Reflections on The Broadway League’s Spring Road Conference

Mollie Shapiro (she/her) and Rian Patrick Durham (he/they) lead major accounts at Situation, including some of this year’s most Tony nominated musicals and plays, long-running Broadway staples, and some of the touring hits you’ve seen on the road. Cumulatively, they have 30 years of experience marketing commercial theater. However this was the first year they stepped away from developing and executing marketing and messaging strategies, leading the professional development of their teams, and creating thought leadership in their field to join their clients, colleagues and community members at the Broadway League Spring Road Conference. After they attended, we sat down to hear about how their first year at the conference went.

Can you describe the overall culture and feeling of the conference? (Some people have said family reunion, some people have said trade show)

Mollie Shapiro: The energy felt like “family reunion” meets “first day of school.” There were hundreds of folks gathering together for the same purpose (some of whom hadn't seen each other in person for 3+ years), so that warmth and excitement permeated every aspect of the conference, making each panel, creative conversation and cameo feel even more personalized and uniquely crafted for this moment.

Rian Durham:? It felt like a family reunion but also like a Taylor Swift concert for Broadway presenters and industry professionals.? It was very welcoming, busy, and full of excitement.

This conference is a choose your own adventure - what were some of the panels and sessions you chose to attend that inspired you?

Rian Durham:? I thoroughly enjoyed the first panel / keynote about effective leadership through times of crisis. I was moved by the exploration of what “crisis” really means and the importance of responding instead of reacting. We also both really connected to the conversation around cross-generational management.

Mollie Shapiro: Yes, the Generations of Now and Tomorrow panel was incredibly insightful. It didn't just focus on the stereotypes of each generation's communication style, but it really dug into the "why." What do the different generations expect, how does that impact their working style, how do they communicate/want to be communicated to, and what do they value. While there are certainly differences to be mindful of, the interactive nature of the panel caused everyone to level-set and truly listen to the reactions different generations have to the same situation. While the words themselves may have differed a bit, the overall sentiment and impact was generally the same, so it begs the question of how do we better understand each other in order to more effectively communicate across generations.?

Rian Durham: I also really loved the Life of Pi Creative Conversation - seeing the sincerity of the artists discussing the development of a non-conventional stage event helped illustrate that so much of the technical beauty of the show is generated from a deep place of artistic integrity. The room was so alive when the puppets came out to engage with the audience, creating an interactive experience – which I’m sure people appreciated after 3 days straight of panels.?

Mollie Shapiro: All of the creative conversations were so interesting, but hearing Neil Diamond say he has no idea how or why the audience participation of "Ba Ba Bah" in Sweet Caroline caught on, but closing their creative conversation with singing that over Facetime to the room was pretty special.?

Did you notice a discernible theme in the programming?

Mollie Shapiro: I felt the focus was very much on understanding where we are now as it illuminates how we move forward - what are consumer behaviors today, what are considerations across the industry today, what are the new opportunities + technologies we need to be leaning into and embracing today because they are going to be the norm of tomorrow.??

Rian Durham: ?I noticed a lot of “looking forward” and what challenges face our industry and how we can be thoughtful about how we push forward.? It seemed it was especially focused on bringing Broadway into a new era.

Based on what you learned at the conference and what you see in your client work, what are the biggest opportunity areas and the biggest areas of concern?

Rian Durham:? There is a pervading level of uncertainty across the industry.? We have shifting behaviors in New York, but you could see other dynamic changes happening across the country as it comes to audience development, subscriptions etc. I think the biggest opportunity area is engaging people from other industries that have a similar niche-ness to them.? I loved the panel talking about subscription models, with panelists from Class Pass and Vogue 100.

MS: The ever-changing landscape - both in terms of consumer behavior and the ramifications of that as well as consumer expectation across every facet of the business was something that came up in a number of conversations. A big opportunity when looking at the data and trends is to really prioritize audience development. This needs to become fundamental to how we operate as an industry. It should not just be a small allocation of an ad budget, there needs to be a real investment in providing access and opportunity for new audiences to experience theatre.?

Who was your favorite conference cameo?

Rian Durham:? Idina Menzel!? I was sitting in the audience when they started to introduce her and it was BUZZING.? I thought that creative conversation was charming and so endearing and you can tell that Idina is a BIG star for this community.

Mollie Shapiro: I loved the Shucked cameo because I happened to be seeing the show that evening, so I got to see the unplugged songwriters’ version of a song in the afternoon and then watch that same song come to life on stage as a vehicle to move the story forward.

How did this conference make you feel about the future of theater?

Mollie Shapiro: Everyone at the conference was excited to be in the room, to talk about where we are now, to look ahead at what's on the horizon, and to start having the necessary conversations to continue to propel our industry forward.?

Rian Durham:? I left feeling hopeful.? Especially as it relates to how leadership can engage with the future workforce to make sure that we are constantly evolving, growing, and making way for the new leaders of the industry.