Artistic Director and Managing Director

[acrouch]

It is helpful to have an Executive person who is looking strictly at numbers, and an Artistic who is looking strictly at content.

I think the AD is less about addressing content than helping guide the general creative trajectory of the AIC -- what fundraising projects are we taking on and how are we going about it? Have we shmoozed with the media enough this month and encouraged as much coverage as possible? How is that improv in schools project going? Does Wafflefest have its shit together? That kind of thing.

[valetoile]

Here's an idea:

Given that:
1. The excutive board exists and represents nearly all aspects of AIC maintenance (Scheduling, organizational structure, fundraising, social events, advertising, financial matters, education and outreach).

2. Those on the executive board have shown themselves to be dedicated to improv and the AIC and to the growth of both

3. The executive board, at its end of year meeting and goal-setting session set its sole goal as "getting our organizatioinal shit together."

4. There has been no strong and consistent interest in either of the director positions

5. Bob Apthorpe has exprerssed a strong and consistent interest in the management and scheduling of the three-fer

6. The double barrel has two owners who are in part responsible for hosting and promoting that show

7. Asaf has expressed interest in taking over the artistic direction of the blank show

I propose the following:

1. The AIC has no single executive direrctor or joint managing/artisitc director at present.

2. the executive board will remain in place and will act as a resource for things that the director(s) would otherwise have done

3. more responsibility will be delgated to show owners, especially scheduling and advertising

4. scheduling will change to a rotating availability system, for instance, right now you would submit your availiability for the double barrel for the next two months, then in a month you would submit availiability or the three-fer. that way people could still plan in advance, but no show would get "dibs" on anyone.

5. the position of scheduling director will be done away with show owners could report their schedules diretly to the eboard and then adveretising, web, etc. can reflect that.

6. The eboard will endeavor to make the AIC a highly professional organization through tgaining independant non-profit status, fundraising, grant-writing, and producing high-quality showswhich are consistently well-attended.

7. An increased level of organization and professonalism will allow us to apply for grants and raise funds with the eventual goal of being able to pay a salaried director or directors

I'm sure there are some kinks to be worked out, but I believe that increasing th level of personal responisbility, and making it easy for people to fulfill those responsibilities, makes it easier to be a manager and take on the big jobs.

[deroosisonfire]

I find your proposal interesting, Val, and here are my immediate reactions.

1. This means that each new project undertaken will be assigned a committee chair who is responsible for overseeing its completion. They don't have to do the project, but they do need to make sure it gets done.
2. The committee chairs need to be given more power to make executive decisions for things under their oversight.
3. Dave paid attention to things like how many shows a team was getting in a cycle. With each show scheduled separately we lose that big picture view.
4. Who's in charge of the Cage Match?
5. The E Board will have to meet more frequently to touch base on different projects.
6. Becoming committee chair becomes more work, and we already have 2 vacant positions.

[arclight]

To address a few of Christina's points:

The committee chairs will definitely need some executive decision-making power and there need to be clear goals for projects, partly as a metric for success, but also to make sure there's clear scope and expectations. I've tried to lay out some basic deliverables so people know what I'm doing, can measure success, and have something tangible to give to the next person to take the job to make transitions & absences easier.

Also, the AIC membership will need to trust the committee chairs to make decisions without a general vote because as we've found, general votes occur too infrequently to respond to certain events (I'm thinking mostly about purchases.) In order for that to happen, the committee chairs need to have some criteria for spending money. I'm creating a budget for the Threefer so I (and the committee chairs) have some justification for funding requests.

It should be part of the show owners' responsibility to coordinate to make sure no group is in too high of rotation, double booked, or set to play at one venue at 8pm, another at 10pm, and back at the first again at 11:30pm. It's in their best interest to coordinate so their teams don't go missing because of scheduling conflicts. Some things like ad buys need to be coordinated just because it's cheaper and more effective.

Some person needs to own the Cagematch, preferably with the support of their troupe so they don't get burned out, overwhelmed, or feel isolated. I made sure that I got my troupe's blessing and support before I put my proposal forward. Having 2-3 people you can count on every few weeks to lend a hand makes a world of difference when managing a show.

[ChrisTrew.Com]

Reminder: Myself (w/ ColdTowne) will manage the cagematch if it moves to ColdTowne. Back to regular conversation!

[nadine]

i like val's proposal. if it comes to a vote, i'll vote for hers.

also, as long as the e-board keep things open: open eboard meeting for observers in the aic to come, and regular minutes or updates, i support giving them more executive power.

n

[kaci_beeler]

I like Val's proposal as well.

[Jessica]

I like the general outline of Val's proposal. Is the Eboard okay with the extra work? What are the two positions that are unfilled?

[valetoile]

I like the general outline of Val's proposal. Is the Eboard okay with the extra work? What are the two positions that are unfilled?

Jeremy is stepping down as marketing direcctor, but I believe Wes will be steppng up. Dave is tepping down as scheduling director, but under my proposal, those duties would be diverted to show owners.

[beardedlamb]

those duties would be diverted to show owners.

this scares me because i am a nancy boy. just fyi.

[deroosisonfire]

I am still distinctly uncomfortable with the idea of not having somebody overseeing the work of the collective - someone with an eye on everything. I decided to act on that and made my own proposal for a solution:

a. Turn the secretary position into a managing director position. This individual would be responsible for overseeing all projects being undertaken by the community.
b. The committee chairs would acts as managers of their areas, giving reports to the managing director.
c. A scheduling chair would be responsible for scheduling all AIC shows.


If we want this position I am happy to step down from secretary and have an election. I would run for the position, but I do welcome competition if anyone else is interested.

One more thing: The biggest hurdle in my degree program is an exam I have to take on March 5. I do want this position, but it is non-negotiable that I begin after my exam. My school commitments decrease drastically at that point, and I feel that only as of March 6 would I have the time to devote to this job.

[Wesley]

I fully agree that there still needs to be some big-picture oversight person. I thought that was what the ED would do, but I think we overcomplicated things and got the ED/AD/MD too involved in roles that they shouldn't be involved in (i.e. worrying about what the budget is rather than just making sure the budget got done by the finance person).

I like letting the Committee chairs keep responsibility for their area, but having some oversight on the big picture. They don't try to do each job, but makes sure each job is being done. And when it isn't, they bring it up to the community. They make sure that silos aren't put up between the committees and that when two committees could or should work together on a project they are informed so that they can do so.

IMHO, artistic directors should happen in each theater, not at the AIC level. We need an organizational position: a President, a CEO, a coordinator.

[Jules]

I concur with Christina.

[Roy Janik]

Admittedly it's different, but right now The PIT in NY is hiring an Artistic Director. Here are the roles they defined for the position.

- Booking and maintaining a schedule of 20-30 original comedy shows per week.

- Recruiting new talent for the theater.

- Working with house improv ensembles in an advisory capacity.

- Coordinating with the Managing Director and House Managers to make sure all productions run smoothly.

- Maintaining the schedule of class shows for The PIT's prolific improv school.

- Working with industry representatives and handling press, marketing, and advertising for the theater.

Original post here: http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/mb/ ... hp?t=50935