We're so sorry, he's from Barcelona*

So I've been working on The State of PHIT 2008 this week (save the date: December 2, 2008 @ 8pm, The Shubin) after deciding to hold another meeting this year and feeling very good about it.

Originally I hadn't thought to hold a meeting this year - time is kind of precious for me at the moment, since I've just started a new job - but few different circumstances convinced me it was needed and could be fun.

First, I'd had a nagging feeling for several months that some people felt like PHIT wasn't giving them a fair shake. I couldn't put my finger on exactly where some of the dissatisfaction was coming from until Meg Favreau pointed it out to me at a lunch we had a few weeks ago: the people who weren't quite as happy did not come to The State of PHIT last year. Meg said that her and Rob attending had made them understand where the theater was going and what the goals were for 2008 - so they understood why certain decisions were made the way they were. Hopefully we'll be able to get out all the people who just started getting involved this year so they can see what the theater has accomplished in 2008 and where we want to go for 2009 and feel more invested in (or at least better understand our approach to) what we're trying to do.

The second reason I came around to having the meeting is that it turns out we've got a lot of stuff to talk about. Rest assured, very little of the meeting is going to be PHIT bragging about what we've done (a little, to be sure, at the start). It's been a good year, but we want next year to be great. So we're going to talk about how we can start benefitting performers more directly for being on stage, and what Alexis is planning artistically. We may have more surprise announcements, several different irons on the fire there.

I'll probably write more about some of this stuff as I keep working over the next several weeks, but I'm interested in input here as well - WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR DISCUSSED DURING THE STATE OF PHIT?


*I am again awarding a point to the person that recognizes this first. Come on folks, where's it from? The comments section awaits!