Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

16px Font Size and 48px Wide Buttons Are The New Black

Fri, Feb 2, 2012
We’re going to geek out a bit today over a few user experience (UX) items that are going to have a substantial impact over not just online design but print design as both formats as users increasingly gravitate toward uniformity. The driving force behind many of these changes is the rise of mobile platform usage;

Skinning A Cat, Beethoven Style

Thu, Feb 2, 2012
Conductor Bill Eddins posted a terrific blog on 2/22/2012 that lambasts the concept of right and wrong interpretations via recordings. Coincidentally, regular Adaptistration guest author, Chris Blair, sent me an email on the same day with a link to a YouTube video that provides a chronological survey of the opening chords of Beethoven’s Symphony No.

Arts Admin. Hey Girl, It's The Sexy Career Choice

Wed, Feb 2, 2012
Arts Admin. Hey Girl, It's The Sexy Career Choice
In case you’ve been stuck under an office rock the past few months and have been missing out on Ryan Gosling, Arts Administrator then we need to get you an appletini and some trendy new threads stat. If you’re not up on the whole Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl” thing, it’s a Tumblr meme that started

Arts Admin. Hey Girl, It’s The Sexy Career Choice

Wed, Feb 2, 2012
Arts Admin. Hey Girl, It's The Sexy Career Choice
In case you’ve been stuck under an office rock the past few months and have been missing out on Ryan Gosling, Arts Administrator then we need to get you an appletini and some trendy new threads stat. If you’re not up on the whole Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl” thing, it’s a Tumblr meme that started

Louisville Musicians Reject Arbitration Then Miss An Opportunity

Tue, Feb 2, 2012
Adaptistration People 136
On Thursday, 2/16/2012 the Louisville Orchestra (LO) Musicians formally rejected an offer from management to enter binding arbitration. This comes as no real surprise in that the offer had a number of provisos tailored to ensure that any decision would conform to financial and operational parameters contained in their previous proposals, all of which have

Calling Chicagoland Arts Marketing & PR Pros

Mon, Feb 2, 2012
On Wednesday, February 22, 2012, I’m co-hosting the next installment of a Chicagoland dinner club/think tank for area arts marketing and PR pros along with Amy Calhoun (McAninch Arts Center) and Vin Reed (Vin Design) and we have a few seats left at the table. It will be first come, first serve, so here are

A Tangled Web We Weave

Fri, Feb 2, 2012
The inimitable Lisa Hirsch posted a fascinating article at The Iron Tongue of Midnight on 2/15/2012 that vents some frustration with her attempts to utilize subscriber benefits at the San Francisco Symphony. Hirsch takes the time to lay out what she perceives as a fine print laden subscriber benefit program.

Well This Is Interesting: KO Conductor Steps Down From Production

Thu, Feb 2, 2012
Although we haven’t been following the details at the Kentucky Opera (KO) as closely as the Louisville Orchestra (LO) labor dispute, the two groups are intertwined in that they share the same musician pool. And whereas the LO has not yet staged performances with replacement musicians since their work stoppage began several months ago, the

Why You Should Be Thinking About Round-Up Donations

Wed, Feb 2, 2012
Over the last few months, I’ve noticed an uptick in the frequency of round-up donation functionality at a number of online retailers. If you’re not already familiar with how round-up donations work, it’s a fairly straightforward micro-fundraising method; during the checkout process, buyers are asked if they want to round-up their purchase to the nearest

Honesty: the best of all the lost arts.*

Tue, Feb 2, 2012
In a business as comparatively small and collegial (at least on the surface) as the orchestra business, it’s tough to find someone who isn’t afraid to speak honestly and from the heart about sensitive topics. Fortunately, we’ve got someone like Bill Eddins to point out the Emperor isn’t wearing any clothes.
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