Vancouver TheatreSports
1502 Duranleau St. V6H 3S4 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Thank you for your patience. We wanted to update the progress on confirming the Town Hall(s) dates. We have tentatively set them for the week of July 27th to July 31st, but are awaiting confirmation on specific timing from our facilitators. ... We'll post more details as soon as we have that in place.

A message from our Acting Executive Director, Jeff Tuttle Hello, As noted in my previous post, we had planned on holding the Town Hall meetings the week of July 27th to July 31st. ... I can now confirm we have scheduled two Town Halls: Monday, July 27th at 6:00pm Tuesday July 28th at 6:00pm Location: The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau Street on Granville Island) With the conclusion of our internal focus groups with our members, these Town Halls are an opportunity for us to hear from members of the larger community. Everyone is welcome. The discussion will be guided by the professional facilitator we've secured for both evenings. Members of the Board of Directors will be present, as will I, Jeff Tuttle (Acting Executive Director). To sign-up: Please email [email protected] to sign-up for the session you'd like to attend. You will receive a response and confirmation of your registration, with details on arrival, health and safety protocols, format, facilitator information, etc. Everyone is welcome to attend. Unfortunately we are not able to offer the option for virtual attendance to the Town Hall meetings. The main reason for this is to ensure a safe space for those in attendance, to share and have conversations. We will be taking precautions with Covid19 in mind, all attendees will receive a safely-distanced seat assignment upon confirmation, and will be required to wear a mask (free disposable masks will be provided). There will be hand sanitizer available, and before each Town Hall our staff will sanitize high contact surfaces. If you aren’t able to attend, and would like to share, we can certainly arrange a one-on-one conversation as an option (please email [email protected] if you would like to schedule one). If you have any questions, you can also use the email [email protected].

Thank you for your patience. We wanted to update the progress on confirming the Town Hall(s) dates. We have tentatively set them for the week of July 27th to July 31st, but are awaiting confirmation on specific timing from our facilitators. ... We'll post more details as soon as we have that in place.

Vancouver TheatreSports is hoping to announce the dates and process for the Town Hall meetings within the next 48 hours. We have received government funding which will be used to engage with a third party facilitator for these Town Halls, as well as for on-going diversity and inclusion training and guidance. We have been reaching out to facilitators to best help advance the organization's goals based on the previously identified criteria. When they've been secured, again the intention is within the next day or two, we will announce the dates and process.

A message from our Acting Executive Director, Jeff Tuttle: We wanted to provide an update of our activities over the past few weeks, as well as outline what to expect in the coming week(s) as we embark on restructuring the organization, as we announced in early June. I know the lack of communication these past few weeks has been frustrating for many, but we have been listening, gathering information, taking action and formulating the specific plan for moving forward. Thanks ...for your patience during this time as we completed our internal focus group meetings, a key step in this process. As well, we have had the opportunity to connect with many community members over this time, both in-person and via phone calls. We appreciate all that has been shared from everyone within our organization, and the community. Please note, if you have reached out to us and not received a reply, we apologize. If you would reach out at [email protected] I will get back to you right away. With the focus group schedule coming to an end, this coming week we will announce the dates and details for the Town Hall meetings (including how to sign up, the format, etc.). We will also announce any and all action items and next steps as they’re confirmed, with complete details, including specific timelines. All of this will be posted on our social media platforms throughout next week. I did also want to address an issue that arose last week regarding us blocking accounts. I want to state unequivocally that we did not, and have not, blocked those accounts. Nor have we deleted any comments, aside from those deemed defamatory, and those were followed up with the disclaimer While we encourage and appreciate your impassioned and heartfelt comments and criticisms, this comment was removed due to being defamatory. Any comments that are deemed inappropriate personal attacks on individuals will be removed, and those deemed defamatory could potentially be open to legal implications. We encourage anyone wishing to make a formal complaint to do so by emailing [email protected]. Those have been the only comments we’ve deleted and again, we have never blocked anyone. We look forward to posting more details over the coming days and welcoming your continued input, whether by email or by joining us at the upcoming Town Hall meetings.

Our full statement and plan is outlined below, and also available at this link: https://www.vtsl.com/vancouver-theatresports-plan/ As presented to our members on Sunday, June 7th, the Board is committed to comprehensive structural changes at VTS. It is clear from discussions with our members, the community and from hearing from our Diversity and Inclusion Committee that change is needed now. We are committed to move forward with a rebuild of VTS. Effective immediately we ar...Continue reading

We have been listening to and appreciate the feedback of our membership, our community, and the important conversations occurring all over the world regarding inclusion, representation, and understanding. While diversity and inclusion throughout our organization has been held up as a priority, these initiatives have not been sufficient nor moved quickly enough. We apologize for any hurt this has caused in our community. We have spent time in the past on action plans to address this, and it is eminently clear that now is the time to move forward with urgency, putting in place meaningful and tangible actions that will have an immediate and long-term impact.

UPDATED: We will not be removing this post, as we do not want to silence the voices that have taken the time to bring our shortcomings to light. We should have considered all the information coming out about how posting a blank image was negatively affecting the black lives matter movement, despite the original intentions. And for that we apologize. We only intended to support the movement and share information to our followers. We at Vancouver Theatresports aim to be an inc...lusive company. Currently, we are a predominantly white workplace, both in the admin office and on stage. That does not correctly reflect our audiences, our city, or the stories that should be told. It is important that as a company we truly look internally to put in place a tangible action plan that acknowledges and addresses the lack of diversity. Our goal is to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, not just while it is in the news, but from here on out. As an organization, we know we need to do better to ensure that equality and inclusivity are at the forefront of our art. We are taking steps to correct this and to educate ourselves in ways we can help. We appreciate the input of our community, and encourage advice and criticism. #blackouttuesday For information on how to support and more, here is Black Lives Matter carrd: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/