Thursday 23 May, 2013

PAL Canada® is looking for a new Executive Director and welcomes potential candidates to apply.


Please click here to obtain a copy of the job description.


CALL FOR NOMINATIONS TO PAL CANADA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PAL CANADA is looking for several persons who want to make a positive difference in the lives of seniors who work (or have worked) in the professional performing arts. At our Annual General Meeting on June 24th, 2013 we shall be electing our new Board of Directors.  We strive to build a strong and effective board by ensuring that it is comprised of a broad and diversified base of talented and skilled people. Our Board will be made up of 10 persons elected at-large from across Canada as well as representatives from the 8 PAL Chapters in Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Stratford, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, and ex-officio representation from the professional associations and performing arts unions who founded PAL Canada® in the 1990’s.

This year there will be at least 6 vacant seats to be filled.  We have a particular need right now for candidates with backgrounds in the legal and communications professions and, as always, candidates with a knowledge of fund raising and accessing governments.  As well, we are most interested in hearing from potential candidates in Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador

The Board meets 6 times a year in Toronto, with members from other parts of Canada connected by conference call.  Meetings last approximately 2 hours.  Each member of the Board is expected to be actively involved with the activities of at least one of the Board committees.  All Board members need to become current members of PAL Canada® if they are not already.

Our Board members are passionate about the performing arts—the people who devote their lives to creating Canadian live performance, and to our mission:  Taking Care of Our Own.  Previous experience as a board member for a non-profit organization is an asset, as is experience in business or other professions.

If you are interested in being considered by the Nominations Committee, please contact  Allan Macmillan, Secretary at macmillan22@gmail.com at your earliest convenience.  Note also the final date of May 10, 2013 for receipt of formal submissions of nomination for election to the Board in the Notice of Elections below, as well as the mailing address.

 

NOTICE OF ELECTIONS: BOARD OF DIRECTORS, PAL CANADA FOUNDATION

The By-laws of PAL Canada® Foundation currently make provision for 10 Members-at-Large to be elected to its Board of Directors by the membership. The term of office is for two years from the date of the Annual General Meeting which, this year, will be held on June 24. The terms of all current members of the Board who are Members-at-Large will expire at the 2013 Annual General Meeting.  Four of the incumbents have indicated their willingness to stand for a further term.

There are, therefore, at least six seats to be filled.  If, by the deadline for nominations there are more nominations received than seats available, there will be an election and nominees will be advised as to the election procedures.

We encourage any member in good standing who would like to become a candidate for a seat on the Board of Directors to submit a nomination. If you are not currently a member in good standing and would like to be eligible for nomination, please contact the PAL Canada® office to make the necessary membership arrangements. The nomination will bear the signatures of two other paid up members of PAL Canada®, as well as that of the nominee indicating a willingness to serve. The inclusion of a brief biography of the nominee would be helpful, but it is not an absolute requirement at this point.

Nominations should be directed to the Secretary, PAL Canada® Foundation Inc., 110 The Esplanade. Suite 333, Toronto, ON, M5E 1X9 and must be received no later than May 10, 2013.

 

 

Free admission is just the ticket

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Sharyn Jackson, Star Tribune

Mixed Blood Theatre and others have boosted audience diversity and access by offering free and reduced-price admission.

Jack Reuler doesn't mind that his organization is losing money. In fact, said Reuler, it's a sign of success.

Mixed Blood Theatre just ended its first season of free admission to all of its productions, and Reuler, the troupe's founder and artistic director, said the organization achieved exactly what it had hoped: filling seats with everybody who wanted one.

"We did not break even, nor did we intend to," said Reuler.

In an effort to expand and diversify its audience, Mixed Blood last year announced a new cost-free admission program. Called Radical Hospitality, the initiative offers free tickets on a first-come-first-served basis two hours before each show. A limited number of tickets are available for purchase for $15 for those who want the guarantee of a seat. At a time when tickets are becoming an increasingly expensive commodity at theaters nationwide, the move was indeed radical.

"We're trying to eliminate one of many barriers to participation, and thought we'd tackle the hardest one first," said Reuler.

As a result, weekly attendance rose 18 percent over the previous season, and ticket revenue was $170,000 less than in 2010-11, Reuler said. That income gap was partially filled by a rise of about $100,000 in contributed income over the year before.

But, Reuler explained, "No shows are ever paid for by their box office. We no longer review our shows by the dollars they generate by guaranteed admission."

New thinking

While Mixed Blood may be the first theater in the Twin Cities to eliminate admission fees, it is part of a wave of theaters rethinking the classic ticketing model. Reuler said Mixed Blood looked for guidance from New York's Public Theater, which has been giving away tickets to Shakespeare in the Park for 50 years.

Here, several theater companies do one-off "pay-what-you-can" nights, and since 2010, the Minnesota Theater Alliance has participated in the national "Free Night of Theater," which brought 5,000 patrons to local stages for the first time.

Leah Cooper, executive director of the alliance, said that audience diversification initiatives like these are on the rise in the Twin Cities. "There's a much more progressive mind-set around arts and culture for everybody," said Cooper. "It's that egalitarian idea that everybody should get to participate equally here."

To read the full article: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/159953525.html

 

UNDER THE DISTINGUISHED PATRONAGE OF
HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE DAVID JOHNSTON, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA