Labor Relations

What We Need Is Another Abraham Lincoln

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Back in 2005, I published a post titled What We Need Is Another Henry Ford that suggested stagnant management techniques and outdated operating models were pushing the orchestra field toward trouble. Although a popular post for its time, reader email was dismissive and in some cases, outright hostile in response to what might as well have been heresy (remember, 2005 predates comment functionality). Fast forward seven years and the field is …

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Some Advance Hindsight For The Season Of Discontent

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When all is said and done and the field has moved past the conflicts defining the Season of Discontent, it will be surprising if hindsight doesn’t identify a profound and nearly universal lack of public relations and communication unpreparedness among musician stakeholders. To date, some efforts have been so ham-handed it’s akin to watching a trapped animal trash about in a net only to make their entanglement worse. To be clear …

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It’s Time For Your Civil Discourse Recertification

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Adaptistration People 150

It’s that time of year again, where labor disputes begin charging up emotions and on more than a few occasions, those emotions come spilling out in blog comments and social media. At best, emotionally driven comments designed to lash out only serve to detract attention from any meaningful thoughts or observations contained in the comment and at worst, can tarnish the reputation of colleagues or fellow stakeholders. That said, there’s nothing …

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It Appears There Is More Under The Surface At Palm Beach

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In case you thought the Palm Beach Symphony – Juilliard residency kerfuffle was done, it turns out that it was only the tip of a very unhappy iceberg. The Palm Beach Daily News published an article by Jan Sjostrom on 5/26/2012 that reports growing tension between the orchestra’s musicians and its Executive Director, Michael Finn.

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New Details About The Proposed Palm Beach Juilliard Residency

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Following last week’s post about a proposed Juilliard residency vis-a-vis the Palm Beach Symphony that created quite an uproar in the comment section of the Palm Beach Daily News article announcing the program, it seems as though the initiative in its original form may be at an end.

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