Fifty years ago, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. But, argues Chuck Reif, Apollo 8 was the more impressive flight: 

Apollo 8 was the first manned flight to leave Earth’s orbit, and the first manned flight to use a three-stage rocket.

The first stage of the Saturn 5 rocket propelled the Apollo craft through liftoff and 42 miles upward. The second stage sent the ship into Earth orbit at around 119 miles. And the third stage was reserved for sending the command/service module and the lunar lander out of orbit and to the moon.

In this talk, delivered live at TLCC2019, Chuck Reif, Kristin Darrow, and Andrew Recinos imagine the Tessitura Network having three stages as well. The three reflect on Tessitura's first two stages and dream together about what the future might bring.

The first stage, says Chuck, started “when we finished writing the original software.” The first seven organizations to use Tessitura formed a cooperative partnership to govern the Tessitura Network. From there, the Network formed its first board of directors, hired the first staff, built an API to power e-commerce, added access control and hosting services, and expanded the membership to over 250 organizations.  

“Without the risks and vision of our original members and the forethought of the Next Generation project, the Tessitura Network today would not be what it is.”
— Chuck Reif

Several years later, the board and Network leadership began preparing for Stage Two. Only with a major reimagining of technology and approach would Tessitura be set up for a bright, stable future. This re-envisioning, which officially began in 2009, became known as the Next Generation Project. At a foundational meeting, held exactly 10 years ago, participants talked, listened, and dreamed. “And as so embodies our spirit, out of that meeting came the blueprint for our second-stage roadmap,” says Chuck.

From left to right: Chuck Reif, Andrew Recinos, and Kristin Darrow presenting live at TLCC2019

And Phase Three?   

Kristin takes the stage to walk us through the developments coming in Tessitura Version 16, and offers a preview of what might lie beyond. “From our founding moment, we were built around one core principle: to know the customer,” she says. And today, “We are living in a time of enormous change for what it means to know the customer.” And so she lays out Tessitura's vision of not only knowing the customer but making that knowledge actionable — all in service of connecting more people to culture. 

“From our founding moment, we were built around one core principle: to know the customer.”
— Kristin Darrow

Ten years ago, Andrew notes, the Tessitura community was imagining functionality that today is helping organizations that weren’t even on Tessitura back then. Now those organizations — such as the Museum of Science Boston and the West Australian Ballet — are changing lives in their own communities, supported by the functionality of Tessitura. 

“All of our goals have all seemed unachievable when we said them out loud for the first time.”
— Andrew Recinos

We can’t know what we’ll be doing in another ten years. But, the three speakers entreat: “Give us your crazy ideas. Tell us your biggest dreams. Provide us the thrust to ignite our Stage Three rocket.” 

Chuck, Kristin, and Andrew delivered this talk to attendees from over 400 arts and cultural organizations at the 2019 Tessitura Learning and Community Conference in Chicago, Ill. in July 2019.