Big News: Off To Chicago (permanently)

In the beginning of April, Adaptistration’s global headquarters (my home office) will be relocating to Chicago…


Why am I picking up and moving to the great city of Chicago (other than it actually is a great city)? Much of it has to do with the new work I’m doing in conjunction with Eastman’s new OM Forum and polyphonic.org (details here). Another benefit is Chicago’s central location with two major airports and fantastic public rail transportation will make it easier to serve my other clients.

Throw into the mix Chicago’s wonderful cultural climate (as the local’s will love to tell you: “It’s just like New York but without being New York”), and it’s an easy decision.

As such, my life is currently filled with the host of necessary evils associated with moving arrangements (not the least of which is finding a temporary place to live while we search for a house) but rest assured, Adaptistration will continue unabated.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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