We have enjoyed our collaboration with Arts Management in the deployment and implementation of Theater Manager.
Benefits achieved:
Founded by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, EMPAC (empac.rpi.edu) offers artists, scholars, researchers, engineers, designers, and audiences opportunities for creative exploration that are available nowhere else under a single roof. EMPAC operates nationally and internationally, attracting creative individuals from around the world and sending new artworks and innovative ideas onto the global stage.
EMPAC has recently deployed Theater Manager's Facility Management module. Facilities Management allows them to schedule personnel, material resources, and performance spaces in a highly fluid and collaborative environment. EMPAC handles a variety of events, such as internal campus events, curated public events, residencies, lectures, conferences, and even trade shows. They have artists and performers that often work in a cross-disciplinary fashion, requiring input and support from many different areas of expertise.
EMPAC's event creation workflow involves the concurrent participation of four departmental entities in planning and executing simultaneous complex technical events in a multi-venue facility. Theatre Manager's Facility Management Module allows for asynchronous contributions from all of their production groups, which in turn streamlines the process of constructing projects. Because EMPAC is very service oriented, their production teams often have extensive and varied tasks to perform in support of their performers and residents. Facilities Management allows all production teams to add and track their obligations, building and extending tasks that sometimes originate in other departments.
The second reason EMPAC required a tool like Theater Manager's Facility Management Module is to generate estimates and invoices. Their accounting is often based on the aggregation of many different charges for people, space, and equipment. They have several different rate structures in place for different types of customers. Facilities Management allows EMPAC to estimate and bill based on actual resources consumed, as recorded in the database by their technicians.
We have enjoyed our collaboration with Arts Management in the deployment and implementation of Theater Manager. Calendaring is a subject that is simple on the surface, but exponentially complex underneath. Theater Manager has given us an environment where we can develop and refine complex workflows, and challenge ourselves to gain a deeper understanding of our own processes. We've been fortunate to see our direct feedback reflect rapid changes in the software itself, as we all explore what facilities management really means. We hope to continue working with Arts Management for a long time, both benefiting and contributing to the development of this product.