One Word. So Many Feelings.

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It’s Friday, we’re only halfway through the season, and most of could use this precise laugh right about now: Beethoven. — Shit Arts Administrators Say (@artsadminssay) January 23, 2020

#TBT Stingy Event Details

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Back in 2013 we examined the trend of orchestras to include scant information about an event on the corresponding single event pages at their website. Since then, not much has changed. Spend a little bit of time going through orchestra websites and odds are, you’ll find very little information about the works listeners can expect to hear. Budget size doesn’t seem to have impact. Even some mega-budget groups routinely provide no …

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Workplace Culture Jargon That Needs A Timeout

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A snarky tweet from @OrchestraSay the other day got me thinking about workplace leadership jargon that can use a timeout. When the executive director says "My door is always open." They really mean: 1. This sounds like something a friendly person says2. This counts as trying to care3. You are all witnesses to me being magnanimous4. Piss off — Shit Orchestra Musicians Say (@OrchestraSay) January 20, 2020 An “open-door policy” is …

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The Latest Trend In Hiding Compensation Within The Nonprofit Sector

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There’s a thought-provoking article by Sarah Pulliam Bailey in the 1/17/2020 edition of the Washington Post that examines a growing trend among evangelical organizations to shift from a traditional nonprofit status to what the IRS defines as a “Church” status. The impetus for this is a desire to obfuscate executive leadership compensation. While both status allow donors to deduct charitable gifts, the Church option provides the ability to hide compensation while …

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The Price Of Failure

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One of my long-standing pet peeves with the field is its willful evasion of examining failure. There’s too much paranoia over controlling narratives and fear of negative donor reaction that we not only miss out on learning from failures, but we begin to spin them as success. Worse still, there are plenty of examples where such action is rewarded. What I wouldn’t give to lead a sincere panel discussion where executives …

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