Thursday, December 23, 2010

Staff report on Independent Theatre released

At the October 2009 National AGM, a member resolution was brought forward by Sarah Stanley, and passed by the members in attendance. The resolution called for a full report on independent theatre issues to be presented to the membership at large by the time of the next National AGM. At its next meeting, Council adopted the resolution for action as part of its work plan for reviewing member-initiated production.

The report is now available through EQUITYONLINE. Thanks to Executive Director Arden Ryshpan, and her staff, for their work on this. 
Agenda details for the upcoming National AGM, to be held in Toronto, are also available at EQUITYONLINE.

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Council Agenda - Part 2

In an earlier post, I talked about how Council solicits additions to its agenda. In most cases, the topic is accepted and then scheduled for inclusion in a future meeting. This helps ensure that we finish off existing topics before embarking on too many new ones. Most topics require (and deserve) a certain amount of dedicated focus.

This post deals with the discussion process itself.

In advance of the scheduled date, I prepare a general series of questions to be answered, and Council reviews the original request. The purpose of the initial set of questions is to help Council define the scope of the topic. Almost any issue can spawn infinite tangents, and it keeps discussion efficient if we determine the scope in advance. Additions can always be made down the line if we stumble across something that needs further exploration. For major membership-wide issues, such as diversity, safe and respectful workplaces, or independent theatre, we invariably cast the net as widely as we can.

A important initial question is always: what do we need to know in order to deal with this matter thoroughly? This query can take several shapes... Are there data that we should be getting from staff (historical data, contract summaries or other material). Are there documents we should review? Is there member input we should get? What do current policies and bylaws say? Do we need to bring in outside expertise (legal opinion, specialists on the issue)?

Discussion begins in earnest once necessary information is in hand, and I prepare a discussion sheet to guide debate. In this way, we never approach an issue having no structure or data with which to work. The discussion sheet will be revised in keeping with Council's discussion, several times if necessary, as the topic proceeds. Each new revision will incorporate a results summary from prior meetings, proposed policy or bylaw amendments as they begin to take shape, and notation of the remaining items to explore. New items that arise in discussion are also added to the sheet, so that they don't get lost. In many ways, these discussion sheets are mini single-topic agenda/minutes.

Ultimately, almost every topic will result in an amendment to Council policies. In this way, the policy document always represents the most current state of Council decision-making. Anyone looking for the answer to the question "What has Council said on this?" will find it there.

Based on discussion outcomes, I prepare a template motion and draft policy language for Council review. For topics of limited scope, the draft is frequently accepted as is, but Council not uncommonly requests changes to the draft material, and new ones are prepared until Council is satisfied and passes the policy amendment. The new policy takes effect immediately, and the online policy document is updated within a couple of weeks to reflect the changes.

All of this takes time, from a couple of meetings, to a year or more in the case of major issues. However, Council's aim in any matter is to create durable solutions that can be applied consistently over the years, and not quickie responses just so we can scratch the issue off our agenda. This approach has resulted in a great deal of strong, actionable, and monitor-able policy over the past four years. Although we review every policy on a cyclical basis, relatively few have needed amendment on second (or subsequent) viewing.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Insurance Survey rescheduled to the new year

Council’s insurance committee has completed work on the insurance survey, to be rolled out across the membership. This is a very challenging topic to explore, and it has taken the committee and its research partner, Leger Marketing, a few weeks longer than anticipated to complete the work. Although the survey is now ready, we are rescheduling release for first thing in the new year in order to avoid an anticipated lower response level during the busy holiday season.

Members with an active email address on file with the office will receive notification and instructions, directly from Leger Marketing, in the first week of January. In order to speed processing and enable the kind of analysis that will be needed on the results, this survey will only be conducted electronically. If you wish to participate and do not have a current email address on file with Equity please visit the members only zone of EQUITYONLINE and update the contact information in your
membership profile.

The survey is designed to review Equity member insurance from the ground up, including assessment of member need for year round coverage, spousal and dependent coverage, dental and vision coverage, coverage more closely geared toward the type of work being done, consideration of other insurance sources, affordability, etc.

It would be very useful for members to take some time, prior to completing the survey, to give some thought to their current and recent health and disability needs, health insurance usage patterns, typical contract patterns, and likely future needs. The results of this work will shape our insurance plan for some time to come, and considered and informed responses are essential to that being done well.

Thank you very much for your continued interest, and we look forward to receiving your responses in January.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Guest Post: Independent Theatre Review Update

Operating since the late Spring, the Independent Theatre Review Committee is made up of thirteen diverse members from across Canada. We have been tasked with examining the current state of small-scale and independent theatre nation-wide, from the perspectives of staff, members, and producers: everyone from those who assist with the production of new work (on stage or off) to those who help drive and create new work for themselves and others. The outcome of our efforts will be a set of recommended policy alternatives, supported by detailed research data, that aim to help Council align the Association's objectives and practices with the needs and priorities of members whose passions are ignited by small-scale and independent theatre work.

Before our committee was formed, regional CPAGs and interested members drove and participated in town hall forums and discussions in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Winnipeg; even earlier, significant effort on this issue was expended by the Indie Caucus, of which many members are part. Our committee's efforts, thus far, have largely been put towards collecting and sorting through minutes and reports generated by this existing body of work. We are stockpiling members' thoughts on what has been working, what hasn't been working, and what people would like to see in agreements covering performance creation below the scale of the Independent Theatre Agreement and Canadian Theatre Agreement. Many common concerns and suggestions have appeared in this material, and a diverse range of views have been captured.

However, we still need to know much more: the terrific discussions that have already taken place must be expanded to include the views of every interested member of the Association. The committee is currently in the planning stages for a national survey that will reach out to every member who would like to contribute. Details are still being worked out, but we are very interested in your candid, open responses to questions on everything from the scope of "small scale" work to the kinds of protections and benefits you value as a member of the Association.

Stay tuned in to e-drive and your regional CPAG early in the new year to hear how you can make your voice heard. And if you've got thoughts and suggestions that you're eager to share, feel free to contact us directly (and confidentially) at
itrcommittee@caea.com. A list of committee members can also be found on our committee page on the Equity web site , and you may direct your thoughts to any of us at any time.

Kris Joseph
Chair, ITR Committee

Friday, November 19, 2010

Stage Safety

With Council deep into its insurance review, this seems like a timely article to share:

Performer Flying and other hazards


The results from our focus group work to date clearly point toward several improvements that members would like to see. However this article certainly highlights one of the great strengths of our existing plan: no one works uninsured.

All the same, insurance is one of those benefits that is best left unused. Be aware of hazards. If you're not sure: ask. Always exercise caution and common sense. Make sure you get to rehearse risky moves until you're comfortable. And, because we're all in this together, watch out for your colleagues.

Take care out (up) there.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Honours Presentation in Calgary

One of the great pleasures of being a Councillor is the opportunity to join with members across the country in our yearly celebration of talent, energy, dedication and support for the performing arts: the annual honours awards.

This year's awards ceremony was held October 25 at the Hotel Arts in downtown Calgary. Members Grant Reddick (Calgary) and Elsa Bolam (Montréal) were accorded Life Membership in Equity, in recognition of their lengthy careers and manifold contributions to theatre. We proudly welcomed Frank Glenfield (Edmonton) as an Honorary Member, acknowledging over 60 years of promotion and support of both professional and community theatre in Alberta.

Toronto’s Susan Wallace, Equity’s former Executive Director, received the Larry McCance Award in appreciation for her many years of dedication and service to the Association and its members. And finally, the 2010 Stage West-Equity Emerging Theatre Artist Award was presented to Bethany Jillard (Toronto) in peer recognition of an impressive start to her young career.

As I was preparing my notes for the honours ceremony, I thought back to some of the classes I had taken in Canadian theatre history. The people we studied were all extraordinary individuals who, in the best traditions of artistic creation, built new opportunity for live performance in theatre, opera and ballet, where little or none had existed before. Our instructor never failed to make the point that the people we were studying were those who had helped make Canadian theatre what it is today. They remain, in many ways, our theatre heroes, and we still build upon the strong artistic foundations that they have provided us.

With each new year of honours, what we consistently hear from the nominators is that "this is the person who made me the artist I am today." It is that immediacy of connection which makes the honours awards so special; in celebrating them together, we all recognise these mentors and leaders as ours, no matter where we live.

How very pleasant it is to rediscover, annually, that we continue to mint new theatre heroes.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Insurance review focus groups complete

Just a quick note to say thanks to all the members from coast to coast who took time to participate in our insurance focus groups. We gathered a lot of very useful information to help us in formulating the survey, including ballpark information on insurance needs and priorities, usage patterns, member awareness of benefits and coverage, affordability ranges, etc.

By the time you read this blog post, the insurance committee will hard at work on the main survey, which we plan to roll out later this fall. In this second phase, we will be collecting data from across the membership to help us develop a plan, or plans, to provide for member insurance well into the future. When you receive your survey, please take the time to help us serve you well.

Details to follow soon.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Council Agenda - Part 1

In various reports, Council Links, EQ columns and blog postings over the years, I have made regular mention of the topics under discussion at the Council table. I thought it might be worth an electronic word or twenty to explain how those topics are chosen and how we go about discussing them.

To begin with, how do we decide what to talk about? Well, there are two types of topic on the Council agenda…

Cyclical
Because Council is charged with governing the association responsibly, year in and year out, there are a large number of recurring topics. For instance, it wouldn’t do to ignore the financial health of our RRSP funds and only review them after a problem became evident. In fact, all aspects of the work of Equity get reviewed every year. That way, we can identify issues while they are still small and address them proactively, rather than getting stuck wondering what just hit us.

Ad Hoc
For (almost*) everything else we rely on the “Request for Council Action”, a short agenda proposal. The RCA is the first step to being added to our “emerging issues” list, Council’s version of “new business”. It is most frequently used by Councillors or regional advisories to suggest a topic for inclusion on our agenda, but all members in good standing have access to it. At each meeting, Council reviews any recently received RCAs, and votes on whether it agrees to devote agenda time and member resources to an exploration of the topic.

Thus, filing an RCA is not a guarantee that the topic will be added to the formal agenda, but the odds are high. Of the close to 200 submitted in the last 9 years, only a handful were declined. In some cases, Council decided that, while the topic could certainly be fodder for a stimulating discussion, the issue was well beyond Equity’s ability to influence and the agenda time could be more profitably used for other matters. In most other cases, the topic is already covered off by existing policy, and the RCA is passed to the Executive Director for direct action.

When Council accepts or declines an RCA, either the President or another Councillor will get back to the initiating member or group so that they know what happened to the request. The President then schedules the topic for discussion in a future agenda, balancing the time-sensitivity of the matter with all the other things that we may have previously scheduled for discussion. At any point in time, Council typically has four or five modest-size topics on its agenda, and one or two major ones.

*Back to that asterisk. There is one other method of placing something on the Council agenda, and that is a member resolution passed at the National AGM. This is a legacy option, retained from the days when it was really the only opportunity for a member at large to propose a topic for the Council agenda.

There are several drawbacks to the resolution approach: you have to know the option exists (few do); it only happens once a year; it requires a quorum and sufficient support to pass at the NAGM; and it is most effective if presented in person, which means travelling to the location of the meeting. 

In contrast, the RCA form is accessible online year round, any member in good standing can submit one, and proposals are reviewed at every Council meeting. At one point, we debated getting rid of the resolution process entirely, but in the end decided to keep it because there was no harm in retaining it as an additional option.

And that’s what it takes to get a topic on the agenda. The next step is the discussion itself, and I’ll deal with that in a future post.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Insurance review focus groups begin

As announced earlier, Leger Marketing, working with Equity Council, is conducting a series of six focus groups on members' insurance needs.

There will be two in-person groups in Toronto on September 23, and two in-person groups in Vancouver on September 27. One teleconference group each will be held for the eastern regions and for the prairie regions on September 29. The purpose of these focus groups is to lay the groundwork for a structured survey later this fall, to be broadly administered throughout the membership at large.

Over the next week, recruiters working with Leger will be calling a random selection of members from across the country to be part of one of these groups. If you are contacted, please consider participating. The hour or so you spend helping us out in this first phase will go a long way toward ensuring that we are able to collect a full set of meaningful and useful statistics in the later survey work.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Service Standards

A large part of the work handled by Equity can be regarded as customer service. Negotiating an agreement only takes up a few months, once every three years. However, the administration of it happens dozens of times each day, year-round, every year. The Association also handles dues and financial benefits on behalf of its members, including insurance and and RRSP services. In addition, we regularly connect up with theatres, as thousands of contracts are arranged.

All these activities, and more, involve numerous member and engager interactions, some very brief and some quite extended. Four years ago, Council implemented policy to ensure that customer service of this sort met basic privacy and accessibility requirements.

At its meeting in August, and based on member feedback, Council voted to take that policy a step further: implementing published service standards.

It's worth having some sense of the context in which this change has been made. Based on the latest annual data from the office, the Business Rep department alone:
  • reviews nearly 14,000 contracts for over 2,000 productions
  • receives and sends over 12,000 emails
  • spends around 450 hours on the phone 
The overwhelming majority of these interactions are positive and productive. But when one occurs that is not, that's when Councillors hear about it. And that's when the local CPAG members hear about it. And that's when everyone else in the green room hears about it. A single bad experience can echo so far and for so long, that it ends up sounding like a chorus of common occurrence.

It isn't. Weeding out duplicate reports and retelling by others, complaints turn out to be comparatively few in number. In the first year of last term, I put my email address absolutely everywhere, and when I got my first customer service complaint, I started a special email folder for those. I just looked: four years now and they average three per year.

I'll be the first to say it: a couple of the complaints were quite troubling, and on several others we could definitely have done better. There are unquestionably some complaints that didn't make it to me, and there are almost certainly several that didn't make it beyond the green room. However, considered in the context of many thousands of interactions per year, and thousands of members and engagers, a handful per year is a pretty good average.

Council is interested in improving that average. We recognise that, while the typical number of customer service issues is very small, a single customer service problem can be a real show-stopper – pun fully intended.

In the next few months, Equity will implement formal, published standards in the areas of timelines for response to communication, timelines for provision of services, knowledgeable response to inquiry, and courteous treatment. Most complaints centre on one or another of these four issues.

We know that in most cases these standards will be redundant, as they are already being handily met. But by publishing them, the Association makes an unequivocal statement of the level of service which members and others have a right to expect in their dealings with us. They provide the organisation itself with a benchmark for its work, and if we should fail to meet the standard, provide the member or other person with an obvious metric for expressing their dissatisfaction.

The policy change to implement the standards was passed at the most recent meeting. The service standards themselves have yet to be finalised, but they will be published both here and on the main website when they are.

Council knows better than to believe that Equity will never muck up — we're all human too. However, we want to ensure that those occurrences continue to be rare, that we are fully prepared to acknowledge them should they occur, and that we will take every opportunity to learn from mistakes.

As always, we welcome your comment.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Insurance review progress report

It's been a while since Council began reviewing Equity's insurance coverage, so I thought it might be time for a brief update. Council has contracted with Leger Marketing, our research partner from the 2007 survey, to conduct a comprehensive assessment of insurance need and affordability within our membership. Aside from having had past experience with them, their project staff impressed us with a willingness to understand our needs and an obvious team approach between the project specialists from both the qualitative and quantitative parts of the work.

Our first step will be to hold a series of focus groups. In-person groups will be conducted in both Toronto and Vancouver, and separate teleconference groups will be conducted for western and eastern Canada, excluding the two areas already covered. This kind of work does not produce data in the usual sense. Because it is a "live" process, and not static like a survey, Leger will use the group discussions to refine both their and our understanding of all the issues in play.

The input from this first phase will be used to created a structured survey, to be administered throughout the membership at large. It is this second step that will produce the concrete data we will need to rebuild the plan for current and anticipated future needs.


All of this work is expected to take place in the fall and early winter, with a report to Council by February. So, you'll be hearing more from us then.

When the time comes, it's vital that we hear from you. If you are contacted for focus group work, please consider participating. If this process is to produce the excellent plan we hope it will, all communities within the membership need to be represented. That includes everyone from those who want more insurance coverage, to those who want less, or none. Similarly, if a survey invitation shows up in your inbox or mailbox, please take the time to complete it. Your insurance plan will be shaped by those who do.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

ITR Committee Announced

ITR Committee Chair Kris Joseph recently announced the full lineup of the committee (save for one space). The full announcement and more detail should be available on the Equity web site in the next short while, but in the meantime, here is the rundown.

From Kris:
"We have forged a troupe of 13 committee members from across Canada and are now planning for our first group meeting and the data collection phase of our mandate. Sharon, Kerry Ann and I are VERY pleased with the makeup of the group and excited about the work.
We have a wide range of work experience, career depth and breadth; expertise on data collection and analysis as well as health & safety and diversity issues; a very even gender split; and a range of folks who are members and member-engagers."
The committee is:

BC & Yukon: Steven Greenfield, Colleen Winton, Katey Wright

Northern Alberta: Gina Puntil

Southern Alberta: Cheryl Hutton

Saskatchewan: James (Jim) Arthur

Manitoba & Nunavut: (still to be confirmed)

Ontario: Sharon Di Genova, Kerry Ann Doherty, Richard Lee, Mark Wallace

Eastern Ontario & Outaouais: Kris Joseph (committee chair)

Quebec: Deena Aziz

Thanks to all who have stepped forward to help craft the future of independent theatre in Canada.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Joining Process

We've been at it for a while now, but Council review of our current joining process is beginning to coalesce into a plan for change.

One of the great challenges in administering our membership is that Equity doesn't really control how new members join. With the exception of the stage management discipline, apprenticeship is either not offered, or widely bypassed. How widely? Approximately 85% of new joins do so directly, with no apprenticeship credits at all. An additional 10% complete at least part of a 3-credit apprenticeship, but still join before completing it. Only about 5% of new members join having completed an apprenticeship, and most of those are in stage management, where completing an apprenticeship is mandatory.

So, how is it that those new members come to join? Well – assuming you are one of the 85% – pretty much the same way you did. An engager offers an Equity contract to a non-member, and voilà! – instant Equity member. In short, engagers create almost all of our new members.

Neither Equity (nor the engager) nor the new member really know, at the point of joining, whether that first contract will ever blossom into any kind of sustaining and sustainable professional career. Let's be frank – a great many don't. Without question, we should be offering people the highest degree of benefit and protection under contract that we can, but should we compel them to become full members when their career has barely gotten off the ground? That is the question Council has been wrestling with.

There are some obvious plusses and minuses to the current system. 

From a new member perspective, it's a quick route to full membership. However, it costs $750 for that first contract, which is not a small chunk of change. It also locks the new member into an obligation to work under future Equity contracts at a point in their career where they don't have much of a professional engagement history (if any) with which to attract subsequent contracts.

From an Equity perspective, it brings in a steady stream of initiation fees, but it also means that we are constantly adding to our membership and benefit obligations.

Council is currently considering a new system (for members working in theatre) that would not offer instant membership to new joins, and perhaps work in a manner similar to our current probationary membership option. It would offer almost all the benefits of regular membership on those first contracts, but wouldn't lock a new member into a long-term obligation to Equity at such an early stage in their career, when a mix of pro, semi-pro and non-pro opportunity is important for gaining experience and honing skills.

At this point, Council has made no firm decisions, and we are still looking at the administrative and financial impacts a new approach would have, but we wanted to keep you up to speed.


Comments welcome, as always.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The hyphenated member

There has been a lot of discussion lately, in connection with the independent theatre review, on the subject of the "hyphenated" nature of our membership. By this, people mean that members frequently pursue a career as an actor-playwright, director-coach, SM-TD and similar. The basic point being made is that almost all of us have hyphenated careers – some have even gone so far as to say that they don't know any members who don't have hyphenated careers.

Since most of these pronouncements are based on anecdotal data, I thought it might be worth measuring them against some more comprehensive stats. As it turns out, they're not far off the mark.

In the 2007 survey, we asked members to tell us a bit about the composition of their careers and, in fact, almost all of them are hyphenated. 81% of members indicated that they had worked in Equity's jurisdiction in the three year period preceding the survey, but only a small percentage indicated that was their only source of work.

Among the hyphenated, the highest percentage (62%) also worked in a similar capacity in other performance areas, such as film, television or music. 57% indicated that they had various other jobs related to live performance, but outside our jurisdiction, with coaching, writing and teaching at a post-secondary level topping the list. Approximately 44% of members mentioned work outside the realm of live performance – employment in the service industries, other professional pursuits and office work accounted for just over half of that.

I'm sure it won't have escaped notice that this adds up to way more than 100% of the membership. So not only is most of the membership hyphenated, but many appear to have more than one hyphen in their career. Nothing surprising there.

In the next section of the survey, we asked how all those pursuits fit together in a single year. The response to a that question brings a bit more clarity to the picture.




Taken as a group, just under half of the membership's typical year is spent doing work under Equity contracts, or in similar performance activities. The remainder of the work year is devoted largely to activities outside of our jurisdiction, split evenly between those related to live performance and those not.

What a life! There are times when I think stats like these should be plastered on the cover of every theatre school and university drama department brochure. I wonder how many people would pursue live performance as a career if they knew, in advance, what to expect...

Friday, June 18, 2010

Halifax Audition Project follow-up

This was nice to hear...

I got an email the other day that provided a great coda to this spring's audition project in Halifax. I'm sharing it with permission (and with identifying details removed).
I just wanted to let you both know that I have been engaged at the *****. This came about directly because I auditioned for ***** at the Audition Project. I had never auditioned for him/her or met him/her before then. He/she called me up out of the blue last week and offered me the gig. I sincerely hope you and PACT can offer this opportunity again and that more people will recognize what a wonderful opportunity it is for both actors and directors/ADs. 
I can't think of anything to add to that, except "amen".

Friday, June 4, 2010

Diversity and e-drive notices

I've been reading a lot of e-drive audition notices recently. No, you don't need to worry that I have taken up acting – Canadian theatre is still safe from my acting/singing/dancing talents, and we should all be thankful for that.

Mostly, I am curious to see how theatres have been using the recently-added ability to include an ethnocultural mandate or ethnocultural casting statement. This change was made in response to engager and member input, and as a result of policy changes in the wake of Council's focus on diversity issues.

The principal intention was to allow an engager to focus a casting call to a subset of our members that reflected either the company's ethnocultural mandate, or the requirements of the show in question. Theatres responded right away.

What I've been waiting for, and what I am beginning to see in increasing numbers, are other theatres using this space to declare that what they are looking for is talent, without regard to ethnicity. Thank you to those who have so clearly stated a commitment to ensuring Canadian stages look like Canada does.

I recognise that this is not the end of the road, but it is a hopeful sign that we have started down the right one. 'Bout time.

Friday, May 21, 2010

"Equity does nothing for us"

A recent notice that the ITR Committee had begun work attracted the anonymous comment that now appears as the title of this post. I declined the comment because it didn't contribute anything to the topic at hand. Still, I know that more than a few people feel this way. I also don't wish to see a member comment go to waste, so I'm turning it into its own topic.

When you stop to consider the statement, you have to concede that it is pretty extreme. A claim that "Equity doesn't do much/enough for us" would include at least tacit recognition of the many things that Equity does do, even if you consider them to be insufficient or badly in need of improvement. Without restating all of our Ends policies, it's pretty hard to ignore benefits such as the recent Audition Project, disability insurance, professional development subsidies, prompt response to unsafe work environments or those poisoned by harassment or abuse, secured contracts, participation in the Senior Artists' Research Project, audition postings and political advocacy.

Speaking of advocacy, when the new EI Benefits for the Self-employed sprang into being, how do you think that came to pass? Equity and several other groups have been lobbying for that exact thing for years. Guess who asked us to lobby for it? Members. It sure as heck didn't happen quickly, but most things governmental don't. We just kept working on it until it did.

Equity's core worth is that together we can achieve more than we can individually. Two quick examples...

Through collective action we have established minimum fees for most contracts. You can negotiate more if you are able to, but you never need to be worried that you will be expected to accept less. There are certainly some members in a position to say to an engager, "Don't waste my time with an offer of less than X." And then there are the other 95% of us. Give it some thought: which group are you in? Would you prefer to negotiate your fee up to the value of your skill, or down to beat the next lowest bidder? Equity negotiated those minimum fees for you, so you don't have to.

Disability insurance is another example of collective benefit. I did a bit of digging around to see how much that might cost an individual. I couldn't find any online quotes that covered disability – that's the point at which they ask you to contact an agent. So, based on a few numbers for extended accident and sickness coverage only, I'm going to guess that extended health plus disability would cost me roughly $150/month, month in and month out.

By pooling our insurance needs and premiums, members currently have that coverage while on contract, from as little as $14/workweek (most of which is paid for by a 2003 fee top-up from engagers). You could never come anywhere close to that premium level on an individual basis. And because we control our own plan and don’t have to choose one “off the rack”, we can make the kinds of changes that were recently announced, as well as those likely to come out of our current review. Again, Equity built that plan and negotiated the engager contributions that cover most of the cost.

So, does Equity really do "nothing" for its members? It might make for a good online zinger, but it doesn't owe much to the truth.

I'm the first to say it: there is a lot we could do better. Council and staff are constantly working to do just that. If you want to see improvements, contact your local CPAG rep or Council's Member Liaison and start that discussion. It works.

If you don't care if things improve or not, launching spitballs from the wings is as good an approach as any.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Independent Theatre Review Committee seeks members

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the ITR Committee is seeking additional members to assist on this project, and details are posted here.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Halifax Audition Project

On Monday and Tuesday of last week, the inaugural PACT-Equity Audition Project took place at the Dalhousie Arts Centre in Halifax. I was fortunate to be able to attend the first day, as well as the evening forum and networking mixer.

What a great experience! Kudos to both Equity and PACT staff, who worked very hard to make sure the project focussed both on the needs of the artists and the needs of the directors. And my special thanks to PACT President Eric Coates, who was a real driving force in this.

For those of you who did not know about the event, here's how it worked. Auditions were conducted in front of a panel of 6 directors, including both freelance and ADs. Most performers had the chance to be seen by two panels, so twelve directors. Each audition lasted for ten minutes, which the artist could use however they wished. In response to a request from the directors, we were able also incorporate callback sessions at the end of each day.

Slots were first opened up to Equity artists from the Atlantic region, with special outreach to both professional and aspiring artists who identified themselves as aboriginal, a visible minority, or a member of an ethno-racial community. This last initiative was a specific outcome of Equity's recent policy-writing on diversity issues. Applicants were guaranteed an audition slot on a first-come first-served basis.

Two weeks later, auditions were opened up to ACTRA members and to members from across the country. In the week immediately prior to the auditions, the few remaining spots were offered to apprentices. As a side note, members came from as far away as Vancouver to be part of this project. Over course of the two days, eighteen directors saw over one hundred artists.

Every artist was welcomed and offered a bottle of water while they waited. Each of the three panels had a stage manager who assisted in the running of the audition. About ten minutes before the call time, the artist was taken to a private space, where they could warm up or just decompress. The SM would review the process with the artist, let them know who was in the room, how it was set up, and answer any additional questions that they had. When it was time for the audition, the SM returned and brought the performer to the audition space and introduced them to the directors.

On the Monday evening, two open forum sessions were held in the Dunn Theatre. The first focussed on how best to make an impression on a director, and the second on how to propose projects to an AD for inclusion in a future season. I'll compile the material from those two panels for posting on the Equity website. We capped the evening off with a social mixer in the sculpture court at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. The local theatre community was invited to both these events, and the turnout was excellent.

And, so how did all go? Would it be unforgivably immodest of me to say: really well? Well it did! – at least if I am to go by the feedback sheets we asked all participants to fill out. Almost all artists indicated that the event met or exceeded their expectations. For many, the opportunity to meet close to twenty directors (both in an audition and at the social mixer) was the big draw. Word is that the director panels were also pleased with the outcome.

Other positives mentioned included the freedom to use the ten minutes of audition time as the artist wished, and the luxury of having a private warm-up space available, not to mention an SM on hand to answer questions and to introduce them. Intriguingly, while many artists cited the heightened tension of auditioning before a panel, just as many cited the lower tension of not being scrutinised by one director for a very specific role.

In the "we're still learning column", several people asked for longer audition times, more directors or the opportunity to meet all three panels (natch!), more formal feedback on auditions, and scheduling of the forum and mixer at a different time. And the number one request from the members? More of these, more often and in more locations. What can I say – we're workin' on it.

Thanks again to all who participated on both sides - you made the event the success that it was.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Audition Project

It's almost here!

Next Monday and Tuesday in Halifax, PACT and Equity will be jointly sponsoring an audition opportunity with ADs from one coast to the other. Enter the Audition Project. As well as scheduled audition slots, members are invited to attend an evening forum focussing on how best to make an impression on a director, and how to pitch a project to an AD.

Last I checked, there were still a couple of slots open – details and application info are posted on the Equity homepage.

I'll be there on Monday, and in attendance at the forum, so stop over and say hi.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Independent Theatre Review Committee begins work

A motion was passed at the March meeting of Council, striking the Independent Theatre Review Committee, to look at the future of member engagement opportunity in the spectrum of theatre not currently covered by the CTA/ITA.

Council has appointed Councillors Kerry Ann Doherty (Ontario and 2nd VP), Sharon DiGenova (Dance) and Kris Joseph (E. Ontario/Outaouais) to the committee to get things up and running. Their first job will be to bring more people onto the committee, seeking representation from across the country and in keeping with Council's diversity policies.

One of the most important aspects of the committee terms of reference is that it will be expected to consult broadly. Member interest across the country is anticipated to be much greater than can reasonably be accommodated on a committee of any workable size, so extensive outreach will be done to ensure that all members have an opportunity to participate in this discussion. As part of this, the committee will also be asking CPAGs across the country to connect with their local membership, both for sharing information and for collecting input.

In addition to seeking contributions from an artist engagement perspective, the committee will also be hearing from independent theatre engagers (both members and non) and Equity staff, to gather information on their needs and challenges in regards to member engagement. Council intends for this work to result in a comprehensive approach to improve and facilitate member engagement opportunity across this range of theatre.

If you are interested in being part of the steering committee, details on how to submit your name for inclusion will be available in the next short while. Please keep an eye on e-drive postings and this blog for startup details.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Member Benefits - a safe and sanitary work environment

As part of this blog, Council has asked me to include information on some of the many benefits and services offered by Equity to its members. This article is the first in that series.

First off, I hope everyone is aware that a summary of your membership benefits and protections is set out in the Ends section of our policy document. If not, you should give it a read sometime; the Ends statements outline Equity's commitment to you as a member. They're what you pay your dues for.

Ends policies state that (paraphrased):
All members will have protection, support and resources while under contract and while pursuing future contracts, including safe and sanitary places of work and audition. 
I've condensed two parallel policies into a single statement here, so please forgive the somewhat awkward construction. In the policy document you will find it divided into "work under contract" and "pursuit of future contracts," because Equity needs to deal with these two conditions separately. I'll go into more detail below.

While under contract
All engagement policies and agreements include specific language setting out expectations for a healthy and safe work environment. Take the Canadian Opera Agreement as an example. It requires a safe and sanitary place of engagement, including clean and properly heated dressing rooms and washroom facilities; hot and cold running water; clean, safe, accessible and well-lit access to the stage door; enclosed access from dressing rooms to the stage; minimum temperature requirements met; well-delineated passageways in case of blackouts; safe rehearsal and stage surfaces; security from threats to personal safety; regularly cleaned costumes and hair pieces, etc.

You get the idea, and you can find the details listed under "Safe and Sanitary Places of Engagement." In situations where performances take place outdoors, more detail is added. Additionally, Equity has the right to inspect any venue on request to ensure compliance.

All other major agreements are similar. Smaller agreements, such as the Indie, include parallel language. Safety of the Artist is a frontmost concern. Always.

Finally, all major agreements stipulate adherence to provincially mandated health and safety requirements, or to the Ontario Health and Safety Guidelines for Live Performance where no specific provincial regulations exist. As of this writing, BC, Alberta, Ontario and Québec all have health and safety requirements geared toward workers in live performance.

While in pursuit of future contracts
Ensuring safe and clean places of work and audition is more complicated. Where a negotiated agreement exists, such as the Canadian Theatre Agreement with PACT, we include requirements for audition and associated warmup and other spaces, and these apply even in the absence of a signed contract.

Working with independent engagers outside such negotiated agreements is admittedly tricky. Without pre-agreed conditions for audition, we can't point to a piece of text and tell the engager that they must live up to those terms. We rely on engager common sense and goodwill, not to mention the fact that a large percentage of independent engagers are members or ex-members, and they don't need a lot of prompting to provide a decent audition environment. That said, we are certainly not shy about weighing in on the few occasions when we hear of poor conditions.

What to do if you feel that work or audition conditions are unsafe, unclean or otherwise dangerous
If you are under contract, tell your Deputy and your Stage Manager. The overwhelming majority of concerns can be addressed quickly and locally, once brought to the attention of these two. If your concern persists, or you are not yet under contract, then get on the phone to a business rep in either office. If the matter is urgent, you will even be able to contact someone outside of office hours.

Equity exists to help protect you, but we can't do our work if we are unaware of a problem. One of the most common answers to questions that begin "Why didn't Equity...?" is "We didn't know." Thankfully, issues of unsafe working conditions are few and far between, but if you find yourself in an unsafe or otherwise unhealthy work environment, and the problem is not cleared up pronto, get on the phone. We're there to help.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Access to Auditions

In early December, Equity and PACT began what we all hope will be a productive process to ensure greater member access to the audition process, and engager opportunity to come face to face with a wider range of talent. The discussion focussed on two overlapping problems with the current approach.

Equity members in many communities feel like they are stuck on the periphery of the audition process, constantly applying for audition opportunities, but rarely being seen. We have heard that that the challenge is particularly felt among those new in the business, among established and also senior artists who wish to expand and renew their career contacts after some time in the business, and most especially among Equity various diverse communities.

Engagers are faced with the difficulty of meeting a steadily expanding pool of interested performers in a time when artistic budgets (and therefore hiring opportunities) are stagnant or shrinking, and an AD's time is increasingly fragmented among many responsibilities. Our PACT colleagues also shared concerns that Equity members may be unaware that "traditional" audition settings represent only a portion of the time spent connecting with and considering artist for roles.

We are looking at a joint approach that would bring together several theatres in a shared audition opportunity, with both PACT and Equity support and assistance. There was a second meeting quite recently to firm up plans for the first such auditions, and a formal announcement is in the works.

Great news!

Friday, February 19, 2010

How do we know what the members want?

Who provides the input for Council decisions? You do, and it's not necessary that you excel at making yourself heard above the crowd. When we have a major topic on which to decide, we will come to you. Our "owner linkage" mandate is to regularly consult a broad and representative group of the membership for their views.

This is different from the approach taken by most boards, which tend to hear input primarily from groups with a predefined stake in one outcome or another. As owners of the association, all members have a stake in major decisions, including you, even if we are considering a topic that is not front and centre on your personal radar screen.

We want to know what the majority of members – or major opinion groups within the membership – think, and then we act in accordance with what we hear. There is enormous diversity in our membership (define diversity as you will), and this approach is the only one that promises equitable benefit to the greatest number of members, and not merely to those who are the loudest.

Friday, February 5, 2010

For whom does Council act?

In the previous post, I mentioned that Council functions in a somewhat unusual way. What I probably should have said was that Council operates in the way most boards should, but in which few do.

One of the comments that came back from our major 2007 survey echoed something I have heard repeatedly over time: that election to Council is a chance for 22 people to grab the steering wheel of the association and yank it sharply in the direction that they, personally, would like it to go. Related comments suggest that having "friends" on Council is a chance for some privileged group of members to do the same thing.

The natural belief that comes with these assumptions is that the most advantageous tactic for the individual member is to elect as many people like you as you can, and hope they get their hands on the steering wheel. The corollary view is that if you aren’t part of the “in” group, you’re screwed. Cynical, yes, but then people are used to dealing with governance bodies such as school boards and town councils, where this jaundiced view may not be so far off the mark.

Council doesn’t work that way. In fact, one of the first requirements of the Council Members’ Code of Conduct is this:

Councillors must have loyalty to the membership, unconflicted by loyalties to staff, other organizations, and any personal interest as a consumer [of Association services].
This injunction is backed up by a comprehensive conflict of interest policy, and a signed declaration from each Councillor identifying other involvement that might be a conflict, or be perceived as such. It is also reinforced by regular evaluation of Council's adherence to its own rules of conduct. What other board do you know of that takes the time to do that?

Councillors who have served over the years will attest to the value of this broad-horizon and rigorous approach, and new Councillors who come to the table with a personal agenda discover it quickly. Councillors are expected to devote the same level of time, energy and consideration to topics that do not impact their immediate peers or constituency, as they do to issues in which they have a stake. Moreover, much of the work of Council is done at a level where individual stakes don't even make an appearance.

Back to the title question...

A board, any board, is there only for one purpose: to govern some entity on behalf of an ownership (members, shareholders, the public, etc.) Consequently, Council’s declared job is to "act as an informed agent of the membership as owners." This means that Council does not act instead of the members, or through paternalistic assumptions of what is best for the members; it acts for the members, from a consistently informed position based on ongoing and broad-based member input.

In brief, Council doesn't act parochially when addressing issues, and we certainly don't target our decisions toward personal benefit or the benefit of friends. We act for the membership as a whole.

Next...collecting your input.

Friday, January 22, 2010

What/who is Council?

After a few years on Council, one of the things that has become apparent to me is that much of our membership doesn't understand Council. I mean, they have a vague understanding that it is the board of Equity, and yes, they see the election notices every three years and many of them even vote, but we still remain a bit of a mysterious black box. So, I thought I'd start off with an introduction to Council itself.

Equity is owned by its members, around 5800 of them, scattered from coast to coast. Because Equity was set up in the first place was to provide services and benefits to those members, the choice of benefits and services that Equity provides, and the allocation of resources among them, is rightly determined by those members.

This is wonderful in theory, but putting it into practice is not easy. First off, you can't gather 5000+ people in one place every month or so to vote on things. And if we tried to poll the entire membership each month on all the various things that need deciding, well, you can imagine what a boondoggle that would be.

So, through the Constitution, the membership has created a board and authorised it to govern the organisation on behalf of the full membership. That's Council. It's much easier to get 22 people together each month. Having a board is how most sizable organisations operate. However, where Equity differs from most is the way in which that board functions.

More soon...

Friday, January 15, 2010

Greetings and Salutations

I've been batting this idea around for a while. Not because I think the membership can't wait for the next instalment of my immortal prose – not even I do that – but because I think this is a logical extension of the changes Council began in the last term.

Council has embarked on several initiatives to improve communication with the members, but most suffer from the same drawback: they are all largely one-way. Sure, you can write me or any of the other Councillors a note, and absolutely we will reply, but it's not much in the way of open communication. You know a question has been asked or input offered, and you have the response, but no one else does. Hence, this blog. It's an opportunity to not only let you know what Council has been up to, but also to allow for feedback in an easily-accessible format.

In truth, it's probably about time. The ability to do this has been around for a while now, but hosting a three-year-long discussion can be immensely time-consuming. Most of you will know that being President of Council doesn't mean I have a lovely corner office in a corporate tower somewhere, and legions of staff to assist with every little thing – I am a member pursuing a theatre career, same as you. However, we are now at the beginning of a new term, with new energy and initiative, so let's give it a go.

Discussion will be geared toward Equity members, so other readers with questions about Equity should visit our website.

Onward!