What’s In a Name? Part 3

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It has been awhile since we examined the issue of orchestra domain names (here and here) but a recent comment to an article about the Detroit Symphony Orchestra musician website made me realize that all of the attention and advice here directed toward orchestra associations on the importance of registering domain names applies equally to player associations…

And not unlike their orchestra association peers, quite a few player associations have not registered the most intuitive permutations of domain names; for example [orchestra-name]musicians.com. If you’re wondering why orchestra player associations should register and maintain their own websites (it goes way beyond labor disputes), you can find some good info on that over at hornmatters.com in a post by Bruce Hembd, Phoenix area horn player and someone who has spent a good bit of time working on these issues.

Currently, player association and orchestra musician websites do exist and they range in design and content from terrific to terrible. There’s no central list available (that I am aware of) but the player conferences, ICSOM and ROPA, maintain a list of some sites (Note to ROPA: quite a few of the links on your list are broken or otherwise incorrect!).

In the meantime, the domain registration race is on! I’m sitting this one out but everyone should keep in mind that slow-and-steady does not win this race.

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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