2,148 stories from Butts In The Seats
In the process of trying to convince people of the value of attending a live event, performing arts people will often cite the opportunity for chaos. They will say something along the lines …
I was listening to an interview with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Concertmaster Holly Mulcahy today and there were a couple things said that jumped out at me. (Not the least of which was i…
The one activity related to performances that regularly is a source of frustration for my staff is getting certificates of liability insurance from people. This is one of those requirements …
While I driving around recently, I heard an interview with This American Life creator, Ira Glass, talking about the early days of his career (from about 16:00-20:00 minutes) The main thrust …
Last week I was sent a link to an infographic purporting to list what arts careers were best for what personality types. I offer this as a bit of fun and entertainment for your Monday. Gener…
14 years ago today, I started writing this blog. I really never think of myself as a writer, but looking back to some of the earliest posts I see proof of just how important constant practic…
A bit of harsh truth here that I think is pretty much widely recognized, but also generally remains unspoken. A lot of the correspondence I get from artists and agents goes directly into the…
Last week there was an article on Salon with the click bait-y title, “Stop buying old Bob Dylan albums: "Every time somebody buys a reissue, they're just taking money away from new mus…
With the news that people are increasingly valuing a degree of interactivity in their cultural experiences sitting in the back of my mind, I have been keeping my eyes open for interesting pr…
A couple days ago, CityLab had an article about a fledgling sharing economy start up called Lokafy that pairs tourists with local residents willing to act as tour guides to the “real&#…
I don’t recall what originally brought it to my attention or caused me to read it more closely, but the Executive Director job search announcement for Forecast Public Art struck me as …
Possible evidence of what I suggested yesterday regarding the need to discuss all the career paths available to arts grads comes in a post last week by Alex Tabbarok Marginal Revolution blog…
Throughout my life I have frequently seen articles about all the careers you can pursue with X major. Some of the options seemed a little far fetched and based on individual outlier examples…
I was listening to some Big Think videos this weekend when I was struck with an insight about educational philosophy. I am pretty sure it isn’t a new insight, but the metaphor that occ…
If you are looking for fun, inspiring thoughts to start your day, I would direct your attention to Zen Pencils. It is not updated every day, but given the time cartoonist Gavin Aung Than inv…
There has been an ongoing debate about whether simulcast performances from the Metropolitan Opera or London’s National Theatre will serve to erode audiences for live performances. Acco…
Seth Godin made a post in which he listed some of the following features of crowds: […] The crowd gets on its feet when your band plays the big hit, and sits down for the new songsR…
On Non-Profit Quarterly Claire Knowlton wrote a piece advocating for moving past a focus on overhead costs and direct program expenses in favor of full funding of non-profits by foundations.…
Since I was on the subject of how people value the arts yesterday, I thought I would call attention to a post that appeared on HowlRound last summer. Edward Einhorn wrote about Money Lab, a …
Last week I briefly noted that people and businesses often value being in a community in which arts organizations are present, even if they don’t participate in their activities. I men…
Dan Pink called attention to publisher Penguin Random House’s recent decision to no longer require job applicants to have a university degree. From what I see in corroborating stories,…
In Non Profit Quarterly, Ruth McCambridge wrote a pretty involved comparison between the stakeholder revolts which reversed board decisions to close San Diego Opera and Sweet Briar College. …
I almost threw money away, literally. I received piece a mail last week bearing the logo of a state university indicating a survey was enclosed. I was just about to throw it away when I beca…
Last summer Vox had a post, Everyone can be an opera buff. Here are 7 steps to get started. It got me thinking that creating page like this on an arts organization’s website could be a…
Last Wednesday I made a post about non-profit arts organizations deserving to expect a little more of their customer relationship management (CRM) software. I briefly referenced the fact tha…
