2019 Fourth Quarter Activity
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Attachment 1 Meridian Hall St. Lawrence Centre Meridian Arts Centre CT11.4 Executive Management Report to the Board Q4 Activity (October–November-December 2019) TO LIVE | Executive Management Report | March 1, 2020 CEO’S EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The fourth quarter is historically one of the highest revenue-generating periods of the year with TO Live, the second quarter being the second highest. In addition to this past trend and due to the scheduling of touring productions, we also had a series of our largest productions happening in a condensed time period; Taj Express, Bend it Like Beckham and The SpongeBob Musical all took place between October and the end of the year. The stacking of the productions in this way meant that our risk program budgets were heavily weighted into the fourth quarter. With the holiday season fast approaching, each department worked hard to meet their goals and, as outlined in the following report, there were many successes across the company. As an example, TO Live presented the Nelson Mandela exhibition proving that the use of a program with cross departmental leverage can galvanize our community partners, donors, and audience, especially in our community and education program. There were also several areas of key learning coming out of this presentation; longer lead times for fundraising, marketing and attendance numbers through seasons and associated partnership costs. In the end, without having taken this leap, the organization would not have been able to grow, and I believe we will be seeing the ancillary benefits of this program for a long time. With our large productions quickly approaching, it became apparent that sales were slow across all of the programs and we were not going to hit target. The drop in sales for the commercial productions which were meant to support the other programs caused a need to rethink the upcoming 2020 budget to lower risk and hopefully drive income to cover any deficit from the 2019 yearend. The team began working on this budget and have started the first quarter of 2020 with a reduced risk portfolio for the new year which includes a companywide reduction in variable expenses, along with a freeze on staffing hires and compensation adjustments. We are optimistic about the upcoming 2020 year and the overall health of the organization. Barring any extraordinary market events, our plan for 2020 should set TO Live up for another growth year in 2021. Clyde Wagner President & CEO TO LIVE | Executive Management Report | March 1, 2020 Page 1 PROGRAMMING PRODUCING . Re-organized departmental office; team now working in same space . Began consolidation of duties between corporate and risk event execution team nd . Opened 2 exhibition in MAC Gallery . Executed 15 risk presentations and 56 corporate events RENTALS While overall, bookings were down compared to the same period last year due to the postponement of a long running show at the Bluma and a drop in activity from resident companies, TO Live picked up 18 new clients, 10 of which are already holding dates for future shows. Notable new relationships for Meridian Hall include promoters bringing large-scale Latin and Chinese shows to Toronto, thus expanding our reach into those communities. TO LIVE PRESENTATIONS Q4 is a busy time for TO Live as it marks the start of a new programming season. In partnership with Canadian Stage, TO Live launched its 2019/20 Dance Collection with the internationally acclaimed Bangarra Dance Theatre, an aboriginal company from Australia. In celebration of the company’s 30th anniversary, Bangarra performed a special program comprising a collection of work rooted in traditional aboriginal dance, music and storytelling which they have collected from the Elders in their communities. Bringing this acclaimed company to Canada for the first time required the combined efforts of our peers across the country including the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Danse (Montreal), Dance House (Vancouver), as well as funding from both the provincial and federal level. The launch of TO Live’s first exhibit Mandela: Struggle for Freedom was another highlight of Q4. It provided a thematic anchor to the 2019 programming, spurred exciting, relevant and necessary conversations around the ideas of defiance, freedom and repression, and introduced TO Live to new communities and partners (see E&E report below). TO LIVE | Executive Management Report | March 1, 2020 Page 2 EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT Q4 was extremely busy with the exciting addition of Mandela programming. We added a part-time staff member to the team, primarily based at Meridian Arts Centre, and he hit the ground running focusing on school engagement and community outreach. Mandela provided a fantastic opportunity to help us connect with Toronto schools and community programs. We made an important connection to the TDSB Equity department which helped us reach over 1300 students from priority schools who require subsidized access to programs. Highlights: . Mandela Engagement o Over 2000 students and youth attended and we received positive feedback o Successful Social Prescribing/Facilitated Access pilot with South Riverdale Community Health Centre o Successful workshops with Vibe Arts and Earl Haig ROOTS students o Hosted both Nelson Mandela namesake schools (Regent Park and Brampton) . Extended Hip-Hop drop-ins at MAC due to high demand . Welcomed Claude Watson Grade 6 class to Discover Dance at MAC . Hosted National Theatre School Festival Workshop Day – 185 students from GTA . Presented Insights Discussion Series ancillary to Mandela . Urban Sketchers drew MAC lobby – cross sector community engagement with professional visual artists . Particularly positive feedback about Bangarra and Uptown Moves masterclasses Q3. CORPORATE EVENTS . Meridian Hall: Retained six corporate events. Closed four new events. StLC: Retained one recurring event. Closed three new events. Meridian Arts Centre: Retained a recurring client for nine events along with seven other corporate group events. Closed one new event. TO LIVE | Executive Management Report | March 1, 2020 Page 3 PRODUCTION . A busy part of the year, the Production team’s energies were directed toward delivery of show and event services. Installation of life safety systems for working at heights in the George Weston Recital Hall were completed including an updated rescue plan for high angle rescues. Negotiations with IATSE Local 58 stagehands regarding a new collective agreement at Meridian Hall continued and remain ongoing. MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Performances . Activated a successful costume contest in support of Harry Potter in Concert, driving social media engagement and enhancing the physical experience . Developed and managed marketing campaigns for the 2019-20 season’s busiest period, including feature presentations The SpongeBob Musical and Taj Express . Developed and executed integrated marketing campaign to support the Mandela exhibition at Meridian Arts Centre, driving over 10,000 visitors to TO Live’s largest gallery exhibition to date . Supported the opening reception and drove audiences to Mandela and The Kingdom Choir . Collaborated with Producing and Merchandise personnel to plan and launch a ‘surprise and delight’ in-lobby retail experience with local fashion and style vendors, held during performances of RuPaul’s Drag Race Digital Transformation . Held two cross-departmental staff workshops to prioritize digital deliverables, with the goal of leveraging technology to improve customer experience and drive revenues . Compiled a digital strategy roadmap, based on workshop outcome, to deliver to the digital technology vendor (once selected) . Assembled a Selection Committee to evaluate responses to Digital Transformation RFP Additional Activities . Fully transitioned to the use of new venue names across all digital and physical communications and media TO LIVE | Executive Management Report | March 1, 2020 Page 4 . Continued to represent TO Live in meetings of the Audience Analytics Collective, a group of Toronto arts organizations working together toward a common goal of better understanding arts audiences TICKETING . Despite being down one full-time staff member, the department rose to the challenge of increased business and made Q4 the highest activity quarter of the year for ticketed events, both in terms of ticketed events run within the quarter, total tickets booked for events in the quarter, and total tickets booked for future events. Successfully navigated the setup and execution of several notable firsts with the Mandela exhibit, our first foray into ticketing a long-running public exhibition/gallery event, including advanced use of the Universe online ticketing platform, managing large school group bookings and coordinating availability and patron flow in close collaboration with the Front of House, Education & Engagement and Programming departments. Managed ticketing and box office for a number of large projects and long-running events in addition to the Mandela exhibition, including TO Live’s revised ticketing setup for Canadian Stage’s 2019/2020 season, the multi-venue run of Fall For Dance North, the extended run of Bend It Like Beckham, the run of The SpongeBob Musical and most of the work towards the post-New Year’s run of The Illusionists. Made continued improvements to various internal processes, including use the newly integrated TO Live-wide Box Office telephone queue, better management of dynamic pricing and regular scaling updates to maximize sales based on activity, and better tracking