Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Prelude To The Annual Orchestra Website Review

Thu, Sep 9, 2008
by Drew McManus
LinkedInCopyPrint

As mentioned last month, the annual Orchestra Website Review is taking place a few weeks later than normal this year but the upside is it provides a bit more time to prepare, which is a good thing because a cursory review of many websites indicates that quite a few changes have taken place since last season.  However, before the reviewing period begins in earnest, I wanted to solicit any suggestions as to how you think the reviews can improve.

  • Evaluation Criteria: should the existing criteria remain unchanged; if not, what changes do you suggest?
  • Presentation Format: should the existing format remain unchanged; if not, what changes do you suggest?
  • Publication Schedule: do you like the overall reviews first and details to follow or would you prefer the other way around?
  • Awards: do you have any suggestions for new award categories?

Of course, any other suggestions and observations are greatly appreciated so don’t be shy, send your ideas directly or post them as a comment.

 

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.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

LinkedInCopyPrint

Leave a Comment

Click. Buy. Done.

Connect with patrons. Streamline processes. Increase revenue.

Your patrons are used to buying experiences from Amazon, Google, and Apple, so why would you give them anything less?

Our Ticketing CRM gives patrons the experience they expect while offering powerful ticketing, fundraising, and membership features that are easy for both of you to use.

Learn More Book A Demo

Adaptistration by Drew McManus LLC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://adaptistration.com/about/terms-of-use-and-permissions/.

PROFESSIONAL DISCLOSURE

Given the author’s position as an arts consultant and technology provider, he does not publish articles examining or focusing on current clients without first obtaining the client’s written permission.

EDITORIAL COMMITMENT

In order to ensure accuracy and provide a comprehensive perspective on any topic, I allow any individual or person officially representing an organization that appears in any Adaptistration article to submit a response which will be published, unedited. Responses are limited to 200 words and must address the issues at hand and the individuals and/or organizations must also be willing to maintain an open dialog for continued discussion.