In a follow-up to Monday’s weblog post about ticket price increases for the Boston Symphony and the Red Sox spring training, at least one of the two organizations has had a change of heart. After much gnashing of teeth by loyal subscribers, the Boston Symphony has eased back on its announced season ticket prices for […]
A changing relationship with music
Most would call Apple’s iPod and other similar personal digital audio players ‘handy little appliances.’ But at least one researcher is exploring how these devices are really tools for consumers to reshape time, mood, and personal space. BBC News offers this article on the subject, which has also popped up in recent issues of the […]
On growth and death
Two articles in the latest Fortune Small Business magazine offer a few nuggets of wisdom for the arts manager, and one truly disturbing business model. The wisdom nuggets come from this article on managing growth in a small business, extolling the decision not to grow. It seems that several small business leaders have discovered that […]
A spectrum of response to ticket price increases
A few recent articles show the odd place that ticket price holds in the minds of audiences, and the internal calculus that helps them make decisions. In one, there’s some shock and awe about the Boston Symphony’s ticket increases on the eve of James Levine’s arrival as conductor. In another, fans grumble but accept another […]
When cultural experiences fall a bit short
Some stories just scream out to be shared on weblogs such as mine. This item in a North Wales newspaper suggests that there’s a slight problem with the Welsh cultural experience offered by the ‘Magic of Wales’ shop at Disney’s Epcot Centre. Specifically: Disney officials in the USA confirmed there were no Welsh products on […]
Fun with Latin, Best Practices, and New Zealanders
Ruth Harley, CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission, has some specific thoughts on why her country is suddenly the film capital of the universe. In the spirit of Stephen Covey, she lists seven habits of highly effective governments in attracting movie-makers: Patience Money Creative Freedom National Identity Entrepreneurial Spirit Thinking Globally Backing from the […]
Build your own weblog entry (assembly required)
It’s student application review time in the graduate degree program I direct, so my posts will be patchy, at best, this week. I hope you all bear with me. In the meantime, I have at least enough time to gather a ‘make your own weblog entry’ kit…sort of ‘The Artful Manager: Home Game’. Just take […]
Leaving on a jet plane
I’m on a plane to DC this afternoon, so will only have quick note today, and perhaps none tomorrow. I’m traveling to follow up on a conversation I co-started back in October — attempting to adapt and apply the discipline of systems dynamics and systems mapping to the world of arts and cultural management. It’s […]
The fight over rent (not the musical)
The ramp-up to the opening of a new performance hall or performing arts center always involves a public discussion of rent. It’s beginning (again) in Madison, Wisconsin, as the new $100-million Overture Center for the Arts approaches its Phase I opening day this September. Here’s how it usually goes: A new cultural construction project is […]
Evangelism responses
I received quite a few responses to my posts last week on the evangelical qualities of arts management, despite our continual focus on business practice. Most respondents reflected the same sense of conflict and confusion between mission and marketing. Said one reader: The arts are being asked to prove their worth based on evidence, proof, […]
