Angie Hays and Tiffany Albright of the North Carolina Theatre Conference were staring at a matrix map when they had an epiphany: something needed to change.
Their annual networking and professional development event, a two- to three-day conference filled with speakers and workshops, was costing more than the organization could sustain — particularly in staff time. NCTC operates with a staff of just two, sometimes three, people.
The matrix map helped make the problem visible. The tool plots programs according to their financial sustainability and impact. NCTC was using it as part of The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro’s ARPA-funded sustainability cohort, which brought together more than 20 arts organizations for three and a half years of learning and planning.
For Albright, NCTC’s director of communications and operations, having dedicated time to step away from day-to-day demands proved valuable.
“Because we are such a small staff, we don’t always have the capacity to carve out time to look at the big picture,” she said.
“We were immediately able to implement a couple of big changes to some of our core programs.”
One of the most visible changes was rethinking its conference for the theatre industry. NCTC replaced the multi-day format with the Member Theatre Gathering, a one-day event shaped by the people who attend. Members propose topics, and NCTC facilitates the conversations.
The lessons from the sustainability cohort haven’t stayed within NCTC. Board members have taken the matrix-map exercise back to their own theaters, schools and college programs. Hays, the executive director, and Albright also meet regularly with member organizations, sharing strategies for addressing overwork, understaffing, inefficient programs and other challenges.
“Basically, everybody is overworked and everybody is understaffed,” Albright said. “We know what that feels like.”
That shared experience has become part of what NCTC can offer its members. Instead of simply acknowledging the pressures arts organizations face, Hays and Albright can point to specific changes NCTC has made and lessons they have learned along the way.
Through The ACGG’s sustainability cohort, organizations like NCTC had the time, tools, and peer support to step away from the day-to-day demands, examine what was working, and make changes that strengthen their long-term future.
NCTC is a membership organization serving K-12 schools, college and university theater programs, and community and professional theaters. Known for its play festivals, NCTC also offers professional development and advocates for theater and arts education at the local, state, and national levels.
