That’s not my slogan—it’s a core value for employees working for WordPress, the online content management system (a.k.a. open source website). I have a friend who’s living in Ireland and about to begin working for the company as a happiness engineer. WordPress has no offices, no central headquarters. When I was with her recently, I peppered her with questions about how that really works. How do you create a cohesive staff and keep everyone moving in the same direction? What’s the retention rate? How do you mentor and conduct evaluations? In a nutshell, you get to live wherever you want; your work is fully portable; and WordPress has meetups all over the world a couple times a year, where employees travel in and spend focused time together.
“Communication is oxygen” is the first of WordPress’s six core values. The other five are: “Highly independent individuals,” “Meetups: face time is important,” “Focus on one thing,” “Clear communication spaces,” and “Transparency across all teams.”
I like them all, but I keep thinking about communication as oxygen and our challenges at SDC. There are more than 4,000 of you, including 2,000 Members and another 1,000 Associates active at any given time, scattered one by one in rehearsal halls, theatres, classrooms, and conference rooms. I spend a lot of time thinking about how we communicate to the Membership and facilitate communications among Members. I think about our vehicles for communicating: email, social media, websites, snail mail, media, and SDC Journal. I think about what communications need to travel through what sources and how we use communications to bind us together and move us forward, together—to unite, empower, and protect.
Unlike WordPress, we at SDC have a headquarters. That feels like a benefit to me because it often allows us to breathe the same oxygen together. I’m blessed to share our space every day with an extraordinary staff—and the Members who can take advantage of its resources.
Yet, like WordPress, we are also often scattered. I’m keenly aware of the need to be very careful about how we keep the communication flowing on any number of the many issues critical to you in your work and how to keep the channels open back to us. Posting on social media only works for those on social media. Mail works for those who happen to be at home, but it’s not so good for those working out of town. E-blasts end up in spam—and you unsubscribe because you get tired of finding so many messages from countless sources cluttering your life. I appreciate it when you call or write, and I know that for each person who picks up the phone or sends an email to share a thought, there are probably 30, 40, maybe 50 people who have something similar to say on the topic but are too busy to do so.
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When we imagined SDC Journal, we hoped it would become foundational in our efforts to grow our communications with you, in this instance, focused on your craft. We have introduced Members to other Members and exposed Members to the processes of other Members. We have inspired, frustrated, and surprised Members. We have evolved the content over these six years, and in this issue, we introduce a new regular column dedicated to the art of choreography, “Step Forward.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank some exceptional human beings who, for years, have been like our oxygen at SDC Journal. Elizabeth Nelson was with me in 2009 when we first explored the creation of SDC Journal. At the time, we thought we might call the magazine the Society Pages. I remember taking a mockup to a negotiation to share and gather feedback from some of you at an elongated caucus. It took us a few years to launch the magazine, but without Elizabeth’s tenacity, pursuit of excellence, artistry, and humor, I’m honestly not sure there would be a Journal. Elizabeth left SDC a couple years ago to relocate to the Berkshires. She continued as our art director through this issue you hold in your hand.
Also completing her tenure—as features editor—is the brilliant Elizabeth Bennett, dramaturg extraordinaire. Many of you have had the pleasure of working with her in rehearsal halls across the country, from Arena Stage to La Jolla Playhouse. For five years, with rigor and respect, she found the core of each feature, identified writers and interviewers, and guided edits. With a deep understanding of what you do, she represented you and was tenacious as she sought to ensure that the stories we published were worthy of your talent, your intellect, and your impact on the cultural life around the world. A couple years ago, she signed on to lead the arts council on Staten Island but continued to work with us until her success in that role required her to let go of her connection to SDC Journal. You will likely see both Elizabeths here in these pages in the future, but we will no longer see them on each masthead. Please join me in thanking them for their contributions.
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Communication is oxygen for SDC as well. Without it, we cannot bind this community of artists together, and only if we are united will we succeed in our efforts to better support the Membership. And your communication skills provide the oxygen that allows theatre to live and breathe on stages throughout this country and abroad. As the linchpins of productions, you breathe life into every theatrical collaboration, in exhilarating, nuanced, insightful rushes of insight and empathy.
In Solidarity,
Laura Penn
Executive Director