JAC-ORD
Tue, Aug 8, 2011
by Drew McManus
I am heading back to Chicago from Jackson Hole today, I know we are one guest author contribution short but we’ll see about getting it up later in the week. Between now and then we’ll start to look at recent events from Philly and elsewhere. In the meantime, I’ll be thinking about where the buffalo
Rise Of The Planet Of The Managers
Mon, Aug 8, 2011
I’m flattered to be asked by Drew to be a guest contributor. I still recall my first acquaintance with Adaptistration, about seven years ago when I was with the West Virginia Symphony – and I’m probably not the only manager who had this experience. CONDUCTOR: “Our website was just panned by Adaptistration.” ME: “What’s Adaptistration?”
It's The Audience, Stupid.
Fri, Aug 8, 2011
by Rob Simonds
At its best, a symphony orchestra is more summer blockbuster than art-house flick. Orchestras make music on a big scale and consequently demand a big audience. Filling the house affirms why orchestras exist in a way that half-empty performances, regardless of their intrinsic merit, simply cannot.
The model, one year later…Even deader, or still not dead yet?
Thu, Aug 8, 2011
by curtlong
Thank you, Drew, for inviting me to be a guest contributor now for I believe the fourth time (counting TAFTO). Sometime I have played it safe by sharing thoughts on the practical (and not particularly exciting) side of orchestra management. But last year I tackled more ambitious “what the much maligned orchestra business model really
It's Guest Author Time
Wed, Aug 8, 2011
by Drew McManus
I’m away at the Grand Tetons Music Festival through August 16 and that means you’ll be treated to a series of posts from gust authors. We have a good mix of returning guest authors alongside some new faces and from what I’ve seen from some of them so far, it going to make for some
Upgrading Habits
Tue, Aug 8, 2011
by Drew McManus
If you’re anything like me, you have a rather large list of blogs and other online news RSS feeds. For some time now, I’ve used my Google homepage to aggregate those feeds but it has never been a perfect solution. But not long ago, I started using the news reading application from Pulse on my
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Board
Mon, Aug 8, 2011
by Drew McManus
Denial is a crazy thing; particularly when it comes to crisis management. One tip on knowing when your organization might be taking the first step off of a very large cliff is when more stakeholders focus on insignificant items to the detriment of obvious, high priority tasks. For example, if your orchestra’s senior management team
Time To Change Things Up A Bit
Fri, Aug 8, 2011
by Drew McManus
During a time when the word change is saddled with all sorts of cringe inducing imagery, it’s high time to remember that change can bring good news and improvements as much as it can be used as a metaphor for something unpleasant.
The Way Funding Should Work
Thu, Aug 8, 2011
by Drew McManus
The 8/3/2011 edition of the Stanford Social Innovation Review (hat tip, LinkedIn) published a brilliant article by Kevin Starr, Mulago Foundation and the Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program Director, that examines the value of unrestricted foundation funding. Given yesterday’s article about the perilous minefield that is foundation support within the orchestra business, Starr’s article couldn’t be
Why Indeed
Wed, Aug 8, 2011
by Drew McManus
In case you missed it, The Philadelphia Inquirer published an article by Peter Dobrin on 8/1/2011 which reports that hot on the heels of the bankruptcy court ruling that the musicians’ union can have access to some of the documentation it requested regarding the Philadelphia Orchestra Association’s (POA) Endowment, Philly Pops founder Peter Nero has
