Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Web UX 101

Thu, Apr 4, 2019

I recently wrapped up a workshop for Americans for the Arts and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts on Website User Experience with a terrific group of participants taking part in a two-year capacity building initiative titled Arts Marketing and Audience Engagement in the 21st Century: Building the Capacity of Pennsylvania’s Cultural Sector.

It was a terrific afternoon; we covered a lot of ground and worked across a variety of skill levels and platforms.

https://www.facebook.com/Pennsylvaniacouncilonthearts/posts/2708283609243469

https://www.facebook.com/bottleworksethnicartscenter/photos/a.474739972647651/2098474080274224/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/bottleworksethnicartscenter/posts/2098609356927363

I want to thank everyone from BottleWorks, PA Council for the Arts, and NAMP for their hospitality and professionalism that helped make the entire event run like a well oiled machine.

And since I’m all about sharing the love, here’s a copy of the workshop’s slide deck where you’ll find detailed speaker notes with anecdotal info, annotations, and resource links.

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.