I’m moving.

After eight years and five different spaces in my current office building on 49th Street, I’m getting out.

Ok, well, the truth is, they’re kicking us out.  My building is being converted to a hotel to serve the 52+ million tourists that come to town every year and need a place to stay.  (Live in NYC?  Have you thought about AirBnB-ing your place to make some cash?)

It took a little bit of time to find a new place, but we did, thanks to my friends at Avison Young.  (My broker was one of my very first investors, actually, which reminds me of a great tip for all you money raisers out there:  when you’ve got business to do, give it to your investors whenever you can – you’ll find it all comes around.)

So in September, we’ll be moving on up to the Studio 54 Building on 54th St and taking a full floor. (We even got a little write up in the NY Post about it yesterday – but you gotta read to the bottom.)

Yep, a full floor.

Which honestly, is a little too much space for my always-in-startup-mode office.  (Whenever anyone asks me how many staffers I have, I always have to count, because we grow, contract, flex, etc. almost daily.)

But I took the full floor anyway, because I had an idea . . .

See, I was an only child.  No brothers and sisters and not even many friends until I was about ten years old.  It was pretty lonely.  That was one of the reasons I fell in love with the theater.  Do a show?  Poof.  Instant family.  Just add theater.

The collaborative nature of the theater has always been a big draw for me.  As much as I love calling the shots, I love working with people on creating something new – it’s why I build shows like Gettin’ The Band Back Together and Awesome 80s Prom through improv.

And then, a few months ago, I was reading an article in Entrepreneur Magazine (a must for any Producer wanna-bes, by the way – see what other self-starters in the traditional business world are doing and then apply their methods to ours).  This article was about the “tech incubator” movement and how it was inspiring entrepreneurs and inventors in the tech world (who tend to be loners) to create and collaborate more.

What exactly is an incubator?

Well, it’s a big space, where a lot of independent folks can go to work . . . where they are surrounded by others just like them.  Instead of these folks staying at home, or working all by themselves in a 200 sq ft. office, they rent a piece of an incubator, and have a collaborative environment with people they can bounce ideas off of, network with, and so on.

After reading the article I screamed, in my best Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka voice, “I want an incubator now, Daddy!”

Of course, in the biz world, I’m my own daddy.  So, I rented the full floor.  And I’ve created six pods on one side of the office that I’m calling the first and only “Broadway Incubator!”  They are mini offices (but not dreaded cubicles) that you rent on a short term basis with a door you can close, or a door you can leave open so you can fuel off the creative energy from the director/producer/designer who just might be incubating right next to you.  And of course, my team will be coming up with some funky ideas for Broadway just down the hall.

Why am I telling you all this?

One, I hope you’d think it was cool.

And two, we’ve got five four pods left.   If you are interested in one, email me and we’ll be in touch with the rest of the details.

Even if you don’t join our incubator, I urge you to find one of your own.  It doesn’t have to be on a full floor on 54th Street.  It can be in your living room, or a dorm cafeteria for all that I care.  But putting like-minded, passionate people in a room is how the best theater is born.

And it’s also just a lot more fun.

Join the Broadway Incubator!  Email me!

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