Seth Godin to Speak at TCG National Conference in Boston

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces that digital-marketing pioneer and best-selling author Seth Godin will speak at the 22nd annual TCG National Conference in Boston from June 21 to 23, 2012. This multiday convening will bring 1,000 theater practitioners together from around the world to conclude TCG's year-long 50th anniversary celebration.

Seth Godin was named one of the top 21 speakers for the 21st century by Successful Meetings magazine, and has written 13 books that have been translated into more than 35 languages. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, leadership and most of all, changing everything. Using real-world examples from extremely successful companies, Godin reveals the benefits of using creative, remarkable thinking to transform business ideas and practices. He has been called "America's Greatest Marketer" by American Way magazine, "The Prime Minister of Permission Marketing" by Promo magazine and "a demigod on the Web" by Forbes.com.

Godin joins DJ Spooky and Howard Shalwitz in the growing line-up of plenary speakers, with more to be announced soon. Plenary and breakout sessions will explore the Conference theme of Model the Movement: transforming the theatre field into a movement, one new model at a time. The Conference will focus on what works – how theatre-makers can better share, measure and adapt the models already making a difference. Working groups will collaborate on these models and ideas as part of a year-round online conference community, which will continue through to the 2013 National Conference.

"Seth Godin's ideas – from the 'purple cow' to his latest book, Poke the Box – are an inspiring reminder of the necessity of creativity and authentic engagement in building community and leading change," said Teresa Eyring, Executive Director of TCG. "Having Godin speak at the same conference as the innovative multi-disciplinary artist DJ Spooky and one of our pioneers in theatrical risk-taking, Howard Shalwitz, will ignite our conversations on how we might 'model the movement'."

"The TCG National Conference has been important to my professional and personal growth for over 30 year, as a forum for meeting heroes and making lifelong friends," said Michael Maso, Co-Chair of the Host Committee and Managing Director of the Huntington Theatre Company. "I am delighted by the chance for Boston's burgeoning and innovative theatre community to exchange ideas with the national field, and to show off a bit of what we have accomplished in Boston in recent years."

"I have been lucky enough to attend the TCG National conferences since 1995 and be on the TCG board since 2006," added Co-Chair Kate Warner. "Like with the power of live theatre, there is something palpable, significant and unique about being in the same room with each other and talking about what's relevant and important to us and our audiences."

The TCG National Conference provides the largest forum for The National Theatre community to assemble for artistic and intellectual exchange, as well as a chance to explore the local theatre community. TCG will present plenary speakers, breakout sessions, workshops and performances at the Park Plaza Hotel, Emerson College and the Boston Center for the Arts. The Conference is sponsored by the Barr Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; The Boeing Company; Mayor Menino's Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and media sponsor, WGBH.

Born in 1970 in Washington D.C., Paul D. Miller is an artist, writer, and musician working in New York. Miller is best known under the moniker of his "constructed persona" as "DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid." Miller has recorded a huge volume of music and has collaborated with a wide variety of artists, writers, musicians and composers such as Robert Wilson, Iannis Xenakis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mariko Mori, Kool Keith/Doctor Octagon, Pierre Boulez, Saul Williams, Steve Reich, Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Paul Auster, and Colson Whitehead, among many others. www.djspooky.com

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