State of the Art

I’ve hit that point (already) in the semester where I realize that I won’t be able to accomplish all that I had planned. Here, for this course, the semester is divided into 2 blocks, each around 7 weeks long. Some students will only attend the first of these blocks, some with attend both, and some will attend only the second one. As such, for planning purposes I proposed to concentrate on idea formation and market feasibility in the first block, and entity formation in the second one. The work on personal branding is going quite … [Read more...]

I believe it was wise to introduce and begin to work through my Zone One, Personal Entrepreneurship. Referencing again, Bill Green’s excellent definition of entrepreneurship, “we understand entrepreneurship to mean the transformation of an idea into an enterprise that creates value—economic, social, cultural, or intellectual, “ in Zone One, the individual becomes the enterprise, and it is h/she who then creates value through h/her action. We spent considerable time on the topic of branding: what branding is, and how it can apply to … [Read more...]

I asked students to write to me, to tell me where they saw themselves professionally in 5 years. I asked this because I realized that most, if not all, were taking this class to learn “tools” to assist them in their move from student to music professions. The responses received so far, around half, express quite a range of aspirations. One student writes, “In preparing for writing this email, I did a lot of sitting by myself and thinking what I really want not only in this class but in life. I'm a second year master student who … [Read more...]

In my most recent post I meant to include the working definition of entrepreneurship that I use in my classes (and in my own work). It comes from William Green, the former Dean of the College at the University of Rochester. …we understand entrepreneurship to mean the transformation of an idea into an enterprise that creates value—economic, social, cultural, or intellectual. The reason I find this definition so powerful is its inclusion of the intellectual domain. With this inclusion, the creation of news ways of thinking becomes … [Read more...]

The most surprising aspect of my first class was the result of my asking the question, “why are you taking this class” The responses altered my thinking on the teaching of arts entrepreneurship to students to whom the topic is new. I only allowed for approximately 10 responses (there were 30 students in the room). The responses ran from, I want to pursue a career in arts administration, to those that were quite specific, from graduate students who are already embarking on nascent careers. Those in this group expressed a need to … [Read more...]

I’m working on the course outline for my upcoming course, Entrepreneurship in Music and the Arts, at Ithaca College. I have 31 students enrolled – the limit according to fire laws for the assigned classroom. I’ve never taught entrepreneurship to this large a class, in such a cramped space, so I have been focused more on issues of classroom management than course content. And, although the course was made available to students across the campus, it filled up entirely with music students. This may make matters easier at first, and more … [Read more...]

Here are two strategies that I have used to assist emerging arts entrepreneurs in the development of their ideas – into rich and promising ventures. Preface Students are given the assignment to find a promising area, out of which can emerge an opportunity. They are instructed to primarily look at those areas where they have the most expertise, and/or experience. For example, a pianist might be instructed to study the many innovations that have occurred in the life of the piano, and then brainstorm what works and doesn’t work in its … [Read more...]