THE NEXT GREAT PERFORMANCE
SPECIAL EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
Enhance your conference experience with these special events and activities.
THE LAND YOU’RE ON LUNCH
Cost $17.71
Monday, September 2, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Western Arts Alliance recognizes and acknowledges that we – organization, staff and members – are uninvited guests on the lands where we locate our offices, where members run venues and engage in performance and other activities, and where we gather for the WAA Conference each year.
In each place we visit, we make every effort to seek permission and learn from the tribes whose homelands we are on, and honor the elders and peoples of those nations by opening the Conference with an acknowledgment of land, and offering time for tribal representatives to address Conference attendees. The Land You’re On helps ground attendees in place and increase cultural understanding. Previous editions have hosted grand entries, drum/dance groups, and more.
This year’s conference takes place on lands originally and still inhabited and cared for by the Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh, and Chumash Peoples, and features a conversation led by Pamela Villaseñor, executive director of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, whose traditional homelands entail a large portion of what is now known as the City and County of Los Angeles, from the Antelope Valley, through Topanga Canyon to the Pacific Ocean, including all of the San Fernando Valley.
Villaseñor will contextualize the performance practices of Native artists in this region. Time will be allotted to questions from the audience, with a goal of providing takeaways for performing arts professionals hoping to build long-term, collaborative relationships with the Native artists and communities of the lands in which they reside.
This session, available as an add-on to conference registration, includes a luncheon.
Photo: Kumeyaay artist Paul Sage Cannon leads morning smudge before his presentation of The Land You're On at WAA 2024. Credit: Ken Jacques
WAA ACADEMY
Tuesday, September 2, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
New this year we will kick off the conference with a full day of programming at WAA Academy. With four streams of Professional Development opportunities, it’s a deep dive into programming that takes careers to the next level. Held on the Opening Day of the conference, sessions offer a perfect taste of the full WAA experience, exploring leadership, marketing, social justice, and community-building.
Below you can learn more about the individual sessions offered through WAA Academy: AfroFutures in the Arts, Marketing Workshop, Movement for the Movement in LA, and Leadership Seminar.
Photo: WAA 2019, credit: Corporate Close Ups
AFROFUTURES IN THE ARTS
Cost: $165
Tuesday, September 2, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
This one-day symposium brings together Black artists, administrators, leaders navigating the intersection of history and futurism in today’s cultural and political landscape. Sessions, led by community leaders and ArtEquity, will examine how we balance past wisdom with the urgency of progress to shape new models. Through fellowship, connection, and hands-on learning, we will create strategies to strengthen our impact and visibility in our field. Together, we will cultivate a cohort of performing arts professionals, artists, and community leaders committed to advancing Black performance in the West, nationally, and abroad. This is a closed session available to Black-identifying participants. Click here to learn more about the impact and importance of affinity group and closed caucusing.
This session is available as an add-on to conference registration.
Photo: Black Arts Symposium, WAA 2019, credit: Corporate Close UpS
MOVEMENT FOR THE MOVEMENT IN LA
Cost: $150
Tuesday, September 2, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm
Gain a deeper understanding of the ecosystem of lasting powerful partnerships between artists and organizers at this offsite workshop at Community Coalition, a social justice space in South Los Angeles. See a part of the city that is often overlooked, but critical to understanding Los Angeles as one of the most vibrant centers of multi racial coalition building work in California and across our country. Open to all, participants travel to the site from WAA^LA HQ.
This session is available as an add-on to conference registration.
Photo: Workshop with CONTRA-TIEMPO. Image courtesy of the dance company.
MARKETING WORKSHOP
Thank You Asymm Digital for your generous support!
Cost: $60
Tuesday, September 2, 10:00 am - 12:15 pm
SEVEN SECRETS TO SELLING SHOWS (9:45-10:45am)
Speaker: Josh Aviner
Performing arts professionals are constantly seeking new ways to attract, engage, and retain audiences in an increasingly competitive landscape. This session will introduce them to behavioral science—an evidence-based approach to understanding and influencing audience decisions. Many organizations struggle with audience conversion, retention, and engagement, and traditional marketing tactics are becoming less effective. This session will offer fresh, practical solutions by tapping into behavioral insights that have been successfully used in industries like tech, retail, and entertainment but remain largely underutilized in the arts.
BUILDING TRUST IN TICKETING: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF VENUE WEBSITES IN COMBATING FRAUD (11am-12pm)
Speaker: Nick Ronan
Live-event goers hesitate to purchase from untrusted websites and that impacts sales. The risks of fraudulent resellers and why even skeptical buyers still fall for them. How can venues clearly communicate safe purchasing options and resale policies? What role do ticketing platforms play in preventing fraud and protecting consumers? This session will provide actionable insights into improving customer confidence and implementing security measures to reduce fraudulent purchases.
This session is available as an add-on to conference registration.
Photo: WAA 2024, credit: Ken Jacques
LEADERSHIP SEMINAR
Cost: $60
Tuesday, September 2, 10:30 am - 4:00 pm
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LEAD (1:30-3:45pm)
Funding models are evolving, audience expectations are transforming, and technology is poised for significant advancements. Are you, as a leader in an arts organization, equipped to navigate this change? Join a frank and timely conversation about the critical challenges and unprecedented opportunities facing arts leaders today. This experience-driven session addresses change management, fostering team health in a pressurized environment, and nurturing a thriving organizational culture.
BRINGING HUMANITY TO LEADERSHIP (2:45-3:45pm)
Speaker: Anne Robie
Gain a renewed sense of purpose and clarity on what really matters with a new lens on leadership, grounded in authenticity and practical tools for navigating change and fostering connection. Break free from outdated leadership models and embrace a more intentional, human-centered way of leading that values clarity over control, self-awareness over self-protection, and presence over perfection.
This session is available as an add-on to conference registration.
Photo: Conexiones Sin Fronteras, WAA 2024, credit: Victor Karam
AWARDS LUNCHEON
Cost: $75
Thursday, September 4, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Toast your colleagues at the much-anticipated Annual Luncheon & WAA Awards Ceremony! With awards bestowed in categories for Leadership, Service, Mentoring and more, this event consistently delivers the "good feels" and happy memories.
This session is available as an add-on to conference registration.
Photo: Awardee, Margo Kane @ 2025 WAA Awards Ceremony. Credit: Ken Jacques