Commentary – Page 60 – Adaptistration

If You’re Over 40 And Make Decisions About your Org’s Website, You Need To Watch This Video

Monday, March 14th, 2016 by Drew McManus

We’ve all been in one of those meetings where important decisions need to be made about something crucial to an arts organization’s success and the senior executive responsible for making the decision seems hell-bent on a direction that screams out-of-date and out-of-touch. That’s HiPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) decision making at its worst. Although experience is worth its weight in gold, it doesn’t come without baggage and effective executives will be …

Are You Anxious About How The National Election May Impact The Arts?

Thursday, March 10th, 2016 by Drew McManus

It’s difficult to imagine that anyone in the US isn’t aware of the carnivalesque spectacle that has become the national presidential election but for those who work in the arts, have you given any serious thought about how those elections might impact the field? Just imagine what might transpire if one of the more extreme candidates wins. Check that, you don’t really have to imagine. Instead, you can follow along in …

What Do You Call A Conservatory Grad Who Couldn’t Win An Orchestra Job?

Friday, February 12th, 2016 by Drew McManus

Q: What do you call a conservatory grad who couldn’t win an orchestra job? A: An Orchestra Manager. Granted, that’s a really old joke but it seems timely given a recent topic bouncing around related to the notion of degrees and career paths. It started off with a post from Alex Tabarrok on 2/4/2016 at MarginalRevolution and was picked up by Joe Patti via a pair of posts from 2/9/16 and …

Does The Hartford Symphony Orchestra Still Exist?

Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 by Drew McManus

UPDATE: as of this morning (1/19/16), it appears that the musicians have conceded and accepted the final offer. We’ll explore available details and the decision’s impact in tomorrow’s post. By the time this article is published, the Monday, 1/18/16 evening deadline imposed by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (HSO) board will have passed and we may have some news on whether or not the musicians accepted or rejected the employer’s last, best, …

Quality Culture Offerings Is Deal-Breaker For Wall Street Journal’s Best Place To Retire

Tuesday, December 1st, 2015 by Drew McManus

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article by Nancy Henderson, Best Places to Retire: Chattanooga Blends Culture and the Outdoors, on 11/29/2015 that reports the best city in the US to retire is Chattanooga, TN; but the real story, for the orchestra field at least, is how much influence cultural offerings contributed to that conclusion. The article begins with excerpts from an interview with retired Metropolitan Opera Orchestra musician Douglas …