Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
While there are no shortage of project management platforms to choose from, finding one that checks most of the boxes and doesn’t cost a fortune is a tall order. Recently, I discovered Workast and if you’re already using Slack, it may be exactly what you’ve been looking for to fill this void. To that end, I published a detailed overview about Workast at ArtsHacker. It not only covers pros and cons …
Thanks to a colleague (you know who you are) for pointing out a wonderful keeping-it-real-tweet from Gerry Heise, Senior Major Gifts Officer at the LA Philharmonic, posted on the final day of the League conference. Conference speaker tip: don’t ask how many millennials are in the room, see that half the room is comprised of millennials, and then proceed to bash millennials. Yikes. Made for a rough presentation recovery. #Orch2019 — …
As the Baltimore Symphony heads into what is looking like an all but certain knock-down, drag-out labor dispute, it’s worth mentioning a few points of opportunity all stakeholders can benefit from. First and foremost, it’s time to internalize the distinction between executives and staff within the larger administrative structure. Historically, during orchestra labor disputes, it’s common for musician employees to use the term “management” when referring to the executive leadership; specifically, …
Do I know what makes a masterworks concert a masterworks concert? Of course I do…but why don’t you tell me what you think it means first then I’ll let you know if that’s what I thought. That’s an actual conversation I overheard a few years ago but never really stuck me until I presented at a conference last year alongside Ceci Dadisman. Ceci introduced an element about how arts orgs inadvertently …
Overcoming tradition combined with the challenge of practicality conspire to produce increasingly elusive solutions when it comes to updating musician dress codes. Having said that, it’s always a bit irksome is when groups attempt to address the issue by throwing money at it in the form of custom designs. Yes, it’s fun to play what-if dress up with foundation dollars and quite a few of those projects over the years have …