Scorched Earth Governance In 10 Easy Steps
Tue, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
Since Adaptistration’s inaugural post in 2003, the business has witnessed a number of destructive conflicts between stakeholders over which course of action the organization should engage to best navigate challenging environments. Consequently, it doesn’t take long to begin identifying patterns and although they are filled with the latest trendy bits of business idioms, the underlying
A Question Of Live Music
Mon, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
Amidst all of the recent news about smaller budget opera and ballet organizations cutting back and cancelling operations, I decided to find out what groups in the Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison triangle are planning to do for next season. The responses were intriguing…
Friday Thoughts
Fri, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
If you haven’t done so already, this is your last opportunity to complete the 2009 Reader Segmentation Survey and be entered for a chance to win a free three month subscription to The Naxos Music Library – a $75.00 value. The data from completed surveys has been fascinating so far and I’m looking forward to
Parting Shot
Thu, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
Although Senator Tom Coburn was the architect of the amendment that sliced attempted to slice the arts out of the economic stimulus package, it is fair to remember that 72 additional senators fell in line to support a bad idea inspired by flawed reasoning. Apparently, Coburn didn’t feel the same sort of moral conviction to
Amendment No. 175 Voting Results
Wed, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
Thanks to Adaptistration reader Geo, we now have the official Senate roll call votes for the “Limitation on Funds Amendment No. 175,” otherwise known as “Coburn Amendment No. 309.” You can find text results at the senate.gov website but since a picture really is worth a thousand words, I took a moment to arrange the
Burn, Baby, Burn.
Tue, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
After watching Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) – a politician so evil even his own lawyer wants nothing to do with him – lead the charge to eviscerate the .0000588 percent of the economic stimulus package directed toward the arts, I can’t help but think of a passage from John Schaefer’s 1/15/2009 blog post: At times
Post Inauguration Cultural Confidence Levels
Mon, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
As we slide past the second full week of the new administration and observe boisterous debate about economic recovery plans every day, the overall impact of these events have had mixed effects on cultural confidence levels. On one hand, respondents feel better about current economic conditions (although the prevailing sentiment is “negative”) but the outlook
Madison’s Red Herring Special
Fri, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
When considering historical reasons behind work stoppages in the orchestra business, what comes to mind are intense disagreements on financial compensation and/or work rules, impending financial impasse, entrenched positions among stakeholders, attempts to implement sizeable budget cuts, etc. After the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO) announced they were cancelling their 2/27/2009 Masterworks concert due to what
Self Inflicted Wounds
Thu, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
Holly Mulcahy published the last installment in her series of articles which examines how each group of orchestral stakeholders can manage to alienate current and potential concertgoers. Having already covered music directors, musicians, and managers, the final article takes a satirical look at how audience members manage to alienate each other. I’m sure any long
Following Up On Access And Affordability
Wed, Feb 2, 2009
by Drew McManus
Never one to avoid putting his money where his mouth is, Alex Ross posted a follow-up article to his “Cheap Seats” post which highlights some affordable concert offerings in the New York City area as well as throughout the US and UK. Alex also takes a moment to point out the benefit of having centralized
