Good evening fellow Tessitura Administrators.
There has been an idea I've discussed with a few folks during the previous conferences and in conversations between times. The notion of a gathering specifically aimed at folks like us. SQL junkies, report writers, system administrators. In short, the folks who keep our organizations up and running and help to make Tessitura the global leader in arts administration software.
Now, a small group of us are putting together plans to try and make the idea a reality. Myself, Carli Webb (Playmakers Repertory Theater), and Teresa Dean (AT&T Performing Arts Center) have been trying to lay the ground work for a weekend retreat to take place the third weekend in November. For location, we have selected Nashville, TN.
The plan for the event would be to arrive on the evening of Friday November 18th. On Saturday there would be 6 hours of sessions with breaks for meals and a social outing that evening. On Sunday morning, a brunch and one last chance to talk with peers before everyone departs for home. Some of the topics we have tossed out for session ideas are:
- V11 items (Custom List builder items, Local documentation needs, User training plans, Best practices, etc)
- SSRS
- Tricks, Tips, and favorite scripts
- T-Stats uses and customizations
It is comepletely up in the air at this point whether the Saturday agenda would take the form of workshops, discussions, presentations or a combination of these.
We are very excited about the possibilities for a Tessitura Administrators Summit. Now we'd like to gauge the interest of the wider community of administrators and perhaps solicit some help with planning. The biggest question is, how many people might have serious interest in attending? 10? 20? Even more? Having a sense of this will help immensely with our process moving forward. Some of our next steps include securing space and resources in Nashville and getting the Saturday agenda in place.
If the idea of a few days with your peers from around the the Tessitura community appeals to you, chime in! There is no registration process at the moment and responding does not commit you to anything. We just want to get a sense of what size of an event this could potentially be. I know that even with a handful of administrators in one place, there is much gain to be had for everyone.
If you prefer not to respond to the forum post or if you have more detailed questions that you feel were better addressed offline, feel free to contact me directly.
We look forward to hearing your feedback!
Thank you
Levi Sauerbrei
Database Administrator
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
816-994-7227
lsauerbrei@kauffmancenter.org
If we can find a way to make resources work, Portland Center Stage is very interested in this. I do wonder if it would be less expensive to fly at a time not so close to Thanksgiving. My personal experience is that flights in January are almost half the price of flights in late November and all of December (just throwing it out there).
Do keep us posted as this develops further!
Thanks,
Boann
Kirk,
That is a great question and one worth more discussion. For me personally my biggest struggle with TLCC is that I am often sent as a proxy for other departments. Because I am familiar with all departments and their needs, I find myself with a list of desired takeaways that often have nothing to do with my actual job.
I learn an enormous amount at TLCC, but many sessions and most of my lab time, I am trying to answer best practice questions put to me by users who were not able to attend rather than focusing on the strictly technical sessions.
Our committee (such as it is) will put our heads together a bit this week and see if we can't articulate the distinction a little more concretely.