Up And Running

There’s nothing quite like a move to reaffirm the comfort of stability but change is good and mercifully, all went according to plan so today can be spent getting everything back in order. In the meantime, make sure you didn’t miss yesterday’s news about the musicians of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra voted to decertify and become a non-union orchestra.

According to a report by Adam Parker in the 10/25/2013 edition of the Charleston Post and Courier, the vote passed with a 64 percent majority. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds; likewise, it will be interesting to see if any of the musicians among the 36 percent who voted against the decision decide to speak out.

We’ll almost certainly take a closer look at all of this once everything is up to full speed here at Adaptistration’s new downtown Chicago home.

New Office View
A picturesque view from the new office during the late afternoon looking north along Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive.

 

 

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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