I know that corporate governance and financial reporting reform is the ideal way to start the week…so fun, so light, so intriguing. But sarcasm aside, there are good reasons to be at least marginally aware of the seismic shifts in what the federal government requires of public (and soon nonprofit) corporations. First, a bit of […]
Unnecessarily separate
ArtsJournal has another wonderful conversation running with its short-term weblog featuring violinist Midori. The artist is exchanging ideas and insights with ArtsJournal editor Doug McLennan as she tours Asia. Her entry today explores some of her frustration and disbelief with the boundaries built between professional classical artists and their audiences. Says she: One of the […]
Relearning conversation skills
I’ve been noticing a common thread in many of the conversations I’ve been having and hearing among arts professionals. There’s the tension between what a ‘curator’ presents and what the public wants; between ‘teaching’ an audience that doesn’t yet value our craft and ‘learning’ what they value; between being more engaged with a community but […]
Espoused mission vs. mission-in-use
Writing my post earlier this week reminded me of another useful business theory that I hadn’t yet discussed in this weblog. The ”theory of action” proposed by Chris Argyris and Donald Schön way back in 1974 explores the difference between what people say they value and what their actions suggest they value. The two can […]
The stuff you SAY you like vs. the stuff you DO like
I don’t intend for my weblog to become a techno/trend rag, but I’ll admit to a strange fascination for how new technologies change our behavior, or expose behaviors that have always been there. One particularly interesting question for me is how we cluster our cultural preferences (and how arts organizations do it for us). The […]
Rethinking the production/delivery process
I realize it’s odd for an arts and culture business weblog to talk about pizza delivery, but Super Fast Pizza in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, deserves the nod. The company has radically rethought the pizza delivery process to connect with what customers want (fast, hot, tasty). One if the biggest problems with that connection, they […]
We won’t say we told you so
Businessweek has an interesting update/overview on Clear Channel Communications, and the current effort of the media and entertainment mega-company to disassemble itself. The company has proposed spinning off its live entertainment division (which owns theaters, productions, agents, and such) into a separate corporation. Says the article: From the beginning, Wall Street never much liked the […]
Howdy neighbor
Just a quick note today to welcome the newest ArtsJournal blogger, jazz journalist and author Doug Ramsey. I used to work in the communications office of Berklee College of Music in Boston, academic home to many jazz greats. So I’m eager to read. Welcome aboard Doug!
Podcasting: Why you should care
I talked about ”podcasting” way back in December, and suggested it was an interesting technology/trend to watch. The technology showed up again in an entry earlier this month, as a rogue group of art lovers were creating and distributing their own audio guides to MoMA exhibits. Now, there are lots of reasons to pay even […]
Who gets to decide what ‘performance’ means?
Several sources are talking about a new musician’s contract at the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony (the New York Times had a piece this Sunday, drawing from an earlier article in Andante, and discussed today at length by my weblog neighbor, Drew McManus). Says the Times: The Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, one of Japan’s top-tier orchestras, has its […]
