My WAA Experience: Ichun Yeh
Ichun Yeh is Vice President & Director of Sales at Sozo Artists, a bi-coastal company based in NYC and Oakland, CA.
Ichun Yeh, Vice President & Director of Sales at Sozo Artists
How long have you been attending WAA, Ichun?
My first WAA was Seattle in 2011, and I have attended every one since. The 2011 conference was with my first job in the field, and my boss at the time, Harold Norris at H-Art Management, brought me into the fold and introduced me to a lot of people at WAA – it was an interesting and impactful experience.
Why do you attend? What are the benefits of attending?
My primary role is artist representation and management, so the biggest thing for me is to find opportunities for our artists and the projects we’re working on. As creative producers, we also use it as a scouting opportunity.
As far as the benefits of attending — WAA really feels like a community, like a family-oriented environment. It’s not just about the transactional element. There is a lot of opportunity for peer-to-peer information sharing and a kind of case study comparison between different organizations and agencies and even genres – I find that very useful.
The timing is great too, because it is the very beginning of the booking season, the time that we are working on projects and often the first time we are officially presenting artists to the public – so we often use WAA as a testing ground for the ideas and projects we’re working on that may not yet be fully put together. It’s a chance to see how the market reacts. You can get input on producing or artistic direction, and that can directly inform if there are changes necessary or beneficial for the projects and artists we are working on or thinking about taking on. And this is not only in the exhibit hall – it can be from getting into conversations in the lobby or bar, talking to people; naturally everyone is there with a collective interest, and because it’s less transactional, we get direct and honest feedback from those conversations. People are not afraid of telling you what they are thinking about the project you’re bringing to the table.
What is a typical conference day for you?
Because of the nature of my job, my day is usually stacked with meetings. But I am mindful of setting boundaries around my schedule – for example, not taking official meetings after dinner time, so that I can sustain myself for the four-day trajectory, and making sure I create space physically and mentally to be able to explore what the conference has to offer. What I value about the in-person conference experience the most is the unplanned encounter. Networking, forming friendships, that kind of thing.
What WAA makes unique?
The programming focus at WAA has been something I appreciate. It’s not like the theme changes drastically each year – for example, WAA’s been pretty consistent about supporting Indigenous artists, and supporting international exchange.
The fact that WAA usually has many international attendees I think is unique for a regional conference.
Ichun with Lee Dombroski and Tim Slaughter, 2015 Annual Conference in Vancouver, BC.
Do you have a favorite or most memorable conference?
Most memorable was Vancouver in 2015. The conference was really well done and I loved it, but why it was most memorable also ties in to what I mean when I say WAA is like a family. I am not an American citizen, I am a Taiwanese citizen, and at that time, I was on a work visa. I had to renew the visa, and to do that, you have to leave the country and get a stamp – it can be any country, you just have to leave the US. So, since I was in Vancouver it seemed like perfect timing to do it. I went to the consulate in Vancouver and everything got messed up. They told me that my job did not qualify as highly skilled, for the H1B visa I was on – and yet the visa was already approved, I was just there to get a stamp – they actually didn’t have the rights to determine that, per se. But they took my passport.
As you can imagine, I was in a bit of a state and wondering what I was going to do, how I was going to get home. So, I went back to the conference and to my next meeting which was with Beth Macmillan who was WAA Board President at the time. I told her what had happened at the consulate. Well, it just so happened that she had been talking with the ambassador the day before, since WAA had been working with the consulate as part of taking the conference to Canada – and she said, “let me see what I can do.” She put in a call and within two or three hours, I was contacted to say it was all a misunderstanding and they’d be returning my passport. So not my favorite experience, but certainly the most memorable. Thanks Beth - love ya!
Any tips for newcomers?
Sign up for the New Colleague Program — that is how you can make the first direct connections, and your mentor will oftentimes be able to introduce you to their own networks. Don’t stack yourself with everything – leave yourself some room to breathe and be spontaneous.
Thinking of this year, what are you looking forward to?
Reconnecting with the colleagues I haven't seen for the past two or three years will be the highlight of this year for me. Besides seeing people, I’m curious about the changes and trends in the field. Not necessarily about personnel, more about the impact of the social issues and equity issues we have been addressing as a county and a field over the past two years - how has that impacted our colleagues? Have there been any practical changes in terms of programming and the different direction organizations are taking as a result? I’m interested to see how it unfolds.
Thank you, Ichun. See you in Calgary — we can’t wait!
Stay tuned for future editions of My WAA Experience.