So many of the rules and filters of social interaction are implicit, never stated out loud. So it’s fascinating to see software developers struggle to carry those rules and filters into virtual communities on the web. Such vague variables as ”authority” or ”trust” — which we silently apply to people around us in the fleshy […]
The ‘bad-boy’ clause
From the Charity Governance blog comes an admonition to any organization seeking or negotiating a naming gift: include a clause that allows you to remove the name if the future behavior of your donor warrants it: Specifically, the charity should include a ”bad-boy” clause in every agreement or ”letter of understanding” specifying the conditions under […]
Affluent interconnections
The web site They Rule lets users map the interconnections of corporations and board members, suggesting the dense cross-influence of a few people on a lot of money and corporate activity. Cooler still, users can build their own maps to explore different connections (like this one, showing connections between New York Times board members, and […]
BlogDay 2005
In recognition of BlogDay 2005, an initiative to encourage bloggers to recommend other bloggers on August 31, 2005, I’m posting some pointers to other places. To spread the love, I won’t include links to my neighbor ArtsJournal bloggers (except for that one), despite their worthiness and intriguing posts. Instead, I’m suggesting five that might be […]
From the ”you’re already doomed” department
Researchers at the University of Michigan have some helpful insights if you feel like you’re making less money than your peers…you were likely too short as a teenager. According to their study: Using data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and Britain’s National Child Development Survey, [researchers] found that each additional inch of […]
Do-it-yourself Beethoven scholarship
Thanks to Media Influencer, I stumbled on this CNET story on two Beethoven enthusiasts working to explore the unperformed archives of the composer’s work. Says CNET: Mark Zimmer, a tax attorney in Madison, Wis., and Dutch composer Willem Holsbergen are the creators of the Unheard Beethoven Web site, a sprawling digital archive of unfinished, unrecorded […]
Maybe we’re trying too hard
For those cultural managers who make every extra effort to provide context, background, depth, and framing around their upcoming productions, in an effort to engage the potential audience with meaning and purpose, this story out of the U.K. will likely drive you mad. The new play by film director and playwright Mike Leigh has sold […]
How to gross $100 million and still lose money
KCRW’s The Business has a great interview with Hollywood CPA/Attorney Steven Sills on the ‘creative accounting’ of movie blockbusters (it’s about 3-1/2 minutes in on the audio file). His clients come to him asking how a movie can gross $100 million at the box office and still show up as a loss on their profit […]
Defining the artist
There are a bundle of initiatives out there working to make communities or organizations more supportive and encouraging to artists. But often, these efforts are missing a crucial cog: a definition of what they mean by ”artist.” I’m not suggesting that there should be a single definition that we all claim as true (that would […]
The new MBAs are here
Orientation begins this week for our new batch of MBA students in Arts Administration at UW-Madison. I’m guessing my posting here will be fairly patchy as we welcome the new folks to our program, and get them settled in for two years of arts/business boot camp.
