My WAA Experience: Aisha Ahmad-Post

Aisha Ahmad-Post is the Executive Director of the Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver.

Aisha, how many WAA conferences have you attended?

Aisha Ahmad-Post — Executive Director, Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver.

My first WAA was Seattle in 2017, and I’ve attended every year since! Although I was aware of WAA for a long time before then, as I started in the industry at a booking agency, so I remember my colleagues getting ready to go to WAA.

What have you found to be the benefits of attending? 

WAA is so delightful because it is a smaller conference — and maybe it’s something about the Mountain West and the Northwest generally — the pace is very different from some of the other conferences I’ve been to. It’s less strictly commerce in the way that others are, so I feel like I’ve really been able to get to know my colleagues in the West because of WAA. It just feels a little calmer — it's easy to set up lunches, and there are often chance meetings at the hotel bar etc.  

From the presenter side of things, we’re all kind of dealing with the same problem – which is that routing a tour outside of California is pretty tough – Colorado, Salt Lake City, Omaha, Kansas City, Phoenix — none of these places are close in a traditional standard, so we’re all sort of in the same boat in that way. And because of that shared problem, I've gotten to have deeper conversations with my colleagues. 

What has been your favorite or most memorable conference?  

Seattle did feel special, as it was right after I'd just been appointed the director at the Ent Center for the Arts at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. I realized how many colleagues I already had in the industry and it sort of felt like a homecoming in a way; I had spent about six years away from specifically performing arts presenting – I was working in the cultural field, at the New York Public Library which is just a very different vibe, so to come back and see so many people still in the industry and to pick back up felt really affirming. And Seattle is gorgeous!  I had a really fun time at the Vegas one in 2018 — just with all the different stuff we were able to see and do. I don’t know, they’ve all been great! I loved Portland last year — it felt like seeing friends again. It’s hard to choose.

What are you looking forward to about this year’s conference?  

It will be really nice to see colleagues coming back in the fold. It’s been so tenuous for a lot of people, budget cuts, not being sure if they would make it through the year. I’m looking forward to this year being an opportunity for us to all reconnect and hopefully get away from the craziness of the past year.  

What’s a typical conference day like for you?  

When I started, I would do a lot of agent meetings and really prioritized those. As I’ve gotten to really know folks at the conference, I have gravitated more towards the panels and trying to get a better sense of trends in the industry. I try to go to as many of the panels as I can.  

I do still try to prioritize getting as many meetings on the books as I can, especially with folks that I have done a lot of business with, or have been trying to do business with — but over the years, I feel like I have really gotten a sense of what works in my hall and what doesn’t, so while I’m always excited to meet new folks, it’s not always about specifically doing business, it’s more about an awareness of artists that are out there.  

Aisha with Theresa Vibberts of CAMI Music at the 2017 conference in Seattle; image credit: Lisa Monet Photography.

Do you come in with a plan or goal?  

I see WAA as the beginning of the booking seasons in a lot of ways. So, I will start some prep work beforehand: thinking through my series, what I want to do, what is going to work within that sphere, where I want to take some risks this year, who am I ready to bring back. I definitely come in with a sense of that, especially as agents start to reach out and set up times to meet.  

I try to come to the pre-conference session if I can make it happen with my schedule – always an interesting deep dive. I also try to stay through the Thursday night so I can have some free time in whatever city I'm in. I hope to take a trip over to Banf this year.  

And then I come back with a ton of notes. I've stopped taking people’s papers and flyers as I'm trying to be more environmentally conscious.  

What do you think makes WAA conference unique?  

It’s one of the few places I know where I can really talk to a group of likeminded people about the type of work I want to do and have other people just sort of “get it”. It’s a close-knit community, a nice community and a welcoming one, or at least I’ve always found that to be the case. I always look forward to WAA as the kick-off to my booking season — which honestly is one of my favorite parts of my job. 

Do you have any tips for newcomers or folks who have never attended?   

Especially if you are new to the field, whether an agent or presenter or artist: try to set up even a few getting-to-know-you meetings. People do not respond well to mass emails — and it is very easy to tell when that happens. Be very specific, look at the roster of who is coming and think about your own goals for WAA, what sort of connections you’d like to make. Plan to set up 3-5 meetings as a minimum and always try to include a couple of people you don’t know. There are a lot of people at WAA who have been doing this for a long time, so even if you are not a good fit artistically with someone you’re talking to, they might be able to give you some guidance or let you know of other folks in the field who would be a really good fit for you. I think that is always really helpful.  

The speed dating sessions are always a really nice way to get a sense of who is out there 

Don’t be afraid to say a polite, “I don’t think is not going to work for my venue/program.” Not everyone is going to be a fit. If you’re a presenter, you are going to get pitched a ton of stuff and it's so much better for the agent if you’re direct when something isn’t a good fit for your program or audience, and why. That’s always appreciated over radio silence, which gives people nothing to go on. Similarly, on the agent side: really do your homework. If you’re meeting with a presenter, know what type of hall they have, what they normally book, and be honest with yourself about which artists are going to make sense in those venues. That’s critical – otherwise you're wasting time and money.  

Take advantage of the New Colleagues Program. Don’t be afraid to ask ‘dumb’ questions. 99% of the people there want to help. Whatever problem you’re having, someone else has gone through it, too. 

Great advice — thank you, Aisha. We’ll see you in Calgary!

Stay tuned for future editions of My WAA Experience.