We’ve all been to an event, conference, or gig where creatives stand around saying ‘we should really work together’ - but the conversation usually ends when the gig does. So what happens when it doesn’t, and what can we learn from the newly-announced Second Cities Producing Consortia?

The Consortia is a landmark pilot and partnership between four major arts organisations: Geelong Arts Centre, Merrigong Theatre Company, HOTA Home of the Arts, and Canberra Theatre Centre.

Backed by the support of CA’s Creative Futures Fund, they’ll co-invest in seeding, developing and staging new large-scale Australian theatre productions. Together, they’ll create a new national pathway for ambitious works to be developed with audiences in mind from the outset, connecting artists, producing partners, and major regional venues across multiple states and territories.

We’ll be talking to Simon Hinton from Merrigong Theatre and Rhys Holden from Geelong Arts Centre, about how the consortium idea moved from 'we should do something one day' to a formal partnership, what a pooled-resource model looks like in practice, and what success looks like to them.

They stopped talking about collective practice and actually made it happen - let’s find out more about how we can do the same.

What’s Included? A 45-60 minute webinar with our creative industries experts (which you can access later if you want), plus lifetime access to additional resources on our website containing more resources to support your learning.

Who should sign up? Creative and arts practitioners, freelancers, start-ups,  students and arts entrepreneurs from beginners to established (International sign-ups welcome!). We also welcome curious hobbyists and people from outside the arts.

Who's the Host? Monica Davidson, director of Creative Plus Business, mother of the MMM and lover of solo meetings.

What's Creative Plus Business? We're a a social enterprise dedicated to educating creative people and arts organisations about business skills. We help through sharing practical knowledge in a fun and irreverent way, and everything we do is designed to help creatives to feel more confident and comfortable about the entrepreneurial aspects of their creative practice. We believe that a bit of naughtiness, tempered with a kind heart and a big dose of professionalism, is the key to helping creative people understand the boring basics of business.

Webinar: Second Cities Roadmap