Comments for Adaptistration

Comment on Reveling In Microsite Goodness by Drew McManus

Drew McManus — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:26:22 +0000

Thanks Patty – that was capable due to a great little wordpress plugin called “Author Image.” It allows users to upload a headshot directly to their user account and it also creates a widget that can be placed in any widgetized content area. It’s a great alternative to using Gravatar and in this instance, it was a much easier and less time consuming solution.

Comment on Reveling In Microsite Goodness by patty

patty — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:58:20 +0000

I absolutely love that you have headshots now … maybe it’s not a big deal to others, but I really like to have a face with a name. Thanks, Drew, for all your work on this!

Comment on Dead Cat Bounce by Drew McManus

Drew McManus — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:54:52 +0000

Hi Roland, many thanks for taking the time to post a comment. I’m sure everyone will be very interested in learning more about the final details of any proposed agreement when and if it comes to fruition. In addition to the thoughts above, I’m particularly interested in learning more about how the organization will manage to avoid becoming inadvertently dependent on outsourced services to the point of losing the ability take advantage of growth opportunities.

Comment on Dead Cat Bounce by Roland Valliere

Roland Valliere — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:39:50 +0000

Many of the expressed concerns are legitimate but I caution against jumping to conclusions without adequate information. The CAPA discussions are in process so it would inappropriate to share more detail at this time. But I can assure you that safeguarding the artistic and organizational integrity of the Columbus Symphony is foremost in the CSO Board’s mind.
Roland Valliere
President and CEO
Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Comment on Dead Cat Bounce by Gene De Lisa

Gene De Lisa — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:17:07 +0000

I have a better mental image. Even Majken Mechling would bounce if dropped from high enough. Is “Executive Director” high enough?

Comment on The French Are Not As Forgiving by James Ferguson

James Ferguson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:13:13 +0000

I didn’t read anything about the musician union in the NYT article. Why aren’t they saying anything about this? It seems hypocritical that they would complain about their salary and work rules but not mention anything about this (or are they?).

Comment on The French Are Not As Forgiving by Drew McManus

Drew McManus — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:08:10 +0000

That really sums it up nicely Chris, thank you for that. Given the amount of time they are here, cleaning concert dresses and tuxedos alone will eat up what’s left of that pay after they buy what little food they can afford.

I’m also curious to know if they are paid after the production run. As for the right to inspect books, it’s not as uncommon or as difficult as some might think. We’re not talking about a full blown audit so much as verifying items such as pay levels and disbursement.

It does become easy for producers to turn a blind eye and legitimately say they negotiated overall fees in good faith and if the organization then pays the talent sub-standard wages, that’s not something they can get involved in.

this is another area where industry standards and practices could (and should) be hammered out in some form of written ethical conduct codes. Granted, these aren’t enforceable by law but it demonstrates a different attitude.

After all, if there are those inside the business willing to eat their own (so to speak), why should governments or communities care about arts funding? Ultimately, if we don’t find ourselves important, no one else will.

Comment on The French Are Not As Forgiving by Chris Blair

Chris Blair — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:51:29 +0000

The Moscow State Radio Symphony tour conditions are inexcusable to me not so much for the performance fees offered as to the lack of coverage for expenses.

The fee of $40 per concert one might consider “take home pay”, and in some countries this is a large number. For example, when I conducted the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra in 2006 the typical take home salary of an orchestral musician was about $200/month. The musician salaries in Bulgaria a decade ago were similar.

But if this fee must then be used to feed oneself in a totally different economy, that is where the issue of fairness resides. A young musician from someplace else who thinks $40 is a lot may not know how much it costs to eat in the USA when signing on for a tour.

It would seem to be possible for the management firm arranging the tour not only to provide appropriate transportation and housing but also a minimum per-diem allotment for meals within the fees they charge the presenters. This is a change the industry might consider.

I don’t see the need for tour management to examine an orchestra’s books, if they simply do the right thing about ensuring appropriate living conditions while on tour.

Comment on Ouch. My Pride. by Drew McManus

Drew McManus — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:11:31 +0000

No hard feeling? Of course not, and no worries. After thinking about my post from 2005, one of the reasons I used the “save classical music” title was for SEO juice (and it worked). I have no clue if anyone else on the list fell into that category but it might be interesting to find out.

Comment on Ouch. My Pride. by Proper Discord

Proper Discord — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:06:12 +0000

Hi Drew,

I put that list together to highlight the enduring popularity of claiming that ideas will save classical music.

You’re quite right that some of these articles contain genuinely useful suggestions. Yours are among the better ones.

In an attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff without compromising the unrelentingly sarcastic tone of my website, I’ve created the Music Pundit Deathmatch:

http://properdiscord.com/2010/03/09/music-pundit-deathmatch-there-can-be-only-one/

You’ll be pleased to see that you made it to the Quarter-Finals.

No hard feelings