Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
Allow me to clarify today’s title a bit by saying LinkedIn is more useful when it comes to engaging with colleagues on news and topics about the field and arts management in general. I don’t know when the shift happened exactly but last week, it became clear I’m spending more time scrolling through my LinkedIn news feed than Facebook. The reason is straightforward enough: LinkedIn has more relevant content. Sure, that’s …
There’s a good post from arts marketer Ruth Hartt where she recounts how difficult it is to find an arts and culture website that features a homepage hero section that focuses on patron over program. Customer centric advertising is anything but new, but Hartt hits the nail on the head when she laments about how few arts and culture organizations put that approach into practice. Having said that, she recently came …
Even before the pandemic, the orchestra field had its hands full addressing its relevance in contemporary culture. Unfortunately, financial pressures of the pandemic have started to reignite counterproductive guns or butter debates. While that’s nothing more than a logical fallacy trap, we don’t have the luxury of ignoring it. But instead of getting sucked into the conversation, change the topic. A good source of inspiration is and article by Arthur C. …
While I can let a number of habits slide when it comes to audience behavior, one that continuously drives me insane is when audience members talk during the event. Sure, announcements about silencing phones is common but I can’t recall the last time I heard one that included a STFU component. If nothing else, imagine the pre-concert message you could create by incorporating some of the stories musicians and staff have …
We’ve lost so many good people from the arts and culture sector over the pandemic but the news of Terry Teachout’s passing is especially sad. I was fortunate enough to begin communicating with Terry in the early 2000’s and our email exchanges were always thought provoking. You just knew it was going to be an interesting day when a message from Terry about something you wrote arrived in your inbox. While …