Notes from ACCA Members’ Let’s Talk About It Response to Covid-19, 2020.04.22

Notes from ACCA Members’ Let’s Talk About It Response to Covid-19

April 22, 2020

In Attendance:  Roger Gaudet (Ottawa), Linda Gorrie (Vancouver), Kate Proctor (Ottawa), Victoria Steele (Ottawa), Sandra Thomson (Nanaimo), Lucy White (Toronto)

 

  1. Short Term actions:

  • Bi-weekly Member Check-ins on Wednesdays at 1pm ET to share intel and skills.
  • Sharing info in-between Check-ins – such as the opportunity to join the pro-bono LEAN initiative (Leadership Emergency Arts Network) to provide short-term crisis management support to leaders of organizations across Canada. 150 Advisors and matching happening now.
  • Co-hosted online discussion with Mass Culture on April 20 – Supporting Organizations Today. Over 30 attended. Thanks very much to Fanny Martin for her work on this initiative with Mass Culture.  Evaluation report expected soon.
  • Share open tips on ACCA FB and LinkedIn and new Twitter account – Marketing Committee to take this on?
  • Ask members to sign up individually for a Canada Council profile so that we as a group and as individuals become eligible for whatever granting programs come.

  1. Medium Term actions:

  • Canada Council meetings April 2 and 20. Early discussions with Canadian Heritage have begun.
  • Pursuing collaborative effort with Canadian Arts Coalition, Arts Service Organizations, Cultural Human Resources Council and others. Discussions begun.
  • Members’ Survey of ASO affiliations: identify individual affiliations and Members who could be assigned as liaisons with key different ASOs to ensure that, as a group, we are up to date with their current activities, especially around this crisis. Send second survey this week to get more responses.
  • PENDING: Pilot the 3-for-1 Team consultants’ services program without government assistance to see what happens and to demonstrate that we are willing to and have the talent to serve our clients in a more collaborative manner. We need a couple of volunteers to take this on.

  1. Check in – What members are hearing:

  • Funders focusing on the immediate future, not yet looking at long term recovery
  • Arts groups and funders still in emergency mode
  • $500 million funding announced last Friday – federal departments will know in about a week who is getting new funds.
  • Funders thinking that getting arts orgs. to focus on local arts community and arts as part of social cohesion may be the way forward. No support for travelling.
  • Post – pandemic: many fragile arts orgs will cease to operate. Will there be mergers? Amalgamations? Will larger orgs take on the work that was being done by smaller ones? Will major players support the smaller players? Digital entrepreneurship will be the way forward for many artists.
  • Arts orgs currently focused on short-term – bridge financing, delaying activities, supporting their teams and artists.
  • ASOs wish to be open beyond the traditional idea of membership. There is much more desire for collaborative ventures/partnerships. Medium Term – looking at doing things differently. A good time to manage change.
  • Some desire for new organization models in the medium term future to maximize artistic resources across admin infrastructure – even amalgamations.
  • Funders concerned about small/vulnerable organizations and speculating ways to ensure Sustainability – new business models, more digital proficiency, shared services, supporting local/nothing involving travel. Suspect cuts in long term to balance government books.
  • Messaging – social value of the arts as local community building/rebuilding consumer confidence – come out to share the arts locally in your town.

What consultants can bring to the effort:

  • Shared skills and expertise
  • Knowledge in revenue generation/donor relations
  • Independent facilitation for change and collaboration
  • Potential collaborative ventures with CHRC/ASOs:
  • For Sector: Webinars/online training in key areas such as: How to develop healthy collaborations and partnerships, How to manage Cash Flow, Tips on sharing arts with the public in the time of COVID physical-distancing, Successful Digital Platforms
  • For arts organizations: Customized Team Consulting
  • For individual artists: Career Management

  1. New Action Items:

  • Sandra to ask Programming Committee to tackle setting up a few webinars in the near future – Panel discussion on Collaboration and Partnerships – how to make it work; Panel discussion on Health and Safety concerns – how to reopen your facility to keep people safe. How to adapt work spaces for social distancing. Roger to contact Janet Sellery (former member) and CITT.  Later in the year maybe one on Fundraising and Donor relations during this pandemic?
  • Marketing Committee to discuss/plan how to promote new webinars for maximum reach. Cate volunteered for this committee.
  • Resend the Survey asking people that did not respond to fill it in. Sandra to draft new opening paragraph and get to Victoria.
  • Victoria keeping an eye on Grant deadlines that ACCA could access with ASO’s as partners
  • Lucy to update/finalize ACCA profile with Canada Council

  1. Next Meeting:

It was agreed that the hour was well spent, good information shared and a plan of action for ACCA is evolving. It was agreed that there would be another “Let’s Talk About It” in two weeks Wed. May 6 at 1 pm ET.