Just in time for the National Performing Arts Convention this week, my new Moo MiniCards arrived and I can’t wait to start handing them out. If you aren’t already familiar with Moo’s MiniCards all you need to know is that they are "it" when it comes to the latest trend in business card design. London based Moo takes business card customization to insane levels by allowing users to print a full-bleed graphic on one side with up to six lines of text on the other. But wait, I can hear you saying "that’s no big deal, a lot of printers allow you to do that already. Here’s the catch: you can print each one of your minimum 100 order cards with a completely different image if you so desire…
Operations
Avoiding The Music Police
Every orchestra has these musicians and if you’re lucky, you’ll never have to encounter them throughout your career as an orchestra manager. Unfortunately, luck isn’t something you can rely on all of the time and at some point, certain managers are going to stare a potential Music Police quagmire square in the face. The good news is that quagmire can be avoided at almost every turn…
Free For The Taking
If you haven’t been following Jason Heath’s "A Week in the Life" series of posts at Arts Addict then you’re missing out. I’ve written it before and I’ll write it again; Jason’s ability to present an unfiltered, honest look at the life of a gig musician is simply unparalleled. The real bonus here is that what he writes is equally useful for managers as well as musicians…
How Much Did That Meeting (Or Rehearsal Error) Really Cost?
Does it seem like more and more of your time is consumed with staff meetings? Does your department head enjoy scheduling meetings that seem to be designed to prevent you from completing your work? Thankfully, you now have a quick and easy way to calculate labor costs for all of the time spent in meetings thanks to a fun little webapp called Meeting Miser, from payscale.com. Featured in 11/7/07 edition of …
Office Space
Whenever I get the opportunity, I always like to take a tour of an orchestra’s office. I’ve been through more than my fair share and can say that no two are alike. Nevertheless, there are some trends worth noticing…