Annual Conference attendees are entitled to 20 minute one-on-one consultations with industry experts. These sessions are FREE, a benefit of your registration.  Consultations are available on a first come, first served basis when on-site registration begins.

All consultations will take place at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

SmART BarTenders

REBECCA BLUNK
Executive Director, The New England Foundation for the Arts

Rebecca is open to meeting with artists and presenters who have received funding from NEFA's National Dance Project (NDP) in order to focus discussions on the program's design and usefulness.

Rebecca Blunk is Executive Director of the New England Foundation for the Arts, a position she has held since 2004.  With a base in Boston, the 30-year-old organization offers regional, national, and international programs and services in performing arts creation and touring, Native American arts, public art, and the creative economy. Driven by a particular passion for dance, and an acute need in the field, NEFA started the National Dance Project in 1996.  Since that time, the National Dance Project, and its intricate web of networks and partnerships, has distributed over $17.3 million in grants, making it one of the few sources for dance funding in the country, and has facilitated global dialogue through international partnerships that have resulted in strong and lasting relationships among artists, presenters, and communities.  Rebecca grew up in Kansas and has a B.F.A. in Art and an M.A. in Arts Administration.  Before arriving at NEFA in 1985, Rebecca served on the staff of the Nebraska Arts Council for eight years.   Rebecca recently completed a three-year term as chair of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations Working Group.

ALAN BROWN
Principal, WolfBrown

Alan is available to answer questions about audience research methods and to answer questions about the National Survey of Dance Audiences conducted as part of the Engaging Dance Audiences initiative.

Alan Brown, principal of WolfBrown, is a leading researcher and management consultant in the nonprofit arts industry.  He has studied audiences, visitors and patterns of cultural participation in almost every major market in the U.S.  His work focuses on understanding consumer demand for cultural experiences and on helping cultural institutions, foundations and agencies to see new opportunities, make informed decisions and respond to changing conditions.  He has authored numerous articles and reports on audience behaviors, trends in cultural participation, engagement practices and the value system surrounding arts activities, and speaks frequently at national and international conferences.


SUZANNE CALLAHAN
Callahan Consulting for the Arts

Callahan Consulting for the Arts helps arts funders and organizations realize their vision through services that include planning, fundraising, evaluation and philanthropic counsel. The firm manages Dance/USA’s Engaging Dance Audiences pilot and can address questions about the design or results of that program.

Suzanne Callahan, CFRE, founded Callahan Consulting for the Arts in 1996, which serves arts organizations and funders through planning, fundraising, and evaluation. She has run arts funding programs for almost 20 years, including Engaging Dance Audiences (EDA) and the National College Choreography Initiative (both for Dance/USA) and prior to that at the NEA Dance Program. Callahan is a frequent trainer in fundraising and evaluation for foundations and associations, and her book "Singing Our Praises: Case Studies in the Art of Evaluation" was awarded Outstanding Publication of the Year from the American Evaluation Association. She has served as panelist for the Rockefeller Foundation and the NEA, among others, and the firm’s 60 clients have included Americans for the Arts, Chicago Community Trust, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Callahan holds an MA in Dance Education and a Certificate in Fundraising from George Washington University and a BA from Northwestern University.

HEATHER HEROD COLE
Dance/USA Taskforce on Dancer Health

Talk with the Executive Committee Members of the Task Force on Dancer Health to learn about what we have done to improve the health of dancers & what we can offer your organization.  At the session, you’ll meet Nancy Kadel, MD (Seattle), Heather Southwick, PT (Boston) or Heather Herod Cole, MS, PT, COMT (Nashville).

Heather Herod Cole, MS, PT, COMT minored in Business Administration while earning her Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy from Ithaca College.  She has extensive post-graduate experience in orthopedics, manual therapy and dance medicine, including completing the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries “Principles of Dance Medicine” curriculum.  She is certified in orthopedic manual physical therapy via Maitland Australian Physiotherapy Seminars and is working toward her certification in Pilates via Polestar Pilates (anticipated October 2011).  Heather is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association, including the Orthopedics section & Performing Arts Special Interest Group, is an advanced clinical instructor of the APTA, and is a member of International Association of Dance Medicine and Science.  She is a physical therapist and health care committee member for the Nashville Ballet and the physical therapist for Dance Theatre of Tennessee. Heather serves on the executive committee of the Dance/USA Task Force on Dancer Health. 

NANCY KADEL
Dance/USA Taskforce on Dancer Health

Talk with the Executive Committee Members of the Task Force on Dancer Health to learn about what we have done to improve the health of dancers & what we can offer your organization.  At the session, you’ll meet Nancy Kadel, MD (Seattle), Heather Southwick, PT (Boston) or Heather Herod Cole, MS, PT, COMT (Nashville).

Nancy Kadel, MD is an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle reconstruction and the care and treatment of dancers and their injuries.  She serves as the chair of the Dance USA Taskforce on Dancer Health, whose mission is to maintain the health, safety and well being of professional dancers in North America. Formerly Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Washington and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), she was the Medical Director of the Healthy Dancers? Clinic, a free injury prevention/screening clinic at the ODC Dance Commons in San Francisco for 3 years.  She still acts as co-director of research and participates in the annual post-hire screening of the ODC Dance Company. Dr. Kadel currently lives and works in Seattle, WA at Group Health Physicians. She has published articles and presented lectures internationally about dance injury prevention and her original research on dance kinematics and kinetics. Dr. Kadel serves on the Board of Directors of both IADMS and PAMA. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science (JDMS).

KELLEE EDUSEI
Director of Member Services and Board Liaison, Dance/USA

Kellee Edusei is Dance/USA’s Director of Member Services and Board liaison. Kellee is happy to meet with Conference attendees (members and non-members) who are interested in learning more about Dance/USA and the benefits of membership. She also would love to hear from you! What are your artistic endeavors? What does your organization do? What are your challenges and concerns related to your work and the field? How would you describe your artistic community? As the national service organization for professional dance, the more Dance/USA is able to learn and hear from the field, the better we are able to serve!

As a graduate from the College of Wooster with a B.A. in Dance and Black Studies, Kellee has studied in New York City and Yaoundé, Cameroon. Though worlds apart, she immersed herself in both city’s eclectic dance and arts scene. In 2006, she premiered Singularly Women/Collectively Woman, an evening length concert exclusively of her work as a part of her Independent Study thesis, focusing on the mask dances of the African ethnic groups the Yoruba, Voltaic and Mende. With a passion for dance education, Kellee also teaches at the Dance Institute of Washington. Additionally, she has interned at Jacob’s Pillow, Bates Dance Festival and Movement Research.

CHRIS ELAM
Artistic Director & CEO of Misnomer Dance Theater and Founder of the Audience Engagement Platform
Chris Elam, Artistic Director & CEO of Misnomer Dance Theater and Founder of the Audience Engagement Platform (AEP). Elam’s choreography for Misnomer has toured the US and abroad, been cited in The New York Times' 'top ten' NYC productions of the year, and has extended from the stage to new mediums through collaborative projects with Bjork, the Sundance Channel, and Apple Computers. Elam initiated the development of AEP and speaks on the subject at arts, business and technology conferences, ranging from the Carnegie Mellon's Technology in the Arts and the National Arts Marketing Conference, to Fortune Magazine and TEDx.

JEREMY WILLIAMS
Community Manager of the Audience Engagement Platform
Jeremy Williams, Community Manager of the Audience Engagement Platform (AEP). Williams works in the dance and theater fields as an artist, educator and manager of professional development. He founded Convergences Theatre Collective (NYC) and holds advance degrees in the arts.

Chris Elam and Jeremy Williams of Misnomer Dance Theater will speak about and share the Audience Engagement Platform (AEP), a new online platform to help artists develop and manage their audience engagement practices.  AEP gives artists the online structure to design, manage and cultivate their interaction with audiences, guiding artists in how to design and host a range of engagement events (both online and in person) which are tailored for their own audiences and fans.  If you have questions about how technology can be used to cultivate audiences for dance and connect them to your art then make an appointment to discuss and strategize with us about your specific goals.

IAN GARRET
Executive Director, Fresh Arts Coalition

As a leader of a local arts service organization in Houston, TX I am available to discuss topics of organization capacity and community infrastructure for small to mid sized arts companies. I specialize in building awareness, marketing, PR and communications with specific interests in inventive uses of free or low cost technology. I also have a special interest in Sustainability, and am available to talk about the intersection of arts and sustainable development.

Ian Garrett is producer, designer and administrator, dedicated to innovative arts infrastructure. He is the Executive Director of the Fresh Arts Coalition in Houston, TX and co-founder and director of the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA), a leader in the conversation on sustainability development and the arts. In 2007, he received the Richard E. Sherwood Award for emerging theater artists from the Center Theater Group (CTG) for the integration of ecologically sustainable practice into theater production. Ian recently served as a curator for Scenofest at the Prague Quadrennial, and is the resident designer for the Indy Convergence, an annual artistic open-space in Indianapolis. He has designed over 100 productions, including Permanent Collection at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (2006 LA Weekly Theater Award for best lighting) and Song of Extinction with Moving Arts Theater (2008 LA Weekly Theater Award for Production of the Year). As a producer, his work includes the premier of Richard Forman and Michael Gordon’s What to Wear at REDCAT and Week 42 of Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days / 365 Plays in Houston. Ian has served on the staff of Stages Repertory Theatre, DiverseWorks, CalArts, the Will Geer Theatricum Botancium, and L.A. Stage Alliance, an arts service organization with a membership of over 350 non-profit performing arts companies. For the past four years, Ian has taught for the School of Theater at CalArts, including courses on production and management technology and sustainable practice. Ian received dual MFAs in Lighting Design and Producing from CalArts, and has a BA in Architectural Studies and Art History from Rice University. More info and a portfolio of his work is available at www.toasterlab.com and the CSPA’s website, www.sustainablepractice.org.

BRANDON GRYDE
Director of Government Affairs, Dance/USA and OPERA/America

Brandon Gryde, Dance/USA’s director of government affairs, will provide an overview of the major policy issues that affect the arts, including: NEA funding, Arts in Education, cultural exchange, and the charitable deduction. Brandon will answer any questions on advocacy and lobbying and provide information about engaging staff, artists, and audience in arts advocacy.

Brandon joins the staff as Director of Government Affairs for both Dance/USA and OPERA America. For the past two years he served as Director of Communications for Youth Service America, an international youth engagement organization, where he worked to increase awareness about the positive impact children and youth make in their communities through service and service-learning. Prior to moving to DC, Brandon spent more than seven years at Jump Street, an innovative community arts organization in Harrisburg, PA. He managed a state re-granting initiative in partnership with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and launched AND Magazine, a quarterly arts and healthy lifestyles publication written by teens, for teens. Brandon has a BA in Ethnomusicology and American Literature and Culture from UCLA and an M.A. in American Studies from Penn State. 

REBECCA KRAUSE-HARDIE

Rebecca Krause-Hardie is a social media strategist, facilitator/trainer, project manager and occasional arts blogger; helping arts and non-profits use the web and social media effectively.  Rebecca has over 25 years experience in new media, business, marketing, and finance. 

Rebecca Krause-Hardie designs and facilitates social media plans, learning communities, websites and webinars across the country. Clients include the Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, MAPP International, Caring.com, Canadian Museum of Nature, and The Paul Taylor Dance Company. A Juilliard graduate and horn player, Rebecca has 20 years experience in new media, marketing, finance, and management. An ASOL Fellow, she was Orchestra Manager of the Detroit Symphony; as Director of New Media for the League of American Orchestras she created Playmusic.org, the first interactive music website for kids. As CFO of Voyager Company and Criterion Collection, they pioneered and lead the field of interactive media. Rebecca created and is Executive Producer of the award-winning New York Philharmonic Kidzone, now in its tenth year at www.nyphilkids.org. She blogs the performing arts and technology at arts.typepad.com.

JANELLE OTT LONG
National Endowment for the Arts

Janelle will discuss an overview of the NEA guidelines, and help guide applicants through the application process.

Janelle Ott Long is a Dance Specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Prior to joining the NEA, Janelle was employed at Dance/USA.  Janelle is originally from Ohio and she is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College where she majored in business and minored in dance. She received her M.A. in Arts Management at American University, where she is an adjunct faculty member and teaches a course on Cultural Policy. 

DAVID MALLETTE
Management Consultants for the Arts

Management Consultants for the Arts specializes in strategic planning, organizational development and artistic/executive search facilitation.  David can speak with you about how to approach any of these processes in your organization.

David Mallette joined Management Consultants for the Arts in 2005 after more than two decades as a performing arts administrator.  At MCA, David’s portfolio includes strategic planning, organizational development, artistic and executive level searches and crisis management consultation.  His consultation experience includes work with theater and dance companies, PACs, presenters, service organizations, foundations and festivals.  He is a published author and frequent speaker, focusing on organization leadership and vision, crisis strategies, governance and management.   His arts administration background includes the Alley Theatre and Houston Ballet.  In 1990, he joined Fort Worth Ballet – now Texas Ballet Theater – as executive director.  During his 15-year tenure, the company nearly quadrupled in size through expansion across the region and state, and toured to over forty cities across the country.  David was board chair of Dance/USA (2002-05) and has served on numerous national and regional funding panels including PCMI (Pew Charitable Trusts), the Joyce Foundation, Mid-America Arts Alliance and Texas Commission on the Arts.

BOB MIDDLETON
Director of Arts Insurance Program

Bob Middleton is the Director of the Arts Insurance Program (AIP), which provides property and casualty products to performing arts organizations. With over twenty five years of risk management experience, he has developed programs specifically for the insurance needs of the dance community.  Working in partnership with Fractured Atlas, AIP currently insures over a hundred professional dance organizations, including many members of Dance/USA.

JENNIFER NOVAK-LEONARD
WolfBrown

Jennifer is available to answer questions about audience research methods and to answer questions about the National Survey of Dance Audiences conducted as part of the Engaging Dance Audiences initiative.

Jennifer Novak-Leonard is co-leading the research and assessment component of Dance/USA’s Engaging Dance Audiences initiative with Alan Brown.  Jennifer specializes in evaluation and research, specifically the development of innovative measurement tools to understand the intrinsic impact of arts on individuals. Her work often lies at the nexus between art - in all forms - and its connection to broader public policy issues.  Jennifer provides clients with technical assistance for evaluation, and helps them develop new ways to assure their programs are relevant, to rise to the growing challenge of accountability requirements, and to implement new approaches to audience engagement. Jennifer co-authored the 2007 WolfBrown study Assessing the Intrinsic Impacts of a Live Performance, the 2008 WolfBrown study on cultural engagement patterns for the James Irvine Foundation, and is the lead author on a new research monograph for the National Endowment for the Arts on patterns of arts participation (attendance, arts creation and participation through media) and the need for updated metrics (expected publication Fall 2010).

KERI MESROPOV
Associate Consultant, Target Resource Group

TRG’s Keri Mesropov welcomes questions about your revenue campaigns.  Are you: Concerned about ticket prices?  Puzzled by a subscription or membership effort that’s not producing?  Wondering what national patronage trends are playing out in your market?  Bring your question and brief description of your situation, and Keri will provide thought partnership on strategies you might consider.

Keri Mesropov leads TRG’s team of consultants, database and analytics specialists who work on behalf of the firm’s clients throughout North America and abroad.  She also serves as lead consultant for scores of clients including Colorado Symphony, The Public Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Boston Ballet.  Her own work and the consulting, database management, and business intelligence services she presides over have generated millions of revenue dollars – earned and contributed -- for orchestras, opera, dance, and theater companies, arts centers and festivals.  Keri manages TRG’s counsel on integrated patron loyalty programs, bringing together colleague departments across organization silos to build stronger, longer paid patronage.

VICTORIA SMITH
Manager of Research, Dance/USA

Victoria Smith is Dance/USA’s Manager of Research.  Her expertise in the national company roster, data collection, annual data surveys, and research can help individuals utilize research and apply it to their companies.  She is also eager to assist conference attendees with research project ideas, techniques, and methods.

Victoria Smith is a magna cum laude graduate of Mercyhurst College's Dance Department. While in college, she completed an internship with the National Dance Education Organization and researched and presented a senior thesis for the Mercyhurst College Honors Program. Upon graduation, she signed up with AmeriCorps and became a Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) to help alleviate problems facing the underserved in the United States. Victoria joined Dance/USA in July of 2008.

ANDREA SNYDER

Andrea Snyder is Dance/USA’s former Executive Director and the current Senior Advisor.  She has recently become a fully certified personal / executive coach for arts leaders, and she is willing to discuss effective techniques, methods, and ideals behind coaching in the arts.

Andrea Snyder joined Dance/USA as president and executive director in February 2000; she will complete her tenure in June 2011 to become a certified personal/executive coach for arts leaders.  She came to Dance/USA after creating the National Initiative to Preserve America’s Dance (NIPAD) grants program for The Pew Charitable Trusts, which she directed from 1993 to 2000, and serving as assistant director of the National Endowment for the Arts Dance Program through the “arts wars” of 1987 to 1993.  Previously she held a broad range of positions across the dance field: booking agent for Sheldon Soffer Management; executive director of Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians; administrator of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts Dance Department; associate administrator for the Cunningham Dance Foundation; and assistant to Director Muriel Topaz of the Dance Notation Bureau. Snyder has served on many state arts council grant panels, as well those for Arts International, the Capezio/Ballet Makers Dance Foundation and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. She is the immediate past chair of the Performing Arts Alliance, the national advocacy organization for the performing arts, and she remains a member of the 2005 inaugural Dance Magazine Board of Advisors.  From 1995-2008, she was moderator of The John F. Kennedy Center’s contemporary dance post-performance artist/audience discussions.  Snyder began as a dancer and technique teacher after graduating from The American University, and later earned an M.A. in Arts Management from NYU.  She has served as an adjunct professor in arts administration at The American University; and lectured on dance at the Florida State University (FSU) in NYC program.  Snyder is also an alumna of the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute and recipient of the 2001 Congress on Research in Dance Award.  A comprehensive chapter in Renata Celichowska’s recent book, Seven Statements of Survival, profiles Snyder’s life/career in dance.

HEATHER SOUTHWICK
Dance/USA Taskforce on Dancer Health

Talk with the Executive Committee Members of the Task Force on Dancer Health to learn about what we have done to improve the health of dancers & what we can offer your organization.  At the session, you’ll meet Nancy Kadel, MD (Seattle), Heather Southwick, PT (Boston) or Heather Herod Cole, MS, PT, COMT (Nashville).

Heather Southwick, P.T, is currently the Director of Physical Therapy for the Boston Ballet.  She came to this position after 15 years as a physical therapist at Children’s Hospital Boston.  She is a former dancer with undergraduate degrees in dance and psychology.  As part of her undergraduate training, she danced in London and studied at the Laban Center for Movement and Dance.  She is a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science and the Performing Arts Medical Association and has presented at both conferences recently.  She is the Vice-Chair for the Taskforce for Dancer Health, Dance/USA and has served as the Co-chair of the committee developing a screening form to be used nationally on professional companies.