Louisville Sneaks By Under The Radar

In the hubbub of Indy, Atlanta, San Antonio, and the Twin Cities it might have been easy to miss the excellent article by Elizabeth Kramer published in the 9/1/2012 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal that reports on the orchestra’s return after a protracted work stoppage.

over wallIf you recall, the labor dispute ended under undisclosed terms regarding the more contentious elements of the struggle; mainly, how would strategic planning unfold and what ratio of influence would each stakeholder receive. Along with that were prickly issues related to austerity measures, accountability, and stewardship.

According to Kramer’s article, it seems that Peter Pastreich is cast in the role of binding arbitrator on any issues management and musicians fail to settle. Still unknown is which issues are in and out of bounds.

One way or another, something will happen. In the meantime, give Kramer’s article a read and get up to speed.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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