9:30am – 6:00pm

School for Chairs*
Learn skills unique to the governance leadership role. Engage and empower your board, develop the “right” role for the executive committee, and explore the importance of continuity in leadership. (Continued Wednesday 8:00 am - 1:00 pm.)

9:30am – 4:30pm

Taking Aim Before You Fire: Strategic Planning for Orchestras*
Take home tools to design and implement an effective strategic planning process for your orchestra, regardless of the size, complexity, or challenges you face. (Continued Wednesday 8:00 am - 1:00 pm.)

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.

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.

Board and Organizational Assessment*
Design processes to help your orchestra take a look at the performance of individual trustees and how your board functions as a whole. Take home essential “dos and don’ts” of the self-evaluation process.

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.

Creating a Fundraising Plan*
Design and implement a plan to maximize contributed income. Identify and cultivate the right individual donors through direct mail, telefundraising, and major gifts. Explore effective donor research and planning techniques, and engage potential corporate and foundation donors.

Planned Giving: A Fundraising Strategy for All Orchestras*
Make planned gifts work for your organization, whether you have a dedicated planned giving officer or work in a one-person office that has never received a planned gift.

School for Chairs*
Continued from Tuesday.

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.

7:15pm

National Friends of the League Donor Appreciation Dinner
Sponsored by Steinway & Sons
(invitation only)

9:00pm – 11:00pm

Manager, General Manager, Artistic Administrator, Conductor and Exhibitor Reception

Network at this after-hours party in the Delegate Lounge.

7:00am – 8:15am

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

Group 5-6 Manager Meeting
See preliminary meeting topics

12:45pm – 2:00pm

Lunch
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

Manager and Trustee Plenary Meeting

Ethics and Nonprofit Accountability
Reports from ICSOM, Jan Gippo and ROPA, Barbara Zmich

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

In Tune With the Public Trust
Now, more than ever, it’s important to develop a transparent culture on issues such as financial record-keeping and human resource policies. The IRS is stepping up its enforcement of nonprofit accountability requirements, and Congress is considering tougher laws. Orchestras depend on support from the public, and must operate ethically and effectively to maintain the public’s trust. Learn what your orchestra board and staff need to do to satisfy new requirements and keep the public’s trust.  Speakers

The Rise and Fall of Classical Music in America
Joseph Horowitz, author of Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall, discusses his sweeping narrative. When did classical music in America ascend? And perhaps more importantly, when – or did – it fall? Find out at this session. Speakers

Strengthening Roots, Branching Out: Orchestra Residencies Across America
What makes a successful orchestra residency? Why might you implement one as a form of community engagement? Take a look at the National Symphony Orchestra’s American Residencies, the Oregon Symphony’s Community Music Partnerships, and the quartet residency of the Western Piedmont Symphony, and take home strategies to make your orchestra’s residency possible, powerful, and sustainable. Speakers

Be a Winner
What makes a successful volunteer audience development, service, and education project? Silver Ribbon winners present their award-winning projects, selected from the 2005 Gold Book: A Sourcebook of Successful Fund-Raising, Education, Audience Development, Service and Membership Projects. 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 - 10:15am

Music Education Advocacy
This is a cross-constituency meeting for Managers, Groups 5-8; Education/Community Relations; and YOD. Orchestras have the expertise and clout to be powerful advocates in support of music education in their local schools. What can your orchestra do to lead local policymakers to step up their support? Learn how best to align with community partners in support of music education in the schools, and use compelling arguments from an orchestra perspective.

Moderator:
Leni Boorstin, public affairs director, Los Angeles Philharmonic

Panelists:
Mike Blakeslee, deputy executive director, MENC; board member, American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras
Mary L. Luehrsen, director of public affairs and government relations, NAMM-International Music Products Association
Richard L. Early, executive director, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
Susan Miville, director of education, outreach & community partnership, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra

10:30am - 11:45am

Networking
Gather with colleagues and business partners in the Delegate Lounge/Exhibit area for informal discussions and networking.

12:00pm - 1:30pm

Conference Luncheon*

1:45pm - 3:00pm

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.