ACSO Webinars
ACSO webinars are 60-to-90-minute online workshops or presentations delivered by thought leaders and experts covering an array of orchestra and performing arts management topics, like fundraising, audience development, DEI, governance, and more!
Many webinars are recorded for on-demand viewing for members, and webinars are FREE for ACSO Members and $30 for Not-Yet-Members.
Need help registering? Email [email protected].
 Building Your Orchestra’s Government Relations Strategy
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | 12:00-1:30pm PT
Moderator: Sarah Weber, Executive Director, ACSO
Presenters (click here for bios): Laura Bergmann, Associate Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, San Francisco Symphony; Leni Boorstin, Senior Advisor, External Engagement, Los Angeles Philharmonic (retired); Marni Cook, Sr. Director, Advocacy, Community Engagement & Volunteer Services, San Francisco Symphony; Heather Noonan, Vice President for Advocacy, League of American Orchestras
With the 2024 elections behind us and an uncertain funding and policy landscape for the arts ahead, it is more important than ever for your orchestra to have a strong government relations strategy.
Just as you do with your donors, you must continually work at building mutually beneficial relationships with your elected and un-elected government officials. Ignore them at your peril! If they don't know you already, help them understand how your orchestra serves their constituents. You, in turn, can work with them (and your fellow arts advocates) to develop, identify, and tap into government resources that will support your orchestra.
The webinar will include:
- an overview from our partners at the League of American Orchestras of the federal policy landscape and how the arts may be impacted in the coming year
- actionable strategies and real-world examples of ways to proactively enhance your orchestra’s government relations work and build your own advocacy capacity
- information about ways to work in coalition and join advocacy networks with other arts organizations
- group discussion with webinar attendees about next steps to advance your orchestra's government relations and advocacy work
This interactive webinar is for all orchestra staff, board members, and musicians, whether you are a seasoned arts advocate or are new to government relations. You will walk away with information and tools to confidently build key relationships on the local, state, and federal levels.
AB 5 and Employee Classification in California: An Overview for Orchestras
Thursday, February 20, 2025 | 12:00-1:30pm PT
Presenter: Casey L. Williams, Partner, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
Join attorney Casey L. Williams for an enlightening webinar on navigating the choppy waters of worker classifications in California. Discover the nuanced distinctions between volunteers, independent contractors, and employees, and how these categories have been significantly impacted by AB 5 and AB 2257 - landmark legislation that reshaped the employee-contractor landscape.
Learn how these laws specifically affect orchestras and music organizations and gain valuable insights from real-world experiences over the past few years. By the session's end, you'll have a refreshed understanding of AB 5 and practical strategies to ensure your orchestra's compliance with California's complex labor laws.
Don't miss this opportunity to stay informed and safeguard your organization in an ever-evolving legal environment.
About the Presenter:
Casey L. Williams is a nonprofit business and employment attorney based in Liebert Cassidy Whitmore's San Francisco office. Her dynamic practice focuses on helping mission-driven organizations achieve their goals while maintaining compliance and navigating complex problems and challenging organizational moments. She has worked with an array of nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes, including arts organizations, assisting them in understanding various issues such as worker classification matters (e.g., independent contractor, volunteer, and employment classifications).
Eliciting Optimal Value from Your Board Members
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 12:00-1:30pm PT
Presenter: Susan Howlett, Consultant & Author
Susan Howlett is back by popular demand! Hers was one of the highest rated sessions at the 2024 ACSO Annual Conference and she has agreed to reprise it for us as a webinar. Don't miss your second chance to learn from one of the best.
It seems harder to find good leaders these days – people who will agree to sit on committees or boards and actually do the work that needs to be done.
This interactive webinar will help you get more out of the people you’ve already got – as governors, ambassadors, and fundraisers – and find more people who are willing to say yes!
About the Presenter:
Susan Howlett has consulted with thousands of nonprofits across the continent over the last 35 years, including dozens of symphonies. She's spoken often at League conferences and written articles for their magazine. Author of two award-winning books (Getting Funded and Boards on Fire), she was faculty at the University of Washington for 30 years. She's known for offering practical solutions to thorny problems, delivered with humor, stories, and chocolate.
 Two-Part Webinar (April 30 & May 7)
Boards and Belonging: Building and Sustaining Healthy Orchestra Boards Through a Lens of Inclusion
Presenter: Jessica Schmidt, Principal Consultant, Orchestrate Inclusion
The two, 90-minute sequential sessions of this webinar series will focus on orchestra board member recruitment and retention through a lens of EDIB (equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging).
Participants must register for each webinar separately and are not required to attend both sessions, but participation in both is encouraged since concepts from both sessions will build upon each other. Webinars will not be recorded with the intent of honoring the unique conversation and participation of each session.
Part 1: Wednesday, April 30, 2025 | 11:30-1:00 PM PT
Session #1 will begin by identifying the many “why’s” behind the importance of building a board of individuals who represent a range of lived experiences and identities (including but not limited to: race, disability, age, gender identity and socio-economic situation). Participants will consider the essential nature of authentic relationship-building in the process of candidate cultivation, also examining techniques for making the board member identification and recruitment process one that is inclusive and focused on the experience of the candidate.
Topics will include:
- Broadening invitation: sharing word of board openings in a meaningful way
- Use of a board rubric
- Best practices in recruitment through a lens of EDIB (board job description creation, interview processes, etc.)
Part 2: Wednesday, May 7, 2025 | 11:30-1:00 PM PT
Session #2 will focus on creating and sustaining an organizational culture that is truly ready to welcome and engage individuals from a wide range of lived experiences, centering those who have experienced historic and current marginalization based on identity. What are essential elements of creating a board culture that allows all board members not just to be present, but to contribute fully and deepen their involvement over time?
Topics will include:
- Psychological safety and dominant culture
- Hidden points of exclusion
- Measuring board culture
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