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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Welders 2.0

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The Welders are thrilled to announce that we are officially opening up the application process for Welders 2.0!

In selecting the next generation of Welders, we’re looking for playwrights who are deeply involved in their craft, willing and eager take on the tasks of producing five plays, and committed to developing, sustaining and passing on the organization to Welders 3.0. We are also seeking an executive and creative director ready and able to drive the collective creatively and with both intelligence and enthusiasm.

The Process

In selecting the next generation of artists to whom we’ll be giving the organization, The Welders have decided to assess groups of candidates, rather than individuals. Our decision stems from an appreciation of the fact that we had the luxury of forming our collective organically, building relationships with each other over time. With that fact in mind, we didn’t feel it would be appropriate to select six individuals and thrust them together as a group. We want to find people who, through their own relationships, already know they want to work as a team.

The following application is thus intended to be completed by five playwrights and one executive and creative directorcollaboratively. Although there are questions that each potential Welder will need to answer individually, many will need to be answered as a group as well. After reviewing applications, furthermore, we will be selecting the most promising groups to participate in an interview process as well. That process will be conducted collectively as well: we will interview potential groups as a whole, rather than speaking with members individually.

Please note that we are perfectly comfortable with artists choosing to apply as a member of more than one group. Collaboration takes multiple shapes and we don’t want to limit possibilities; we want to open them up. Our only restriction is that each group should consist of five playwrights or generative theater artists and one executive and creative director: six individuals in total. It is not possible, in our experience, to serve as both a playwright AND as The Welders’ executive and creative director; the labor would be too great. All we ask, for those who are applying as a member of more than one group, is for transparency: please let everyone you’re applying with know that you’re applying with others as well.

Applications for Welders 2.0 are due by December 1, 2014. 

We’ve allowed a significant amount of time because we understand that it may take a while for groups to form, let alone to complete the application. Our intent is to review and consider applications during December and January and then begin the interview process in February of 2015. The interview process may require two rounds; our goal is to complete that process and select a new group of Welders to join us for the final twelve months of our three-year run by May 15, 2015. Our hope that is a year of working by our sides—participating in our bi-weekly meetings, producing with us, and learning how we work—will prepare the new group to take the reins from us smoothly and powerfully.

If you have any questions about the application below, you can submit them electronically to Gwydion Suilebhan (gwydion@thewelders.org). Answers to submitted questions—if they might be useful for all applicants—will be shared on our website as updates to this page. We, too, want to be as transparent as possible.

The Application

The Welders 2.0 application has three components: a series of questions, a skills checklist, and additional supporting material. Each component is described in detail below.
The Questions

First, please provide answers to the following in a single PDF or Word document:

1) The names and proposed positions of all six applicants.

2) Short descriptions of one potential project that each playwright or generative artist might work on. (These are not commitments; merely possibilities.) A paragraph will suffice, but more detail is also welcome.

3) A sample “Why I Want to Be a Welder” blog post—500-750 words in length—for each group member, including the executive and creative director. Sample blog posts are available here.

4) Responses to the following three questions, composed as a group:
The Welders place tremendous value on diversity. It’s built into our value system and it’s expressed at every level of the organization, from our Board of Directors to the artists we work with. Explain to us how your group, as it’s constituted, will continue or even build upon those values.
The Welders are a DC-centric organization. Although not all of us live in the district, DC is our community, and we consider it a core part of our mission to serve that community. How are you all, as artists, embedded within the city? What’s your relationship to being part of your community? How will your group embody this aspect of The Welders’ mission?
We’ve spent our first few years establishing an alternative platform for new play development and production, one that’s succeeded in a great many ways. We don’t, however, consider the work finished or perfected. We intend to hand The Welders off to a new generation with the full expectation that things will change. The organization will evolve. So… with that in mind, and given your understanding of The Welders as we are currently constituted, what ideas does your group have for doing what we do either differently or better?
Skills Checklist

In developing a detailed understanding of the skills and effort required to run The Welders, we have assembled a checklist of responsibilities that helps us keep track of our own work. With that in mind, please use the following list to indicate which one (or more) of your group’s members might have the necessary experience to manage the following organization responsibilities, as well as the source of that experience. (In most cases, a short sentence—or even a half-sentence—will suffice.) Your checklist should be included with your PDF containing answers to our questions.

Please note that we do NOT expect you to be able to cover ALL of the following items—we get help from outsiders and we see no reason why the next generation of Welders won’t do the same. We simply want to know what resources and abilities your group will bring to bear.

Marketing and Public Relations
Maintain the Welders’ website (in WordPress)
Solicit and edit blog posts
Manage the Welders’ social media presences (currently Facebook and Twitter)
Write and send press releases
Art direct Welders photo shoots and video trailers
Solicit press and media coverage, both locally and nationwide
Maintain a press contact list
Serve as theatreWashington liaison

Development
Maintain a grant schedule
Write and submit grant proposals and grant reports
Pitch corporate donors
Maintain individual donor prospect lists
Set up and attend donor pitches
Plan friend-raiser events
Write donation thank you letters
Maintain relationships with funders and foundations
Plan and run annual fundraising events: The Weld and The Joint
Plan and run Board of Directors and Executive Committee meetings
Serve as Board secretary
Solicit Board members as necessary

Infrastructure and Financials
Maintain Google calendar, create Google + Hangouts, manage Google Drive
Create bi-weekly meeting agendas/take and distribute bi-weekly meeting notes
File Welders taxes
Maintain Welders budget and production budgets
Manage Welders bank accounts
Plan and run Advisory Council meetings
Plan and execute the search for Welders 3.0

Productions
Develop marketing reciprocity with other productions
Arrange opening and closing night parties
Set up talkbacks
Manage comp lists
Design, edit, and print programs
Art direct show image development
Create and implement marketing campaigns
Serve as casting director (arranging auditions, finding readers, etc.)
Contract with actors and designers
Find and contract with rehearsal and performance space
General production management

Please note, furthermore, that the above list of responsibilities does NOT constitute the entire organizational to-do list. It’s merely suggestive. Being a member of The Welders is, approximately, a half-time job, on average—and more than that at busy times—so those who are applying need to consider seriously whether they are willing to embrace the required effort.
Additional Materials

Finally, we would like you to submit (as separate documents) resumes or CVs for all six members of your potential group.

Thank you in advance for participating in what we hope will be an empowering hand-off to Welders 2.0! Finally: if you’d like to download a PDF version of this application, one is available here.

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