GAN-e-meed Joins StageSource For Career Lab for Women in Theatre 7/10

GAN-e-meed Theatre Project and StageSource announce Perfecting Your Pitch, a workshop for performing artists and arts leaders. Perfecting Your Pitch, lead by noted speaker and activist Robbie Samuels, continues GAN-e-meed's Career Labs, an essential program developed to address the specific challenges faced by women in theatre through skills workshops, panelist discussions, and community building. The Boston Center for the Arts is generously donating their space for The Career Labs.

Join Robbie Samuels, noted speaker and activist, as he leads attendees through the finer points of perfecting a pitch. This workshop, created specifically for theatre and performing artists will include experiential exercises and take-aways. "One of the greatest challenges of theatre artists and producers is to ‘convince' the world that theatre is a worthy endeavor to fund." Says, SerahRose Roth, Executive Director of GAN-e-meed. "Robbie is a talented speaker and we are lucky that he has generously agreed to create a new workshop for GAN-e-meed."

Known for his innovative workshops "Art of the Schmooze" and "Fundraising: Getting Past the Fear of Asking," Robbie is creating this new workshop, incorporating the best of his materials and information designed with the theatre artist in mind. Every participant hear a passionate speaker bringing his dynamic and fruitful experience to the fore and walk away with a clearer grasp of project descriptions, personal/company mission, pitch talking points and best practices. The workshop, like all Career Labs, is welcoming to all genders and artistic and business disciplines.

"The Career Labs was created for women to develop additional skills to bring their work to the next level." Continues Roth, "Every artist should be able to speak eloquently, bravely, and passionately about her project in a variety of situations, whether it be a grant-maker, potential collaborator, or regular audience member. Adding skills will bring us closer to bridging the theatre artist gender employment gap, which his at the heart of GAN-e-meed's mission." Like previous career labs, Perfecting Your Pitch will be covered by both live blogging and tweeting (hashtag?) to offer insight and conversation for those unable to attend.

Produced in part by StageSource and generously hosted by the Boston Center for the arts, both organizations are known for their missions to create important growth opportunities for Boston area artists.

About The Career Labs
For over a year, women and their supporters gathered monthly for informal networking, dialogue, and skill sharing at GAN-e-meed's Networking Nights for Women in Theatre. Conversation often focused on the real challenges women face as they move ahead with their careers and artistic aspirations. "The Networking Nights began not just as a chance for women to enhance their relationships, but as a way for GAN-e-meed to learn what women really need to accomplish their goals. Certain topics kept coming up, and the Career Labs are built around those expressed needs," says Lewis.

The Career Labs series began in January with The Power to Ask, a workshop on negotiation for women in theatre and the arts. Twenty-five female theatre artists of many disciplines came together to listen to Sara Laschever speak on women's propensity to avoid negotiating, and to work on their own negotiation skills. Participants walked away with increased skills and the confidence to further their own careers. Live blogging posts are available at www.ganemeed.org/category/season-2011/career-labs.

The series continued in April with Boston's Glass Proscenium, a panel discussion featuring such prominent Boston area artists as Karen McDonald, Angie Jepson, Kate Warner, and Dawn Simmons. A video transcript of the event will be made available this fall. GAN-e-meed Theatre Project's Career Labs will continue next with a round-table discussion on Balancing Act: The Work/Life continuum for Artists and two more installments during the 2011-2012 season.

"The Career Labs," Lewis continues, "challenge artists to have honest discussions and generate immediate and long-term solutions, empowering a corps of female theatre artists who are ready to take their careers in their own hands."

"I am thrilled that GAN-e-meed is taking this step forward," adds SerahRose Roth, Producing Artistic Director. "We exist not just as a Production Company, but as an advocate for the women our mission serves. Offering this series of opportunities is an important aspect of this."

More Articles by This Author...