A Little Bankruptcy Satire

So I’m sound asleep last Monday only to be jolted awake by a phone call at 2:43am. I reach a hand out from under the covers and snatch the receiver. I manage to get the word “hello” out while simultaneously wondering if the cats will stay on the bed through the late night interruption. On the other end is a somewhat inebriated, agitated voice. It’s Adaptistration’s resident political cartoonist, Dixon…

“Drew, it’s Dix! I am so [bleeping] tired of this bankruptcy [bleep],” rants Dixon. “I have a great [bleeping] idea for holiday political toon that involves the cast of the strip. Can I do it?” By the tone in his voice, I’m guessing he’s been drinking scotch.

<sigh> “You’ve never asked for permission before,” I reply.

“Hey, I’m trying to be [bleep bleep] nice!” snaps Dixon. “How about a little positive [bleeping] reinforcement?!?”

“It’s almost three in the morning Dix,” I say but I’m regretting it before the words finish leaving my lips.

“Well whose [bleep bleeping] fault is it that you’re in bed to begin with!?!”

That was followed up by some unintelligible mumbling and a loud click as the line went dead.

At that point the cats hop off the bed to begin several hours of noisily playing with things I didn’t even know could be entertaining to a cat and low and behold, Dixon’s latest satirical extravaganza is waiting for me when I login that morning.

click to enlarge

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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