Word on the street in Richmond, VA is the proposed legislation (VA HB 1254) to bar orchestra musicians from collecting unemployment during non-employed weeks is ostensibly dead in the water. The representative responsible for introducing the legislation, at the behest of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra (RSO) board and executive director, officially withdrew it from consideration by the state’s Commerce and Labor Sub-Committee; but now, the real fun begins.
HR
Culture Eats Strategy (and new models) For Lunch
There’s a terrific article at fastcompany.com making the rounds written by Shawn Parr about the overall value of a healthy company culture. It’s not written from the perspective of arts organizations but that doesn’t have any adverse impact on its overall value. Parr takes the time to examine why internal company culture is important but he clarifies some common misperceptions between culture and brand.
Another Orchestra vs. Unemployment Incident
The 2011-12 season seems to be the year of pushing back against paying musicians unemployment benefits for some orchestras. In Louisville, the orchestra association fought hard to get their state’s Office of Employment and Training to revoke musician unemployment benefits and to pay back what they had received in 2011. Now it looks like the Richmond (VA) Symphony Orchestra (RSO) has decided to deal out a little damage of their own.
Bitch, Bitch, Bitch…
“All musicians ever do is complain!” If I had a nickel for every time I heard that from an orchestra manager; well, you know. But the fact of the matter is if I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard a musician complain about the workplace, I’d probably have just as much money (if I could collect from both; cha-ching, hello early retirement!). But the other side of the bitchy musician …
***^^***!!LOOK HERE!! We Need PERMANENT Musicians***^^*** (Louisville, KY)
Just when you thought the Louisville Orchestra (LO) labor dispute couldn’t get more bizarre, it manages to surprise. Just before Thanksgiving, the orchestra’s replacement musician advertisements started appearing on dozens of Craigslist job boards. For those who may be unfamiliar with Craigslist, it a national online classifieds forum and a self described location where visitors can find “jobs, housing, goods, services, romance, local activities, advice – just about anything really.” At …