The Art Of The Pitch
Tue, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
In April 2021, I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker for Dr. Michael W. Millar’s Nonprofit Music course at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). As a required course for Cal Poly Pomona’s music industry majors, the students cover a broad range of topics and my session focused on one of
Dark Is The New Black
Fri, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
Dark themes are more than a design fad, they’ve become a permanent part of the mobile device user experience and are similarly commonplace for web design. The two most recent client projects I launched have featured dark designs: the Emberlight Festival and City Lights Theater Company. There’s a lot to love about dark designs but
Some Fascinating Shifts In Job Seeker Stats
Thu, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
2022 continues to see a big increase in the number of job posts at Arts Admin Jobs but while checking in on quarterly stats, I found some fascinating trends taking shape. Job seekers are getting younger. Compared to the same period from 2021, the 18-24 age group went from 14.29% of all traffic to 23.23%.
I’ll See Your Introspection And Raise You A Cognitive Bias
Wed, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
Several weeks ago, arts marketer Ruth Hartt posted a thought-provoking post at LinkedIn designed to get arts managers thinking about how they measure relevance. It’s an excellent perspective and you can never really have too many reminders about getting outside of your bubble. My only additional thought is the stakeholders who would benefit from this
Do We Need To Be Worried About The Future Of Russian Artists?
Mon, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
As a Gen-Xer I grew up at the height of the cold war and recall the fall of the Soviet Union. I remember the inability for musicians to travel in and out of USSR and Soviet Bloc countries. I also remember the flood of musicians into the US after the fall of the Soviet union.
Mini-Hiatus
Wed, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
Just when this week was settling into a really nice topic groove, life decided to throw a curve ball. As such, I’m taking the rest of the week off from blogging but I will be back in action on Monday, March 14.
Due Diligence On Your Donors
Tue, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
There’s a thought-provoking article by Peter Whoriskey in the 3/7/2022 edition of the Washington Post that examines the extent Russian oligarchs have contributed to US nonprofits, including those in the arts and culture sector. According to the article, the Anti-Corruption Data Collective has been uncovering the depth oligarch money has been funding arts and culture.
Applying A Mix Of Empathy And UX To Offer New Ticket Buyers What They Want
Mon, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
One of the more intriguing parts of designing the reserved seating process for UpStage was the user testing. It’s rare for nonprofit performing arts organizations to spend much time designing their online ticket experience around the new ticket buyer and that only leaves money on the table and untapped potential. When designing UpStage’s process, we
#TBT Remembering The Value Of Cultural Diplomacy
Thu, Mar 3, 2022
by Drew McManus
While it should come as no surprise to see the global response to arts and culture organization breaking ties with conductor Valery Gergiev and soprano Anna Netrebko, the announcement from The Metropolitan Opera that they “can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him” invites the question of
The Value Of Conference Tables