9:00am – 4:30pm

Musically Speaking*
Articulate your passion for music with confidence and clarity, and gain support of those around you including the audience, musicians, donors, the press, and key community members. You may register for Musically Speaking AND any Wednesday seminar below.

Taking Aim Before You Fire: Strategic Planning for Orchestras*

Continues Wednesday 8:00am – 1:00pm

8:00am – 1:00pm

Back to the Future -- Getting and Keeping Subscribers*
Understand the importance of retaining your subscribers and ticket buyers, and develop cost-effective strategies to build your future audience from your present audience. Explore best practices by small-, medium-, and large-budget orchestras to acquire and keep subscribers.

Building an Effective Sales Force*
Pulling the sales team together, hiring the right people, and putting the emphasis on customer service are all essential requirements to create an effective sales force. This seminar will give you the tools to effectively train and motivate your box office personnel or telemarketing team.

Taking Aim Before You Fire: Strategic Planning for Orchestras*
Continued from Tuesday.

1:00pm – 6:30pm

Orchestras on the Hill (Capacity is limited! Register now to participate!)

The policy decisions made in Washington, D.C. impact orchestras back home.  Make the case to your Senator(s) or Representatives at Orchestras on the Hill. No matter your role or affiliation, this day is for everyone. Prepare for your meetings at a briefing, meet with members of Congress, and attend a Hill reception.

1:00pm - 2:15pm
Legislative Briefing (Hilton Washington)

Never met with a policymaker? Worried about what to say? Don’t worry! We’ll tell you all you need to know to meet with your representatives in Congress including what to bring to your meeting, how to conduct your meeting, and talking points. You’ll also meet with other Conference attendees from your state, including your State Captain. Meetings with your Senators will be scheduled for you in advance. We’ll be sitting at tables so feel free to buy your lunch beforehand and bring it with you. Speakers

2:15pm - 3:15pm
Buses to the Hill

Buses will leave from the T Street entrance on the Terrace Level (one floor below the lobby) of the Hilton Washington.

3:30pm - 5:30pm
Hill Meetings(Capitol Hill)

You’ve been briefed – you’re now ready to meet with your members of Congress!

5:00pm - 6:30pm
Hill Reception, (Cannon Caucus Room, Capitol Hill)

We’re inviting you and your members of Congress to join us in the beautiful Cannon Caucus Room after your Hill meetings. Hear Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Mark O’Connor perform. We'll also present the Gold Baton Award for distinguished service to music and the arts to National Symphony Orchestra Music Director Leonard Slatkin and to the Congressional Arts Caucus. Representative Slaughter (D-NY) and Representative Shays (R-CT) will accept on behalf of the Congressional Arts Caucus.




Reception for Development, Marketing, and Public Relations
(by invitation)
Sponsored by SD&A Teleservices, Inc.

7:00am – 8:15am

Marketing and Public Relations
League Strategic Planning Discussion

Conference/League Orientation
For first-time Conference attendees and for those new to the League.

8:15am – 9:30am

Opening Session/Keynote Address

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee delivers this year’s Opening Session Keynote Address on why he chose to focus on the arts during his chairmanship of the Education Commission of the States.

Youth Orchestra Performance
Members of six Washington D.C. area youth orchestras perform under the direction of Emil de Cou, Associate Conductor, National Symphony Orchestra.

Opening Session sponsored by Classical Movements Inc.

9:45am – 11:00am

Opening Forums

Choose from one of the following sessions available to all Conference delegates:

Making the Case
Question: What will persuade a prospective donor, convince a key policymaker, earn the community’s trust, and win the hearts of your audience? Answer: Knowing your facts, and communicating them in a compelling way. Learn why four leading public figures are advocates for music, and how each make the case from a different perspective: economic, education, artistry, and community impact. Receive a new collection of our best statistics, arguments, and quotes about American orchestras, and take home effective strategies to make the case for your orchestra at home. Speakers

Don’t Mess with My Concerts
We know that each audience member attends concerts with different expectations and degrees of sophistication. But what do we know about our audience, really? And how do we apply what we do know about them to the concert experience? We’ll explain – and challenge – some assumptions that have, until now, influenced orchestras’ approaches to concerts, and examine some new approaches as well. Speakers

11:15am – 12:30pm

Marketing, Meeting Groups 1-2 and Public Relations
Joint meeting with Artistic Administrators.

Marketing, Meeting Groups 3-8
Gather with colleagues and business partners in the Delegate Lounge/Exhibit Area for informal discussions and networking.

12:45pm – 2:00pm

Marketing Directors, Meeting Groups 1-2
Luncheon--by invitation only
sponsored by Target Resource Group

Lunch in the Delegate Lounge, other Marketing, PR and Sales
Buy your lunch in the deli just outside the Delegate Lounge, then sit down and relax in the Delegate Lounge while you eat!

2:15pm – 3:30pm

Marketing and Public Relations, all Meeting Groups

Roundtable Discussions
Marketing Meetings sponsored by DCM, Inc.--Telemarketing and Telefundraising for the Arts

3:45pm – 5:00pm

Orchestra Toolbox Sessions

Choose from six compelling sessions, including:

Pops Roundtables
Do you present pops, or represent a pops artist? Attend Pops Roundtables – everything you need to know about pops including pops family concerts, the role of the guest artist, pops marketing and repertoire, presenting without an orchestra, and summer pops.  Speakers

The Best Defense: A Guide for Orchestra Advocates
You have the power to create meaningful relationships with policymakers – at all levels. Want that state arts agency budget and those tax-exempt benefits kept intact? Work in coalitions and form personal connections. Build a foundation of local, state, and federal government support now, so when it’s time for those critical votes, your policymakers know what to do.  Speakers

5:00pm – 6:15pm

Buses to the Kennedy Center

Buses to the Kennedy Center will leave from the T Street entrance on the Terrace Level (one floor below the lobby) of the Hilton Washington.

7:00pm

National Symphony Orchestra Concert* and Tune-Up Party

The National Symphony Orchestra performs under Leonard Slatkin at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Concert Hall. Guest artists include Mark O'Connor and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin.
Tune-Up Party hosted by the National Symphony Orchestra

9:00pm - 9:30pm

Tour of the John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Take a Jaffe Holden Acoustics Tour featuring the acoustical design of The John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall immediately following the concert.

11:00pm

Gone, But Not Forgotten

Enjoy a chat with orchestra veterans – those risqué, devil-may-care, caution-to-the-wind, impresarios – as they reveal all they couldn’t say…on the job.

7:30am - 8:45am

Latest Research Findings in E-Marketing
Speaker:
Eugene Carr, president, Patron Technology

9:00am - 11:45am

Managers and Senior Directors of Development and Marketing, Meeting Group 2
Enhancing Earned and Contributed Revenue (joint meeting)

Brainstorm the significance of several scenarios that describe the current and anticipated operating environment and its impact on our ability to generate revenue. By bringing together the three orchestra leaders most responsible for revenue, we anticipate walking away with insight into important societal trends, new shared wisdom about earned and contributed revenue generation, and potential approaches for minimizing the current inhibitors to income growth.

9:00am - 10:15am

Marketing (other than directors), Meeting Group 2, and Marketing, Meeting Groups 3-8

Creating a Marketing Plan
Led by:
Sandi Macdonald, marketing director, The Cleveland Orchestra

Marketing, Meeting Group 1 and Public Relations
Gather with colleagues and business partners in the Delegate Lounge/Exhibit Area for informal discussions and networking.

10:30am - 11:45am

Marketing, Meeting Group 1 and Marketing (other than directors), Meeting Group 2

Meeting, Topic TBA

Marketing, Meeting Groups 3-8
Acquisition Marketing

Public Relations
Defining the role of Public Relations in government advocacy.

12:00pm – 1:30pm

Conference Luncheon*

1:45pm - 4:15pm

Drawing from his recent book, The Four Pillars of High Performance, Paul Light will explore strategies for attaining maximum effectiveness in a future of unprecedented change and uncertainty. Light is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service, Robert Wagner School of Public Service, New York University.

Sponsored by Clarion Associates, Inc., IMG Artists, Artsmarketing Services Inc.




Managers and Senior Directors of Development and Marketing, Meeting Group 1
Enhancing Earned and Contributed Revenue (joint meeting)

Brainstorm the significance of several scenarios that describe the current and anticipated operating environment and its impact on our ability to generate revenue. By bringing together the three orchestra leaders most responsible for revenue, we anticipate walking away with insight into important societal trends, new shared wisdom about earned and contributed revenue generation, and potential approaches for minimizing the current inhibitors to income growth.

1:45pm – 3:00pm

Marketing (other than directors), Meeting Group 1 and Marketing, Meeting Group 2

Meeting, Topic TBA

Marketing, Groups 3-8
Hot Topics: Wins and Losses
Led by:
Susan DeBenedette, associate director of marketing, Tucson Symphony Orchestra

Public Relations
What is your music critic really thinking? Willa Conrad and Lawrence McGill reveal the results of the national Music Critics’ survey.

3:15pm – 4:15pm

Marketing (other than directors), Meeting Group 1 and Marketing, Meeting Group 3-8

Ten Ways to Supercharge Your Internet Marketing
This session is packed with information about how you can bring your orchestra's online marketing to the cutting edge, without making a huge financial investment.  You will learn:

* Results from a 2005 nationwide research study of how orchestra patrons use the internet
* Two case studies from orchestras about how they are maximing their ROI with e-mail and online ticketing
* Five ways to rapidly grow your e-mail list
* Top three things to focus on when redesigning or analzying your web site.
Speaker:
Eugene Carr, president, Patron Technology


Marketing, Meeting Group 2
Gather with colleagues and business partners in the Delegate Lounge/Exhibit Area for informal discussions and networking.

Public Relations
Mary Lou Falcone, and Julia Kirchhausen, League Vice President for Public Relations, and others lead a discussion on the League’s new public relations initiatives and the direction of public relations in our field.

4:30pm – 6:00pm

Awards Celebration and Reception

Celebrate the field's achievements at the Awards Celebration and Reception with emcee Marvin Hamlisch. We'll award the League/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, the MetLife Awards for Excellence in Community Engagement, the Bank of America Awards for Excellence in Orchestra Education, The Volunteer Council Gold Ribbon Awards, and the Helen M. Thompson Award. You will also hear remarks by NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, and performances by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, led by director Lieutenant Colonel Michael Colburn.

Reception sponsored by ASCAP.

8:00pm

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Concert*

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs under Yuri Temirkanov at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore with guest artist Vadim Repin, violin.

Buses will leave promptly at 6:00 pm from the T Street entrance on the Terrace Level (one floor below the lobby) of the Hilton Washington.

8:00pm

National Philharmonic Performance-Demonstration*

Experience a concert hall as you never have before at a demonstration of the visible and invisible features of the design responsible for making the new Music Center at Strathmore a concert hall for the 21st century.

To get to the Music Center at Strathmore, take the Metro from the Dupont Circle Station to the Strathmore/Grosvenor station, (8 stops on the Red Line towards Shady Grove) and walk to the Music Center through a covered skyway. This trip will take approximately 45 minutes from door to door including a ten minute walk down Connecticut Ave. to the Dupont Circle Station. Round trip tickets may be purchased at the Metro station for $4.50. 

8:00pm

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Concert*

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs under Yuri Temirkanov at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda with guest artist Vadim Repin, violin.

To get to the Music Center at Strathmore, take the Metro from the Dupont Circle Station to the Strathmore/Grosvenor station, (8 stops on the Red Line towards Shady Grove) and walk to the Music Center through a covered skyway. This trip will take approximately 45 minutes from door to door including a ten minute walk down Connecticut Ave. to the Dupont Circle Station. Round trip tickets may be purchased at the Metro station for $4.50.