#LinkedInShakespeare Sonnet Marathon 2020

Who says things better than Shakespeare? On his 456th birthday, 154 people read his 154 sonnets, in support of 154 arts organizations. On LinkedIn. Why? Because the arts belong on LinkedIn.

Note: Skip to the end to see a full cast list and the organizations we championed!

OR: Read on to learn about my experience with sharing the arts on LinkedIn.

This is LinkedIn, so... why Shakespeare? Why the arts at all?

During the 13 hours of Say Things Better's #LinkedInShakespeare Sonnet Marathon on the 23rd of April, 2020, countless takeaways about leadership, service, and collective impact were delivered to the professional audience on LinkedIn, in 154 creative packages. We can learn a lot from artists, especially during a global pandemic.

For example, in the first slot of the day, Doug Thompson reflected on Sonnet 1, sharing that impostor syndrome happens to everyone, preventing us "from sharing with the world, our blessings, our talents, and our joys."

My heart surged and my breath caught at his words, as I was whisked back in a time machine to 2017, when I'd just begun to blow the dust off my LinkedIn profile. I was just starting to look for new opportunities, read articles to help the company I worked for, and check in to see if I could help anyone else connect.

At the time, it felt like artists wouldn't

be taken seriously on LinkedIn

as having anything valuable to teach-

or at least that's how I felt.

For acting, I had a different resume, headshot, and personality that I hid from LinkedIn, lest a recruiter for e-commerce jobs (my former "day career") think I wasn't a serious candidate.

Then, one day, in a chat with public accounting recruiter and LinkedIn comedic content creator Adam Karpiak, I had a full-blown identity crisis. We were becoming friends, which happens quickly on LinkedIn, trading memes and quips that day about how blasé job seekers on the platform seemed to be about their profile photos.

"Yeah, it's crazy to see these far away shots, or over-filtered glamour shots," I had remarked. "I went to Hot Shots at the mall in '97, too, but I don't use them now."

Adam replied, "right, or business logos, or wearing sunglasses, or in a group shot where you could be anyone."

Actors make sure our headshots help us to stand out, tell the story of why we are perfectly suited to a "type" of role, and build trust with casting directors. I explained this to Adam, who exclaimed, "that's a really good point, but... WHAAAAT?! You're an actress?! Since when?" I felt my breath catch in my chest then- exposed for my true self.

I had a choice to make. And it felt obvious.

I realized I was tired of hiding value

I knew was special.

My theater background- acting, singing, dancing, directing, producing, stage managing- was nothing to keep closeted. It was the very foundation from which I was able to communicate effectively and connectively. The lessons I'd learned in theater were applicable to every business I've ever worked for. For every bit of impact I wanted to make.

It was because of my theater experience- not in spite of it- that I was respected as a leader in my mainstream corporate life.

So what was I afraid of?

I was afraid that it wasn't real, that I had somehow managed to "fool" everyone I'd worked with so far. I had somehow convinced some people:

• that acting on an outdoor stage in front of thousands of people helped me to be great at public speaking and presenting
• being an ensemble coordinator prepped me for managing teams
• the creative process of character and script analysis superpowers my ability to spot and articulate the specialness of a personal brand
• acting tools can be used to help people build trust and connect deeply

The fools.

I had impostor syndrome. Bad.

But in this moment, I was in a safe space, with my one friend on LinkedIn who now "knew the truth," and I remembered a tiny thing he had just said: "that's a really good point." Maybe it was obvious that headshots should be taken seriously, but it was my experience that drove the point home- and it was experience from the arts.

I made my choice. A conscious choice to test how much creativity the LinkedIn audience could "take" before they "found out" what a joke I was... and stopped hiring me.

"Yes," I replied to Adam, "I have been performing professionally for over 10 years, in NYC and around the US. I've learned so much from the theater that I use in my regular job now!"

"I bet," he said, and that was that.

I started revealing the creative side of my experience in comments here and there, and in a post I wrote comparing theater people to military veterans, exploring what value and values we shared that could easily transfer to the business community.

What happened next shook and shocked me. The more I shared, the more the community here rallied around me, cheering me on, tagging me in to comment on business articles from a performer's perspective.

Eventually, I was sharing everything, even mentioning, in a comment about "suspending ego," that I played a matzoh ball at St. Luke's Theatre.

I connected with other artistic people, becoming their champion as they lifted me up, too. Karen Grosz teaches teams to create collaborative artwork to break out of their boxes.

Diana Nguyen dances, does karaoke, and makes people feel comfortable being foolish. Joshua Desha, Gillian Mulholland, Chris Jackson and I sing. Toni Bubb sings, too, and also raps. Of course she does; she's a "Professional Lover of Life."

Poets and painters share their work, and photographers capture human expression. They transport us into their worlds, sometimes revealing our own.

Bruno Kongawoin and Dan O'Grady are two very special string-pluckers.

Video rules here.

Author Kristin Sherry, my co-author of the upcoming YOU'VE GOT VALUES, book 2 in the 4-title series YOU'VE GOT GIFTS, is one of the most creative people I know. Her 3rd book and framework/report, YouMap?, gave me the self-awareness to acknowledge what was special about me and the unique contribution I can make in the world.

Amy Blaschka and Bruce Kasanoff co-authored I AM, a book of first-person musings and blank space which allowed me to explore my ideas, which I'd just learned might have value.

In the pages of that book, I drew pictures and maps and scribbled ideas that stemmed from my creative center. One idea was to take inventory of my intuitive process of communication. Another was to teach acting to business people. On the next page, notes about theater and improv games. I drew figures and charts illustrating the connection between my own values and the tools I used as an actor.

I recalled a time in my life when a personal relationship made me long for,

in my personal life, the intentional communication I was used to in acting.

I approached leaders across the world about playing a game I was calling #VerbYourValues, beta testing an idea I had that an acting technique using verbs to name our intentions could help us take accountability for our most important offstage communication.

Verb Your Values? became the 5th step of the Say Things Better Method of Intentional Communication. With this, I got to work, writing, consulting, and coaching people who needed help with their messaging. I used the Method in everything! Roger Wilkerson, himself an improv actor and now a sales and monetization consultant, launched my business on his own video show on LinkedIn.

I began to believe that my ideas were valuable, and may even change the world.

In mid-2018, I co-founded a hashtag movement on LinkedIn, #10Tips10Days, with Jake Jordan, Bobby Umar, and Kira Day. I incorporated the Say Things Better Method, sharing the 5 steps and then some, in my ten videos. It was the first major push I had done, and because it was part of a larger movement, I had more eyes on what I was doing. More collective impact, and more momentum behind my own work.

Since then, I've gone full-time with this business. My LinkedIn community has provided me with all the inbound opportunity I could want! I've now traveled around the world as a speaker and trainer, leading interactive workshops that are as fun as rehearsal with a side of permanent, transformative accountability to communicating with intention forevermore.

As it turns out, LinkedIn loves the arts!

And now, more than ever, the world in general is embracing and taking solace in creative media.

Isolated and desperate to connect, to escape, or to find meaning during COVID-19 quarantine, we stream videos, master TikTok dances, read books, create artwork, journal, and download podcasts and audiobooks. I, myself, listened twice to Nir Eyal's INDISTRACTABLE while walking outside (a productive escape).

In a time of great need, we have found ourselves supported by the arts.

The arts need our support, in return. With a third or more of revenue gone from ticket sales to shows that were canceled or postponed, and donations drying up from people who are watching their own budgets, our society is at risk of losing our cultural life-source.

This is why, in April of 2020, with five in-person events I was scheduled for either cancelled or postponed, I took inventory of my Toolbox and found myself in a unique position:

• I have the time to create something big
• It's about to be Shakespeare's 456th birthday
• I have an existing platform where my voice has reach
• I have access to friends and colleagues who are in, or supportive of, the arts
• I have experience participating in and running behind the scenes work for multiple live Shakespeare marathons, so I knew how they worked
• I've already gotten comfortable with Streamyard, having about 30 #LIVEwithLila shows on LinkedIn under my belt, so I knew how to do this virtually

I made the choice to DO THIS THING...

and enlisted HELP!

Steve Sullivan and Ginger Johnson stage managed with me backstage, and continue to help with editing and distributing content to our participants.

Zak Risinger, Patrick Pizzolorusso, and I signed on as swing/understudies to fill in for any sonnet slots that would "become available" at the last minute.

Shannon Harris connected me with Russell Lehrer from The Theatre Authority so I could get approval from 4 different acting unions to use union talent.

I posted the effort on LinkedIn, texted old friends, and e-mailed theater companies. Casting Director Robin Carus put the word out to Shakespeare actors she knew. Friends posted the signup sheet on their own accounts and tagged in their friends.

With the help of our network and supportive friends, my team and I filled 154 sonnet slots with eager readers. Each was thrilled to have a platform to celebrate Shakespeare, share their own story and takeaways, and to shout out an inspirational arts organization.

And on April 23, 2020, like clockwork (with a few busy bees buzzing around behind the scenes), 5-minute slots flowed into each other, a virtual feast of arts and inspiration. Over 750 people had RSVP'd to the LinkedIn event, and over 6,000 ended up viewing (plus 1500+ on YouTube)!

The messages started pouring in from connections, plus InMails, texts... Some were from unexpected friends whom I didn't even know were watching- let alone for hours! One woman wrote that the sonnets, themselves, were still not her thing, but that she LOVED the readers' interpretations and takeaways. So did I! YES!

Want your own book of "translations" of the sonnets to tide you over until next year? Try No Fear Shakespeare's version!

Audiences who bought "donation tickets" through Eventbrite contributed to a general fund, which, at 9:45pm CDT, we awarded in full to one of the companies represented. We used a randomizer to pick a number between 1-154, and were thrilled to come up with Sonnet 138, read by Lesley Currier in support of Marin Shakespeare Company.

Our pot was $400. Moved by Lesley's description of their work, especially as the largest provider of Shakespeare programs in prisons in the US, actor Nat McIntyre, our final Sonneteer of the day for Nashville Repertory Theatre, added another $100 of his own.

These are the leaders in the arts to learn from. Hungry ourselves, we feed others whose missions we also champion.

Bottom line: we want to see

a connective difference in the world,

and we are all willing to do what it takes

to make it happen.

Join us. There's still time.

Though the livestream videos had to come down at 11pm EDT on April 27 in compliance with the actors' unions, this article lists below the 154 sonnets, the actors/readers who performed them, and the organizations who still need your help!

How can you help?

1. Donate! Pick one whose mission resonates with you, pick your favorite number, or just pick one at random, and give them money!
2. Share this article with your network, and encourage donations!
3. Buy a "ticket" for next year's event: bit.ly/STBSHAKES21
4. Share this article with an arts organization you know, and encourage them to get on LinkedIn!

Why should arts organizations

bring their content to LinkedIn?

1. It's not as noisy as other platforms
2. Ticket-buying audiences are on LinkedIn
3. Sponsors and advertisers are on LinkedIn
4. People on LinkedIn seek the kind of growth the arts can foster
5. Corporate clients for your educational outreach and workshops are on LinkedIn
6. Get hired! Lots of artists have "day jobs," and LinkedIn is a great place to find them
7. Hire people! We know the arts provide jobs. LinkedIn has the people who want them

Here are the participants from this year's #LinkedInShakespeare Sonnet Marathon, and the organizations we champion:

Sonnet 1: Doug Thompson, Starlight Symphony Orchestra

Sonnet 2: Amanda Fallbrown, Action Space

Sonnet 3: Bobby Umar, Bad Dog Theatre Company

Sonnet 4: Diana Nguyen, Humour Foundation

Sonnet 5: Lars Fehse, Supporting All Organizations Involved

Sonnet 6: Ginger Johnson, Schneider Museum of Art

Sonnet 7: Katrina Foy*, EgoPo Classic Theatre

Sonnet 8: Jacquelyn Avery Greenspan*, Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp, with bonus shoutout to The Angel Band Project

Sonnet 9: James Glines, Houston Arts Aliance and shoutout to local artist Edmar Oliveira

Sonnet 10: Heidi Yoder, Sherman Community Players

Sonnet 11: Gretchen Weigel Doughty, On Stage Takoma

Sonnet 12: Lauren Sowa*?, The Shakespeare Forum

Sonnet 13: Jamil A.C. Mangan*?, The Actors Fund

Sonnet 14: Trisha Lewis*, AsOne Theatre Company

Sonnet 15: Jane McKell, AsOne Theatre Company

Sonnet 16: Cat Pedini*, Hancock French Woods Arts Alliance

Sonnet 17: Casey Erin Clark*?, Broadway Inspirational Voices

Sonnet 18: Nick Diakanastasis, Create (Arts) UK

Sonnet 19: Kristin Sherry, The Authors' Guild

Sonnet 20: Harry Smith*, Two River Theater

Sonnet 21: Christa Comito, Brooklyn Children's Museum

Sonnet 22: Sarah Elkins, The Myrna Loy

Sonnet 23: Crystal Eisele, Mandala Center for Change

Sonnet 24: Amy Blaschka, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival

Sonnet 25: Greg Brenner, Arts for Learning

Sonnet 26: Jennifer McGinley, Baltimore School for the Arts

Sonnet 27: Brandon Walker*, New Fortune Theatre Company

Sonnet 28: Allie Owens, Players Workshop Theater

Sonnet 29: Joanne Zipay*, Stage West Theatre

Sonnet 30: Isabelle Roughol, Tower Theatre

Sonnet 31: Channie Waites*, Only Make Believe

Sonnet 32: Rebekah Dunn*, Connecticut Free Shakespeare

Sonnet 33: Betty Rothbart (My Mom), Pittsburgh Public Theater

Sonnet 34: Nicolas Sandys*?°, First Folio Theatre

Sonnet 35: Jason Seiden, Literature for All of Us

Sonnet 36: Michael F. Goldberg*?, First Folio Theatre

Sonnet 37: Josh Gladstone*, Guild Hall of East Hampton

Sonnet 38: Natalie Parks, Arena Stage

Sonnet 39: Mandy Hughes, U of Alabama Huntsville Theatre

Sonnet 40: Stephanie Gularte*, American Stage

Sonnet 41: Katie Becker Colón*, Nebraska Shakespeare

Sonnet 42: Shelley Brown, Creative Alliance

Sonnet 43: Ronita Pinckney, sending love to humanity

Sonnet 44: Alexandra Kopko*, Big Apple Playback Theatre

Sonnet 45: Emma Sheldon*, Batala NY

Sonnet 46: Joseph Saheb Youssef Bakhsh, Save the Music Foundation

Sonnet 47: Elaine Jacques, Save the Music Foundation

Sonnet 48: John Beane, The Liberty Theatre

Sonnet 49: Arthur Vibert, Bay Area Youth Arts

Sonnet 50: Alyson Linefsky*, P.A.G.E.S.

Sonnet 51: Andrea Michaele Barry, The Carolina Theatre

Sonnet 52: Richard Marshall, High Line Art

Sonnet 53: Justin Tyler Lewis*, Barter Theatre

Sonnet 54: Scott RC Levy*, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College

Sonnet 55: Lisa Fairchild*, Stage West

Sonnet 56: Francesca Baker, Margate Bookie

Sonnet 57: Lila Smith*, Save the Music Foundation

Sonnet 58: Mary Kate Simmons, WP [Women's Project] Theater

Sonnet 59: Greg Pragel*, Hamlet Isn't Dead

Sonnet 60: Erin Collins, Shakesperience Productions

Sonnet 61: Jessica Wortham*, Actors Theatre of Louisville

Sonnet 62: Melinda Hall*?, The Parsnip Ship

Sonnet 63: Tom Rowan, Gallery Players

Sonnet 64: Michelle O’Connor, Creative Arts Team

Sonnet 65: Liliane Klein*, People's Theatre Project and Central Square Theater

Sonnet 66: Paul Sugarman, Actors Shakespeare Company (NJ)

Sonnet 67: Alyssa Valdez, City College of New York: Theatre Department

Sonnet 68: Shyendra Chandrasena, City College of New York: Theatre Department

Sonnet 69: Christopher Stokes*?, Vineyard Theatre

Sonnet 70: Zach Barela*?, Gallery Players

Sonnet 71: Erin Cronican*? The Seeing Place

Sonnet 72: Craig Anthony Bannister* Spectrum Arts Productions

Sonnet 73: Julia Giolzetti, Sofa Shakespeare

Sonnet 74: Edwin Wald*?, Oak Park Festival Theatre

Sonnet 75: Eunice Akinola, Hangar Theatre

Sonnet 76: Kim Titus*, Stolen Shakespeare Guild

Sonnet 77: Patrick Pizzolorusso*?, The Chain Theatre

Sonnet 78: Alison Bucklin, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Sonnet 79: Bethany Kay*?, The Public Theater

Sonnet 80: Guillermina Fernandez, Creative Arts Team (CAT)

Sonnet 81: Martin Pfefferkorn?, ATC Studios

Sonnet 82: Patrick Pizzolorusso*? The Actors Fund

Sonnet 83: John DeFilippo, Epic Players

Sonnet 84: Shannon Emerick* Main Street Theater

Sonnet 85: Bill Buell*?, Clubbed Thumb

Sonnet 86: Anne Hiatt, Opera on Tap

Sonnet 87: Casterline Villar, Rude Grooms Shakespeare Company

Sonnet 88: Jordan Coughtry* and Nisi Sturgis*?, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre

Sonnet 89: Ido Gal, Kingsmen Shakespeare Company

Sonnet 90: Akyiaa Wilson, Ensemble Studio Theatre

Sonnet 91: Michael Mendelson*?, Portland Shakespeare Project

Sonnet 92: Kenneth O'Neal, Cailloux Theater

Sonnet 93: William Ketter, Epic Players

Sonnet 94: MJ Phillips, ArtsConnection

Sonnet 95: Heidi Cline McKerley, Horizon Theatre Company

Sonnet 96: Jarrod Harden, Union County Performing Arts Center

Sonnet 97: Nicolas Sandys*?°, Remy Bumppo

Sonnet 98: Tammy Meinershagen, Frisco Arts

Sonnet 99: Katy Rugg, Art 180

Sonnet 100: Matthew Rapport*, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival

Sonnet 101: Joseph Delguste*, Rude Grooms

Sonnet 102: Stuart Smith (My Dad), Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation

Sonnet 103: Tishun Nikco, Over the Bridge Arts

Sonnet 104: Geoffrey Kent*, Arvada Center

Sonnet 105: Ron Craig, London Children’s Museum

Sonnet 106: Shannon Harris*?, The Actors Fund

Sonnet 107: Becca Parker, Live Arts Theatre

Sonnet 108: Brando Cutts, Long Beach Shakespeare Company

Sonnet 109: Beth Ann Hopkins*, Smith Street Stage

Sonnet 110: Maren Sugarman, InterACT Theatre Productions

Sonnet 111: Richard Kent Green*?, The Workshop Theater

Sonnet 112: Erika Amato*?^, Sing For Your Seniors

Sonnet 113: Marni Penning*?, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

Sonnet 114: Laura Cole, Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse

Sonnet 115: Mario Castelli, Bookshare

Sonnet 116: Wendy Weiner Runge, Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival

Sonnet 117: Kelly Petrie, Shakespeare Kids

Sonnet 118: Meredith Yannuzzi, Luna Stage Theater

Sonnet 119: Emily Ehlinger, Schuylkill Free Shakespeare

Sonnet 120: Amy Driesler*, The Queen’s Company

Sonnet 121: Zak Risinger*, Valley Shakespeare Festival

Sonnet 122: Josh Odess-Rubin*, National Queer Theater

Sonnet 123: Kate Kenney*, Rehabilitation Through the Arts

Sonnet 124: Thia Stephan*?, Shakespeare@

Sonnet 125: Lex D?mon, The Tank

Sonnet 126: Toby Shaw, PCPA - Pacific Conservatory Theatre

Sonnet 127: Nathaniel J Ryan, JAG Productions

Sonnet 128: Megan McDermott*, Quintessence Theatre Group

Sonnet 129: Megan McDermott*, Act II Playhouse

Sonnet 130: Patrick Pizzolorusso*?, The Actors Fund

Sonnet 131: Charles Maceo*?, City Hearts: Kids Say Yes to The Arts

Sonnet 132: David Hentz, Arizona Repertory Theatre at the University of Arizona

Sonnet 133: Karen Curlee*?, Together in Dance

Sonnet 134: Richard Lear*?^, HB Studio

Sonnet 135: Jim Cairl*, The Actors Fund

Sonnet 136: Stephanie LaVardera*, Hamlet Isn't Dead- Shakes-PreK Program

Sonnet 137: Michelle Weisbein, Frisco Association for the Arts

Sonnet 138: Lesley Currier, Marin Shakespeare Company

Sonnet 139: Zak Risinger*, Valley Shakespeare Festival

Sonnet 140: Magnolia Brown, Portland Actors Conservatory

Sonnet 141: Patrick Harvey, Smith Street Stage

Sonnet 142: Lila Smith*, Dallas Summer Musicals

Sonnet 143: Stephen Fucile, ACME Creation Lab

Sonnet 144: Kathy Gill, Pacific Northwest Ballet

Sonnet 145: Sarah Spring, The Workshop Theater

Sonnet 146: Dan Burkarth, One + One Productions, Inc.

Sonnet 147: Ron Leir*?, Stratford-Upon-Duncan Performers Group

Sonnet 148: Katie Colletta*, Old Creamery Theatre

Sonnet 149: Doug Scholz-Carlson*, Great River Shakespeare Festival

Sonnet 150: Roger Brooks, Roberson Museum

Sonnet 151: Martin Bidney, Academy of American Poets

Sonnet 152: Marty Goldin, Gallery Players

Sonnet 153: Tara Haight, ATC Studios

Sonnet 154: Nathaniel "Nat" McIntyre*?, Nashville Repertory Theatre

* denotes membership in AEA, ? denotes membership in SAG-AFTRA

^ denotes membership in AGVA, ° denotes membership in AGMA