Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Fun With Venn Diagrams: Crisis Management

Tue, Aug 8, 2011
Fun With Venn Diagrams: Crisis Management
It’s been a little while since we had some fun with Venn Diagrams but a recent email exchange with a consulting colleague who was lamenting the long term damage from too much evidential fallacy oriented thinking put an idea into my head for the following Venn diagram.

What Are You Proud Of?

Mon, Aug 8, 2011
One of the unfortunate realities in this business is a lot of really fine work passes by without anyone noticing. Sure, we all see press releases about big news but the reality is much of those headlines wouldn’t be possible without the cumulative impact of all the smaller goals and accomplishments that really contribute toward

Clearly, I Am In The Wrong Business

Fri, Jul 7, 2011
According to an article by Peter Dobrin in the 7/27/2011 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) is claiming to have spent approximately $2.4 million in bankruptcy related expenses. But according to Dobrin’s report, that doesn’t really bother the POA as the orchestra spokesman, Matt Broscious, defined those expenses and any to

Take My Blog, Please

Thu, Jul 7, 2011
After next week, I’ll be away on a working vacation at the Grand Teton Music Festival and during that time, it’s become a bit of a tradition to feature some guest authors. I have a few lined up already but I want to expand on what we tried last year and offer an open invitation

What's Old Is Old Again

Wed, Jul 7, 2011
There’s nothing quite like an old media vs. new media discussion; you can always count on it producing a few worthwhile bang-your-head-against-the-wall moments but the potential entertainment value doubles when the discussion panel is comprised of music critics. Case in point, there’s a fantastic blog post at sfciviccenter.blogspot.com that provides a firsthand account of a

Looking At Smaller Budget Groups Amidst The Economic Downturn

Tue, Jul 7, 2011
I received an intriguing email yesterday from Lee GrothOlson, Bartlesville Symphony General Manager, wondering about my take on how smaller budget groups are weathering the economic downturn. When compared to their larger budget peers, most smaller budget orchestras I am aware of (those up through $1.5mil annual budget) tend to have fewer challenges managing debt

Next Stop, Lawyerville

Mon, Jul 7, 2011
On Sunday, 7/24/2011 I had a good bit of fun as the guest on SoundNotion.tv, the new music and music news video podcast. The topics were quite diverse and as always, the SoundNotion hosts (David MacDonald, Sam Merciers, and Nate Bliton) were their regular inquisitive/challenging/edgy selves; simply put, they are an interested and interesting group.

Understanding The Difference Between Apps and Mobile Websites

Fri, Jul 7, 2011
[tab title=”2013 Edition”] The biggest change to take place in the field of mobile browsing since 2011 is the rise of responsive web design, which responds to the device that accesses it and delivers the appropriate output. The real game changer here is that responsive design draws all of the content from a single source,

A Reminder About The Value Behind The Live Concert Experience

Thu, Jul 7, 2011
It never ceases to amaze how much perception can change from one individual to the next and even though it’s no secret that a live concert event is a very subjective experience, we don’t always have a chance to read about it from two very divergent views. Yes, there are music critics but there are

Curious To Know If We're Talking About You?

Wed, Jul 7, 2011
It was several years ago but I recall sitting at an outdoor cafe with some colleagues during one of those summer arts conventions and half way through our drinks one executive turns to another and asks if he reads Adaptistration. “Of course,” said the executive. “I read his blog every day; if nothing else, I
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