When Was the Last Time You Reviewed Your Emergency Preparedness Plans?

by

After experiencing the high-rise building I call home and office suffer the results of not having up to date emergency planning and procedures, it made me think that now is an excellent time to remind readers that annual reviews are a good idea. My colleague, Joe Patti, has written about this topic on a few occasions at ArtsHacker. Emergency Preparation Mentor Rides Into Town Don’t Undermine A Good Crisis Plan With …

Read more

What Should We Expect From A Biden NEA?

by

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced a quartet of appointments from the new Biden administration but still no word on a chair to replace Trump administration appointee Mary Anne Carter. While there’s no shortage of scuttlebutt over who will get tapped to be the new chair, the pandemic casts the agency in an entirely new light. Simply put, does the country need a traditional NEA run by dedicated professionals …

Read more

It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times: Board Recruitment In The Age Of COVID

by

Recruiting board members is a big enough challenge even when all things are equal. During a pandemic, it’s exponentially more challenging. If that weren’t enough, you can layer in all the equity and diversity considerations that keep nipping at the heels of performing arts orgs that they’ve been politely eyeing, but avoiding, for years. But I genuinely do believe this is a best of times scenario. Control and power sharing have …

Read more

Why Orchestras Plan So Far In Advance

by

During my unexpected week off, Joshua Kosman published an article at datebook.sfchronicle.com that cast an eye toward the way orchestras approach programming at the onset of the last century. In a nutshell, seasons weren’t planned years in advance and programming choices happened within the current season. Kosman suggested this is exactly the approach organizations should adopt in a post-COVID environment. He included support for the idea from none other than San …

Read more

Shop Talk; Last Call: Nothing A Little Property Damage Can’t Fix

by

When I invited guests David MacDonald and Sam Merciers to do the show I knew we had to set aside some time to talk about their groundbreaking  SoundNotion podcast series, which ran from 2010-2016. It’s the perfect topic for Last Call in that it’s loaded with just the right amount of fun and meta that everyone feels like an insider. If you aren’t already familiar with SoundNotion, it was a podcast …

Read more