The Plan · September 24, 2026
Our strategic plan.
Experiences people want to attend, share and return to.
The first phase brings one pilot from each of our four public formats into development, alongside the Listening Lab for young people and education partners. Good sound, thoughtful curation and a welcoming room are the foundation.
Purpose
Our mission.
The Listening Project enriches lives and strengthens Southwest Florida communities through accessible music programs, cultural preservation, and shared storytelling that foster connection, curiosity, calm, and creativity.
Music carries our histories, gives shape to our emotions, and connects us across generations. LP brings that power into shared experiences through close listening, cultural context, conversation and creative work. People should be able to take part without musical training or specialist equipment.
Programs
What people will do.
The Lounge: trade songs and stories through Got Me Through, At Seventeen and Mixtape Exchange.
The Library: explore recordings in context through Deep Catalog, Local Legends and Somewhere Else.
The Retreat: make time to listen through Listening in the Dark, Sound Bath and Drum Circle, with clear choices about sound, lighting and participation.
The Workshop: learn by making through Soundcraft, Two Decks and Words to It.
The Listening Lab is a dedicated first-phase priority alongside these four formats. Teen Lab leads with a six-week youth program developed with an education partner. College Collaborations and Family Listen remain distinct tracks.
First development phase
Four public experiences. One dedicated youth program.
The opening phase develops one pilot from each public format and value, alongside the Listening Lab as an equal priority for young people and education partners. These are existing LP concepts. Their appeal will be tested through registrations, attendance and the experience itself.
Lounge / Connection: At Seventeen. Bring someone from another generation and hear the songs that shaped each of you. A warm host pairs selections, keeps stories voluntary and welcomes solo attendees. Start with a 90-minute adult pilot; youth editions need their own arrangements. The invitation gives people a personal reason to bring someone.
Library / Curiosity: Somewhere Else. The flagship public experience: step into the world of a record. Music, lighting and visual design evoke a place, era or atmosphere, with brief optional context about the recordings and artwork. Begin with one strong theme, portable production and a two-hour, come-and-go format. The experience should give people something vivid to describe afterward.
Retreat / Calm: Listening in the Dark. Put the phone away and spend an hour immersed in sound. A short welcome gives way to a carefully paced set and intervals of silence. Explain lighting, seating and exit choices, and keep safe routes visible. The promise is time to listen without demands or distractions.
Workshop / Creativity: Two Decks. Get behind the turntables, learn a transition and hear your own blend through the system. A DJ demonstrates, then small groups take turns cueing and blending records with coaching. Plan 90 minutes and set capacity around genuine hands-on time. Guests leave having tried something they can hear.
A simple LP listening party can preview the welcome and sound while the pilots develop. It is optional and does not replace any of the four formats or the Lab. Deep Catalog, Local Legends, Mixtape Exchange, Soundcraft and other concepts remain available for later development.
Youth and education
The Listening Lab starts here.
The Lab is a core first-phase priority. Its invitation is direct: choose music that matters to you, discover its story, and create a listening event other people can attend. Education partners help build the program from the start. Youth learning and creative ownership are purposes in their own right.
Teen Lab leads with the existing six-week concept for ages 14 to 18, with a 90-minute session each week. Participants select recordings, research their context, write and design liner notes, learn playback basics and host a final presentation for families and invited guests. Agree cohort size with the educator based on staffing, space and equipment.
The proposed progression is: choose a theme; research and check sources; write and design liner notes; practice playback and hosting; rehearse; then present and reflect. The education partner will adapt the sequence and learning goals before recruitment.
Seek one school, library or youth organization with a named educator to co-design the pilot, recruit the cohort and agree supervision and space. LP brings the concept, music and production collaborators, editable materials and event support. Agree the educator’s time and compensation or donated contribution. College faculty and students may help where their institution approves; academic credit is not assumed.
Before registration, confirm the schedule, age-appropriate music, access arrangements, guardian registration, screened adults and two-adult supervision required by LP’s published approach. Agree separate photo permission, equipment responsibilities and host procedures. Budget all six sessions, preparation, supervision and the final presentation. Free or low-cost participation needs a named funding plan.
Agree an educator rubric for source credit, listening vocabulary, creative choices and production or presentation skills. Proposed targets are 75% of enrolled participants attending at least five sessions and 80% showing progress in at least two agreed skills through their work. Report counts, withdrawal reasons, youth feedback and educator observations. Review the cycle with the partner before repeating it.
Family Listen and College Collaborations remain distinct Lab tracks. Develop their next editions when the right partners and resources are ready, without delaying Teen Lab behind the public events.
Collaboration
Build the experience together.
Kyle Rich developed the concepts and will lead selection, assembly and approval of each LP version. Ask each collaborator for the part their knowledge can make stronger: playback and calibration; a music sequence; lighting and visual design; welcoming guests; guiding a first turntable mix; or designing an age-appropriate learning sequence.
For Somewhere Else, ask what would make the room feel like the world of a record. For Listening in the Dark, ask what to play and how to pace it. For At Seventeen, ask how to pair songs and host the stories. For Two Decks, ask how to help a beginner complete a blend. For Teen Lab, ask an educator how to build toward a student-produced listening event.
Begin with a fit conversation, then agree one contribution, its time limit and a handover date. Donated development time is a request. Leading an event, lending equipment and future work are separate commitments. LP handles program assembly, host coordination, audience recruitment and the budget.
Before substantive co-development, agree scope, credit, ownership of new materials and permitted future use. Identify existing recordings, artwork, teaching materials and tools separately. Donated time does not transfer their rights. LP retains usable program materials under the agreed terms.
Repeatable delivery
What each LP program will contain.
A program brief, timed facilitator instructions, an annotated recording and asset list, participant materials, equipment and room requirements, participation choices, a budget and a short feedback form.
LP will retain editable masters, agreed contributor terms and a revision record. Another suitably skilled facilitator will rehearse a segment from the kit to reveal missing instructions. Programs that require specialist skills will identify them.
Audience and partnerships
Give each audience a reason to come.
Somewhere Else: reach music and arts audiences and people looking for an unusual night out through galleries, arts organizations, record stores and community venues. Show the real atmosphere once the setup is tested. Lead with the experience the room can deliver.
Listening in the Dark: invite music listeners and people seeking a quiet cultural experience. Use the selected music, good sound and uninterrupted listening as the promise, with clear access information.
At Seventeen: invite someone from another generation. Lifelong-learning groups, neighborhood organizations and music communities can reach both sides of the pairing. Explain song submission and the solo-attendee option.
Two Decks: invite curious beginners and friends looking for a creative experience together through DJs, record stores and arts partners. Cap bookings according to time at the equipment; add sessions only when the resources support them.
Teen Lab: recruit through a school, library or youth organization with an identified educator. Give families a clear six-week schedule, participation cost, final-event goal and registration process. The education partner helps reach a suitable cohort and resolve practical attendance barriers.
Kyle will seek one host and two audience partners per public pilot. LP provides the invitation, image, registration link and practical information. Promote three weeks before a confirmed event, review registrations one week before and remind guests two days before. Track referral sources, attendance and opt-in interest in the next experience. The Lab’s recruitment timetable will be agreed separately with its education partner.
Costs and support
Know what it takes to deliver.
Each pilot budget separates one-time development, recurring delivery and reusable purchases. It shows both the cash LP must pay and the estimated value of contributed time, space, equipment or supplies. Founder time is included.
The Listening Lab needs a separate full-cycle budget for six sessions, educator preparation, supervision, materials, equipment and the final presentation. Separate reusable curriculum development from the recurring cost of another cohort.
Rates and supplier costs remain open until we have estimates or quotes. Missing prices are flagged rather than treated as zero. Shared purchases will be allocated once, and each budget will state its contingency.
Support can meet specific needs: a development contribution, suitable space, equipment access or a program expense. Later delivery may combine host fees, ticket income, sponsorship or eligible grants. The balance will depend on actual costs and what keeps participation accessible.
After a pilot, actual spending, contributions and hours will replace estimates. Repeat delivery costs will be distinguished from recovery of development and equipment spending.
Sequence
Develop all five priorities in parallel.
September 24 to October 14: approach sound specialists, curators, visual and lighting collaborators, DJs, hosts and educators with specific concepts and bounded contributions. Seek a named educator and host for Teen Lab. Agree scope, time, credit and use of materials. Complete the governance baseline.
October 15 to October 28: assemble public-program running orders, production plans and host notes. Develop the Lab’s six-week outline, learning goals, supervision arrangements and cycle budget with the education partner. Obtain costs and approach hosts and audience partners. Set decision criteria before recruitment.
October 29 to November 18: rehearse public-program segments and test a Lab session with its educator. Review the full youth cycle, revise the materials and decide which pilots are ready. Hold at least three prospective-director conversations. A listening-party preview can proceed if its arrangements are ready.
Public dates follow approved materials, suitable facilitators, agreed contributor terms, confirmed hosts and equipment, budgets and access arrangements. Allow a three-week public recruitment window. The Lab’s six-week cycle begins only after its partner, staffing and participant arrangements are ready. These are development milestones, not promised event dates. If all five packages are not ready, record the remaining work and stage delivery without dropping the Lab’s development priority.
Pilot decisions
Repeat, revise or pause.
These are proposed working targets for the four public pilots, not results already achieved. The Listening Lab uses the separate learning and completion measures above, reviewed with its education partner. Aim to fill at least 70% of the usable seats set before promotion. Among feedback respondents, aim for 75% saying they would attend again, 80% feeling welcome and able to participate, and 60% describing a specific moment, feeling, discovery or connection from the experience.
Report counts alongside percentages. Seek responses from at least two-thirds of attendees and at least eight people. If the group or response count is smaller, record the comments and test again before claiming the target was met. Include not-sure responses in the denominator. Track actual return attendance when another comparable session is offered.
Repeat provisionally when the audience signals are met, the kit passes a handover rehearsal and delivery fits the approved budget with a credible source of support. Require two deliveries before making it a regular offering. Review actual hours and spending, including donated resources.
Revise and retest when return interest is 50% to 74%, recruitment falls short, participation barriers appear or spending exceeds budget. Below 50% return interest calls for a stop and review before scheduling again. If a revised second pilot still falls short, pause the concept or change its format, audience or scope. Unresolved safety, access or asset-permission problems require a hold regardless of scores.
Within seven days, Kyle will record the counts, costs, facilitator observations, decision and next action, and share the review with the board or designated independent reviewer. Feedback can change a program; thresholds should not be quietly changed after a weak result.
Governance
Give the work independent oversight.
Kyle leads program development and day-to-day coordination. The board oversees purpose, finances, executive accountability and major commitments. These are proposed development milestones, subject to the existing board’s review and governing documents.
By October 14, assemble the current director and officer roster, governing documents, meeting records and financial authority. Confirm who approves budgets, signs commitments and reviews the founder’s work. Record gaps and assign owners and dates.
By November 18, hold at least three conversations with prospective independent directors. Prioritize financial stewardship, community and audience relationships, and education or cultural-program delivery. Program collaborators are not automatically directors.
Within 90 days, target at least three independent, non-staff directors, with a chair, financial oversight lead and records lead identified through LP’s established appointment process. Document vacancies and interim review arrangements if the target is not met.
Propose monthly oversight during pilot development, then a quarterly meeting calendar and annual strategy and executive review. Record decisions, spending and signing limits, conflict disclosures and a second review of founder-related payments. The board should approve the annual operating budget, any paid executive role and compensation, and major commitments such as debt or property.
The Listening Place
Earn the case for a permanent home.
A permanent space remains a future possibility. The proposed conditions below must be reviewed before a formal property search. Partner venues and regular rentals remain viable long-term options.
Demand: complete at least six public sessions over at least three months across two host settings, with at least 70% attendance against seats offered overall. Document actual repeat participation and at least two programs meeting the pilot criteria across two deliveries each.
Delivery: retain complete program kits, demonstrate delivery by another qualified facilitator and establish a realistic calendar, staffing plan and equipment needs. Document what existing host spaces cannot provide, and compare a dedicated site with continued partnerships, shared space and rentals.
Finances: prepare a full occupancy model, including fit-out, utilities, insurance, maintenance, staffing and moving costs. Show funding for 12 months of operations plus a separate six-month operating reserve without double counting. Use available funds or documented commitments; anticipated grants and optimistic ticket sales are not secured support.
Oversight: the board must review the evidence, approve a maximum occupancy budget and authorize the search in writing. Any lease, purchase or debt commitment requires a separate review of the specific site, professional due diligence, final costs and funding. If the conditions are not met, defer the commitment and continue through partner spaces.