Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
The best thing about national holidays is the worst thing about national holidays: many of us can take the day off. But when you get to the end of the shortened work week, it always feels like you’re a little behind. And that’s precisely where I’m at today wondering how on earth Friday snuck up so quickly. It’s not a complaint inasmuch as a realization fueled by how easy it is …
Last year, I cancelled a membership at one of Chicago’s premier art museums due to an issue with promised member benefits. In this case, the museum designed a benefit to help sidestep a well-known pain point in the form of long entrance lines. It was simple: members receive expedited entry. It is an effective benefit that works great…until it doesn’t. Like many museums, this one does not permit patrons to carry …
It’s no secret nonprofit performing arts admins are overworked and underpaid. Fortunately, the issue is starting to get more attention but that hasn’t done much to curtail what I’ve noticed as a growing trend of stuffing an increasing amount of duties and responsibilities into single positions. Traditionally, you’ll find something resembling the following three-tiered structure at most arts orgs: Director = Mid to late career, $$$ pay, runs a department, determines …
It’s the beginning of the season so now is as good a time as any to suck it up and update your LinkedIn profile. During its early years I assumed LinkedIn would be one of the numerous social media platforms to go extinct, but they’ve managed to make it through so regardless how many steps it takes, it pays to keep your profile information up to date. Case in point, over …
Take a moment to treat yourself today and get to learn about ins and outs of orchestra management from a humorous perspective by binge-reading all 157 episodes of Who’s Minding The Score?, a satirical cartoon that provides a behind the scenes look orchestra life. It’s the ideal way to spend some of your Labor Day, really, just take a look at some of these characters… [easy-tweet tweet=”I’m spending part of my Labor Day reading …