Late Night Airport Blogging

Funny things pop into your head when you find yourself in less than desirable places. Tonight, it’s all about hearing words come out of your mouth that you never thought you’d ever say…

Who would want to be the source material for this?

Somewhere toward the top of that list is saying “I bet that musician loves their job and they don’t even care about being paid.” The fear of becoming lampoon fodder, like that cartoon to your right, would normally serve as an effective firewall; but sometimes, it’s beyond our control.

Case in point, Neo Classical author and violinist Holly Mulcahy, found herself in precisely this situation last week. Fortunately for us, she wrote all about it and it’s a good read.

Now if I can just get home in time for the alarm clock to go off…

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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