The Train has Left the Sation..Look out Long Beach

I received an email this weekend from an organization known as SVPI or Social Venture Partners International. The person wanted to speak with me about the possibility of engaging Playback to do a performance for a plenary session and /or a workshop at their annual conference in Long Beach. At first I thought it might be a hoax- maybe 7,000 people got the same email and they wanted my money. But as it turns out - not true. They don't want my money. They actually want to pay us to go to Long BEach and do Playback. Check out the org here : http://www.svpi.org/

Here is the potentially exciting skinny:
This is a national organization of philanthropists that want to do more then just write a check. They educate themselves about issues that they are passionate about and then choose non-profits to invest in and partner with. They are a national organization, but each local chapter is run independently (kind of like the YMCA). Anyway, the article that was in Commercial Appeal and apparently made its way into some kind of national quarterly non-profit newsletter. I guess they scan local newspapers for articles on non-profits doing interesting work that's making an impact. They are serious about bringing us to Long Beach for their annual conference- paid performances plus expenses of travel and lodging. I am going to submit a proposal for a performance and a workshop.It is the weekend of Oct 23rd- I think the 23rd and 24th. So I need to know who is available to go. I think we could take 6 actors.

This is kind of unbelievable b/c I also had a conference call with 17 leaders of Playback companies from across the country who are organizing themselves to create a stronger national organizational structure,so that we may better share best practices and expand the capacity of Playback in the US and the world. I talked about our model (working with writers and photographers and using public shows to subsidize non-profit partner shows) and people were so,so excited by this!! I think this would be a great model to use nationally. Anyway, I feel like a partnership with this organization, Social Venture Partners, could potentially be hugely beneficial to helping the larger Playback community meet some of these aforementioned goals.

So there you have it. The train has left the station!!

Would love thoughts please.