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Details
Brief description
The Succession Plan is a mentorship and peer network development program. It reaches out to emerging and mid-career presenters, agents, managers and other arts professionals, seeking to strengthen core competencies, provide leadership development and equip them with the tools and resources necessary to be active participants in the development of arts and culture in their community.
Initial situation and projected outcomes
The Succession Plan (TSP) was initiated in 2010, as a reinvigoration of CAPACOA’s mentorship program, and in anticipation of a generation of presenters approaching retirement (the aging cultural workforce was one of five environmental trends identified in the Cultural Human Resources Council's HR Study 2010). This program had been piloted a year earlier at 2009 CAPACOA conference, as the Emerging Presenters and Arts Administrators program, before being renamed.
The initial goals of the program were:
- Provide one-on-one mentorship to the participants of the program;
- Increased dialogue between youth about the work that they do in the arts, and how they engage new audiences and participants;
- Increased number of connections made between arts administrators in different parts of the country, and in different artistic disciplines – sharing of ideas/best practices; and, incidentally,
- Increase youth participation in the CAPACOA programs and services; and,
- Increased visibility of youth in the arts within the existing CAPACOA membership, and interaction with the presenting community.
Detailed description
DESIGN
The Succession Plan (TSP) builds on two recommendations of the Presenters Training Gap Analysis (Cultural Human Resources Council, 2007):
• Encourage mentorship and internship programs.
Presenters repeatedly stress the importance of on-the-job learning and skills acquisition through direct experience. Therefore, opportunities to learn directly from someone in the industry and gain experience “on the ground” are appropriate forms of training. However, implementing such training through more structured mentorship / internship programs will require additional resources, for assistance for potential host organizations as well as program set-up and administration.
• Recognize the importance of networking to presenters.
Networking opportunities such as showcases, booking conferences, and Contact events are widely seen as crucial to skill development and industry learning. Opportunities to evaluate artistic performance comparatively and develop appreciation for new genres are invaluable training for presenters. Although networking is important in many industries, this method of skills acquisition is particularly important for presenters. Funding bodies, policy-makers, and program planners must recognize these types of events as legitimate (and essential) forms of training delivery.
The TSP therefore comprises two components embedded in support activities:
1. One-on-one mentorship;
2. Opportunities to network with peers in small and in larger groups to discuss the new realities of working in the arts;
3. Access to showcases or performances and to other value-adding programming via the integration of the program with a host presenters’ conference or arts festival.
During a typical four-day TSP program, a participant attends:
- two two-hour mentorship sessions with different mentors;
- Daily one-hour peer sessions with all the mentees, including an orientation session with both mentees and mentors;
- Up to four hours of larger networking activities involving TSP participants and other emerging arts professionals attending the host event – a mix of introductory reception and facilitated discussions and/or roundtables succession planning and other key HR issues; as well as,
- Performances and professional development activities presented by the host event.
PARTNERSHIPS
Partnerships are critical to the success of the TSP. Partnership with a host event, such as the CAPACOA conference or the Prairie Scene, provides a natural gathering and opportunities for the participants to attend exceptional performances and other relevant activities that are part of the host event’s program. The TSP has also partnered with the Emerging Arts Professionals network to organize joint “EAP Connect” activities, a facilitated networking meeting for large groups of arts professionals from various backgrounds. Both types of partnerships have provided the TSP with significant in-kind promotional and logistics support. Moreover the partnership with a host event has also proven to be very useful to give access to a vast pool of high-level potential mentors, and to immerse the emerging arts leaders in a total learning experience. Without such partnerships, the TSP would not be feasible nor ideal.
CLIENTELE
The program is open to emerging and mid-career presenters, agents, managers, arts administrators and other arts professionals from across the country and artistic disciplines. Participants must register in advance of each program, in order to take part in some preparatory activities and to enable adequate mentorship matching.
BUSINESS MODEL
Partnerships contribute significantly to the efficiency of the TSP, but the program would not be financially viable without financial support from funders, such as the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The most important direct cost is salaries for program management, from preparatory activities and mentor recruitment, to delivery, and to program evaluation. The TSP has been provided as complimentary until now, but CAPACOA is considering charging some registration fees to ensure sustainability. These fees will however not be sufficient, as they may only be charged to a limited number of participants, that is, 5-10 mentee participants per edition of the program. CAPACOA is also seeking multiple funding partnerships to leverage support for future programs.
OUTCOMES
- 100% of participants found the experience to be valuable to them (based on the evaluation surveys);
- 100% of participants requested to join the TSP listserv to remain in contact with a national group of emerging arts presenters;
- Qualitative feedback indicated that the TSP has had tangible impacts on the participants, most of which relate directly to the recommendations of the Training Gap Analysis quoted above.
Client evaluation
"The Succession Plan is a fantastic program which has given me the unique opportunity to speak with established industry professionals and my peers, and hopefully create lifelong contacts in the arts community."
- Participant to the 2010 TSP program
Lessons learned
WHAT WORKED
- Collecting bios, goals and questions ahead of time to share with participants/mentors and to guide the mentorship matching;
- Creating an opportunity for the participants to meet at the beginning of the program – this should create an environment that is open and friendly, should set the questions for the group to explore during the program, and should also serve as an orientation session for those who are participating for the first time in the host event;
- Carving out at least 1.5 hours for the one-on-one mentoring sessions;
- Providing two different mentorship matches – it increases the odds to find a successful match that will last beyond the program;
- Daily peer sessions and other networking activities that bring the mentees together informally;
- Having a space that is open to participants for meetings and mentor sessions (i.e. ‘The Hub’);
- Interaction between arts professionals from different artistic backgrounds.
References
The Succession Plan's webpage
Complete Case Study
Referenced works:
Other recommended works, by the Cultural Human Resources Council:
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