Show A Little Love
Sun, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
Sometimes the best things in life really are free and cultural blogs have been one of the more pleasant incarnations of that idiom in recent years. Compared to a few years ago, the quantity, diversity, and creativeness of cultural blogs has exploded but one aspect remains constant throughout most blogs: in order to create worthwhile
Increasing Earned Income Without Selling Your Soul
Fri, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
“Psssst…hey you…yeah, you der…c’mer…over here. Yeah, dat’s right, over here…I hear youse been lookin’ for a new revenue stream. Say, buddy, I’se got just what youse need…” That might seem a bit melodramatic but the reality is that some managers are so desperate for revenue they would be willing to talk shop in a dark
Tangling A Web
Thu, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
The 7/14/2009 edition of the New York Times published an article by Simon Akam that reports Leonard Leibowitz, long time counsel to American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Symphonic Services Division, to AFM Local 802 (New York), International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM), and to numerous orchestras around the country, was arrested and charged
Orchestra Administration À La Venn Diagram
Wed, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
Although the essays on orchestra governance are still the standard for learning what you need to know about orchestra administrators, you can now use this handy Venn diagram to see how each department interacts with other groups of orchestra stakeholders… “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people
IGNORE ME!!!
Tue, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
More precisely, you should ignore everybody. At least that’s the perspective of author Hugh MacLeod in his book Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity. I’m not even all the way through this book yet I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a quick and easy read and based on what I’ve already read, there’s
Following the NEA Stimulus Money
Mon, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
True to their word, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) distributed all of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds (AKA Stimulus Funds, Federal Bailout, etc.) within five months of the economic recovery bill. Not long ago, the NEA posted a list of nonprofit arts organizations that received a direct grant to “support the
It’s About Bloody Time
Fri, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
Unless your internet service has been down over the past 24 hours, you’ve probably read the piece in the 7/8/2009 edition of the Times Online (UK) by Richard Morrison that reports on a patron suing a The Wizard of Oz production for failing to use live music. In essence, the patron turned plaintiff was miffed
“A Ship Is Safe In Harbor, But That’s Not What Ships Are For.”
Thu, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
A short while ago, Joe Patti posed a question over at Butts In The Seats asking whether or not orchestras should confine their programming to just a few genres. The first thing that popped into my head when I read his original post was a quote from Mark Twain: “I was gratified to be able
Duck Walk In Your Underwear
Wed, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
The Jul 2–8, 2009 of Time Out Chicago published an article by Doyle Armbrust that features fellow Inside The Arts blogger Jason Heath and his myriad of blogging activity. What’s especially interesting is how Jason recounts his path into the cultural blogosphere. It’s a well written feature and it goes a long way at demonstrating
I Just Might Throw My Dictionary Away
Tue, Jul 7, 2009
by Drew McManus
Over the past week I’ve been up to my eyeballs in writing reports and anyone who is used to tossing out tens of thousands of words in a short time span knows that after awhile, a traditional thesaurus or online synonym resource can feel awfully limited. Enter visuwords.com, a refreshingly useful online resource that functions
