Tom Presented "Creatives As Leaders" at 2008 Performing Arts Convention
Over 3,000 leaders from America's performing arts community gathered in Denver last week for the 2008 National Performing Arts Convention. Chorus America, Dance/USA, Early Music America, the League of American Orchestras, OPERA America and the Theatre Communications Group are the principle conveners. I presented a workshop that lays out the argument for creativity as a national value and makes the case that artists, cultural workers and creative professionals have values and skills desperately needed in public life. View the presentation using the viewer from Slideshare.net. Email me at to@tresser.com if you'd like a copy of the presentation.Here's what one attendee said: "I attended Tom's seminar "Creatives as Leaders" at the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver. He perfectly articulated what I have suspected for years now--that artists, creatives have a unique ability to influence public policy if only we would stand up to be counted! I have seen this in action and it was a breath of fresh air to hear Tom say it publicly. The next day I attended another meeting of the 50+ people from our group that attended the conference together. At least one person stood up and said that as a direct result of Tom's seminar, she planned to run for local office in the next five years. One can think of no higher praise for Tom's work than that!" - Laura Murphy, Adjunct Instructor, Adams State College Art Department & VP, Monte Arts Council, Monte Vista, Colorado

