Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

The Cost Of Doing Business

Tue, Aug 8, 2018
Adaptistration People 175
It’s great to see examination of compensation and work expenses within the field expanding, to that end, the 8/9/2018 edition of Ludwig-can.com published an article by Anya Wassenberg that takes a deep dive into the expense end of classical musicians. Another treat is seeing the issues through a Canadian perspective; while most issues are identical

Blast Off!

Mon, Aug 8, 2018
Jonathan Jensen isn’t just a bassist in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, he’s a terrific composer and arranger. He leveraged the latter skills to write Blast Off!, an anthem for the US Space Force, and posted a video of him performing the work on Facebook. It went viral the same day; at the time this article

It’s Alive!

Fri, Aug 8, 2018
Adaptistration People 048
The National Arts Marketing Project Conference (#NAMPC) started rolling session pages for their Nov 9-12 conference in Seattle, WA and that means my Everything Tech Providers Wished You Knew About Writing An RFP (Plus The Stuff They Want To Keep Secret) has its very own digital corner of the conference site. My co-presenter and I

#TBT Moving (In) Day

Thu, Aug 8, 2018
Adaptistration People 069
As someone who works in the arts, I consider myself extraordinarily fortunate that over the past 18 years, I’ve only had two moves; one of which was to a new location in the same city. Today marks move number three and, fortunately, it’s another intra-city move. Knock on wood, everything will unfold as planned but

Talking Compensation

Wed, Aug 8, 2018
Adaptistration People 033
Ever since the very first Orchestra Compensation Report, the goal of the annual series is to help get past surface value salaciousness and into thoughtful conversation. To that end, I am very proud to see the topic continuing to take root across several mediums. While away on hiatus, the New York Times published an article

“Take action now…because it is simply the right thing to do.”

Tue, Aug 8, 2018
Adaptistration People 006
It’s one thing to gripe about something and something else to help make things better. In the wake of yesterday’s post about sexual harassment and the employer’s responsibility for creating an atmosphere capable of protecting those who need to file complaints, I published an article at ArtsHacker with some excellent resources you can use to

Some Thoughts On The Washington Post Sexual Misconduct and Assault Article

Mon, Aug 8, 2018
Adaptistration People 133
Note: this post was originally published as an essay on my Facebook wall while I was away on hiatus. This is an updated version. In the wake of the Washington Post’s 7/26/18 article that reports allegations of sexual assault against Cleveland Orchestra concertmaster William Preucil, there has been no shortage of online discussion. Given how

On Hiatus Through Aug 6

Mon, Jul 7, 2018
Adaptistration People 072
For the first time since 2003 I’ve decided to take a two-week hiatus but will resume daily posts on Monday, August 6. Having said that, if something major breaks, such as a major development in the Boston Symphony lawsuit, I’ll probably end up breaking my own rule. I’ll be spending the time neck deep in

You Can’t Be Persuasive Without Credibility

Fri, Jul 7, 2018
Adaptistration People 093
When it comes to turning website visitors into ticket buyers or donors, your site’s credibility goes a long way. But what does credibility in this context mean exactly? The answer to that is in an article I published at ArtsHacker.com and the good news is two of the most critical elements are likely something you

#TBT Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Funding? (spoiler: yes)

Thu, Jul 7, 2018
Adaptistration People 041
Joe Patti published a thought provoking piece at Butts In The Seats which examines the development of technology to support the arts, a topic near and dear to my own arts admin heart. The inspiration for his post came from the  Knight Prototype Fund awards announcement, a program I was keeping an eye on. Although
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