Think globally

I'm delighted to have been invited by Amanda to contribute a conference
blog. I suppose what I can bring is an international perspective, to
comment as a Brit on this hugely ambitious gathering of the American arts
community.

The first problem with this, of course, is jet-lag. I flew in from London
last night, after a 10 hour flight and with a 7 hour time difference. That
meant I woke up at 2am, after just a few hours sleep, with my body telling
it was 9am and time to get up. Luckily that meant that I was able to join
the Orchestra Leadership Academy session on Branding, at the, to my
British way of thinking, unseasonable hour of 8am.

And it was a fascinating session, The presentation from Sametz Blackstone
was succinct, comprehensible and inspiring. Having just signed off a new
website I realised to my shock I had it all wrong. As soon as I am back in
England we have to rip it up and start again. And I need to see if I can
get Roger and Brandon over to the ABO conference, as I am sure our members
would benefit enormously from their expertise.

The second half of the session was fun and useful, and a great chance to
meet other delegates. And it was good to find I was not the only
international representative, with Megan from the New Zealand Symphony
Orchestra on my team. Which put my moaning about the 10 hour flight in
perspective.

After lunch with Megan and her colleague Rachel in the SmartBar, it was on
to the opening General Session, Now, I need to be careful what I say here,
but I did think it was overly dominated by theatre and community arts. I
couldn't quite see where professional orchestras got a look-in. And the
Mayor's presentation seemed to me to miss a crucial point. In his vision
of Denver in 2028, we had as the backdrop frequent images of cars on
freeways. Er, forgive me if I'm missing something, but have Al Gore's
valiant efforts to raise consciousness of global warming been all in vain?
The general mood of the hall seemed benignly Democratic, but there was not
a single mention by any speaker, or in the declaration flashed up at the
end, of climate change and our responsibilities as citizens towards the
planet.

I strongly urge delegates to include this subject in their caucus
discussions. Because there is a prize to be gained. The performing arts
can be an advocate for awareness and for change, and can be part of the
solution. Because research in England has shown that there are more
emissions created by audiences travelling to arts events, than the events
themselves. So the solution is simple - make sure every citizen has access
to high quality theatre, dance and music on their doorstep. The future is
local.

posted by Mark Pemberton, our British correspondent on the proceedings.