Making and promoting work at the same time without having a nervous breakdown…

Convener(s): Catherine Hoffmann 

Participants: Wendy Windle, Hayley Radford, Mathew Austin, Sophie Austin, Lisa, Sarah Kewly, Jennifer E Jordan, Suzanne McLean, Fiona

Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

Am I the only one going mad? NO

Creating roles - delegation to keep the madness at bay – even the shitty jobs, people want to do them, honest!

Taking a backward step to allow people to help – give it over.

Finding students for placements from colleges and arts admin degrees. Some of them can be great…

A good idea came up to share resources (personnel) with other people/companies – A central pot which other companies can dip into almost like a casting co-operative model. A skills bank for marketing etc.

A small consortium of artists/companies which enables people to expand knowledge and help each other – it is rewarding to facilitate each other. How does this work in a world where everyone is struggling and competing in a small market place – are we not all selfish, or rather hungry at the end of the day? WE need to build up trust with each other in order to make this work. New model making. How does money fit into this?

Could there be a central pot of money shared with a group of companies which could be used for administrative, marketing time – somebody from one of the companies who is not working at that time and can do administrative duties could be paid to help as they would have a relationship to the work.

Sharing the money…

A women’s co-op in Brooklyn wrote down all that they were good at and exchanged these talents.

The LETS system for a theatre community?

When the business side starts to take over the work it is time to find a producer but where are they? Up until that point is the frustration of wearing lots of hats which can be paper thin and becoming exhausted if making work on your own. Is there a way of embracing the business side of things - of course…shortcuts - the producers course at the Young Vic and other courses which give out press contacts etc.