Saturday, March 16, 2019

2 to 5 pm

PLANNING SESSION: DASSAN19 Unconference 
Hosts: Jerrold McGrath, Jessa Agilo, and others TBA
Venue: Artscape Daniels Launchpad, East Tower, 130 Queens Quay E 4th floor, Toronto

Would you like to have a hand in designing or co-facilitating the overall scope and activities of the unconference on March 20, 2019? Come to this open and interactive session to help refine the plan for human-centered design processes and collective brainstorming sessions included as part of the conference. Also come to this session if you would like to volunteer as a process co-facilitator, or as a guiding sherpa with limited honoraria available.

6 to 8 pm

VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION
Hosts: Jessa Agilo, Sedina Fiati, Matt Learoyd
Venue: Artscape Daniels Launchpad, East Tower, 130 Queens Quay E 4th floor, Toronto

If you have signed up to be a valued volunteer, this casual meet-and-greet session will allow you to introduce yourself to other volunteers, deepen your understanding of the mandate, structure and activities of the Symposium, and ask questions about the tasks and responsibilities of volunteers. Want to volunteer? Volunteers attend the Symposium for free. Apply today!

Sunday, March 17, 2019

6:30 to 9:30 pm

DINNER + NETWORKING
Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West, Toronto

Come hang out with local arts leaders and out-of-town delegates arriving from around the world. Have some fun, inspired conversation, and terrific food at Canada’s only B-Corp certified art hotel.

Monday, March 18, 2019

Toronto Reference Library,
Bram & Bluma Appel Salon (Epic Hall, Prologue + Novella)
2nd Floor, 780 Yonge Street, Toronto

* An ASL-supported event
* Services de traduction anglais vers français
* French to English translation services

8 to 9 am

Registration and networking
Digital Divas: Prior to arrival, each delegate will be shared the names of one or two other delegates to seek out and connect with during the morning registration period. By then checking in with each other throughout the day, we hope this network of Digital Divas will help create a budding support system for sharing questions, insights, and fun as the day progresses.  Delegates with 3-Day Passes will be paired with different people each day.

9 to 9:30 am

(EPIC HALL)

OPENING PLENARY
Hosts:
Jessa Agilo, Co-Curator, DASSAN19; President + CEO, ArtsPond (Toronto, Ontario)
Margaret Lam, Co-Curator, DASSAN19; Founder, BeMused Network (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario)
Guests: TBA

9:30 to 10 am

(EPIC HALL)

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Ana Serrano
Chief Digital Officer, Canadian Film Centre (Toronto, Ontario)
Sustaining positive growth and change in the face of rapid digital transformation.

10:00 to 10:05 am

Break

10:05 to 10:35 am

(EPIC HALL)

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Valentine Goddard
Founder + CEO, Artificial Intelligence Impact Alliance
Founder + Executive Director, AI on a Social Mission (Montréal, Québec)
Fostering policy innovations in the ethics and governance of AI for social good.

10:35 to 10:45 am

Break

10:45 to 11:15 am

(EPIC HALL)

IN CONVERSATION: Valentine Goddard & Ana Serrano
Host: Mary Elizabeth Luka, Assistant Professor, Arts, Media & Culture Management; Interim Program Director, Arts Management, Department of Arts, Culture, Media (UTSC) and Faculty of Information (iSchool), University of Toronto

11:15 to 11:30 am

Break

11:30 am to 12:15 pm

(EPIC HALL)

ROUNDTABLE: Digital Transformation – Where have we been?
Sherpas: Jerrold McGrath, President, Intervene (Toronto, Ontario); others TBA
In this collective brainstorming session, delegates will discover the shared landmarks and stories of the past that guide digital literacy and transformation of the arts and arts services in the here-and-now.

12:15 to 1 pm

Lunch

1 to 1:45 pm

(EPIC HALL)

CASE STORY: Zannie Giraud Voss
Director, SMU DataArts (Dallas, USA)
Lessons and stories from the evolution and recent merger of SMU National Center for Arts Research and DataArts, a leading provider of evidence-based insights on the non-profit arts, culture, and humanities industry in the United States.

(NOVELLA)

PANEL: Directions in Digital Literacy
Panelists:

• Richard Lachman, B.S., S.M., ProfDSc, Director of Zone Learning, Director of Research Development @ Faculty of Communication and Design, Director of the Experiential Media Institute, Digital Media in the RTA School of Media Associate Professor, Ryerson University (Toronto)
• Anju Singh, Project Manager, DiverseTheatreBC / Visceral Visions (Vancouver, BC)
• Evond Blake (MEDIAH), Principal Artist, IAH DIGITAL
• Tim Whalley, Executive Director, (Toronto) Prologue to the Performing Arts, (Toronto)

1:45 to 2 pm

Break

2 to 2:45 pm

(EPIC HALL)

CASE STORY: Alliance Culture + Numérique

Ariane Couture, Conseillère en développement de la recherche, Vice-rectorat à la recherche, à la création et à l’innovation, Université Laval (Laval, Québec)

An inspirational story bringing together the vital forces in research, culture and digital in Québec and Québec City region to lead the development of transformational digital strategies in arts and culture.

(NOVELLA)

BOOTCAMP: Design Thinking Tools
Facilitator:  Dr. Olivier St Cyr, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Faculty of Information – iSchool + Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
Host: Margaret Lam, Founder, BeMused Network (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario)

2:45 to 3 pm

Break

3 to 3:45 pm

(EPIC HALL)
CLOSING PLENARY

3:45 to 4:15 pm

5 to 7:30 pm

(LOCATIONS TBA)
Dinner
Join in us at one of several local eateries for more networking and conversation over dinner. Topics of conversation to be suggested and voted on by delegates throughout the day.

8 pm +

Recommended Shows

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Toronto Reference Library,
Bram & Bluma Appel Salon (Epic Hall, Prologue + Novella)
2nd Floor, 780 Yonge Street, Toronto

* An ASL-supported event
* Services de traduction anglais vers français
* French to English translation services

8 to 9 am

Registration and networking
Digital Divas: Prior to arrival, each delegate will be shared the names of one or two other delegates to seek out and connect with during the morning registration period. By then checking in with each other throughout the day, we hope this network of Digital Divas will help create a budding support system for sharing questions, insights, and fun as the day progresses.  Delegates with 3-Day Passes will be paired with different people each day.

9 to 9:30 am

(EPIC HALL)

OPENING PLENARY
Hosts:
Jessa Agilo, Co-Curator, DASSAN19; President + CEO, ArtsPond (Toronto, Ontario)
Margaret Lam, Co-Curator, DASSAN19; Founder, BeMused Network (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario)
Guests:
Sagan Yee,  Classical Animator, Art Game Perpetrator; Executive Director, Hand Eye Society (Toronto, Ontario)
Helen Yung, Interdisciplinary Artist-Researcher, Culture of Cities (Toronto, Ontario)

9:30 to 10 am

(EPIC HALL)

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Cimeon Ellerton
Chief Operating Officer, The Audience Agency (London, UK)
Bolstering insights on changing arts audiences and attendance through data.

10:00 to 10:05 am

Break

10:05 to 10:35 am

(EPIC HALL)

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Michael Chappell
CEO, Culture Counts (Perth/Melbourne, Australia; Cambridge, UK)
Cultivating new models and technologies to measure value and impact of the arts.

10:35 to 10:45 am

Break

10:45 to 11:15 am

(EPIC HALL)

IN CONVERSATION: Michael Chappell + Cimeon Ellerton
Host Ron Davis

11:15 to 11:30 am

Break

11:30 am to 12:15 pm

(EPIC HALL)

ROUNDTABLE: Digital Transformation – Where are we going?
Sherpas: Jerrold McGrath, President, Intervene (Toronto, Ontario); Others TBA
In this collective brainstorming session, delegates will identify the shared opportunities and urgent quandaries that the arts industry faces in transforming to the digital world.

12:15 to 1 pm

Lunch

1 to 1:45 pm

(EPIC HALL)

PANEL + DEMOS: Creative Approaches to Immersive Media, Blockchain, and Other Emerging Technologies
Panelists:
Priam Givord, Interactive Art Director , VR UI-UX designer, Computational Designer
Roanie Levy, President & CEO, Access Copyright; CEO, Prescient Innovations (Toronto)

(NOVELLA)

CASE STORY: Margaret Vincent
VP, Governance + Legal, Stocksy United (Victoria, British Columbia / Chicago, USA)
Critical reflections, insights, and recommendations on the emergence of platform cooperative models in arts and culture.

1:45 to 2 pm

Break

2 to 2:45 pm

(NOVELLA)

BOOTCAMP: Insights on a Digital Culture
Facilitator: Sara Grimes, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information and Visiting Professor in Book and Media Studies, University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario)

(EPIC HALL)

PITCH SESSIONS: Ignite Zone
Hosts:
Akoulina Connell, Corporate Agility Consultant (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Jessa Agilo, President + CEO, ArtsPond (Toronto, Ontario)
Community members from Western, Central, and Eastern Canada share case studies and pitch presentations of their projects to address literacy, engagement and organizational transformation in the digital world. Participants include:

Sue Biely (Digital Ladders / BC Alliance for Arts + Culture, Vancouver, British Columbia)
This presentation will pitch the Digital Ladders Project to share information about how the digital skills of BC’s creative community are being taken to the next level through a series of opt-in-where-interested programs designed to improve the digital literacy of British Columbia’s arts, culture and heritage sector. The program consists of 3 components: Salons, Learn-to-Do-Labs and Workshops. The Salons will examine a specific digital topic or theme, the 3-day Labs will let you experience the logic, process, language and flow of creating digital work and the 2-day Workshops will help you bring your digital ideas to life.

Sue Biely is the program designer and facilitator of Digital Ladders. A trailblazer in Canadian independent media, Sue designs and facilitates innovative initiatives to enable the sector to adapt to and utilize ever-changing forces. With a history in content, policy, business models, conference design, workshop delivery, partnerships and campaigns — Sue continually works to bring a diversity of voices and mediums to storytelling and innovation for the common good. She is President of Nudge Consulting, Founder of InsideGreen.ca, Executive Producer of Good Pitch Vancouver, and Volunteer Board Vice President of Crazy8s Film Society. 

Carly Fry (Nordicity West, Vancouver, British Columbia)
This presentation will introduce DigistARTS, an initiative designed to determine the current learning needs and levels of understanding of digital literacy amongst arts workers in BC and design tools to address key gaps and bridge the digital divide. Arts BC’s DigiStarts Program will begin by assessing and determining current levels of digital literacy, and from there offer a series of learning opportunities from community forums carried out around BC, to webinars and web-based support materials, with the goal of building digital literacy, developing strategic digital thinking in arts organizations around the province, and cultivating creative ecosystems in communities (i.e. bridging arts and culture with technology and entrepreneurship, and other sectors).

Carly is a specialist in the design and implementation of effective policy interventions for the advancement of the global creative and digital economy. Having built much of her expertise overseas at the intersection of international development practice and the creative industries, Carly has been active in the promotion of sustainable bridges between culture, commerce and innovation. Her practice includes business strategy formation, financial analysis, regulatory policy development, economic-modelling solutions and program evaluation for clients as diverse as the British Council, the City of Vancouver, UNESCO, and the Canadian Live Music Association.

Magdalena Lagerlund (Museum London, London, Ontario) and Mila Dechef-Tweddle (Nordicity, Toronto, Ontario)
Bringing together multidisciplinary teams fosters innovation through the cross-pollination of diverse perspectives. But what happens when the parties don’t speak the same language nor fully understand each other’s needs and challenges? What happens when a great idea just won’t work because it doesn’t quite manage to consider the potential implementation limitations or barriers? How do you foster innovation while ensuring that the solution will be practical and sustainable? Hear about Museum London’s winding journey of developing a process that would lead to solutions that meet the museum’s needs and the end user’s needs while leaving enough creative freedom for innovation.

Mila Dechef-Tweddle is a Manager at Nordicity, an international consulting firm specialized in strategy, policy and economic analysis in the cultural and creative industries. Mila’s consulting work at Nordicity focuses largely on helping her clients proactively respond to stakeholder needs using evidence-based analysis that considers the technological, economic and policy trends impacting the cultural and creative industries. Mila holds a B.A. (Honours) from Concordia University and a Master of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto.

With an academic research background in epidemiology, Magdalena Lagerlund is currently the project coordinator for the Museum London Idea Incubator – Digital Solutions for Arts Education and Engagement, a digital strategy initiative funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. She has previously supported Museum London with research and fundraising assistance for their new learning and community space, Centre at the Forks.

Giorgia Severini (Writers’ Guild of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta)
This presentation will be a critical reflection on the consultation series the Writers’ Guild of Alberta (WGA) did to determine the needs of Alberta writers are in the digital age, and our current phase of testing out these ideas. WGA identified gaps in digital literacy among writers, including: copyright and remuneration in the digital age, using social media effectively, opportunities for writers in new digital forms, and connecting writers in rural communities with reliable internet access. The presentation will discuss what initiatives the WGA is testing out to fill in these gaps in the literary arts sector, and benefits and challenges that have come up.

• Andrew Scholotiuk (Film Reel / The Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta)

Daniel Webster (ART2U / Quebec English-Language Arts Network, Greenland Productions, TIXZA, Montréal, Québec)
Through ARTS2U, ELAN will collaborate with other digital initiatives in the arts to review and establish standardized data structures that structure and democratize data about artistic events. These projects overlap with ELAN’s work (funded by ISED) on a prototype arts listings database, using aggregated data sets to compile information into a feed targeted to media and gradually to consumers. This presentation will discuss research synergies between projects, share knowledge, and identify strategic approaches to shared concerns of visibility, discoverability, and data structuring.

As a problem solver and strategist  Daniel Webster is driven to build equitable platforms that provide valuable services to artists, producers, and audiences.  A veteran of the arts and entertainment industry, Daniel has led projects in digital distribution, ticketing, and festival development (OSHEAGA,  ’77).  Dan was project lead on ELAN’s (English Language Arts Network, Quebec) research on Digital Solutions (2018), and is currently manager of the ELAN’s ARTS2U prototype development.  In 2019 Dan will lead a Canada Council/DSF funded project that develops connections and collaborations among digital initiatives.

Michael Wheeler (foldA – Festival of live digital art / SpiderWebShow Performance, Kingston, Ontario)
SpiderWebShow Performance is the first and only nationally-driven digital performing arts organization of its kind in Canada with over 200 collaborators from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Since its inception in 2013, SWS was established as an organization with skills to distil, synthesize, and analyze the social interaction embedded at the intersection of live performance and the digital realm. In 2018, SWS launched foldA (festival of live digital Art) in Kingston at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. This presentation will explore the programming process, organizational structure, and rationale behind foldA.

Michael Wheeler is Artistic Director of SWS Performance, a digitally-engaged online theatre company that operates out of The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in Kingston, Ontario, which serves as a venue and laboratory for SWS experiments, performances, and presentations. He is Co-Curator of  foldA (Festival of Live Digital Art), and holds teaching and research appointments at Queen’s University. Most recently he was Executive Director and Transformation Designer of arts incubator Generator. Michael holds a MFA from Harvard University.

2:45 to 3 pm

Break

3 to 3:45 pm

(EPIC HALL)
CLOSING PLENARY

3:45 to 4:15 pm

5 to 7:30 pm

(LOCATIONS TBA)
Dinner
Join in us at one of several local eateries for more networking and conversation over dinner. Topics of conversation to be suggested and voted on by delegates throughout the day.

8 pm +

Recommended shows

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Toronto Reference Library,
Bram & Bluma Appel Salon (Epic Hall, Prologue + Novella)
2nd Floor, 780 Yonge Street, Toronto

8 to 9 am

Registration and networking
Digital Divas: Prior to arrival, each delegate will be shared the names of one or two other delegates to seek out and connect with during the morning registration period. By then checking in with each other throughout the day, we hope this network of Digital Divas will help create a budding support system for sharing questions, insights, and fun as the day progresses.  Delegates with 3-Day Passes will be paired with different people each day.

9 to 9:30 am

(EPIC HALL)

OPENING PLENARY
Guests:
Aaron Labbé, Founder + CTO, The Lucid Project  (Toronto, Ontario) 
Michael Prosserman, CEO, EPIC Leadership Support; Founder, Unity Charity (Toronto, Ontario)
Others TBA

9:30 to 10:30 am

(EPIC HALL)

KEYNOTE + IN CONVERSATION
Frédéric Julien, Director of Research and Development,CAPACOA (Ottawa, Ontario)
Tammy Lee, Co-Founder + CEO, Culture Creates (Montréal, Québec)
Gregory Saumier-Finch, Co-Founder + CTO, Culture Creates (Montréal, Québec)
Host: Akoulina Connell, Corporate Agility Consultant (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Incubating an open, linked data commons for the performing arts in Canada.

10:30 to 10:45 am

Break

10:45 to 11:15 am

(EPIC HALL)
UNCONFERENCE: Session 1
Details TBA

11:15 to 11:30 am

Break

11:30 am to 12:15 pm

(EPIC HALL)
UNCONFERENCE: Session 2
Details TBA

12:15 to 1 pm

Lunch

1 to 1:45 pm

(EPIC HALL)
UNCONFERENCE: Session 3
Details TBA

1:45 to 2 pm

Break

2 to 2:45 pm

(EPIC HALL)
UNCONFERENCE: Session 4
Details TBA

2:45 to 3 pm

Break

3 to 3:45 pm

(EPIC HALL)
Closing Plenary

3:45 to 4:15 pm

(EPIC HALL)
Closing Reception