Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
The final installment in this series will outline how orchestras can adopt and develop their own docent program similar to the Denver Zoo system. In Part 1 I detailed the similarities between zoos and orchestras and Part 2 provided a comprehensive look at what motivated individuals to become a volunteer docent as well as how the three major stakeholders in that organization perceive the impact of the program on the zoo’s success. …
To continue where we left off yesterday, we will begin to learn how the Denver Zoo docent program enables members of the community to become active participants in helping the zoo achieve its stated mission. In order to fully understand how much of an impact the docent program has on the organization, I conducted a study involving the three primary stakeholders in the program; the volunteer docents, animal keepers, and zoo administrators. …
062Certainly, a number of US based professional orchestras maintain docent programs, the bulk of which focus primarily on children’s educational outreach programs in the public schools. One of the largest of these programs utilizes approximately 40 volunteers that lecture visiting school children on the music they are going to listen to and they also visit classrooms to teach children about classical music. Although these programs certainly generate positive results, they are representative …
Recently, I completed an analysis of the Denver Zoo volunteer docent program. A docent is traditionally an individual who is a lecturer or tour guide in a museum or cathedral. But contemporary avenues of service include many non profit organizations which have a great deal of public contact, such as zoos. I became introduced to the world of docents through my in-laws, who have been zoo docents for 15 years. Throughout …