Author Archive for Drew McManus
Regularly quoted as an industry expert in international newspapers and trade journals, arts consultant and industry expert Drew McManus has been involved with every aspect of nonprofit performing arts organizations. He has become one of the most unique individuals in this industry who is trusted and respected by administrators, academics, board members, music directors, musicians, and union officials alike.
Venture Platform Overview Video
As promised from earlier this week, I am posting the Venture Platform Overview video. This video will be available at the Venture Sales site along with several additional videos highlighting specific components such as Venture’s event manager, slider controls, market insight (analytics), email marketing capability, design features and functionality, content management tools, and solution academy (support and training site). What makes this video special is it offers the first look into Venture’s admin panel… (more…)
Good News On Ticket Subsidies
Thanks to reader Jon Hardie for pointing out an article by David Abel in the 8/28/2010 edition of the Boston Globe I would have otherwise missed which reports on the Highland Street Foundation’s work at subsidizing ticket prices at several Boston area cultural institutions. Regular readers know how strongly I feel about the connection between subsidized ticket prices and the overall health of performing arts… (more…)
People Are Attracted To Winners
That’s precisely what I told Jeff Karoub from the Associated Press yesterday when we were talking about the differences between for profit and nonprofit business strategies for dealing with a tough economy. One substantial difference is related to what I call the Fragile Powerhouse concept, which dictates that not only do performing arts organizations fail to benefit from laying off workers during down periods, but that course of action has a prolonged negative impact on overall artistic quality and institutional prowess… (more…)
Detroit Deadline Passes, Now What?
In short, “not much.” It seems that both sides have agreed to play and talk under the terms and conditions from the expired contract. However, the term play is used loosely in this sense as there are no concerts scheduled until October. I’m planning on posting something more about all of this later in the week once my work deadlines have loosened up but in the meantime… (more…)
Detroit Rebuttal and Venture’s Launch
Now that primary development recently wrapped up, we’ve been hard at work getting Venture’s sales and support site ready for launch. To that end, I’m happy to say that all things being equal, that should take place sometime between Monday and Wednesday next week… (more…)
The Minions Have Spoke!
There’s nothing quite as cumbersome as an email list filled with non-responders and as it turns out, the email list here at Adaptistration has grown so large that my email list minions told me we needed to weed out some names. Fortunately, the email service I use, Vertical Response, has a handy feature that lets the minions automatically create a segmented list based on non-responder parameters that can be used to verify recipients… (more…)
A Comprehensive Look At Detroit
The 8/24/2010 edition of the Detroit Free Press published an article by Mark Stryker that digs into the details surrounding the ongoing, and increasingly entrenched, negotiations between the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and their musicians. Stryker’s article focuses on the fundamental issue of musician compensation: its history, current standing, and potential future… (more…)
Debating The Cinema Craze On Soundcheck Smackdown
I’ll be appearing today on WNYC’s Soundcheck with John Schaefer at 2:00 p.m. ET for a debate about simulcasts and what they hold for performing arts groups. Most folks are likely well aware of The Metropolitan Opera, which pioneered the efforts but this season sees the influx of big budget orchestras into the mix including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic… (more…)
Detroit Enters The Eleventh Hour
Today marks the final week of the current collective bargaining agreement between the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and its musicians. Over the past few days, a few articles of note have popped up that are worth your time. The first is from an unusual source in that it is a blog post from someone outside the field… (more…)
A Conversation With An Orchestra Website
Properdiscord.com recently posted a video entitled A conversation with an orchestra website preceded by the following description: “I was looking at orchestra websites today. They annoyed me. I started to wonder what they would say if they could talk.” True that. And the resulting video is laugh out loud hilarious. With the annual orchestra website reviews about a month away this video couldn’t appear at a better time so take a moment and watch the video… (more…)
Culture Dinosaurs
I have to admit that the whole Golden Age vs. the Prophets of Doom nonsense put me in a bit of a cynical funk over the past week but it worked out for the best as that sarcastic energy was channeled into something creative. I’ve been updating the graphic designs at most of the Inside The Arts blogs and the latest round of pixel pushing was Joe Patti’s Butts In The Seats blog. One idea led to another and the end result was a new mascot that pokes a little fun at the declinism perspective… (more…)
Detroit; In Their Own Words
Chris Felcyn of Detroit’s WRCJ 90.9 FM recently sat down with representatives from Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s (DSO) management and musicians and allowed them to present statements about the current negotiations. Felcyn then presented those comments from DSO Cellist Haden McKay and DSO President and Executive Director Anne Parsons on his program, The Well-Tempered Wireless. In an age where print outlets continue to dominate, having an audio resource where listeners can take inflection and tone into account is a luxury… (more…)
Bruce Hembd wrote:
Drew McManus wrote:
Geof Applegate wrote:
Bev B. wrote:
Adaptistration is authored by orchestra consultant Drew McManus and since its launch in 2003, the blog has become standard reading for arts administrators and arts administration programs throughout the world.
