In the middle of a negotiation recently, someone tried the ol’, “I’ve been in this business for 20 years,” line.  I waited, thought for a second and then realized the for the first time I could counter with . . . “So have I!”

I first came to NYC in August of 1991, a touch over twenty years ago now.  I wasn’t walking to school through 12 miles of snow, but Broadway certainly was a different place, literally and figuratively.  And as much as I may gripe about the lack of change in our so-rigid-it’s-like-a-redwood industry, we have come a long way.

Since I’m a big believer in the concept that change occurs faster with each year that passes (mostly due to technology), imagine, for a second, where Broadway could be in 20 years?  What would it look like?  What types of shows will people want to see?  Will Phantom still be running?

I’ve got some pretty strong thoughts about it.  And so do a lot of other people in and out of this business.

So . . . why not put those people together in a room, and talk about it. Or better.  Why not TED-talk about it.

Introducing, the first ever TEDxBroadway.

Don’t know what TED is?  TED is a series of “talks” by people who . . . well . . . have ideas.  And want to spread them.  You can read all about it here.  Some pretty amazing people have said some pretty amazing things at these conferences over the years.  TEDx is an offshoot of TED that allows the talks to get niche-ier, like about a certain industry that only exists in the middle of Times Square yet whose brand reaches all over the world.

So, fellow shaker-uppers Jim McCarthy (Goldstar) and Damian Bazadona (Situation Interactive) decided that we would host the first ever TEDxBroadway . . . and get some great folks to share their thoughts of where we will be two decades from now and what we can do to make it better.  So far, we’ve got killer speakers lined up, like Jordan Roth (Pres. of Jujamcyn), Patricia Martin (Author of RenGen and Millenials study for Steppenwolf), Bill T. Jones (Tony winning choreographer), Randy Weiner (Sleep No More), an exclusive video appearance/presentation from NPH (Yep, that NPH) and many more . . . some haven’t even been announced yet!

And yeah, I’ll have a few words to say as well.  And someone is bound not to like them.  Which will be part of the fun.  🙂

You can learn all the details and grab a ticket here.

Got a comment?  I love ’em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what’s on your mind!)

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