June 2014 – Page 2 – Adaptistration

Is Open Data Coming To Orchestra 990s?

Monday, June 23rd, 2014 by Drew McManus

The 6/16/2014 edition of Chronicle of Philanthropy published an article by Susanne Perry (h/t @RCiprotti) that reports a lawsuit designed to require the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to make nonprofit tax returns (Form 990) available via open data standards; meaning, the IRs would have to provide the data in a database friendly, searchable standard rather than the current system of converting to PDF. Regular readers already know that open data standards …

Forehead Slap

Friday, June 20th, 2014 by Drew McManus

Although it isn’t unheard of to deflect attention from one crisis by creating another, more manageable one, on a smaller scale it is unlikely that was the case when The Metropolitan Opera (Met) announced they were cancelling the radio broadcast and simulcasts for John Adams’s “The Death of Klinghoffer.” In case you missed the bombshell news, just do a Google search and you’ll catch up on the details in no time …

Going Beyond The Archives

Thursday, June 19th, 2014 by Drew McManus

Let’s play a little word association, I’ll give you a phrase and you make a list of the first five things that come to mind. Here we go: arts org archives. Here’s what I came up with: Cardboard boxes. Lots of photos stuffed in filing cabinets waiting to be digitized. An office without any windows. “So which expense category does the archive go?” “Tell me again why the archivist isn’t included …

Things That Make You Go Buh?!? The Hartford Wagner Festival

Wednesday, June 18th, 2014 by Drew McManus

It’s been awhile since the last entry into this series and the latest head-scratcher comes from the Hartford Wagner Festival (HWF). If you haven’t heard of them before, it’s likely because the group is a nonprofit startup and has yet to present an event. Long story short; their apparent goal is/was to present annual productions of Wager’s “Ring” Cycle using a mixture of established and early career level singers accompanied by …

Well This Is An Interesting Union Issue

Tuesday, June 17th, 2014 by Drew McManus

The 6/15/14 edition of the Toronto Star published an article by Allan Woods that reports the Quebec members of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) voted to separate from the parent union. Granted, the vote was nothing but close, a reported 53.3 percent majority, but the decision throws all sorts of wrenches into the governance works of the AFM thanks to a series of laws and regulations in Quebec that contradict, …