Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Venture Project Update: Fun With Wireframes

Mon, Mar 3, 2010
The Venture Project has been officially underway for a little while now and one of the first items to be addressed is designing the Creative Control Engine (CCE), Venture’s extraordinary website publishing system and content management component. In short, CCE is how users will be able to manage and control a large, dynamic collection of

It’s As Though You Were In The Room

Fri, Feb 2, 2010
QuickTime videos from January’s American Orchestra Summit, including my session, Thinking Outside the Box: Organizational Structures and Strategies, are now available at the Summit website. Based on the segments I’ve watched, it looks like the sessions are presented unedited and although the sound can be a little soft, video quality is good and offered in

So No Hard Feelings Then?

Thu, Feb 2, 2010
When will folks learn that just because you give an interview in a non-English media outlet that doesn’t mean word won’t get back to the U.S.? The latest transgression instance comes from conductor Christoph Eschenbach who told Die Welt (English translation via Google) that he thinks the Philadelphia Orchestra management during his time there as

Uncovering Hidden Value

Wed, Feb 2, 2010
In last week’s article, The Three Keys To Social Media Marketing For Orchestras, I asked readers what else of value, besides the actual music, do orchestras have that is interesting enough to potential ticket buyers and donors that it can be given away as a free gift. The responses were thought provoking and I want

Happy Anniversary Butts In The Seats!

Tue, Feb 2, 2010
Although I’m up to my eyeballs in work and fun in NYC this week, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that today marks the sixth anniversary for Joe Patti’s blog Butts In The Seats; Musings on Practical Solutions For Arts Management. I was enormously pleased when he decided to include his blog among

A Tale Of Two Everetts

Mon, Feb 2, 2010
Apparently displeased with the decision from earlier this season to go dark, it seems as though the musicians from the Everett Symphony Orchestra have taken the adage “if you want something done right, do It yourself” to heart. At the same time, the musician driven initiative has brought on board a local arts manager, current

Name That Anthem

Fri, Feb 2, 2010
Remember when everyone was up in arms at the past few Olympics over the deplorable rendition of the U.S. National Anthem? Well, it seems that the 2010 Winter games in Vancouver have broken free of that dark cycle by reinstating a more ‘merican version of the National Anthem (IMHO, it’s a little slow but I

Every Veiled Insult Conceals A Shit-Eating Grin

Thu, Feb 2, 2010
One of the real challenges of communicating solely though print is the inability to rely on body language or inflection to convey intent. Case in point, in his Huffington Post article from 2/16/2010 Michael Kaiser writes that he is sorry for causing any arts manager grief if their institutional stakeholders pushed back against proposed artistic

The Three Keys To Social Media Marketing For Orchestras

Wed, Feb 2, 2010
Hugh MacLeod published an article at his blog on 2/14/2010 entitled “the three keys to social media marketing.” If MacLeod’s name is familiar, that’s a good thing. He’s the author of one of my favorite books, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, which serves as source material for the series of articles here

San Antonio Announces New Music Director SPOILER!

Tue, Feb 2, 2010
The San Antonio Symphony (SAS) plans on announcing their new music director today at 10:30am CT but one of Adaptistration’s moles inside the organization has gone to great lengths to leak the name in advance of the announcement. As is the trend, the SAS opted for a young conductor; someone with boundless energy who isn’t
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