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.

State Of Employment Poll & Review May 11 – 17

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With several weeks of data, our weekly employment status polls, which track both orchestra administrators and musicians, are beginning to illustrate trends. Weekly Report Perhaps unsurprisingly, as shutdowns continue, we’re starting to see more shifts in the ratio of workers indicating they are employed at a reduced rate or not at all. Administrators experienced a 30 percent increase toward workers indicating they were working at reduced employment status and/or being furloughed …

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Time For A History Lesson

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One of the most common questions I’m asked by arts admin students is which books they should read to learn about the latest trends in arts management. While that’s a fine endeavor, I usually respond saying there’s far more to learn by talking to as many retired or soon to be retired insiders as possible. The history of this field is poorly documented and much of the knowledge from past generations …

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Some Early Research On The Shift To Online Streaming

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Rainer Glaap has enjoyed a long career as an arts marketing and box office authority. He’s based in Bremen, Germany and although recently retired, that doesn’t seem to be stopping him from being neck deep in one fascinating research project after another. One of his recent endeavors has been studying how much audiences are engaging with the initial round of online streaming offers from traditional cultural institutions. Granted, his subject base …

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When It Comes To Post Covid-19 Event Activity, Don’t Get Sucked Into The Static Analysis Trap

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In today’s operating environment, there are no shortages of anxiety triggers. Having said that, it’s not like we should be going out of our way to pile on. Case in point: I’m seeing a lot of static analysis generated alarmism. One of the best examples of this are a few articles making the rounds that all but guarantee social distancing (mandated or otherwise) will make ticket revenue all but useless. The …

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Good News! You Helped Save The .Org Registry From A Private Equity Takeover

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Back in November, 2019 I published an action alert about an attempt by a private equity firm to purchase the .org registry. This would mean all the nonprofit organizations that rely on the registry to maintain affordable registration rates would have gone up in smoke. Thankfully, a large coalition of voices helped persuade the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) from going through with the deal. It’s tough to …

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