Musician Issues
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back For Musicians And Airports
Tue, Oct 10, 2015
by Drew McManus
Just when it looked like it might be safe to dip a toe in the waters of airline travel, a recent incident involving the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and flutist Jessica Schmitz at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport should bring some old fashioned Jaws level anxiety back to the process. Norman Lebrecht detailed Schmitz’s account in
I’ve Got Good News And Bad News About Flying With Instruments
Tue, Sep 9, 2015
by Drew McManus
First, the good news: Air Canada recently announced a new program that provides musicians with discounted fares for purchasing an extra seat for an instrument along with advance boarding in order to facilitate finding room in the overhead for carry-on size instrument cases. The details are available at the AirCanda.com website but here are the
ICSOM’s Conference Sidesteps Equal Pay For Equal Work And Substitute Parity
Thu, Aug 8, 2015
by Drew McManus
Toward the end of summer, the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM), a players’ conference within the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) that represents over 4,000 regularly employed orchestra musicians from 52 professional US orchestras, holds its annual conference and this year’s event is in Philadelphia from 8/26/15 through 8/29/15. Traditionally, ICSOM conferences are
Automate Your Audition Scheduling
Fri, Jul 7, 2015
by Drew McManus
Not long ago, I began offering Venture Platform users a reservation function via our e-commerce platform that also serves as an ideal tool for arts orgs to use for automating much of the audition scheduling process (including notifications, confirmations, and even changes). Even though it’s designed as an e-commerce function, it can be used in
Knowing When You Shouldn’t Get Involved
Thu, Jul 7, 2015
by Drew McManus
One of the most frequent reader questions coming in from musicians is “do you ever write about [insert musician oriented topic here]?” By and large, although the topic may be fascinating it really doesn’t have much impact from an administrator’s point of view and unless its byproduct becomes something to be attended to administratively (such
