In Richmond, The Plot Thickens
Mon, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
On 1/25/2012 we examined a developing situation in Virginia about a state delegate from Richmond, G. Manoli Loupassi, who was proposing legislation (HB 1254) that would prevent professional orchestra musicians from collecting unemployment benefits during weeks they were not employed. One unanswered question at that time was how Loupassi became involved in the matter to
Smart QR Code Design For Maximizing Conversion From Mailings
Fri, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
It’s always fun when unrelated items converge in just the right way at just the right time to uncover something useful. Case in point, I received four single show sales mailings from performing arts organizations (one orchestra, one opera, and two performing arts centers) and a domain name renewal notice and when all five pieces
Can You Have Ticket Deals That Are Too Good?
Thu, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
Following up on last Monday’s Placebo Pricing article, the ever sharp Lisa Hirsch from Iron Tongue of Midnight started doing some digging around in her neck of the woods on ticket price issues and turned up some very intriguing results. In a post titled Pricing and Audience Resentment she provides a few apt observations on timing
Another Orchestra vs. Unemployment Incident
Wed, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
The 2011-12 season seems to be the year of pushing back against paying musicians unemployment benefits for some orchestras. In Louisville, the orchestra association fought hard to get their state’s Office of Employment and Training to revoke musician unemployment benefits and to pay back what they had received in 2011. Now it looks like the
I Wonder Which Gins Are Available At The Concession Stand
Tue, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
It’s always fun when two divergent steams streams of thought coincide to produce something intriguing. Case in point, I recently joined the board of directors for a period-instrument orchestra here in Chicago, The Baroque Band, and shortly thereafter hopped on board a local dinner club/think tank (DCTT) that was the brainchild of Amy Calhoun, A.K.A.
Placebo Pricing And The Ticket Price Quandary
Mon, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
Regardless of your view on whether or not the average ticket price at professional US orchestras is an accurate representation of the overall experience’s value or is artificially inflated to help pad earned income shortfalls (or a little of Column A and a little of Column B), Joe Patti presented a fascinating point of view
Science Schmience: Violinists Blast Holes In Violin Experiment
Fri, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
Since the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a paper titled Player preferences among new and old violins which chronicles their experiment during the Violin Competition of Indianapolis from September, 2010 the results have received a good bit of attention. Initial reactions were mostly positive but that ended up being short-lived honeymoon.
"Do Some Orchestras Exaggerate Their Financial Position For Negotiation Leverage?"
Thu, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
A blogging colleague sent me an email last week asking the question in today’s title: “Do some orchestras exaggerate their financial position for negotiation leverage?” The smart alec in me wanted to write back with the following single sentence response: “Does a bear blog in the woods?” But thankfully my conscience kicked in and reminded
“Do Some Orchestras Exaggerate Their Financial Position For Negotiation Leverage?”
Thu, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
A blogging colleague sent me an email last week asking the question in today’s title: “Do some orchestras exaggerate their financial position for negotiation leverage?” The smart alec in me wanted to write back with the following single sentence response: “Does a bear blog in the woods?” But thankfully my conscience kicked in and reminded
NEC Cuts Zander Loose
Tue, Jan 1, 2012
by Drew McManus
An associated Press article from 1/12/2012 reports that the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) announced that it had removed Benjamin Zander from all positions associated with the school. What brought additional attention to the issue was the information provided by NEC that it “had disciplined a faculty member who retained a videographer he knew
