Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Lectures & Presentations

The Art Of The Pitch

Tue, Mar 3, 2022
In April 2021, I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker for Dr. Michael W. Millar’s Nonprofit Music course at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). As a required course for Cal Poly Pomona’s music industry majors, the students cover a broad range of topics and my session focused on one of

Donate Like Capitalism Depended On It! (spoiler: because it does)

Wed, Mar 3, 2021
We live in a time where the Top 0.1% own more than the bottom 80% but we hear more and more about donor burnout. US nonprofit performing arts organizations, and by extension artists, rely on the largess of these large donors so why are they not stepping up to strengthen safety nets to similar levels

The New Realities Of Orchestral Life

Fri, Feb 2, 2021
Like a lot of music schools, orchestra faculty at the DePaul University have to adjust to the realities of Zoom based education. To that end, Michael Lewanski, Associate Professor of Instrumental Ensembles at DePaul was kind enough to invite me as a guest for one of those Zoom sessions. After some back and forth on

Your Post-Net Neutrality Action Plan, In Google Slide Deck Form

Fri, Apr 4, 2019
My thanks to the folks from Arts Alliance Illinois for inviting me to participate in yesterday’s webinar on Arts and Technology. My portion of the webinar covered a post-net neutrality action plan and I wanted to take a moment to share the Google Slide Deck with everyone. Like most of my slide decks, this includes

Web UX 101

Thu, Apr 4, 2019
Adaptistration People 028
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
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