The Dutch Perspective Of Orchestras And New Media

Nothing like red eye flights with multi-hour layovers on my way back to the orchestral equivalent of Area-51 to get caught up on some blogging. One topic I wanted to point out is a new series of blog posts by everyone’s favorite Dutchman, Marc van Bree. A few days back, Marc posted the first article in a series dedicated to orchestras and new media and since this is a topic near and dear to my own heart, I’m thrilled to see someone in Marc’s position (Chicago Symphony PR department) examining this topic. You can find all of the articles in Marc’s series here.

Note to Orchestras: there has never been a better time to start blogging so begin your Institutional Blogging project today!

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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1 thought on “The Dutch Perspective Of Orchestras And New Media”

  1. Thanks for the shout-out!

    Like I said in the introduction post, I’m no expert by any means. I’m just personally very intrigued about the possibilities in new media and this was a good way for me to examine the different topics more closely.

    I’d appreciate any feedback, particularly any case studies or examples from other orchestras or classical music organizations.

    Of course, Drew, your “How To Connect With New Media” was a great series that proved valuable in my own examination.

    And “everyone’s favorite Dutchman” just made me think of a thousand-and-one Goldmember references… Shmoke and a pancake?

    “flapjack und a shigarette?” It’s all good stuff Marc and I’ll be reading to see what sort of responses come your way. ~ Drew McManus

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