Thanks to each of you for what you brought to the LMDA 2010 Annual Conference in Banff!
The feedback we heard from you over the course of the week was great and we are thrilled that as you return to your homes you are taking away a lot of fresh ideas, new connections, a renewed energy for your work and maybe even a bit of joy!
And it would be great to hear from you here about your Conference experience. Not only is it great to share your thoughts with your fellow delegates but it is also useful in our reports to funders and as we look ahead to future conferences.
Please contribute a comment here on this post with any thoughts you want to share, favourite memories or actions you plan to take based on the conversations at the Conference. You can also expect an online survey to come out for your feedback.
I want to say thanks again to the wonderful staff of The Banff Centre especially Kelly Robinson, Casey Prescott, Lee Cookson, Allanah Bellai, Sarah Iley and Mary Hofstetter. Remember to take a look at the wonderful programs they offer and spread the word about the beautiful facility.
And last but not least, thanks to the conference team who made this such a success: Bob White, Shari Wattling, Caroline Russell-King, Glenda Stirling, Amy Lynn Strilchuk, Vanessa Porteous, Michelle Kneale, Trevor Rueger, Dianne Goodman and Johanne Deleeuw. And the LMDA Exec and Board!
If you want to know more about our facilitator, Mr. Misha Glouberman. Or if you think he might be a good fit for an event in your area check out his website: www.collective-intelligence.ca
And thanks to all the supporters of this conference: The Canada Council for the Arts, LMDA Canada, Canadian Drama Foundation and Alberta Theatre Projects.
Thanks again and we look forward to seeing you all somewhere in this wide world soon!
Vicki Stroich
VP Canada and Banff Conference Chair
7 comments:
Can I get the email for conference notes again, please? I must have miswritten it.
Haviva
hello. it was a fantastic experience for me and I met so many fascinating people. Thank you.
I posted this note on the conference to the LMDA listserv, but wanted to share it here as well:
The planning and facilitation was thoughtful and the format just what LMDA needed at this moment (and not to be forgotten in the future), the venue was beyond spectacular, with amazing work by all involved. Loud and sustained bravos to Vicki Stroich and her conference team (on one hand) and (on the other) to Cindy SoRelle (Board chair), Shelley Orr (LMDA president) and their cohorts.
There were many high points, but here are a few:
The chance to share meals with folks from around the world (Hong Kong, England, Scotland, Hungary, Scandinavia, et al.) in a dining hall that looked out on one of the great vistas in North America;
The oral histories project run by James SoRelle and the early career dramaturgs (video interviews on the history of the profession and field);
One session I especially enjoyed was proposed by Amy Jensen (the format encouarged anyone to propose a session who had an idea for one). It involved sitting outside in the sun and breeze with a small group of smart people talking quietly/collaboratively/thoughtfully about features of non-narrative theatre -- forms it takes, challenges and opportunities for audiences, what it has to teach us all forms of theatre (notes were taken on this and all sessions and will I understand be made available in time);
And, perhaps most of all, hearing at the closing banquet from Vanessas Porteous, Shelley Orr, and Liz Engelman about the work of (respectively) Bob White (Order of Canada), Robyn Quick (Elliott Hayes Award), and Mark Bly (Lessing Award for Career Achievement), followed by their own remarks - the breadth and brilliance of their work along with the eloquence with which, by all, that work was honored was moving, inspiring, and challenging.
And one more point - the room (the people in it and their energies) was fantastic - the number was terrific, enough but not too many (130-140) and even more importantly the range of participants was stunning from master teachers and artists including those individuals present when LMDA was no more than a lunch time speculation (Morgan Jenness, David Copelin, Robert Blacker) to early career dramaturgs who in their energy, passion, and brilliance promise so much for the profession, the field, and the theatre.
Thanks to all invovled.
Much of the conference will be available on the conference blog, in the LMDA Review, and in other forms. That's great, because this is a conference we will want to long remember.
* * *
Geoff Proehl, Theatre Arts, Univ. of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma, WA 98416-1084
gproehl@ups.edu; 253-879-3101 (office); 253-761-0804 (home); 253-370-2445 (cell).
Toward a Dramaturgical Sensibility: Landscape and Journey.
Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2008.
Hi Haviva,
If you have notes to be included from sessions: first of all, thanks for taking them and second, you can send them to me. My team and I will compile them and post them places. It may take us a little while though so we will collect from anyone who has them for now. You can send the notes to vstroich@atplive.com
Thanks! And thanks to all who have offered commentary so far.
Best,
Vicki
I want to thank the conference team, the Banff Centre and, more broadly, LMDA itself for making a returning, self-exiled veteran feel so welcome. This was my first conference in more than 15 years (possibly a lot more), and was in every respect a revelation-- about the field, the organization, the new directions that seem possible. I made some cherished re-connections and a number of new ones that may develop down the road, so the "networking" aspect of the conference was superb, enhanced by the organic format and Misha's clever social engineering.
The quality of conversation in and out of sessions was high and the sense of a maturing, dynamic profession was strong. As others have said in various forums, this was one of the best professional-organization conferences I have attended.
I would favor experimenting with a hybrid format in a future conference, balancing prepped-in-advance topics for folks to learn from and react to with the highly successful open format, member-generated sessions. It was, for example, great to hear from the fabulous award winners at the banquet and made one realize that the "talking head" is not completely extinct as a strong medium for the transmission of ideas -- if it's the right head.
But-- overall this conference will linger in my memory far longer than the typical melange of keynotes, panels, work sessions, breakouts, and escape strategies that characterizes the form. Congratulations to all and most of all, thank you.
Rick Davis
What a great week! The highlight of my year. Thank you, Vicki, and to your whole team. It was wonderful to see what a dedicated team pulled together to make this event a success.
I so enjoyed seeing so many of our members meeting, engaging in worthwhile conversations, and addressing issues that matter to them. Just what a LMDA conference is all about.
Thank you!
Shelley
Dear LMDA folks,
Thanks so much for including me and NET in your conference. It was great to be there, in a beautiful location with even more beautiful people! Thank you.
As someone who organizes conferences for my own organization, I really appreciated all the work and care that went into putting this conference. It seemed like a good format for this time.
For those of you I met--so glad to meet you. For those I didn't--next year!
Again, NET and LMDA are partnering on "Micro-Fest: USA." One immediate need is writers for help of document and contextualize the work. If y'all are interested, holler back at me.
Thanks y'all!!
Mark Valdez
Network of Ensemble Theaters
www.ensembletheaters.net
323-255-2124
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