focus on various “Global Communities” in the spirit of “UBUNTU”: • The keynote by South African actor/playwright John Kani will set the tone, and challenge us to apply this African philosophy within our own “communities” • Sir John Tusa will lead a discussion among global thinkers around this theme, and how it applies to the role of Superpowers in today’s inter-cultural relationships • Our daily keynote will feature Liz Lerman and colleagues in a provocative discussion/performance around aspects flowing from the theme. • Michael Blachly has assembled a remarkable panel of professionals who will share experiences of a case study interacting with another community in the “Arts and Health” session. • Responding to a need expressed by members, we have developed a new Executive Development program, and Charlotte Jones will facilitate new ways to learn and network – be prepared to participate. • Dr. Christopher Salter (Professor in the Department of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University, Montreal) will examine how the “techno-community” has developed since the previous century. • At the end of our Congress, we will ask: “How will we apply UBUNTU when we go home?” This feedback will form the basis of a paper documenting delegate learnings. All the sessions will be interactive, with ample opportunity for delegate engagement. DEADLINES REGISTER NOW! SCHEDULE: The updated NY06 SCHEDULE contains much more detail about the content of sessions. PITCH APPLICATIONS: We invite you all to submit or solicit applications for our popular PITCH session on January 19th. This is a great opportunity for artists to share new ideas with potential collaborators, presenters and producers. The criteria and application form are posted at this link. Deadline for applications: December 2nd. ARTS PRESENTERS OFFER: In terms of our new agreement with Arts Presenters, they offer a one-day pass to their Conference (January 21-24), and a three-month membership to any ISPA member who is non-US-based and not currently a member of Arts Presenters. Please visit this Arts Presenters link for more detail. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Our ongoing commitment to develop leadership will see the launch of a new initiative in NY. The details are still being finalized, but one of the components will be facilitating the development of Mentor/Mentee relationships between our members. We will post details soon. In the meantime, please let me know if you are interested in being either a Mentor or a Mentee. SCHOLARSHIP AUCTION: At our Congress in January this year we launched the Auction in aid of supporting ISPA membership and attendance for peers from poorer economies. We raised the target of $10000 (and had lots of fun!), and were able to support three candidates to attend the Gateshead Congress – from India, Macedonia and Brazil. Their presence brought many memorable moments, and I believe they benefited as much as other delegates did. This is an important developmental program worthy of your support, since economic circumstances severely isolate these colleagues of ours, and we can learn much from their experiences. We will present another fun-filled Auction in aid of scholarships at our opening cocktail on January 17th at the new Jazz at Lincoln Center on Columbus Circle. We invite you to once again participate generously, and ask you to consider the following: 1 Donating items/services for the Silent Auction (these might be special items or products from your country, tickets to shows, consulting services, frequent flyer miles, signed memorabilia etc.); 2 Offering performance items for the Live Auction (this is your opportunity to dust off the violin under your bed, or to bring your guitar and sing or dance, etc. – you get the picture!); 3 Attend the Auction and participate generously – it is for a very good cause! Please complete the attached Auction Item sheet, and fax it to us before December 20th to draw up the lists. ACCOMODATION Hotel Congress rates: please book (ONLINE) at the Congress rate BEFORE December 21, 2005. 2006 Membership renewal: please renew your 2006 membership before the end of December to qualify for the discounted member registration rate. Contact msmith@ispa.org should you have any questions. NY PERFORMANCES: NOTIFY COLLEAGUES! Many of our delegates look for special performances/shows they can attend around the Congress week while in NY. We invite ISPA members to email us concise details of any performances in NY you may be involved with during this time – we will post this information on a special page on the NY06 site. EXHIBITS AT PROEX Delegates will have an opportunity for free table-top exhibits and business exchange on January 19th at the Alvin Ailey Studios. Please indicate your interest to tharrie@ispa.org, so we can prepare your table. SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY While many of our sessions are already sponsored, we still have some opportunities – please contact me to discuss. This is a very good way to increase exposure of your business to our delegates, and to support your organization. Kind regards Johann F Zietsman CEO: ISPA Tel: +914 921 1550 Fax: +914 921 1593 Next Congresses: January 17-19, 2006: New York June 8-11, 2006: Hong Kong