Detroit Deadline Passes, Now What?

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In short, “not much.” It seems that both sides have agreed to play and talk under the terms and conditions from the expired contract. However, the term play is used loosely in this sense as there are no concerts scheduled until October. I’m planning on posting something more about all of this later in the week once my work deadlines have loosened up but in the meantime…

…check out the 9/29/2010 Detroit Free Press article by Mark Stryker, which offers additional details along with a thoroughly thought provoking opinion piece from Brian Dickerson in the same day’s issue of the Detroit Free Press.

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

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2 thoughts on “Detroit Deadline Passes, Now What?”

  1. Hi Drew,
    I’m curious about the “quirk” in the law that (according to the musicians) requires the current contract to remain in effect until 23 Sept. Evidently this was some sort of paperwork issue w/the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. It seems odd that after all the threats to immediately impose “plan B” upon the deadline, the DSO management didn’t file the proper documents until last Monday. Do you have any further information?

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