Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
The notorious @ArtsAdminSay Twitter account has been on a tear as of late and is leaving swath of dark humor destruction in its path. In case you ever wondered if it was possible to laugh and simultaneously have a little part of you die on the inside, the answer is yes…yes it is. Be sure to read the replies. Marketing: We had 500 brand new households purchase tickets for our last …
Back in November, we examined some of the contentious negotiation points in the ongoing negotiations between the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and its musicians. Fast forward a few months and according to a 1/15/2019 press statement from the musicians, not much has changed. The only exception being the employer has decided not to extend the written play-and-talk agreement, which extended the terms of the previous agreement for four months. According to …
Throwing money at a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system will make you feel good. Really good. They’re shiny, sexy, digital tools that are easy to sell. They’re also completely useless if you don’t know what you’re trying to do with them. CRM providers have become frighteningly effective at getting potential customers to see past that fact. It’s increasingly common to see CRM providers develop a sales pitch that presents their platform …
Read moreCRM As Strategy, Or, Calculating A Snowball’s Chance In Hell
Anyone with more than a handful of time working in this field has encountered one of several progress roadblocks in the form of hearing about why something can’t be done. Recently, Ceci Dadisman published a bit of an arts admin rant at Medium about three of the more frustrating examples that are practically mantra in this field: “We’ve always done it that way,” “We don’t have the budget for that,” and …
When it comes to retirement and pensions, there is no shortage of anxiety. Consequently, when I heard a teaser on NPR about a retirement home for orchestra and opera musicians in Italy founded by none other than composer Giuseppe Verdi, my interest was certainly piqued. It was a fascinating segment and you can listen below as well as NPR’s website (which also has the transcript). I highly recommend setting aside some …
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