On Wednesday, February 22, 2012, I’m co-hosting the next installment of a Chicagoland dinner club/think tank for area arts marketing and PR pros along with Amy Calhoun (McAninch Arts Center) and Vin Reed (Vin Design) and we have a few seats left at the table. It will be first come, first serve, so here are the details:
A Tangled Web We Weave
The inimitable Lisa Hirsch posted a fascinating article at The Iron Tongue of Midnight on 2/15/2012 that vents some frustration with her attempts to utilize subscriber benefits at the San Francisco Symphony. Hirsch takes the time to lay out what she perceives as a fine print laden subscriber benefit program.
Well This Is Interesting: KO Conductor Steps Down From Production
Although we haven’t been following the details at the Kentucky Opera (KO) as closely as the Louisville Orchestra (LO) labor dispute, the two groups are intertwined in that they share the same musician pool. And whereas the LO has not yet staged performances with replacement musicians since their work stoppage began several months ago, the KO did stage a production with piano accompaniment and the next scheduled performance includes plans for replacement musicians.
Why You Should Be Thinking About Round-Up Donations
Over the last few months, I’ve noticed an uptick in the frequency of round-up donation functionality at a number of online retailers. If you’re not already familiar with how round-up donations work, it’s a fairly straightforward micro-fundraising method; during the checkout process, buyers are asked if they want to round-up their purchase to the nearest dollar and donate that difference to a participating charity.
Honesty: the best of all the lost arts.*
In a business as comparatively small and collegial (at least on the surface) as the orchestra business, it’s tough to find someone who isn’t afraid to speak honestly and from the heart about sensitive topics. Fortunately, we’ve got someone like Bill Eddins to point out the Emperor isn’t wearing any clothes.