Network Internal Rules

The following internal rules serve as a contract between IETM members and the IETM designated signatory (Secretary General) when applying for a new IETM membership. New members are expected to read these internal rules thoroughly and to approve them when filling out the online IETM membership application form.  

Download the internal rules in PDF ->

IETM Mission Statement

IETM advocates for the value of the arts and culture and empowers performing arts professionals through access to international connections, knowledge and a dynamic forum for exchange. IETM stimulates the quality, development, and context of the contemporary performing arts, in all its diversity. Read more about IETM here.

Who are the IETM Members?

IETM members represent all performing arts disciplines: theatre, circus, street art, dance, mime, music theatre, new media, performance art, interdisciplinary live art forms, object theatre, site-specific work and more. IETM members consist of stakeholders from the entire performing arts spectrum: artistic companies, organisations, festivals, venues, residencies, collectives, producers and independent artists, theatres and dance houses, cultural/research/resource centres, fellow artistic and cultural networks, universities and institutional bodies. They work in all aspects of international cooperation: creation, production, presentation, curation, dissemination,  promotion, support, education and research.

All IETM members are professionally engaged in:

• development and distribution of contemporary performing arts;
• artistic collaboration and exchange across national borders.

In addition, IETM members:

• commit to advocating for the value of arts and culture within our societies,
• subscribe to the values of generosity, responsibility, solidarity and openness.

Who can become an IETM Member?

• Organisations
  Any organisation based anywhere in the world working in the performing arts, as described in the above paragraph. Once an organisation joins IETM, all employees and Board Members of the organisation can benefit from the IETM membership, as long as they create an individual account on the IETM website linked to the organisation.
   
• Freelance/self-employed professionals working in the performing arts
  If a professional is a salaried employee, part-time or full-time, or works/collaborates on a continuous or regular basis with an organisation that itself is eligible for the IETM membership, the professional cannot have a freelance/self-employed IETM membership. Professionals with such work relationships are recommended to open a membership through the organisation they work for/collaborate with.
   
• Official bodies, ministries, arts councils and public funding organisations, and foundations
  Organisations providing support to the performing arts field, in their own country as well as internationally, can become IETM Associate Members. They have the same rights as other members, but are charged with a higher membership fee, which includes a support grant to the network. IETM provides its Associate Members with a special forum for peer exchange and feeds them with information on the network’s activities and international policy developments.

What does the IETM membership offer ?

IETM membership gives members numerous opportunities to connect with different players in the performing arts sector globally, enhancing the visibility of their activities, finding partners and sharing and improving best practices and innovative models. Concretely, the membership offers:

• Networking, professional development and knowledge sharing

• Advocacy, representation and knowledge creation

Membership fees and administration

1. How to join the network?

New members are invited to join the network through an online membership application form. The complete instructions on how to join IETM can be found on ietm.org/join.

After submitting their membership application, new members receive an email along with an invoice to be settled within 30 days. Once the invoice has been paid, the IETM Membership Manager organises an online welcoming session with new members to know more about them, their activities and expectations about IETM, as well as to tell them more about the network, their membership benefits, the ways to interact on the IETM website, and more. 

2. How much does the IETM membership cost?

IETM members pay an annual membership fee, valid from January to December – for new members, the fee remains the same regardless of when they join during the calendar year. Fees vary, depending on the annual turnover of the organisation or of the freelance activities (= total income received in one year: subsidies, ticketing, sponsorship, etc.).

The fees are adjusted to inflation rates every 5 years (the fees below are valid for the period 2026-2030). Please note that, in some cases, we may ask you to share with us your organisation’s financial report from the past year to confirm your selected membership category.

Membership fees

3. How does the membership renewal work?

The IETM membership is automatically renewed every January. In late January or early February, the IETM Secretariat sends an email explaining the renewal procedure to the main and billing contacts of all IETM members (see point 7 for more details about main and billing contacts). Members are requested to fill out an online renewal form where they have the possibility to pay their membership renewal by credit card or by bank transfer.

The early bird payment deadline is set in the second week of March of the ongoing year. After that deadline, an extra 6% is charged if the membership is still not paid. The Secretariat sends at least two reminders before the deadline in addition to the initial renewal emails. Organisations facing difficulties are urged to contact the Secretariat before the deadline to make alternative arrangements. 

The IETM membership is only valid when the membership fee has been paid. 

4. How to cancel the membership?

Our statutes require that members can only withdraw/cancel their membership in writing to the Board of Directors and Secretariat at [email protected] before the early bird renewal deadline of the current year (second week of March of each year). After this date, the Secretariat issues membership fees invoices for all members and cancellation notices for the current year sent at a later date cannot be accepted.

Consequently, all IETM members must settle the fee for the current year if they have not submitted a cancellation notice by the deadline. This is a legal requirement according to our statutes. 

5. I don’t want to cancel the membership, can I pause it?

Members can pause their membership for one year, following the same procedure described above for membership cancellations. Once a member pauses their membership, they are not charged the membership fee for the current year and cannot access any membership benefits. In the following year, the Secretariat contacts all paused members to renew their membership as described in point 3.

Each IETM member can pause their membership only once. 

6. What happens if a fee is outstanding at the end of the year?

If a fee is still outstanding at the end of the financial year, the Secretariat will cancel the membership and inform the member in writing. The membership fee will, however, still be due and will have to be paid. 

Any unpaid fees must be settled if the former member decides to rejoin IETM, or wishes to register for any IETM events as non-member. 

7. Why is it important to keep contact details up to date?

Members should regularly update their information in order to be listed correctly on the Membership List, to receive the IETM mailings and the membership renewal information. Members can update their contact details directly on the IETM website or by contacting [email protected]. 

8. Who are the main and billing contacts of an IETM member?

The main contact of each IETM member organisation is an organisation’s employee responsible for contact with the IETM Secretariat for the membership administration. The employee who applied for the membership on behalf of the organisation is automatically tagged as their main contact.

Additionally, each IETM member organisation can have a billing contact, an employee in charge of receiving membership invoices and settling payments.

Members should communicate changes to their main and billing contacts to [email protected] in a timely manner.

9. What happens if an employee leaves their current IETM member organisation but wants to stay in the network? 

If an employee ends their professional relationship with a current IETM member organisation, they automatically lose all membership benefits.

In case that professional wants to stay in the network, they can open a new membership as a freelance/self-employed professional or through their new employer, if the latter is eligible for the membership (see page 2).

10. An IETM freelance/self-employed member becomes employed by an organisation eligible for the membership. What should they do?

In this case, the freelance/self-employed member should get in touch with the IETM team at [email protected] to communicate their new work status. That professional must end their current membership and apply for a new membership for their new organisation to keep being part of the network.

Events Administration

Registration for physical IETM events is free of charge for the first representative of a member organisation. Beyond the first delegate, each additional participant from the same organisation will pay a registration fee of €50. Please note that these rates are only valid during the early-bird registration period, as long as places are still available.

If the registration is made after the early-bird deadline, every member participant will have to pay a late fee of €100. 

These rates only apply to members who have settled their membership fee. Members are required to settle their membership fee before accessing the event.

While members always benefit from preferential rates, non-members can register to and attend IETM events. Their cost of participation depends on the annual gross income of the organisation and the specifics of the IETM event, including a price increase after the early bird deadline.

Local non-members participants benefit from discounted registration fees, which are agreed with the event local organising partners in negotiation with IETM. 

The early-bird deadline is usually approximately 1 month to 3 weeks prior to the event.

If the organisation decides to become a member during the Plenary Meeting or within 15 days after the event, the participation fee will be deducted from the membership fee.

There may occasionally be registration fees for other types of IETM events, but members will always have preferential rates.

Governance and organisational structure of the network

You can read more about the governance and organisational structure of the network on this page. This text, Governance and Organisational Structure of IETM, was approved by the IETM General Assembly held by written consent from 2-24 June 2021. All older versions are hereby outdated.