To: Lisa Richards Toney, President & CEO
Association of Performing Arts Professionals
cc. APAP Board of Directors

With our signatures below, we, the Exhibiting Members of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, request that the APAP leadership re-examine the current structure of the upcoming virtual conference.

Due to the Global and National Health Crisis, our industry is experiencing upwards of 90% -100% revenue loss. Venues will be closed well into the 2021-2022 season. Many businesses within the performing arts industry are completely shuttered and urgently in need of long-term support. Many of the APAP membership did not receive the CARES Act, unemployment compensation, SBA Economic Disaster and/or PPP Loans.

Unlike not-for-profit organizations, the ‘for-profit’ APAP members have no ability to receive endowments, secure grants or any other forms of financial support.

The majority of APAP members are struggling to survive, many have already been furloughed or lost their jobs with others filing for unemployment, which ends in December. Others are living off savings, retirement accounts or public assistance and many have lost their healthcare insurance. City run Venues, Concert Halls and Clubs are being closed indefinitely with Colleges and Universities making deep cuts in programming and staffing or just closing their venues.

Considering that Presenting Organizations have been forced to move their 2020-21 contracted bookings into 2021-22 & 2023, there is very little opportunity for new business/bookings. The regional conferences have proven that there is marginal value to exhibiting or showcasing on a virtual platform.

APAP is a membership organization that intentionally and with great forethought changed its name from the Association of Performing Arts “Presenters” to “Professionals” to be inclusive and recognize all sectors of the industry as equal partners working together. As such, we all need to equally share the burden of today’s challenges.

APAP’s fee structure for a virtual conference is causing financial hardship across the board for its membership. The following make it cost prohibitive to effectively participate in the APAP Conference.
• Membership Dues
• Full Registration Conference Fee
• Exhibit Hall Booth Fee
• Additional Badge Fees
• Showcasing Video Fee
• Additional Fee for a Premium Booth if you are hoping to achieve visibility on a virtual platform

We request that the APAP leadership immediately address the following issues:
• Members inability to pay their current membership dues
• Review and reduce the conference registration fee to a “pay what you can” model and issue any requested refunds.
• Review and modify the 2021 virtual conference schedule, particularly the live booth hours and session hours. We are again requesting no weekend hours.
• Guaranteed Tier protection for any Exhibitor that needs to forego 2021 conference.

After the 2021 conference we request that the APAP leadership address the following:
• Create an Agent/Exhibitor task force to collaborate with APAP leadership to redefine the virtual and in-person conference models.
• Schedule a Town Hall Meeting with full membership for an open forum to address industry issues from all sectors.
• Create task forces including Commercial and Broadway Agents to focus on industry issues and work collaboratively on solutions.

If we don’t address the urgent issues outlined in this petition, the anticipated closing/loss of so many agencies and independent artists will impact future APAP conferences. Exhibitors that do survive will not be in a position to absorb any financial shift of increased membership fees and tradeshow expenses. We feel strongly that we need an open dialogue and a deeper understanding in order to meet these challenges together. As we navigate this crisis together, we must all be flexible and demonstrate a willingness to change, regardless of the difficulties.

In the spirit of cooperation,
The Exhibiting Members