Pitch Your Idea for WAA 2023

Exploring New Ideas & Possibilities From Across the Performing Arts

Insightful perspectives; innovative strategies; creative ideas; engaging discussions — you can expect all these things and more from WAA's professional development program. Over the years, WAA has earned a reputation for gathering the most respected thought leaders in the field to share their expertise with the WAA community, and we are committed to introducing you to the people who can help you build the knowledge, relationships, and skills you need to succeed in a changing world. 

We’re looking for professional development ideas for this year’s conference in Seattle — ideas that deliver high impact and appeal while taking advantage of Seattle’s unique cultural landscape. We've compiled a list of themes we'd like to explore — and we want to hear from you!

Common in-person formats include presentations, roundtable discussions, and workshops, but we encourage proposals that center formats incorporating high levels of participation, play, and connection. Your idea will be reviewed by the Professional Development Committee and selected based on our guidelines, values fit, and alignment to current themes and initiatives.

Cathy Weiss, 2018 conference roundtable; Ambience Photography

Blakform — Career Development Platform Model From Blakdance, 2022 conference; Julie Vincent Photography

Kaisha Johnson, 2017 conference; Lisa Monet Photography

Advancing Indigenous Performance session, 2018 conference; Ambience Photography

Themes & Topics 

• Asian American & Pacific Islander Performance
  Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) was the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. between 2000 and 2019 and is the largest ethnic group in the Seattle area. What do we need to know about AAPI artists and communities so we can better serve AAPI artists and audiences? What does AAPI performance teach us about arts excellence in the context of changing demographics? 

• Arts & Technology
  During the pandemic, digital technology opened new pathways to arts participation, criticism, and production. In Seattle — a global tech center — new performing arts venues such as the Pavilion at Redmond Downtown Park and Octave 9 at the Seattle Symphony have been developed to better support digital art experiences. What have we learned about the digital arts since the pandemic? How have partnerships between the arts and tech industries evolved? And where can new technology take the performing arts in the future? 

• Audience Development
  WAA members report that audiences are half to three-quarters what they were since before the pandemic. Anecdotally, we hear that well-known titles and celebrities are selling out box offices while some new works or emerging artists struggle to find audiences. What do these shifts in audience behavior teach us about the changes in the mission and the market of the performing arts? What’s keeping our audiences away and how do we bring them back? How do our programs welcome and integrate new audiences, such as youth or BIPOC audiences, and how do we balance building audiences now and developing new audiences over the long-term? If we can’t market our way out of this situation, what can we do? 

• The New Normal
  The performing arts ecosystem has changed over the past five years as the result of demographic shifts and multiple social, environmental, and public health crises. What are the new systems and pathways that have emerged for presenting and touring that respond to these changes, and how have people been successful in accessing these systems and resources? What are the barriers to participation? What are the organizing principles of the field now (entertainment, equity, economic development, accessibility, technology, etc.?), and what role does the performing arts play in a rapidly changing society? As performing arts professionals, how do we strike a new work-life balance and maintain a healthy sense of wellbeing? 

Submit your idea by 5pm PT on Wednesday, March 15. Questions? Reach out to Joshua Heim.