Services to the Field offers support for service organizations and for activities that provide managerial, artistic or information services to individual theatre artists and/or organizations. These services may include publications, professional development through workshops, symposia and roundtables, managerial support, information resources, projects that utilize technology, subsidized space for rehearsals and performances, festivals, and initiatives extending beyond the scope of an organization’s general programming.

New applicants to this category are required to contact Theatre staff before the deadline.

Prerequisites

Applicants must be able to document a history of providing service(s) to the Theatre field of New York State.

Application Instructions

The online application form includes the questions below. Applicants are also required to submit: online Organizational Budget for the current fiscal year, Project Budget (please use the Budget Notes section to detail income and expense items), Cultural Data Project Report, and support materials.

Please note that the request amount must not exceed 50% of the total Project Budget.

Application Narrative Questions

Artistic/Programmatic

1. Program Overview
Describe the services to be offered. Note how these services support the mission and other activities of the organization. If this is a service organization, outline the range of services that it provides.

2. Program Context
Describe the significance of the proposed services for the targeted community to be served.

3. Changes and Developments
Describe any recent programmatic changes, developments and/or challenges, indicating how any challenges will be addressed.

Managerial/Fiscal

4. Staff
List appropriate staff members and their specific organizational responsibilities. Who will manage the services for which the organization is applying?

5. Finances
Describe plans for meeting current and future expenses for the proposed activity, including fundraising strategies. How does the proposed activity fit into the organizational budget?

6. Facilities
Describe the office and other facilities. Will the proposed activity require the use of additional space? If so, please describe.

Service to the Public

7. Audience
Describe the audiences and communities served by the proposed service.

8. Marketing
Describe marketing efforts for the proposed service. Have there been any recent changes in the approach to marketing? Describe the use of online resources and social networking sites for this particular project.

9. Evaluation
How does the organization evaluate this program?

10. Outreach
Describe overall outreach activities, including education programs, discount ticketing, talk-backs, newsletters, etc. Describe any outreach to under-served populations, community-based organizations, or social service agencies.

Support Materials

11. Support Materials
Please list all of the support materials being submitted. These materials are critical to the application’s assessment. Please list links to relevant online materials.

Electronic Materials Guidelines for Submission of Support Materials

Instructions for FY13 Support Materials
The Council is now requiring electronic submission of all Support Materials, including forms, documents and work samples.

There are Exemptions to this requirement. Please see Exemptions to Electronic Support Materials below.

Remember to review Program Specific Requirements for all Support Materials indicated in each Program’s guidelines.

Support Materials can only be submitted electronically while the Council’s online Registration and Application period is open.

Requirements for Electronic Submission of Support Materials
Electronic Support Materials must be submitted online to http://nysca.slideroom.com. Remember to review Program Specific Requirements indicated in each Program’s guidelines prior to uploading. All Support Materials including forms and documents for all Program categories including General Support, Project Support, Regrants and Partnerships, can be uploaded as images, video, audio and/or PDF.

If the Support Material is in the form of a URL(s), please create a separate text document titled URL Support Materials, a description of the work sample/content and the URL (link) embedded in the text document. Include this document when uploading all your Support Materials online to http://nysca.slideroom.com.

For Time-Based Media (video and audio) the following is a general guideline to help applicants prepare content for electronic submission:

Images: 5MB maximum (jpg, png, tif file formats)
Videos: 60MB maximum (mov, mp4, wmv, flv file formats)
Audio: 30MB maximum (mp3 file format)
PDF: 10MB maximum (pdf file format)

60MB per Video clips is approximately 6 minutes
30MB per Audio clip is approximately 10 minutes
10MB per PDF is adequate for up to 10 pages of graphical content. Most text only documents are less than ½ MB.

IMPORTANT: When uploading all time-based materials (audio and video), the maximum length allowed is no more than six minutes per sound and/or video clip.

The maximum number of electronic items allowed (uploads) is no more than twenty-five (25) per proposal. For example: One PDF equals one item, one JPG equals one item and one media clip equals one item.

INSTRUCTIONS for uploading and Technical Assistance during the electronic materials submission process are available by emailing your question to support@slideroom.com Monday through Saturday, between 9am and 9pm, Central Standard Time.

Ensuring the Playback Quality of Your Hard Copy Support Materials

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the availability, quality, compatibility, and playback stability of all Support Materials which are exempt from the electronic materials submission requirement

Applicants are encouraged to test and verify that their Support Materials are playable prior to submission.

All Support Materials should be able to meet basic presentation requirements for the following hardware:

• Windows XP PC
• 1.6 GHz processor
• 256 mb RAM

In addition, all Hard Copy Support Materials should be able to meet basic presentation requirements for the following software:

• For Time-based Work (Film, Moving Images, Music and Soundwork): VideoLAN VLC Media Player (click here for a complete list of compatible file formats)
• For Still Images: Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 OR XnView multimedia viewer (click here for a complete list of compatible file formats)
• For Electronic Print Materials: Microsoft Word 2003 OR Adobe Acrobat Reader (most current version)

Support Materials

1. Sample publications, marketing materials, brochures, etc.

2. Résumés of key personnel to be involved in the request activity (up to two pages each).