Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Resources

Compensation Resources

From 2005-2021, one of the most popular and eagerly anticipated series of articles at Adaptistration are the Orchestra Compensation Reports. Published in June each year, this annual event examined the compensation trends among orchestra executives, music directors, and concertmasters at more than 65 professional U.S. orchestras.

Report Index

The Orchestra Compensation Reports

String Instrument Cost of Ownership

Have you ever thought about how much maintaining an instrument will cost an orchestra string musician during his/her career?"

Counting The Costs

Counting The Costs Q&A

The Orchestra Website Reviews

The Orchestra Website Reviews were an annual series published each fall from 2004 through 2012. The final year installment was delayed and modified due to Orchestra Crisis 2012/13 throwing a particularly large wrench into the works.

Reviews Index

Orchestra Governance Essays

Here’s a breakdown of who’s who in orchestra governance and how they fit together. There’s no spin here, you get an inside look into the good, the bad, and the ugly behind those who influence how orchestras function.

Boards

Administrators

Music Directors

Musicians

Musicians' Unions

All Others

Even More Fun…

Editorial Cartoons

Take A Friend To Orchestra Month

Take A Friend To The Orchestra Resource Site

All About Negotiations

The first step in understanding how your local orchestra functions as an organization is to understand the basic principles behind the document that deals with nearly every facet of its operations: the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

How It Works

Who Does What

Why Bother?

A Historical Timeline

What Happens When A Contract Expires?

Understanding The Difference Between A Strike And A Lockout

Let’s Talk About The Unionized Environment Within The Orchestra Field
Who’s Minding The Score?
Archives
About
Contact

The Venture Platform

Reaping The Rewards Of A Well Designed Economy Of Scale Business Model

Tue, Mar 3, 2013

by Drew McManus

When The Venture Platform was launched in the fall of 2010, its success or failure rested squarely on an economy of scale business model that kept profit margins low and focused on incredibly solid code and unmatched service. If all went according to plan, users would benefit from an ongoing stream of upgrades and improvements

The Venture Platform, Web/Tech

It Was Right In Front Of My Nose

Mon, Aug 8, 2012

by Drew McManus

It’s always good to look at something with a different pair of eyes. Case in point, when designing the Venture Platform, I had always envisioned it as hosting an art organization’s primary website. Sure, one of the added benefits for the service is groups can also use it to build ancillary microsites for no additional

The Venture Platform, Web/Tech

Digital Strategy Done Right

Tue, May 5, 2012

by Drew McManus

Today’s post is an unmitigated must-read for anyone involved with arts marketing. Recently, Austin Lyric Opera (ALO) Marketing Director, Marc van Bree, published an extraordinarily detailed series of articles that covers everything related to the ALO’s 2011-2012 season website redesign and associated digital strategy update. The series not only serves as a superb guide for

Marketing, Social Media, The Venture Platform, Web/Tech

Anyone Interested In Helping Out With The Website Reviews?

Fri, Sep 9, 2011

by Drew McManus

Sometimes we’re blind to the most obvious of solutions and end up at the mercy of others for some much needed clarity. I’m certainly no exception and as it turns out, an unsolicited offer from a colleague to help with the annual website reviews couldn’t have been better timed. Moreover, it provided the virtual kick

The Venture Platform

More Fun With Video Commercials

Tue, Sep 9, 2011

by Drew McManus

At the beginning of the month I published an article about a new wave of resources for putting together high quality video commercials along with an example in the form of a promotional video I put together using some of the options provided in the list of resources. Since then, dozens of arts managers have

Marketing, The Venture Platform

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Adaptistration by Drew McManus LLC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://adaptistration.com/about/terms-of-use-and-permissions/.

PROFESSIONAL DISCLOSURE

Given the author’s position as an arts consultant and technology provider, he does not publish articles examining or focusing on current clients without first obtaining the client’s written permission.

EDITORIAL COMMITMENT

In order to ensure accuracy and provide a comprehensive perspective on any topic, I allow any individual or person officially representing an organization that appears in any Adaptistration article to submit a response which will be published, unedited. Responses are limited to 200 words and must address the issues at hand and the individuals and/or organizations must also be willing to maintain an open dialog for continued discussion.