May Newsletter

IN THIS ISSUE
Pacific Contact 2010 Showcase Applications online June 1st
Block Booking and Touring Plans
BCTC Fall Board and Members Meeting
Community Presenters Assistance (CPA) - Deadline June 30th
ArtsOnTour
New Jobs on BCTC Website
BCTC Board of Director News

Greetings!

Showcase Applications for the 34th Pacific Contact March 26 –28, 2010 will be available online June 1st with a deadline of July 31^st for registration and September 1^st for marketing materials. Apply and pay fees online. In addition to the convenience is it’s good for the environment! General information about showcasing and Pacific Contact can be found on the Pacific Contact link at http://www.bctouring.org/pacific-contact/. For more information please contact the office at fyi@bctouring.org.

Block Booking and Touring Plans are now well under way. Many BC presenters have completed their selections for 2009/10 and are now beginning to build their seasons and season for 2010/11.

Coordinated Online Booking Coordination (COBB) – Thanks to 2010 Legacies Now (Arts), the BC Arts Council and Canadian Heritage for their support of COBB. Many presenters are now using this online block booking system to book tours and BCTC’s co-ordination provides quicker response of information from agents and artists with details about their shows to post on the website so as to get to the next stage of booking dates and routing tours sooner and with more efficiency.
There are still many presenters who expressed interest in participating in block booking who we have yet to hear from. We invite those we haven’t yet heard from to contact us about your booking interests - fyi@bctouring.org

BCTC Goes North to Smithers B.C. in September – BCTC is please to announce that its fall board and members meeting will take place in Smithers from September 25-27^th, 2009. This meeting will be part of a larger Northern Arts Summit partnership with 2010 Legacies Now (Arts) which will bring communities from all over the North West region. Stay tuned for more details.

Community Presenters Assistance - APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE NOW
Application forms for the upcoming funding cycle for this BC Arts Council program are now available for download. The deadline for applying is JUNE 30, 2009 for performances eligible organizations will be presenting between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. 
All application forms this year have been formatted as PDFs with fields created so that it is possible, using the free Adobe Reader, to complete them using a computer (they will still need to be printed off and signed along with other supporting documents).

There are three main components of the program:
Community Presenter
Key Presenter
Diverse Collaborations Presenter
NEW – Pilot component “Annual Development Award”
Clients who are eligible and apply for one of the three main components may also consider applying for an Annual Development Award which can be used for a specific activity or project that the applicant believes would provide experience and expertise and help to deepen their understanding and capacity as a presenter. $2,500 is the maximum grant.

Awards are available on a project basis to assist non-profit community organizations that present British Columbian and Canadian professional performing arts touring events. This is a funding program of the BC Arts Council and is administered by the BC Touring Council.
For full information go to http://www.bctouring.org/presenter-assistance/index.html and feel free to contact John Mclachlan program co-ordinator at cpa@bctouring.org
Application deadline is June 30th.

ArtsOnTour website at www.artsontour.com is a great one-stop shopping for booking seasons & series and your plans for upcoming tours. This comprehensive website has agent roster, full contact information and descriptions, genre specific and family and adult classifications and video and audio links.

New Job Postings – Check out New Postings on the BCTC website at www.bctouring.org/job-opportunities/. Submit postings to the office by emailing fyi@bctouring.org

BCTC Board of Directors News – Welcome to new board members Margo Gram, Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver, John Barth of the Lake District Arts Council and Kevin Bruce of KBAM. To see the full board list please go to www.bctouring.org/about-us/

Joanna Maratta, Executive Director
BC Touring Council
PO Box 547
Nelson, B.C. V1L 5R3
T. 250-352-0021  F. 250-352-0027
www.bctouring.org
Pacific Contact 2010 - March 26-28