Community Partnerships Supporting Material: Why and When...
Our Monthly Poetry Slam Shows 2014-2016
Administration Assistant Hiring June 2014
Our monthly slam poetry event is where our audience and artists connect on a regular basis to practice the medium of spoken word through the format of the Poetry Slam. This is also where the community develops it's artistic quality and integrity. The Poetry Slam structure is not the focus of our practice or our organizations purpose but it is integral to the dissemination and process of our work as Poets. Prizes are offered to the winners which are donated in kind by our supporting partners and networks. There is a small cash prize which comes from our ticket sales and a professional development prize which is intended to support the artists to further their practice through skill building in the areas of writing, performance and/or access to promotional media channels etc. WYPIN members have already been attending these events and our further work with them will hopefully see them partaking in the slam and open mic sections.
Open the Circle Workshops Bi-monthly 2014-2016
We are currently in the process of hiring our first paid Administration Assistant. With the growing momentum of our programming in scale and scope we are ready to put our incoming finances towards the area of our organization which needs the most tangible
results.
The person in this new role will become a key member of the Slamalamadingdong team. In addition to all the administrative work our organization requires to function effectively, they will also be managing all the administrative tasks associated with our partnership with WYPIN. They will liase with graphic designers, book artists, manage our calendar, handle invoices, email correspondence and online marketing tasks.
The funding for this role is currently coming out of the Artistic Director's monthly Producer fee and funds for this role will be continously sought through grants and our August 2015 Crowd Funding campaign.
Our 2014 Workshop Program is continously being developed as we put a focus on producing accessible, affordable workshops for beginners to seasoned performers to explore their practice in a setting which builds their professional and cultural development skills. Our most offered workshop is called "Exploring Slam in a Safe Space" this is aimed at the people in our community who have never performed at a slam before and it equips them with the confidence and skills to be fully fledged participants of our monthly events.
We see the work with WYPIN being a constant inspiration for us to be able to draw from as facilitators, strengthening our teaching practice therefore helping us to become better at developing and running our workshop programming.
Volunteer Induction Session August 2014
In August 2014 we will be running our first volunteer induction session. The aim of this project is to build a group of passionate volunteers who will support various Slamalamadingdong actvities. We aim to skill up a group of diverse individuals in a structure centered around "role reversal" where everyone gets the experience of stepping into the key roles which ensure our events run smoothly such as door greeters, slam masters, (these are the people who find the appropriate judges for the competition and ensure the scoring is fair) scorekeepers and stage hands. Interested participants will be invited to submit an expression of interest and then be invited to partake in the one day induction session.
This is relevent because the WYPIN group will be stepping into a community development structure which will broaden their contact with people of diverse backgrounds, skill levels, orientations and personalities.
Blogger Recruitment Campaign June-July 2014
We have begun a campaign to recruit a team of six bloggers who will be driving traffic to our website through published blog articles, opinion pieces and interviews.
WYPIN members will be have the opportunity to become guest bloggers which will give them the chance to have their work published to our audience without having to perform at our live events.
This will help to connect the Slamalamadingdong audience to our processes and collaborative projects with WYPIN, enriching and strengthening the culture of our community.
Our Festival Crowd Funding Campaign Launch September 2015
We have begun to collate a strategic plan for a crowd funding campaign to help us with costs of our 2016 Festival.
These costs will include:
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Artist and travel fees for over seas and international Poets and Storytellers.
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Insurance and Venue Hiring Fees.
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Marketing and Promotional Costs.
This is relevant because WYPIN members can be involved in the building of this social campaign giving them the experience of budgeting, planning and marketing a successful campaign.
Spoken Word Summer Retreat February 2015
An additional feature in our programming in 2015 will be the launch of an annual professional development retreat. We will be providing the opportunity for our Artists to experience an intensive retreat/residency in Daylesford Victoria. We will seek to collaborate with regional council to have our four day retreat culminate with an out door performance on the outdoor stage across from the Hepburn Springs Retreat Center.
We will seek out possibilities for community partnerships within Daylesford and surrounding areas.
We will seek to offer WYPIN members the opportunity to participate in these workshops giving them the chance to explore an area of regional Victoria.
Melbourne Festival of Spoken Word April 2016
All of our hardwork over 2014 and 2015 will culminate in the production of our first week long festival in which we will invite regional and national spoken word poetry communities, organizations and Poets to participate in performance events, panel discussions, work shop sessions and Open Community Forums.
The spoken word poetry landscape in Australia is in need of such a festival to bring together the practitioners of the medium. This will help us build the development of our national community and evolve the culture of the art form within Australia.
WYPIN members will have the opportunity to realize individual and group outcomes at the festival and work in collaboration with our wide network of Artists as well as regional, national and international visiting artists.
We need Australia Council for the Arts to help us fund a key piece of this ambitious project through a Community Partnerships, Creative Producer Grant.