Adaptistration – Drew McManus on the orchestra business.

The Fun Side of Due Diligence

Monday, January 27th, 2020Tuesday, January 28th, 2020 by Drew McManus

Yesterday’s article about Gender Bias Across The Arts & Culture Sector has inspired some intriguing conversations. One that caught my attention is the suggestion that all principal musician overscale should be fixed via something like the collective bargaining agreement. This is not an uncommon perspective, it even showed up (more or less) in a Slate magazine article on the topic that came during the Elizabeth Rowe/Boston Symphony lawsuit. While there are …

Gender Bias Across The Arts & Culture Sector

Sunday, January 26th, 2020Monday, January 27th, 2020 by Drew McManus

Over the weekend, National Public Radio (NPR) published a segment on unconscious bias within the larger nonprofit (and commercial) art and culture sector. It’s only three minutes long and you’ll be glad you took the time to give it a listen. Not only does the piece demonstrate how much progress is needed before we reach parity, it reminds everyone that problems with unconscious bias uncovered in the Elizabeth Rowe/Boston Symphony Orchestra …

One Word. So Many Feelings.

Friday, January 24th, 2020Friday, January 24th, 2020 by Drew McManus

It’s Friday, we’re only halfway through the season, and most of could use this precise laugh right about now: Beethoven. — Shit Arts Administrators Say (@artsadminssay) January 23, 2020

#TBT Stingy Event Details

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020Thursday, January 23rd, 2020 by Drew McManus

Back in 2013 we examined the trend of orchestras to include scant information about an event on the corresponding single event pages at their website. Since then, not much has changed. Spend a little bit of time going through orchestra websites and odds are, you’ll find very little information about the works listeners can expect to hear. Budget size doesn’t seem to have impact. Even some mega-budget groups routinely provide no …

Workplace Culture Jargon That Needs A Timeout

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020 by Drew McManus

A snarky tweet from @OrchestraSay the other day got me thinking about workplace leadership jargon that can use a timeout. When the executive director says "My door is always open." They really mean: 1. This sounds like something a friendly person says2. This counts as trying to care3. You are all witnesses to me being magnanimous4. Piss off — Shit Orchestra Musicians Say (@OrchestraSay) January 20, 2020 An “open-door policy” is …

GET SOCIAL

TWO WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL:

Weekly Email Summary Subscription