Back on 2/24/2012 we examined emerging standards for web font sizes and it was a surprise to some folks that using 16px (or approx. 1em) for standard body font was recommended. Nonetheless, it is still surprising to encounter so many performing arts org websites that rely on 12px standards.

All of the following screencaps were taken on 5/23/2013 and are from the first four orchestra websites that came to mind. Each one had a standard body font of 11px or 12px and even though I knew a number of orchestra websites were using tiny font sizes, it was still surprising to see 100 percent of the initial sampling fall into that category.

But when it comes to readability and overall favorable user experiences, those are dangerously small sizes (details for why are in the 2012 article). Recent studies indicate that 16px is most common with 14px not far behind, but even 18px is used twice as much over 12px.

There’s No Better Time Than The Present

In an ideal arrangement, you already have direct control over typography settings such as the font size for body text and headlines and can, therefore, begin experimenting with sizing up and out of the 12px pit.

If you don’t, you need to begin working on your web provider to get this change going. If they make the task sound like moving mountains then it’s high time to consider finding a new provider.

Simply put, you aren’t going to catch up by going slower and web standards change at an increasing pace so you need to be in a position to have enough flexibility and control to make changes as needed.

For more on this topic, head over to Jan Constantin’s excellent case study article, Typographic Design Patterns And Current Practices (2013 Edition), at SmashingMagazine.com where you’ll find a wealth of additional info on trends for headlines, typefaces, line heights, and a bevy of additional typographic treats.

There’s a terrific article by Brian Wise in the 5/20/2013 edition of WQXR.org that reports on the latest wrinkle in an ongoing lawsuit between composer Nathan Currier and the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

• In 2004, Currier apparently paid the Brooklyn Phil $72,000 to premiere one of his compositions (that’s just under $89k after inflation).
• During the 4/21/04 performance at Avery Fisher Hall, Currier alleges that orchestra officials forced him to edit his piece for length during one of the intermissions because it was going into unbudgeted overtime.
• Currier complied but the orchestra allegedly failed to follow his cuts and edited for length by their own design.
• Currier claims the unauthorized cuts led to scathing reviews and as a result, he sued the orchestra for failing to deliver what it was contracted to provide.

Wise reports much of the suit’s merit hinges on interpretation of work rules related to intermission lengths as stipulated in the Brooklyn Phil’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

For most folks with more than a cursory length of time as an arts administrator, this entire kerfuffle is the type of problem that should have never occurred in the first place. Consequently, it would be surprising to learn if all of this wasn’t the result of some terrible communication (in all directions), lack of interest amidst a fee based earned income gig, and either sloppy CBA language or sloppy adherence to thorough CBA language (or all of the above).

If nothing else, Currier’s lawsuit demonstrates the value of embracing unambiguous language related to CBA work rules. Granted, flexibility is a popular buzzword when talking about master agreements and in some instances, it is the right approach; but it is far from an ideal universal solution.

Make sure you leave some time to read the comments after going over Wise’s article, some of them are a real hoot.

There’s an interesting article by Tom Jacobs in the 5/21/2013 edition of psmag.com which reports on a recent study designed to determine which works have more gravitas when it comes to selling tickets. Overall, it’s a good read but along with the good is some not-so-good that should be more than enough to take everything with a grain of salt.

I haven’t read the report but having crossed paths with similar studies and based on what’s available in the abstract, I’ll go out on a limb and offer up the following.

• someone outside the field is paying attention to the field
• when taken in the right context, there’s likely some good reference material
• copious amount of five dollar words

• the report is stuck behind a paywall (update: an eagle-eyed reader found a free version, check the comments for the link)
• data used is nearly 10 years old
• lack of practical, real world application
• copious amount of five dollar words

The article brought to mind an case where an orchestra received some outside consulting from a prestigious business school that studied existing ticket sales data and local metrics with an eye toward improving earned income.

The final report suggested the orchestra was undervaluing its product and the authors recommended sharp price increases.

Anyone care to guess what that course of action actually produced?

In short, increases were applied but the earned income increase forecast never materialized. The real kick in the pants is everyone in the office below the highest pay grade knew that wasn’t the right answer and didn’t want to go in that direction but decisions were made otherwise.

That doesn’t mean the report wasn’t useful but at the same time, it doesn’t mean it was something that should be adopted out of hand. Consequently, you’re probably in a good place if you adopt a similar approach to this recent effort.

It only took one calendar year, but the Palm Beach Symphony (PBS) may be emerging from a season of “living in interesting times” following the public announcement that executive director Michael Finn is leaving his position.

The PBS started making headlines in May, 2012 by making waves over an executive decision to bring in current students and recent graduates from The Juilliard School for concert event and in-school services. The result was a very disgruntled group of rostered musicians who felt like they were getting muscled out of work they believed they were not only capable of performing but entitled to as rostered musicians.

The entire plan fell apart in less than a month when Juilliard backed out of the proposed residency and distanced itself from the entire ordeal.

Barely a week later, additional fireworks erupted between Finn and musicians; this time around, music director Ramon Tebar was involved. This dispute focused on musician allegations that Tebar was going to replace most of them for the following season and as it turns out, that’s exactly what happened.

By December, 2012 the PBS hiring controversy was back in the news following the musicians’ fears coming to fruition with most of them not being hired back for the 2012/13 season. The entire mess ended badly when Finn put his foot down by authorizing the release of a public statement asserting that the dismissed musicians were artistically unfit and since the orchestra wasn’t operating with a collective bargaining agreement that provided any checks and balances in the artistic review process, they were simply going to remove the musicians.

Fast forward six months (and the introduction of a new PBS board president) and an article by Jan Sjostrom in the 5/16/2013 edition of the Palm Beach Daily News reports Finn’s decision to leave based on “philosophical differences.”

Maintaining a labor environment of mutual respect is a prerequisite for stakeholder peace during economically tough times and periods of transition. Consequently, if there’s a lesson buried somewhere in the year long PBS debacle it is this: during good times, an old school decider style approach to stakeholder relationships is risky business; embracing it during tough times is categorically foolish.

The response to last week’s Minnesota Orchestra poll was terrific and it is currently one of Adaptistration’s most popular. Designed to measure respondent’s thoughts on the Minnesota Orchestra Association’s (MOA) near future expectations, stakeholder actions, and music director involvement, the results produced some intriguing data.

Near Future Expectations

Perhaps unsurprisingly, few respondents expected the work stoppage to resolve before the end of summer. So if you’re considering purchasing tickets for any summer events, your best bet is to plan on buying at the door.

Onto the pricklier topic of what will happen if the work stoppage continues into September, there’s no clear majority among respondents on whether or not they think the MOA will attempt to hire replacement musicians. At the same time, the overwhelming majority felt that doing so would be the wrong move.

If nothing else, the vehement blowback from musicians and patrons toward the Louisville Orchestra when they attempted to hire replacement musicians during their recent work stoppage should give the MOA something to consider if that option is being discussed behind closed doors.

At the same time, respondents had a much greater range of thoughts on whether or not the musicians should simply quit and form their own orchestra. Roughly one third of respondents felt they should to one degree or another, a solid third weren’t certain, while the last third thought it was not the right course of action.

Blame Game

Given the level of hostility, it is perhaps unsurprising that readers had strong feelings about whether the MOA’s executive leadership team should stay or go. By and large, respondents felt that the employer was most culpable for the loss of the 2012/13 subscription season.

Nearly two thirds felt the MOA Executive Board and/or President & CEO bore the lion’s share of responsibility while only a handful of respondents felt the musicians were to blame and a slightly higher share thought everyone was equally culpable. Less than one percent felt music director Osmo Vänskä shared any responsibility.

Consequently, the majority of respondents felt the MOA executive committee, negotiating committee, and President & CEO should resign. It’s worth noting, however, that the latter stakeholder garnered the strongest sentiment with a solid 82 percent indicating that he should definitely resign.

All About Osmo

It appears that respondents are prepared for the end of music director Osmo Vänskä’s tenure by September, 2013 although smaller percentages are simply unsure.

What’s intriguing here, however, is the degree of uncertainty on whether or not the MOA will take a proactive approach and dismiss Vänskä before his self imposed resignation deadline arrives. According to respondents, there was a slight tendency to favor the direction of the MOA striking first.

Perhaps the most fascinating result is even though a statistically insignificant number of respondents listed the music director as one of the stakeholders most culpable for the work stoppage; a little more than a third still feel he could be doing more to bring about resolution. Roughly the same ratio feels that there’s not much more he could do.

Conclusions

If nothing else, it seems clear that respondents feel that the best path toward resolution has less to do with changing the game and more to do with changing the people playing.

If the MOA labor dispute were a Western, we would be at the part where someone utters “this town ain’t big enough for the both of us” thereby triggering a last-man standing showdown or one of the main characters packing up and riding off into the sunset.

Apropos to yesterday’s poll about the Minnesota Orchestra Association (MOA), the 5/15/2013 edition of MPR News published an article by Euan Kerr that reports the MOA’s prolonged work stoppage is inflicting hardships on partner institutions within the local Minneapolis performing arts sector.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone and according to Kerr’s article, the Minnesota Chorale appears to be hard hit by the loss of the MOA’s entire season.

“With no resolution to the impasse between the Minnesota Orchestra and its musicians, we have to be able to make the plans that will keep the Minnesota Chorale a viable and vital organization,” [Minnesota Chorale Executive director Bob] Peskin said today.

The entire state of affairs brings to mind a bit from an old Simpsons episode where Bart’s antics have become so destructive that he is pulling down others with him.

The article also reports that both sides in the MOA dispute remain firmly separated as the latest round of potential bargaining sessions have been scrapped.

The musicians blame the MOA leadership for failing to provide requested information and the MOA blames the musicians for requesting information they don’t believe is necessary to conduct negotiations.

The self fulfilling prophecy continues unabated. It reminds me of another pop culture reference, this one coming in the form of a quote from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation: “When a man is convinced he’s going to die tomorrow, he’ll probably find a way to make it happen.”

Sure, the Minnesota Orchestra Association (MOA) has a full four minutes left on its Doomsday Clock, but most colleagues I talk to think they’re already done for. At the same time, there’s a good bit of divergence of opinion when narrowing the discussion down to specific items. As such, let’s see what you think about the more common questions surrounding this situation.

• Do you think the MOA will reach a settlement in time to implement their ad-hoc "summer line-up" concerts?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• If the work stoppage continues into September, 2013 do you think the MOA will attempt to hire a replacement orchestra?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• Do you think the MOA board should hire replacement musicians?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• Do you think the MOA executive committee and negotiating committee should resign?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• Do you think the MOA President & CEO should resign?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• Do you think the MOA musicians should resign and start their own orchestra?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• Which MOA stakeholder is most culpable for the season long work stoppage?select all that apply
  • The Executive Board
  • The Musicians
  • All of them are equally culpable
  • The Music Director
  • None of them are culpable
  • The President & CEO

• All About Osmo

• Do you think music director Osmo Vänskä will remain with the MOA past September, 2013?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• Do you think the MOA will terminate music director Osmo Vänskä's employment in advance of his resignation deadline?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• Do you think music director Osmo Vänskä has done everything he can to bring about an end to the work stoppage?
  • Definitely
  • Probably
  • Not Sure
  • Probably Not
  • Definitely Not
• EmailThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Any questions you think the poll should include? If so, leave a comment and fill everyone in.

There’s a terrific article in the 5/13/2013 edition of Ms. In The Biz by opera soprano Rhoslyn Jones titled “You Look Like An Opera Singer.” All in all, it’s an entertaining piece with Jones taking aim at a number of physical stereotypes, not to mention a delightfully entertaining paragraph length digression about her own ample endowment (granted, she calls it a “full balcony” but this is an orchestra business blog so we might as well wallow in our own parlance).

But Jones’ post did get me thinking about some of the all-too-real stereotypes of orchestra managers. Although there are some terrific exceptions on both ends of the scale, orchestra managers don’t internalize the whole dress-to-impress mentality. They do a passable job at paying homage on the surface level, but there’s rarely much depth.

Granted, within the greater arts manager community, they rank toward the top of the sartorial food chain but compared to the wider for profit executive culture, it’s a different story.

If you’re curious to learn more about how others perceive orchestra managers, check out a highly entertaining post from 2004 at newmusicbox.org by composer Joseph Dalton that takes an unfiltered look at the way different segments in the performing arts field dress.

If nothing else, both articles might get you to think differently when you open the closet door tomorrow.

Violinist Holly Mulcahy published a warm & fuzzy style post on 5/12/2013 about a recent experience where she struck up a conversation with a fellow airline passenger and orchestra concert newbie that ultimately ended in him buying tickets for a pair of Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF) at 30,000 feet courtesy of Wi-Fi. Apparently, the conversation progressed from food to farming, to flying, to Seal Tem 6, to Django Unchained; and the last item was all Mulcahy needed to get a foot in the door.

This fellow passenger and I probably would not find ourselves in the same social circles in everyday life. He’s a former military pilot, self proclaimed old fashioned Southerner, and a hunter during his days off. It would have been extremely easy to look at our differences and go back to my book, but instead we found a couple common grounds and he found that he indeed liked classical music.

I love selling my art and I believe that most people really do like classical music; they just don’t realize they already like it. Thanks to the movies like Django Unchained that use classical music, the books that mention classical music (the most recent is 50 Shades of Grey!), and to orchestral shows like Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, many people are exposed to classical music and find they love it.

It just takes the right reminder that classical music is wildly amazing, familiar, and enjoyable.

Mulcahy’s post reminded me of Scott Silberstein’s excellent Take A Friend To The Orchestra contribution last month and the dozens of similar stories I’ve heard from friends and colleagues over the years.

How about you, what’s your 30,000 feet story?

The Seattle Symphony Orchestra (SSO) and Seattle Symphony and Opera Players’ Organization (SSOPO) released statements on 5/6/2013 to announce that the organization has reached a tentative labor agreement that will extend through 8/31/2015. The SSO has been close to a work stoppage on a few occasions throughout the 2012/13 season but the pair of recent announcements appears to put those concerns to rest.

Specific details of the agreement are not yet known as the musicians have yet to approve the agreement, but plan to conduct a ratification meeting on Tuesday, 5/14/2013. However, the musicians’ statement indicated changes “salary, pension and benefits, improve[d] working conditions and includes a new media agreement.”

The agreement should be adopted by the musicians as the SSOPO negotiating committee plans to recommend ratification, and SSOPO chair and SSO violist, Tim Hale, indicated the deal meets the musicians’ current concerns.

“We were able to address our respective concerns in creative and affirming ways that move the institution forward,” said Hale. “With this new agreement, we are pleased to demonstrate our good faith to lovers of classical orchestral music and to the donor community. The musicians have spoken; we want excellence, music education for our children, a vital connection to our community, and stability for the Seattle Symphony. We expect that this new collective bargaining agreement will lay an aspirational foundation for continuing the excellence that Symphony musicians, concertgoers, and the community expect.”

The SSO Board of Directors already approved the agreement and SSO Executive Director, Simon Woods, projected a positive future over the course of the agreement along with hints that the new agreement may contain concessionary terms for wages and/or benefits.

“Our musicians and the great music they make onstage for the people of our region are the reasons we are all here,” said Woods. “Ongoing contractual stability is vital to the organization’s ability to be successful, and I am extremely grateful to them for their shared commitment to our future, as well as, of course, for their tremendous artistry. With a balanced budget for the first time in five years, we now have a magnificent opportunity to build a strong financial future that allows us to continue to present the very greatest concerts and work with our community in ever deeper and more creative ways.”

Specific details about the new agreement are expected following musician ratification.