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.

So How Do You Really Feel About #GivingTuesday?

by
Adaptistration People 131

Thanks to everyone who reached out with observations about #GivingTuesday following my request for feedback. Perhaps unsurprisingly, everyone who reached out did so directly and under the guise of not wanting to put their name on any specific comment. In a nutshell, almost everyone thought the amount of time and energy spent on #GivingTuesday activity was a negative ROI. Add to that, many felt added pressure from superiors and/or board members …

Read more

Sometimes, Unintended Consequences Are A Good Thing

by
Analytics

Over the weekend, I put together my client holiday cards. For Venture users, I designed a template that integrates statistics about total users, demographics, and mobile vs. desktop usage. The data comes from their respective Google Analytics accounts and although I’m not trying to look for change patterns, one in particular jumped right off the page: nearly half saw double digit increases in mobile user ratios. The largest change saw one …

Read more

You Have One More Week To Get In On The Arts Admin Merit Badge Giveaway

by
Adaptistration People 093

There’s only one more week left to get in on Arts Admin Merit Badge giveaway. All it takes is submitting a 2019 reader survey where one reader submission will be selected at random. So far, there are just over 300 submissions, which is nearly three times the number of submissions over the last reader survey, so it’s safe to say people really want those badges! For everyone who has submitted a …

Read more

A Decision Is Not Always The Same Thing As Resolution

by
Adaptistration People 170

The beleaguered Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF) continues to dodge PR blows related to an executive leadership decision to dismiss three musicians. It turns out, the organization scheduled an emergency session of the full board that took place on Tuesday, 12/3/2019. While the musician dismissals were a primary focus, the more pressing issue the full board needed to face was the accusation by GTMF Music Director, Donald Runnicles, that the organization’s …

Read more

New York Phil’s Latest Renovation Plan Seems To Have Been Worth Waiting For

by

On Monday, the New York Philharmonic (NYP) and Lincoln Center announced what appears to be the actual renovation plan and design for the Philharmonic’s new hall. While observers have been conditioned to assume the organization’s are more likely crying wolf than renovation, it seems that the latest rendition is likely to stick. That’s a good thing, because the initial information looks fabulous. For now, renderings are in short supply but just …

Read more