City of Austin 'cultural assets' meetings

[nadine]

Also, that was 1 meeting. There were three more. Where was AIC's participatory role in those? How were we spreading the good word to the next group of 50 and the next and the next? This is the difference in becoming actively known (personal meetings) and being passively known (via a newspaper). As a community, I say we step up or quit bitching about empty seats.

Agreed. Thanks for stepping up and going to this meeting, Wes!!

[shando]

if you want more people to know you, make a point of meeting more people. specifically, go see their shows.

although i don't always succeed, i try to see at least one theatre/comedy thing each month that is NOT associated with the AIC or any of its members. i've been delighted to see some AWESOME stuff (i was rocked by Foleyvision, recently), and get inspiration from people outside the improv community. find a couple of theatre companies that produce stuff you like and make a point of seeing their shows.

austin is flush with some red hawt performers outside the AIC, and i've grown as a performer everytime i see a show, whether it made me hot and bothered as an audience member or not.

be in the world what you want to see in the world, and all that jazz.

Thank you for saying this, Erika. As one of the few AIC people with feet in other aspects of Austin performance, I am sometimes struck by our own insularity as a community. Part of that is a common perception that comedy is just entertainment and not art, but a lot of it is our own doing.

And while getting our name out there with Rude Mechs board members, etc. is certainly helpful when it comes time for funding, it isn't necessarily going to mean more audience. These folks might be helpful resources for helping us find more audience, they themselves aren't going to be our audeince.

[York99]

On the other hand... "legitimate" theatre is so boring.

kidding.

[kbadr]

On the other hand... "legitimate" theatre is so boring.

Improv: We're just a bunch of bastards.

[Christoph]

Improv: We're just a bunch of bastards.

Bastards need public arts funding, too.

Sorry I lost track of this thread - great job, Wes. I agree with some other comments that getting political won't win the big audience today or tomorrow, but being part of what the local arts community sees as "the process" is huge if AIC or even individual troupes get into applying for grants or one of Austin's 'cultural contracts,' teaming up with other groups for fundraising or co-productions and other roads to audience-building. I assume these meetings are beginning several months of fact-finding - did they talk about that, Wes? I usually hear about these things through the University - I'll post announcements as I get them.
cheers

[shando]

Improv: We're just a bunch of bastards.

Bastards need public arts funding, too.

Sorry I lost track of this thread - great job, Wes. I agree with some other comments that getting political won't win the big audience today or tomorrow, but being part of what the local arts community sees as "the process" is huge if AIC or even individual troupes get into applying for grants or one of Austin's 'cultural contracts,' teaming up with other groups for fundraising or co-productions and other roads to audience-building. I assume these meetings are beginning several months of fact-finding - did they talk about that, Wes? I usually hear about these things through the University - I'll post announcements as I get them.
cheers

All true. But let's not get too caught up in process. We don't need several months of fact finding to apply for a grant from the city. We can do it right now. We're ready to apply at the next round (should be May/Juneish deadline). In fact, we'll be readier than Out of Bounds was the first time we applied, as AIC's budget's bigger than OoB's was and now we have people who've been through the process a couple times and can help with the application.

[Jules]

He'ssssss GRANT MAN!