Midsumma

Glyn Cryer was appointed to the Midsumma board in 2002 as marketing director, and went on to be appointed as Chair in 2004.

A dynamic, capable and charismatic leader Glyn has made an enormous contribution to Midsumma over a time when many festivals experienced declining revenues and funding challenges. He oversaw a period of improved professionalism and strengthened relationships with government partners. Glyn is well known for his excellent skills in relationship-building and first-hand knowledge of the issues facing the arts sector. He was recognised in 2007 as one of 25 most influential gay and lesbian Australians by LGBTIQ lifestyle website samesame.com.au.

Some of the highlights of his time leading Midsumma include:

• Orchestrated the move of Midsumma into the Abbotsford Convent, and thus allowing Midsumma community to access the festival team within the growing artistic community of the Convent.
• Created a strong leadership team within the board, and ensured succession was in place for Chair
• Was instrumental in securing new state government funding stream from Arts Victoria with a four year commitment
• Recruited and managed our first two full time General Managers, which allowed for improved internal processes and corporate memory retention. The appointment of a General Manager for the Festival was a significant step towards long term planning and program development of the Festival.

Cryer's legacy to Midsumma will be the transformation from having a the Festival run by a volunteer-based board to an organisation with full-time staff, and one that gets more support and funding from councils, the state government and corporations than ever before.

On behalf of the current board we thank him for his contribution and welcome him as a Life Member.