Through my work here in Madison, I’ve had the great honor and pleasure of getting to know Fan Taylor — a formative force in the creation of the master’s program in Arts Administration I direct in the School of Business, and in defining and developing the professional field of arts presenting. She’s an icon among professional performing arts managers. And at 93, she could still book, contract, and market circles around most managers without even working up a sweat.
When she read through my position piece for Inside Arts magazine, she offered her own code of conduct, developed over decades of work in the arts. Like most pearls of wisdom, her code is much cleaner, simpler, and more direct than my longer-winded list. It’s simply this:
- Be honest.
- Book to your audience, but better.
Short and sweet.