Professionalism and a code of conduct

Partly as a result of recent discussions regarding professional status, Council ended up discussing a tangentially related issue: professionalism. In fact, we ended up there repeatedly. It's was pretty easy; there is a strong connection between the status (earning a livelihood, for instance) and behaviour (turning up for rehearsals on time).

Although professionalism is not a formal topic on the Council agenda at the moment, I thought it might be interesting to hear from the membership on the subject. So, I created a placeholder for a new post.

Shortly afterward, I received a link to a website article, which reports on a code of conduct created in 1945 for the Circle Players, an ensemble-based theatre in Los Angeles (thanks, L). I've copied some of it below, but you can see the original LASTAGE post here. A couple of days later I got an email from another colleague, proposing that Equity set standards for dressing room behaviour (thanks, B).

There seemed to be some kind of alignment in the stars on this topic, so over to you. As a professional artist, what would you nominate for a code of professional behaviour? Are there even "traditional" standards that ought to be relaxed or removed as no longer applicable.

And of course, it would be interesting to hear from members on the matter of dressing room and rehearsal hall etiquette, especially in regards to all the newfangled gadgetry that has shown up in the last little while. Funny, how we ask patrons to turn off cellphones, but we don't do it ourselves...

The full Circle Players code includes 17 points, but here are the first 7 to chew on for starters:

1. I shall never miss a performance.
2. I shall play every performance with energy, enthusiasm and to the best of my ability regardless of size of audience, personal illness, bad weather, accident, or even death in my family.
3. I shall forego all social activities which interfere with rehearsals or any other scheduled work at the theatre, and I shall always be on time.
4. I shall never make a curtain late by my failure to be ready on time.
5. I shall never miss an entrance.
6. I shall never leave the theatre building or the stage area until I have completed my performance, unless I am specifically excused by the stage manager; curtain calls are a part of the show.
7. I shall not let the comments of friends, relatives or critics change any phase of my work without proper consultation; I shall not change lines, business, lights, properties, settings or costumes or any phase of the production without consultation with and permission of my director or producer or their agents, and I shall inform all people concerned.

Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Joining Process - Part 2

Last year, I wrote about our discussions on the topic of the joining process. That discussion has advanced considerably, and I'd like to bring you up to date. If you want to read the original post, you can find it here.

As mentioned, we'd like to achieve a few things with a new joining plan. First, we'd like to ensure that the process works well for prospective members. Right now, through longstanding practice, if you accept an Equity contract, you join. That's pretty much it. We do have provisional and probationary memberships, but they are voluntary options and not often used. While we think it's great to welcome new members at any time, many join at a point in their career when they really need to be maintaining flexibility in their options, and when they are not at a stage that they can make the kind of commitment to the collective benefit of the membership that joining entails.

The second is that we would like to put the process of joining much more firmly in the hands of Equity; right now, most decisions to join are made in discussion with an engager. We typically find out we have a new member when we suddenly receive a contract with a name that we don't recognise. We haven't had the chance to say "Is this the right choice for you?" or "Have you considered this other option?" or even "Hi! Welcome aboard!" Depending on when we receive the first contract, new joins may get a welcome package before they begin work, while they are working, or even well after the contract has ended. That's far too late for the Association you have just agreed to join to be getting in touch for the first time and telling you what joining Equity involves.

So, what have we come up with?

We are exploring a dual stream approach, involving both apprenticeship and a form of permit membership very similar to our current probationary/provisional options. I'll use these terms in what follows, although they may yet change, as may some of the other details, by the time the new programme is implemented. Also, please note that this material relates only to performers in theatre at this point. Council will examine how it might apply throughout the membership, but as our largest member contingent, this was the best place to start the review.

Although apprenticeship is not well-used among performers, most of our scale agreements allow a percentage of non-professionals to be engaged on shows, and many of them will eventually go on to join. So, having some kind of entry programme geared toward gaining experience in the business is important. Apprenticeship will continue to fill that need on much the same terms as it does today.

For those offered their first Equity contracts, the plan under discussion would no longer make full membership immediately available, and only probationary membership will be offered. This will permit engagers to fulfil their professional quota requirements, and allow the artist to receive the full engagement benefits and protections, including representation by Equity, for the duration of the contract. Following the contract, performers would revert to the equivalent of apprenticeship status, and retain all the engagement flexibility that category offers.

There will be some, however, who do wish to join right away, and the new plan will accommodate that. Any actor engaged as a probationary member will have the option to take out full membership within two months of the start of their contract. The cost for joining will be the same as if they had joined as a regular member immediately.

One benefit of this deferred joining approach is that we will no longer expect engagers to serve as de facto front line staff in our membership office; we anticipate this will be a welcome change! Joining will instead be something arranged directly between the new member and Equity staff. Questions such as those noted earlier can be asked and carefully considered by the prospective member before a choice is made. Full membership will no longer be compulsory for engagement (although not indefinitely so) and the moment of joining will therefore be much more in control of the artist.

We've put the plan together in a summary document that staff is now examining. They will consider any anticipated administrative issues, review the fee structure, and propose suggestions they feel will make the change smoother to implement, and stronger in the long run. We will hear back from staff in June, and should have a final version to share with you not too long after that.

Defining "professional"

One of Council's most intriguing discussions of late has been an effort to define the term "professional" as it is used in our various bylaws and policies. This is turning out to be rather more difficult than hoped. Or, perhaps, just as difficult as anticipated.

In theory, coming up with a usable definition should be a fairly simple process: open up a dictionary and copy down what you see printed there. However, our membership works across a wide spectrum of career realities, so pinning down a simple definition is elusive. This may be why we haven't developed one to date.

It might be worth a word or two on why we would want to do this in the first place.

The initial impetus came from our desire to handle resignation applications fairly and consistently. Our bylaws require the applicant to confirm an intention to "terminate his or her professional career" within the jurisdiction of Equity. OK, but then where do you draw that line? In the case of applicants who specify that they wish to continue their career in live performance in a "non-union" capacity, the answer is pretty simple. In the case of members who no longer wish to pursue their livelihood in live performance, but who plan to participate in local non-professional work on the strength of their prior careers, that line is less clear.

Should "professional" be viewed in terms of income, or pursuit of income, or defined in terms of a level of skill or talent? After all, someone who has devoted a significant portion of their life to acquiring and honing a high level of skill, and who has worked at that level, doesn't suddenly drop back to an "amateur" level simply by virtue of signing a piece of paper. Or is it a combination of these two, and in what proportion? Should tenure within the profession figure into it at all?

In considering these questions, we also need to give thought to how any definition would apply to our active membership.

Our members run a wide gamut, from people who work fairly steadily at fairly comfortable salaries (an unfortunately slim minority), to those who deliberately combine livelihoods within and without our jurisdiction, to those who only work sporadically in their chosen profession (a dismayingly large number). Yet, all of them are pursuing a professional career, and few of them would hesitate to swap their second (first) job for a decently-remunerative theatre gig and a chance at more. Is the actual percentage of one's livelihood earned in our jurisdiction an appropriate metric, or should it perhaps focus more on the desire or intention to earn a livelihood?

And how far should self-definition figure into it? If asked, I'm guessing that 100% of our members, no matter how intermittent their contract history, would categorise themselves as "professional".

Beginning to get the picture?

If anyone has a blinding flash of inspiration on this topic, please feel free to drop us a note in the comments!

Member benefits - secured fees

Unlike many member benefits, working with secured fees is one of those invisible protections of which most members are thankfully unaware. I say "thankfully" because in the best of circumstances, it, like a high-wire safety net, remains unused. However, just like a safety net, you would not want to be without that protection if you do need it.

All member benefits and protections have their roots in Council policy. In this case, the applicable policy is End-2: Working Under Contract, which states:

Members will work with secure contracts in place, ensuring…appropriate and consistent remuneration [and] a guarantee on a portion of the fees payable…

In practice, this means that either the engager must put down a deposit on a portion of the fees (typically two weeks' worth of fees, taxes and benefits) or must prepay the artists. In the case of a tour, the per diems for the same period are also require a bond.

For established theatres, this security is most often posted in the form of an irrevocable letter of credit, although some theatres post cash bonds with the office. Cash bonds are kept separate from all other Equity accounts, and are not used for any purpose other than as security. Also, interest paid on cash bonds is credited to the engager, and does not go into Equity's general revenues. In all cases, Equity has the unilateral right to withdraw funds from the security deposit if required.

If you have served as a deputy on a show, you will recall having signed a "release" form at the end of the contract. Receipt of this form is critical, as it advises our staff that all the contractual financial obligations have been satisfied by the theatre, and Equity may now release the security back to the engager.

If you are the deputy, it is really appreciated, by both the theatre and Equity staff, when you get that form back to the ofice promptly at the end of a contract. If you are contacted by the deputy on your show and asked to confirm full payment so they can send in the release, please get back to them ASAP. Theatres are understandably anxious to know that their security is unencumbered, and Equity does not want to tie up an engager's money any longer than absolutely necessary. If you happen to have misplaced the form, please download one here – send it in as soon as the production has closed and  you can confirm that there are no outstanding fees.

Does Equity ever have to pay members out of the security deposit? In a word: "yes", several times per year. I'll pull together some details for a future post.

Council's environmental responsibility policy

In a recent post, October methinks, I talked about how Council has an annual roster of cyclical agenda items, so that every aspect of Equity's work gets examined on a regular basis. One thing I neglected to mention is that Council also examines its own work on a cyclical basis – we have committed to excellence in governance, and that means engaging in regular appraisal of ourselves.

Part of last year's review included consideration of Council's environmental footprint. With 10 meetings per year, and three of those being full two-day meetings, Council goes through a lot of paper in the preparation of agendas, minutes, policy documents, discussion papers, etc. Council meetings also necessitate a fair amount of travel, since we bring all members of Council together three times per year.

Having written new policy to reduce our environmental footprint, here is what we have done since then to put that policy into action.

Paper
In the middle of last year, we switched to an electronic meeting package format for all seven teleconference meetings. This means that not only is much less paper consumed, but the environmental impact of sending that paper across the country is avoided. Councillors who are away from their home base can still request hard copy packages as needed, but that is now very much the exception.

Meeting packages are still sent out for in-person meetings – the number of documents that need to be reviewed in advance of a two-day meeting is more than we can reasonably expect Councillors to print at home. Also, while on a conference call, Councillors can usually refer to documents on a computer screen, something not easily managed when we meet in person.

We reviewed this approach at our February meeting to ensure it is working well for Councillors and staff. Although it will see a few tweaks to be more user friendly, it appears to be a success. We will also be reducing some of our other reprint schedules in favour of update sheets when necessary. Aside from the environmental benefits, there are also financial benefits to these changes: we are now using much less paper and toner and staff time for our work, as well as reducing courier costs.

Travel
We also looked at turning some of our in-person meetings into telephone conferences. However, much efficiency is gained by actually having participants together in the same room – converting even one two day in-person meeting into teleconference format would mean the addition of roughly ten more two-hour phone meetings in order to complete anywhere near the same amount of work. We did, however, add teleconference capability to our meetings, so that Councillors who are not able to attend in person are now able to be there by phone.

Video conferencing was also explored, but the current cost of having that set up for two whole days in nine or ten locations across the country is enormous. Doing the same thing through personal computers is not a viable option when meetings involve 20+ participants. Perhaps some day...

Instead, we will be purchasing carbon offsets for our travel on an annual basis. At the end of last year, a calculated equivalent in carbon offsets for our Council travel footprint were purchased from Less Emissions Inc. Less is currently the highest rated carbon offset vendor as reviewed by the David Suzuki Foundation and The Pembina Institute. Here is a link to their guide and grading report, if you want more information.

Administration
In order to ensure environmental awareness throughout all of Equity's operations, Council established similar policy for our Executive Director and her staff. A recent monitoring report detailed several new and updated initiatives:

• Waste paper is  now sent to a shredding company, both for security reasons, and to ensure that it is properly recycled and not combined with other waste.
• When the office photocopiers were replaced due to age, new ones were chosen that cost less per month and are much more energy efficient than the ones they replaced. Used toner cartridges and old drums are recycled through the manufacturer.
• Fax machines have recently been eliminated and all incoming faxes are now delivered via email.
• Every effort is made to distribute information regarding member services and other topics of interest via “piggybacking” with necessary mailings: either EQ or member invoices.
• The dep pack, one of our most constant mailings, was recently pruned to use less paper.
• EQ is packaged in an oxo-biodegradable polybag, and while the EQ paper stock has a glossy feel, the paper used for it has 50% recycled content and is acid and elemental chlorine free.
• When choosing a hotel for Council meetings, one of the criteria assessed by staff is whether or not the hotel has an environmental policy and what the specifics are.

Running a national organisation unavoidably has a significant environmental footprint, at least given current technologies. Council and staff will continue, however, to actively explore options to reduce that footprint wherever possible.

National AGM this Monday

Don't forget...

Equity’s 2010-2011 National Annual General Meeting is coming up shortly.

Date: February 28, 2011
Time: 7:00-10:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
Venue: Currie Hall (National Ballet School)
Location: 105 Maitland St. (between Church and Jarvis Sts.- south of Wellesley St. E.), Toronto

All Equity members in good standing are encouraged to attend. Apprentice, provisional and probationary members are also welcome and encouraged to attend. Please bring your current membership/apprentice card to show at the door.

The NAGM will be divided into two segments. The first portion will take care of necessary business items and be kept as concise as we can reasonably manage. It will include:

• brief reports from the President and Executive Director, including a review of recent Association activities and updates on current initiatives, such as the Insurance and the Independent Theatre reviews
• receipt of the audited financial statements and appointment of Equity’s auditors for the coming year

The world of recorded media has changed drastically in the past decade, and continues to evolve at a furious rate. The second half of the evening will be an open forum on the subject of new media technologies and their increasingly important role in live performance. We’re calling it:

The Digital You

Remember the days when recorded promotional material consisted of two minutes of current affairs video shot by a local TV crew, a couple of newspaper interviews, and a handful of setup shots taken by a professional photographer? Well, say “So long!” ‘cause they aren’t coming back. The technology to create compelling video segments, audio clips and photos, and the means to easily publish them, are now within the reach of pretty much everyone. In fact, many of us carry that technology in our pockets. 

Requests for access to the backstage, green room and rehearsal hall, for the purpose of recording promotional material, are increasingly common. The artist interview no longer lasts 10 minutes – members self-interview, through blogs or Facebook or Twitter, on a daily basis for weeks. And when the show is all done, and the last piece of glowtape has been peeled from the stage, all that digital material enjoys a life everlasting on the internet.

Join Council, your colleagues, and panellists…

Maev Beaty (performer, writer)
Marjorie Chan (performer, writer)
John Karastamatis (Communications Director: Mirvish Productions)
Ross Manson (performer, director, AD of Volcano)
Michael Wheeler (co-AD of Praxis Theatre, theatre blogger)

…for an information sharing session on new media technologies, and how artists and engagers are using them, followed by open discussion on how we should be treating this material in our scale agreements and engagement policies.The forum will be an opportunity for members to share experiences and advice, learn about copyright, ACTRA jurisdictional issues and more. 

We hope you are able to join us for what promises to be an informative evening. It’s a chance to connect with Councillors from across the country, your regional advisory and, of course, your local colleagues. Refreshments will be served.

Insurance survey completed

Thank you, on behalf of the Insurance Committee and Council, to all the Equity members who participated in the Association's recent insurance survey.

Our research partner, Leger Marketing, will be collating and analysing responses for presentation to the committee and Equity's national Council. Committee recommendations for the future of the plan will be developed over the next few months, with a report to Council scheduled for June.

Thank you again for helping Council shape the future of your health and
disability benefits plan.