The recent article by Dan Wakin in the 8/11/08 edition of the New York Times reporting on the problems encountered by Met subscribers attempting to exchange tickets presented a fascinating problem-solving scenario: how to anticipate and react to sudden increases in ticket sales. Wakin’s article did an excellent job at setting up the issue, establishing the level of patron displeasure, and presenting a comprehensive response from Met General Manager, Peter Gelb. Subsequently, from a behavioral change management perspective, I found some of Gelb’s statements intriguing…
The Future
A Cultural Military-Industrial Complex?
The 7/23/2008 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article by the ever sharp Peter Dobrin which revealed that former Philadelphia Orchestra President, Joe Kluger, continued to receive compensation from the organization after his departure. Although deferred compensation and severance pay are nothing new, Dobin noted that Kluger’s compensation focused more on consulting fees… “After stepping down as president on Aug. 31, 2005, Kluger continued to draw a salary from the …
Institutional Blogging
The more I look back at the National Performing Arts Convention (NPAC) session on blogging, the more gratifying the experience becomes. The mix of panelists was ideal and if there was any one point attendees could take away from the event it is this: blogging is not only good for performing arts organizations, but increasingly necessary. The good news is compared to traditional outreach methods, maintaining a first-class blog costs pennies on the dollar. At the same time, it is entirely unrealistic to expect maximum results by merely signing up for a free blogging account and publishing a few scattered posts. Unfortunately, that’s precisely what too many organizations do and watching one group after another fall victim to this bear trap has served as the inspiration behind creating a new service to help performing arts organizations, chamber ensembles, and soloists effectively join the new media revolution. Success is as straightforward as having a helping hand…
Think Big
In November 2008, the Chicago Sinfonietta will partner with the Chicago Humanities Festival in musically exploring the year’s Festival theme: THINK BIG. For their part in the festival the Sinfonietta invited a panel of experts to help realize their "big idea" for a concert on November 10, 2008 by selecting the most transformative classical music compositions from various eras that truly changed the rules and affected everything that came after. I …
Okay, Okay, Okay, I’ll Write About Muti
Riccardo Muti is scheduled to take over the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and the cultural blogosphere is abuzz with commentary and since I don’t want to get another 40 odd email messages asking why I haven’t written anything about yet I decided to finally weigh-in. Frankly, I’m not certain why there is so much chatter since the whole scenario is relatively cut and dry. Most of the discussion centers on three primary points, all of which can be addressed with bite-sized answers…