Out, Damned Spot! And While We’re At It, Dashes, Underscores, Asterisks, And Spaces Should Get Out Too
Fri, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
If you’ve ever had to use a batch of images that have a bunch of special characters embedded into the filename, you know how much of a time-suck it is to remove all of those before you get a pretty filename* that’s easy to read. Fortunately, there’s a shortcut out there waiting to save you
Animals Really Do Make Everything Better
Thu, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
It probably happens far more often that some might think, but animals aren’t all that shy when it comes to walking out on stage during concerts. One of the more recent examples was caught on video during a Vienna Chamber Orchestra concert with pianist Fazil Say in Ephesus, Turkey June 20th. Say posted the video
Getting Beyond Follower Count
Wed, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
There’s an intriguing post from Jonathan Eifert at ArtsHacker about building your brand as an artist and growing social clout into a selling point. I’ve been telling artist clients this for years from the perspective of incorporating current social metrics into promotional materials. Eifert’s post goes into several additional areas on this topic but regarding
Smartphone Program Notes Are Back In The News
Tue, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
Musical America recently published an article about EnCue, a real time program notes app for iOS and Android devices. The idea has been around since 2003 (remember Palm Pilot based Concert Companion?) but like so many topics in this field, it just can’t seem to break free of the same old, tired, discussion points. Let’s
Low Hanging Fruit Monday: Easy & Useful Social Posts Over The Summer
Mon, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
If you manage your organization’s social media accounts, you know how difficult it can be to come up with relevant posts that don’t come across as “I can’t think of anything else to post.” If your organization has outdoor events, posting screencaps of weather forecasts is a simple and effective option. Even if your events
Just A Gentle Reminder…
Fri, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
Send a PDF again, I dare you, I double dare you mother[bleep]er, send your bio in PDF format one more [bleep] time!
The Executive Shuffle Is In Full Swing
Thu, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
The executive revolving door at the largest budget orchestras has been working overtime this season. Here at the tail end of the 2016/17 season, we’ve seen more than half of the CEOs at the Big 8 orchestras vacate their post. First up was San Francisco Symphony, where long time Executive Director, Brent Assink, started off
Who are you callin’ cootie queen, you LINT LICKER!
Wed, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
As an executive figurehead for an arts organization, there’s a time to be relaxed and approachable and a time to keep it classy. Not too far in the recent past, that was a comparatively easy task but in the age of social media, you’ll need to step up your game. Case in point, Holly Mulcahy
A Stitch In Time…
Tue, Jun 6, 2017
by Drew McManus
Since Net Neutrality is anything but safe, proactive arts managers will begin developing some skills to optimize your organization’s website so pages load as fast as possible. One of the key elements in creating web pages with snappy response times are optimized images. Just look at how much important Google places on this aspect of
Are We Suffering From Self-Inflicted Ageism Syndrome?