Arts Presentation Contracts

In the arts it sometimes seems that there are endless varieties and shades of collaboration, partnership and co-presentation agreements possible. But when I was first working in the concert department of a major orchestra, I was told that really there were only three types of presentation contracts:

1. Self-present
2. Contract of Services
3. Co-present

Most difficulties that occur, happen when the type of contract is misunderstood or all aspects of the arrangement are not defined and signed off on by both parties.

Self-presentation:
If my arts organization is "self-presenting", we are responsible for the artistic content, all the costs, raising the money for the project, marketing, and all the ticket revenues are ours. We may be presenting in a venue we own or we might be renting a venue. In a rental venue we might be subject to some house rules and we might have access to some inhouse marketing vehicles (a lobby lightbox or an e-newsletter). We need to sign a contract for the rental agreement but at no time should our self-presented concert be represented by the venue as a part of their series. If they wish to change the nature of the relationship to a co-presentation agreement, you should be looking for concessions on rent, etc.

Contract of services:
Your organization, company, church, or event is hiring the services of my arts organization. For example your church wishes my orchestra for an Easter concert. You can request specific repertoire if you are willing to pay the costs of the orchestra learning new repertoire or save money by taking our suggestions. You set the time of the concert, are responsible for all ticket sales, all revenue is yours if the event is ticketed. The orchestra is paid a flat fee that we have determined will cover our costs for the event. We will have to assure in our contract that we don't incur extra costs. The things we will need to assure in the contract are: the repertoire, start and finish times for the concert, where the orchestra can warm up and securely leave their belongings during the performance, when the orchestra can take the stage, meal arrangements for the orchestra (if applicable) and orchestra name/logo recognition on advertising and materials.

Co-presentation:
My orchestra and your choir decides to co-present an Easter concert . We will have to determine:

1. Who determines the repertoire and who pays for the rental sheet music?
2. Who pays for the hall?
3. Who is going to pay for and supervise the marketing campaign and what sign-off will be needed by the other organization?
4. How will ticket sales be divided? What about series subscribers? Are their seats included? Where will they sit?
5. How are we each going to make money? Split the sales 50/50 or some other arrangement that is equitable balanced against the cost sharing arrangement?
6. Who is responsible for rehearsal costs?
7. What spaces will each organization use in the hall and for what periods of time?


Is it really necessary to spell these things out in a contract? In my experience it is, especially in the complex arrangements of Co-presentation agreements. I have seen the following problems occur in co-presentations that were uncontracted or with a very vaguely worded agreement:

1. Misunderstandings about the amount of tickets available for sale by each organization.
2. Unhappy subscribers who thought the concert was included in their subscription but no seats for them had been negotiated.
3. One partner representing the concert as though it was theirs alone. (no agreement on sign off on marketing)
4. One partner holding up marketing with lengthy tweaks and changes, jeopardizing sales. (no time-lines for approval of marketing).
5. Last minute demands for one organization to pay the rehearsal costs of the other organization. (not clear that each was responsible for their own costs).
6. One organization changing the repertoire and/or time of concert without consultation, confusing artists, public, and rendering promotional campaign invalid. (repertoire and time of concert was not spelled out in contract, nor that such would be by mutual agreement only)
7. And frequent disputes about smaller issues: sheet music rental costs, lobby sales, sponsor signage.

While it is hard to think of everything, I hope this gets any new arts manager asking the right questions about presentation contracts. If you spell out all the obvious issues and finish with a clause that suggests how any new issues will be handled, "at the discretion of X" or "by mutual agreement" you should minimize conflict.

The worst situations have occurred when the parties totally fail to understand the nature of the contract. I once inherited a rather vague co-presentation agreement with a choir. Not too far into the process of planning the concert I discovered that the choir thought the contract was a "contract of services"in relation to what money they expected from us (all their rehearsal costs and music costs covered) and was a "self-present" in terms of their marketing and ticket sales. They had put the concert on their subscription season (exhausting most of their share of the tickets with no additional revenue for them) and had gone on to sell more tickets, double-dipping their ticket share and cutting into our potential revenues. Basically they wanted it both ways, and that's not how the world works.

If the fundamental nature of the agreement is clear, and the large issues are settled, it is not hard to negotiate solutions to smaller issues as they arise.

Puppetry Exploratory Laboratory Deadline Extended to Monday Feb. 1, 2010

Are you an artist, performance artist, animator, filmaker, multimedia artist, dancer, or choreographer who would like to be able to integrate puppetry into their art work but need some hands on skills?

Bring your project ideas to the Puppetry Exploratory Laboratory!

The deadline for this almost free learning opportunity (materials fee required) has been extended until Monday. This is the last chance to apply this season!

The online application is available at: http://www.puppetmongers.com/laboratory.html

New Mindspace Invitation to Make Snow Lanterns

ReinventWinter presents: Snow Lanterns

At Dufferin Grove park, an assembly of people will converge on the snowpile created by the skating rink for the purposes of sculpting/building lanterns for candle light. It should be a fun and creative time.

The act of snow lantern making takes advantage of the natural opportunities provided by a cold climate. Examples of this winter celebration can be seen in Northern regions of Finland, Japan and elsewhere.

Join us in establishing this fantastic tradition in Toronto by building your very own snow lanterns.

Dufferin Grove Park
Friday January 29th
7:00pm - 12:00am
Bring: gloves, sculpting tools (if desired), positive attitude.
Provided: Candles, Snow

See the beautiful potential on the Facebook event:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=239327560887

Would your arts "entry" job be a fit for those looking for an arts "exit" job?

When organizations are thinking about staffing an arts position on a tight budget, they often cast the position as an "entry-level" position because of the parttime nature, low salary, lack of job security and no-benefits nature of the position. Sometimes this judgement is made without consideration of the demands of the job description. In some cases the position IS a great fit for a newly graduated student. In other cases, although few hours are demanded, the skill set needed is varied and requires on-the-job experience for success.

If an organization needs experienced grantwriting, financial management/budgeting, and arts marketing savey, they are unlikely to find that in an entry level staff person. It takes a few years of working in an effective team setting to learn these highly specialized skills. A great fit for such an organization may be an arts worker at the other end of the spectrum, easing into retirement or exiting full time arts administration in order to work on their own artistic or entrepreneurial projects.

The Value of Sharing: Social Engagement

You know you are SUPPOSED to market your arts organization with Social Media, but the messages are confusing. What will work to reach your audience? Who shares what? Where?

No one is better placed to answer these questions than the people behind the "Share This" applet, that is most used to link social networking applications (for example post a link from a blog post to Twitter). Their articles and charts are invaluable in deciding which applications you should be focusing on in disseminating your message.

The Value of Sharing: Social Engagement

Posted using ShareThis

Arts Vote Toronto says, "I am an Artist and I Vote!"

If you are a Toronto artist, work for an arts organization or you directly or indirectly have business ties with artists & cultural attractions in Toronto (marketers, web designers, printers, hotels & restaurants etc.) then you'll want to assure that you know which candidates in the upcoming Toronto elections understand the importance of the arts to the quality of life in Toronto and to the tourist economy.

Sign up at Arts Vote today to keep in the picture.

Arts Vote launch rally. 5 pm Tues. Nov. 17 @ the Urbanspace Art Gallery, 401 Richmond

Tafelmusik launches "Sing-a-long Messiah Contest" on YouTube

The folks at Tafelmusik succeed year after year not only with great music (they are among the best that Toronto has to offer) but also with the novel ways that they come up with to connect the music of the past with what is happening here and now in our world. They have achieved this through collaborations with new composers; placing their work in the context of festivals of art like the Metamorphosis festival that draws from new and old works; and now with a fun contest that is powered by the popularity of YouTube and karaoke. Great marketing ideas like this should be celebrated. What makes this one great is that it isn't just about getting bums in the seats for Tafelmusik's Messiah this season (not that selling tickets isn't important) but we are all tired and burned out by clever marketing that is just about "buy, buy, consume, consume". This campaign is qualitatively different: it is about getting people singing and involved in the arts. That's important at so many different levels.

If you love to sing and aren't shy check out Tafelmusik's website for all the information on the contest.

Peter Stoll, clarinet, Nov. 5 @ noon, free lunchtime concert

If you are going to be anywhere near the University of Toronto, 's Faculty of Music building (just south of the Royal Ontario Museum, behind the old planetarium) you might like to catch what promises to be a lively concert with one of Toronto's most versatile and active clarinetest.

Peter writes in his email of today, "A quick email just for those in the T.O. area who might be interested, this Thursday November 5, I'm playing a free recital at UofT's Faculty of Music, the Edward Johnson Building, in Walter Hall, noon-1pm. Fun stuff, some classical, some jazz, some klezmer, 3 different sizes of clarinets, hope you can make it!"

By the way, Peter has a new website. If you are a music-lover in Toronto, you'll want to bookmark it.

Protesting Cuts to the Diversity in Music Program--Oct. 26 @ 6 pm

Cutting The Album
Monday October 26 2009
6PM - 8PM
CBC Front Street to Nathan Phillips Square

Hello Friends,

Heritage Minister, James Moore recently announced that 1.3 million
dollars from the Canada Music Fund’s annual budget would be
redirected away from the Canada Council. This has resulted in the
cancellation of the CCA’s Music Diversity Program, which, for the
past 20 years, has provided integral support for recording and
marketing to artists who are on the forefront of forging new,
innovative, and distinctly Canadian culture.

We've decided that a parade was in order. We will be meeting at CBC,
250 Front Street, on Monday October 26th at 6pm. Below you'll find
our routing. The parade will be interspersed with speeches at various
strategic locations. The parade will culminate at Nathan Phillips
Square, where Christine Duncan's Element Choir will perform and no
doubt create a stir.

The goal of this parade is to create awareness in our wake among the
public. We'll be soliciting the press and hope to get a lot of
coverage. Some of us will have clipboards in hand to offer the
general public a chance to sign our petition, and others will be
handing out pertinent literature.

All the while, our drummers and horn players will be propelling us
along the streets in a free-form New Orleans style funeral
procession. Bring your pots and pans, bells and other noise makers to
join in the fun. Bring your cameras too, we'd like to send the
Heritage Minister some photos of our event. Bring your thermoses to
stay warm, too!

At the end of the parade, before the Elements go on, Andrew Cash will
give a little talk on behalf of Charlie Angus' office, who are
currently leading an inquiry with the Heritage Committee. We then
invite you to present Andrew with your letters that he can deliver to
the committee in Ottawa, as well mix cds that you can make comprised
of music that was made with the assistance of the sound recording grant.

- We still need more clipboard volunteers and people to hand out flyers
- Please contact me if you plan on bringing drums and horns
- Write your letters and make your mix tapes that will be delivered
to the committee!!
- If we have already been in contact with you about speaking, please
write back to confirm your interest.

Here's the route:

6:00 meet at CBC
6:15 process on John to Roy Thompson Hall (speech)
6:40 King to Peter to Queen - Lush on Queen (speech)
7:05 Queen to Yonge to Dundas (speeches)
7:25 Dundas to Bay to Queen to Nathan Phillips Square
7:40 Speech and Element Choir
post-parade hot chocolate at a meeting place TBD

Looking for a great holiday theatre experience for students?

If you are in travelling distance of Toronto you won't want to miss this great event!

Puppetmongers @ the Tarragon Extra Space
7 School Shows only
December 15 through 18, 2009
10 am and 1:30 pm

History and fun are integrated in this imaginative retelling of the classic fairy tale. Puppetmongers reset the story in 1834, just as “Muddy” York is to be renamed Toronto, and Ella is expected to cater to every whim of her just-off-the-boat-from-England stepmother and sisters. With a little magic and some imaginative special effects she does get herself to the Ball, and to the satisfying conclusion of the tale. The play is ingeniously staged with a traditional marionette theatre that transforms, as the story unfolds, into scenes evoking the wilderness, pioneer life and early Canadian society.

This is a Cinderella that Canadian children can call their own!

Single Tickets: $8.00

Book the whole theatre of 100 seats for $700

more info at: http://www.puppetmongers.com

Abousfian Abdelrazik Speaks in Toronto

Forwarded from TASC

Delist and Desist!
Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture.
Abousfian Abdelrazik Speaks in Toronto
With an Introduction by Dr. Sherene Razack

Thursday, October 8, 2009, 7:15 pm
Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street (just west of St. George, south of
College)
Free.

Abousfian Abdelrazik is a Canadian citizen who was detained, interrogated, and tortured in Sudan with the complicity of our own government (see http://peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik/ for further background). Indeed, the Federal Court of Canada found earlier this
year that spy agency CSIS was complicit in his detention.

His six-year saga of trying to come home to his loved ones (including a year-plus stay in a small corner of the Canadian embassy in Khartoum) was blocked at every stage by a variety of levels of the Canadian government, including CSIS and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Never charged, he was beaten, threatened and tortured during two periods of detention. Abdelrazik was interrogated by CSIS officials, and separately by Sudanese and French intelligence agents and the FBI. The Canadian embassy was instructed by the Canadian government that: "Mission staff should not accompany Abdelrazik to his interview with
the FBI."

Released and cleared of all suspicion by Sudan in 2006, and then by the RCMP and CSIS in late 2007, his many attempts to return home to Montreal were repeatedly blocked.

The grass roots efforts of hundreds of people across Canada led to a historic court order that forced the Canadian government to allow Abdelrazik to come home. He was finally reunited with his family in June of this year. Yet his struggle continues.

His name remains on the United Nations 1267 list. This list imposes a travel ban and complete asset freeze on listed individuals. Canadian regulations implementing the 1267 list prohibit anyone from providing Abdelrazik with any material aid - including salary, loans of any
amount, food or clothing. This makes it impossible for him to live a normal life.

Abdelrazik was not told that he was being placed on the list, was not told why he was on the list, and was given no opportunity to defend himself. As Federal Court Judge Russel Zinn said in his ruling forcing the government to let Abdelrazik return, "There is nothing in the (1267) listing or de-listing procedure that recognizes the principles of natural justice or that provides for basic procedural fairness."

No one has been held responsible for the grave injustices and terrible violence he has suffered.

As Abdelrazik undertakes the challenge of recovering a life of dignity for himself and his family, Mr. Abdelrazik is coming to Toronto as part of a national speaking tour so that he can meet his supporters and share his story in person. It is his hope to be "delisted" from the UN list, and to see true accountability at the federal government level.

Mr. Abdelrazik's horrific experience is part of a broader Canadian pattern of involvement in torture, and his talk on October 8 kicks off a speakers series that will focus on other cases of Canadian complicity in the most brutal human rights abuses imaginable. Watch for future
speaking events featuring Abdullah Almalki (http://www.abdullahalmalki.com/), individuals subject to secret trial security certificates, a focus on Canadian involvement in the U.S.-based School of the Assassins, Benamar Benatta (http://benamarbenatta.com/), and more.

(Dr. Sherene Razack is a professor, Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. She is also the author of the remarkable Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims From Western Law and Politics as well as
Dark Threats and White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping and the New Imperialism)

Organized by Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture and Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada, endorsed by the Centre for Integrated Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS) at OISE.

Sponsored nationally by Project Fly Home, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Council of Canadians, Council on American-Islamic Relations - Canada (CAIRCAN), International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), and the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA).

If you cannot make it to the Toronto event, Mr. Abdelrazik is speaking in many other parts of Canada. See his schedule at http://peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik/events.php

For further information: tasc@web.ca, (416) 651-5800 ext. 1

Rogers Communications television advertisement promotes ageism

"My name is Mary, and I've just discovered the Internet, but I know it is the future" said the gray haired woman on a recent Rogers Communications television advertisement.

As an age contempory of "Mary"'s I wanted to scream and throw a cellphone at the screen... but luckily my cellphone service is Bell.

But let's think about the premise of this advertisement. Unless "Mary" has been living under a rock for the past couple of decades, she has likely been using computers for most if not all of her working life. If, like me, she is a veteran of the punch card, DOS and early word-processing programs, she likely can run rings around some younger people in understanding her computer and getting it to do what she needs.

I know that there was once a time when I thought of computers as being "the future". That was in the 1960's when I was an elementary school student and we had an opportunity to learn some simple programming using computer punch cards, prior to the silicon chip, or later in university when, as a theatre student I got to play around with some of the earlier Moog synthesizers and made some early experiments in computer-generated video art with a Sony portapak.

I'm an artsey, not a computer whiz kid but computers have come into mainstream aspects of my life since the 1980's. I learned my first wordprocessing program on a Commodore 64 and in 1985 I was hired in an office job that required me to create a simple database for a YWCA branch in a new program called Q & A. I taught myself DOS, in order to write the batch files needed to sort the data, and became the office "computer expert" by being one step ahead of the rest of the staff in computer knowledge.

In the 1990's it was easy for those of us that had used older wordprocessing programs like Easy Script or Wordstar to learn html as the codes for centering, emboldening, tables, etc. were exactly like those we had learn to format text for print output. I took to website design like a duck to water, creating sites for volunteer organizations, family, and work projects for my various arts and non-profit employers. Mail lists and e-newsletter creation have been a part of the arts marketing strategy in all of my organizations for about 12 years.

These days I'm an avid user of social media, a blogger, and coordinate a cutting edge arts series in virtual reality. In my various management positions I have trained many entry staff members to use computer software on the job. I can attest to the fact that being able to text friends or Twitter a photo does not mean that the employee will be able to generate mail merges, use accounting software, has the basics of desktop publishing, can navigate a spreadsheet, or can print a simple mailing label.

Obviously, the Rogers ad struck a very sour note with me but in all seriousness, the advertisement is seriously out-of-step with reality and does a real disservice to the many working men and women with up to date job skills but who struggle with the type of age prejudice evident in the Rogers advertisement. On what basis did Rogers think that a late 50's woman would be credible as someone "just discovering the internet"? Would they make the same supposition about a visible minority member and not expect a backlash?

I hope that all of the women my age let Rogers know what they think about their recent media campaign. For a company that has had some very clever advertising, this one is just dumb.

Bad fences make bad neighbours

Toronto Public Space Committee
Organizing Meeting for De-fencing project
Tonight, Aug. 4 @ Trinity Bellwoods Park
7 pm (at the painted dog)

chain link fence.

a self-imposed rusty barrier between neighbours.

properties surrounded by chain link look more like jailyards than homes.

fences create feelings of isolation and detachment.

by taking them down, we encourage a process of community building.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

De-Fencing is good exercise, lots of fun and opens up our neighbourhoods! Join us for our first Volunteer Meeting of the year! We need help to get this project off the ground in '09.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Other good things happening in the park on the same day:

BEFORE: 3pm to 7pm - Trinity Bellwoods Farmers' Market at Crawford & Dundas.

AFTER: Weekly Drum Circle in the pit.

Aradia @ Grano Aug. 7 2009

Have you heard Toronto's other early music orchestra? I have and they are great. Here's a neat invitation from them.

Enjoy Toronto's Award Winning Italian Cusine at GRANO resturant while listening the ARADIA Ensemble.

ARADIA ensemble at grano
2035 yonge street, toronto
Concerto Italiano
Friday August 7

6.30 aperitivi all'aperto
7.30 concerto
8.30 optional dinner with wine with the
musicians

$ 20.00 (suggested donation) for L'orto del popolo / The People's Garden; a project of The Stop Community Food Centre at Wychwood Barns to celebrate the cultural/social significance of the backyard garden in all communities

$ 50.00 above plus dinner with wine

RSVP 416 440 1986 or rdm@grano.ca

Good deeds with denim

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported a new twist on casual Fridays. Some corporations are tying the right to wear jeans on Friday to a small contribution to an employee selected charity.

Great idea!

A Barbie Opera for the 21st Century

I love the zany minds at Toca Loca, not to mention their prodigious talent. Perhaps it is only because I am so active in Second Life that I draw parallels between the Barbie dolls of their upcoming "marionette opera" production and the Barbie doll-like avatars that are so prevalent in the current Metaverse.

Just as the press release for Toca Loca's upcoming production states, there can be a dark side to the beautiful perfection and cheerleader smiles of avatars. The cruel side of human nature seems to feel free to be expressed at a safe remove from the real.

*******************
XXX Live Nude Girls

Phone:	4165047529
Email:	toca@tocaloca.com

August 6th 4:30pm
August 8th 8:30pm
August 10th 6:30pm
August 12th 10:30pm
August 15th 6:30pm
August 16th 12:30pm

A Barbie Opera for the 21st Century!
Though partly inspired by the marionette operas of Mozart and Haydn, Jennifer Walshe’s XXX Live Nude Girls will never be seen at the Four Seasons Centre. Her gritty, lo-fi score drives this exposé into the shiny plastic world of Barbie.

Produced by Toca Loca and directed by Graham Cozzubbo in conjuction with the Summerworks Festival, XXX dispels the stereotype of boys making war while girls host garden parties. Truth is, when playing with Barbies, cruel abuses are often closer to the rule than the exception. Sometimes the sweet girls just ain’t that sweet.

Starring Patricia O'Callaghan, Christine Duncan, Ginette Mohr and Kate Fenton.

The Company
Graham Cozzubbo - Stage Director
Gregory Oh - Music Director
Jennifer Walshe - Composer
Lina Marquez - Costume Design
Yesim Tosuner - Graphic Design
Daryl Banks - Photographer
Ginette Mohr - Puppets
Kate Fenton - Puppets
Christine Duncan - Vocals
Patricia O'Callaghan - Vocals
Max Christie - Clarinets
Mary-Katherine Finch - Cello
John Lettieri - Accordion
Steve Ward - Trombone
Derick Greenly - Video/Tech
Callan Burgess - Video

Blog: xxxlivenudegirls.blogspot.com
Tickets: artsboxoffice.ca
Festival Info: summerworks.ca

Warning: Crude Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Sexual Violence and Doll Nudity. This show is not suitable for children.

Will technology provide the means to a renewal of participatory democracy?

Forwarding on a press release that I got in my email today about an interesting presentation in virtual reality. I have been thinking a lot lately about the almost religious fervor people have for social media and their belief that it is going to change the world. There are some powerful communication tools out there. One only needs to look at tweets (twitter posts) with the hashtag #iranelection to see how ineffective shutting down news is these days when anyone with a cellphone, a blackberry, or a laptop can get news out. That's the encouraging news.

On the discouraging front, this past week my husband asked his online group of teachers. (These are all practicing teachers already engaged in teaching our kids) to use a wiki to do some collaborative writing for a group projects. He set up the wiki in the very user-friendly Wikispaces platform. All four of the project groups rebelled. They found using a wiki too complicated and no one had "trained" them on this tool. Sigh. I wondered aloud if they needed someone to train them on the use of a pencil since wiki's are almost as common a writing tool in our current era.

But that is the dilemma. We have these great tools but only the technologically literate are truly using them. While I intend to write more on this, here's the information on this Monday's talk. It's worth dropping into Second Life for.

Beth Noveck talks about Wiki Government in Second Life on July 20th!

Please join a Second Life simulcast, from the Markle Foundation, of Beth Simone Noveck, now the deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House responsible for Open Government, presenting her new book, WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A, in which participants from both Second Life and in person can ask questions of the author.

In the digital age our lives are constantly being transformed by the way in which we connect and collaborate with one another, affecting the way we make decisions - on a personal level, an institutional level, and a national level. Drawing on her expertise, and more directly her experience in creating Peer-to-Patent, the federal government's first social networking initiative, Ms. Noveck's Wiki Government insightfully demonstrates how technology, along with citizen participation, can help the government become more open and effective at solving the complex social and economic problems we face today.

The event will begin at 12:00pm EST/9:00am PST on Monday, July 20, 2009 and will take place in Second Life on MacArthur Island (click here to teleport http://slurl.com/secondlife/Foundations/109/231/34).

-----------------------------------------------

Further information

WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful

In the digital age our lives are constantly being transformed by the way in which we connect and collaborate with one another, affecting the way we make decisions - on a personal level, an institutional level, and a national level.

Beth Simone Noveck's book provides a coherent and compelling "new vision of governance in the digital age - collaborative democracy - government with the people."

Drawing on her expertise, and more directly her experience in creating Peer-to-Patent, the federal government's first social networking initiative, Ms. Noveck's Wiki Government insightfully demonstrates how technology, along with citizen participation, can help the government become more open and effective at solving the complex social and economic problems we face today.

About the Author:

Beth Simone Noveck is the United States deputy chief technology officer for open government and leads President Obama's Open Government Initiative. Based at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, she is an expert on technology and institutional innovation. Previously, Noveck directed the Institute for Information Law & Policy and the Democracy Design Workshop at New York Law School. She is founder of the "Do Tank," and the State of Play Conferences, and launched the first of its kind Peer-to-Patent Community Patent Review project in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trade Office. As a professor of Law at New York Law School, she has taught in the areas of intellectual property, innovation, and constitutional law, as well as courses on electronic democracy and electronic government.

To read more, please go to http://www.nyls.edu/faculty/faculty_profiles/beth_simone_noveck.

Will more public engagment or more electronic media be the future of the arts

While recently the Met was reported to be contemplating replacing its' summer programming with filmed performances shown on the big screen, the public was more engaged in filming and tweeting about the 30 public pianos that the city of London had placed on the streets.

“They’re out there to get people talking to one another and to claim ownership and activate the public space,” said the creator of the project, Luke Jerram, an artist who lives in Bristol.

Using obvious search terms in Twitter I found no one chatting in the public commons about the possibility of the Met replacing summer opera with its big screen version. It would seem that news was a big snore, while by contrast I immediately found 140 recent tweets on London's street pianos. Does this simply mean that in a day of social media viral news that anything you can capture on your cellphone, digitally broadcast to blogs, YouTube, and tweet about is going to have the edge?

Or does it mean something more important about our culture's relationship to art at this moment in history?

I think the signs are there that people want to take back art from the star system, from corporate control, big record systems, film studios and corporations. From the popularity of shows like American Idol to the rise of YouTube videos to the "do-it-yourself" atmosphere of the Arts in the virtual world of Second Life, more people are spending their entertainment hours watching the little guy and more people are engaging in making art instead of being passive observers.

Toronto Bubble Battle July 11 @ 3 pm

Never has a Smart Mob had so much fun as blowing Bubbles at the annual Bubble Battle organized by the street art group NewMindSpace. The people who brought you the Union Station pillow fight, street car parties, and city wide Capture the Flag games are sending out the news by email, facebook and cellphone to be at King and University tomorrow at 3 pm .... and bring your bubble gear!

Here are my own snaps from 2007

Alain Trudel reaches out to young Canadian composers

I have thought for a long time that Alain Trudel is one of Canada's greatest musical assets. He can conduct, he can sure play trombone, and he has great programming ideas. Isn't it great that he also is concerned about the future of Canadian music? I just had to post this newsrelease that just came into my inbox.

The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO) and TSYO Conductor Alain Trudel announce two opportunities for young Canadian musicians. Composers aged 30 or younger can submit their orchestral composition to the TSYO Open Call for Canadian Works, and musicians between the age of 12 and 22 can apply to audition for the 2009.2010 Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra season.

TSYO Conductor Alain Trudel started the TSYO Open Call for Canadian Work as an opportunity for young composers to have their work performed by a full orchestra. “Winning this competition invites young composers to take the next step with their work,” says Alain Trudel. “Hearing your composition with full orchestration brings the work to life and allows the winner to receive feedback from professional conductors and coaches.”

The deadline to submit compositions to the TSYO Open Call for Canadian Works is September 18, 2009. For details on how to apply, visit http://www.tso.ca/season/youth/youth19.cfm

The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra is also now accepting applications for the 2009.2010 season. Musicians aged 12-22 are invited to apply to this high level training programme using the application form at http://www.tso.ca/season/youth/youth06.cfm. Application forms are due by August 7, 2009. Juried auditions for the TSYO 2009.2010 season will be held on September 11-13, 2009. The TSYO selection jury includes Alain Trudel (TSYO conductor) and TSO musicians Keith Atkinson (TSYO Woodwind Coach), Harcus Hennigar (TSYO Brass Coach), Young-Dae Park (TSYO Violin Coach), Daniel Blackman (TSYO Viola Coach) David Hetherington (TSYO Cello Coach), Paul Rogers (TSYO Double Bass Coach) and David Kent (TSYO Percussion Coach).

To learn more about the TSYO, please visit http://www.tso.ca/season/youth/youth02.cfm