It really helps to go through both this and the Agent's guidebook to get a sense of the whole thing before you start. This guidebook is very much a work in progress. Please email the Navigator with any questions as you go through it so edits can be made for clarity and completeness.

Two and a half months before the first tour, invite people who you'd like to go on the tour to signup as Crewmembers via perpetualmotionroadshow.com. Even if you know them, it's best to get them to sign up via the form: not only are key things communicated to them this way, but it will give you an indication of their level of seriousness. A huge part of Driving is setting up milestones for people, and gradually increase the level of commitment: if they cannot fill out a form, they will almost certainly pull out later in the process. This not only makes things stressful for you to find a replacement, but also limits who can go on short notice. A little bit of flakiness is inevitable given the nature of the project, but you can limit it by listening to your instincts and keeping the lines of communication open. Of the sixty people who've gone on the Roadshow so far, only 4 people have pulled out a month before the tour they committed to.

At the same time check in with the past Agents (east or west coast) and introduce yourself and see if they're into doing another 3 months. They may well not be, and if you haven't heard from them in a week you should assume they'd rather not. If so, let them know you'll be shooting them specific dates in a few weeks and if there's any concerns on their end with specific days of the week. If they decline, thank them for helping out and check to see if there's any Agent applications for the right city, or a city nearby enough to replace it in the Driver e-mail account (see below). Contact people you know there who might be into a three month stint and point them to the Agent Handbook for an outline of what an Agent does. You can also email past Roadshow alumni in the cities you're looking and ask them for suggestions--use the search function on the site for the city you're looking for. If they're in the city you're looking to get an Agent for, you also could ask someone you're considering as a Crewmember to take it on. If you've shaken all your trees and you're still short an Agent, email the Navigator and they'll massmail the audience members who've signed up for show notifications.
Now review the applications. When people sign up to be Agents or Crewmembers via the website forms, they go to driver@perpetualmotionroadshow.com. Go to www.nomediakings.org/webmail/ to access the account, logging in as "driver" and using the same password that I've given you for this account. When these forms come in, it's nice to email the applicants to let them know a human's received it. Check out the URLs they've provided to get a sense of their stuff, or email them requesting they mail you a sample of it. (If you like their stuff but can't send them on tour, email it back to driver@ with your comments so the next Driver can consider them.)

Email everyone who seems suitable what months you're booking for, and tell them that if they're interested to get back to you within the week with A) any dates they absolutely could not go; B) times they'd like to go. Because it's a long process, it makes more sense to email everyone that's appropriate (via an individual [but perhaps cut and pasted] invitation) -- just make it clear that it's still in the planning stages. If you think you might be short on Crewmembers, email the Navigator and they'll send out a massmail to the previous Crewmembers seeing if they'd like to go again.

There are several variables you want to juggle when thinking about who to put together, the key thing being variety. 

• Gender: It's a challenge to get a woman on each crew, but has been mostly possible--keep this in mind when doing your original outreach to ask as many appropriate women as possible.
• Acts: It may seem like a good draw to have three political novelists on the bill, but even if they're good this gets monotonous. Mixing it up makes for a better show, exposes audiences to different things, and gives Crewmembers their own territory: which makes the social dynamic on the road much smoother.
• Geography: Often people want to go with folks from their hometown. This is discouraged because although it makes for a great hometown show, it does so at the expense of the other cities.
• Car: You don't want to put two people who have cars or access to one in the same crew.

Once you've got three crews of three together, email them the approximate dates and say that if they want to confirm their spot, send a hundred word bio (no longer) w/website ending with what they'll be doing on the Roadshow. They also need to send you their mailing address so the Navigator can send out PMR postcards for use in their promotional push. Give them a deadline of a week -- people hate writing bios but you'll need them to give the Agents the full info, so follow up scrupulously. Again, if they can't get a bio together you're better off booking someone else.

The 15 minute rule is an important one and essential to the variety/non-boredom tenets of the Roadshow. When people go over, I routinely get complaints. So at this point, if you have a muscian, remind them that they signed up for a 15 minute performance, which is an usually short set -- 3 or 4 songs long. If you tell them at this point they don't get wedded to a particular set list.

After they confirm, check to see if they've indicated on their application that they know a local act in certain city, and ask for the local act's contact info, website etc.