Orchestra Leadership Academy Seminars: 2011 Conference

Conference 2011

 

Maximizing and Sustaining Leadership Impact

Today’s climate is taking a heavy toll on orchestra personnel as they navigate and make decisions that have short and long-term impacts on their colleagues and on their orchestra.  Providing leadership today is difficult and lonely work.  Even solid relationships with board, staff, and artistic personnel are challenged – and all this is not likely to change in the near term.

This seminar will provide the opportunity and space to reflect on your current experience, to discover a framework for refocusing your leadership, and to help you develop strategies that nurture and generate renewal both for you and for your organization.

Participants will:

  • Clarify the purpose of their work and the core values they want to exemplify as leaders
  • Identify strategies to increase effectiveness
  • Articulate changes needed to enhance focus, commitment, energy and satisfaction

This seminar is designed for executive directors, department heads, members of the board, and any others responsible for oversight of others.

Ronnie Brooks (pdf bio), division director, Wilder Center for Communities and the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute 

pdf Agenda

Dates:  Monday, June 6 (9:00AM-5:30PM), Tuesday, June 7 (8:00AM-12:30PM) 

 

Patron Growth and Advancement: A Crash Course in Fundamentals

Our industry is undergoing a gradual metamorphosis: marketing and development staffs are working more as if a single unit.  Why?  Because while music is our mission, the development of patrons is our primary business.  This is rendering the traditional monikers of “marketing” and “development” insufficient.  A culture of patron development is emerging and ushering in a requirement to anticipate the changing needs of patrons at every stage of their relationship, from ticket-buyer to annual contributor; subscriber to legacy donor.  

In this seminar participants will learn:

  • How development of a patron is different from marketing and fundraising;
  • What is an “ideal patron” and how to attract, incent, and earn a relationship with them;
  • Practical strategies for developing a robust patron base – through the lens of patron development and sales; patron engagement and loyalty programs; and patron advancement;
  • Fundamentals for patron market research and the ideal balance of human vs. electronic patron intelligence;
  • Constructive, no-nonsense linkages between traditional marketing and development offices;
  • Assessment tools to evaluate your underlying sales and fundraising acumen;

Paul Hogle, executive vice president, Detroit Symphony; David Snead, vice president of marketing, New York Philharmonic

pdf Agenda

pdf Faculty Bios

Dates:  Monday, June 6 (9:00AM-5:30PM), Tuesday, June 7 (8:00AM-12:30PM) 


Pops Programming 

This seminar is designed for orchestras of all budget sizes that offer pops and/or special programs as part of their season’s programming and will provide a broad overview of all kinds of pops shows.  Pops and special programs allow orchestras to diversify their repertoire and concert offerings, increase profitability, and extend their audience beyond those who enjoy standard classical repertoire. As tastes change and new genres emerge, pops repertoire and artists, as well as presentation formats, evolve and change as well.  This seminar will examine how repertoire, artists and presentations have evolved over time, and aid participants in addressing the key questions – “what makes a successful pops program for my orchestra in 2011?” and “what kinds of programmatic adjustments are necessary in today’s economy?”  Aimed at artistic administrators, marketing and PR personnel, artist agents, and music publishers, this seminar will examine the future of pops and pops programming. 

Eileen Jeanette, vice president of artistic & orchestra operations, Pacific Symphony; Michael Krajewski, principal pops conductor at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra; Lilly Schwartz, director of pops and special projects, Minnesota Orchestra

pdf Agenda

pdf Faculty Bios

Date:  Monday, June 6 (9:00AM-5:30PM) 



Bold Leadership: Seizing Opportunity in Times of Change

A great orchestra without a great leader is hard to imagine. For executive directors of today, it is not enough to have a passion for the art form, balance your budget, and work effectively with others. Intellectual discipline, visionary thinking, and a long-term strategy, combined with savvy business skills, are requirements in a challenging environment. An appetite for calculated risk and the ability to inspire others to commit to a vision and plan make the difference between a good leader and a great one.

This lively conversation with Deborah Borda, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Dr. Jack Silversin, an expert on organizational change and a major thought leader in the health-care arena, will explore the beliefs, attitudes, and skills necessary for bringing lasting and profound change to your organization, regardless of budget size and resources.  Learn how to balance analysis with risk-taking and innovation; create and communicate a compelling future vision; effectively engage stakeholders in change; and get buy-in to decisions and plans.

Deborah Borda, president and CEO, Los Angeles Philharmonic; Dr. Jack Silversin, founder, Amicus Consulting and faculty of medicine, Harvard University

pdf Agenda

pdf Faculty Bios

Date:  Tuesday, June 7 (8:00AM-12:30PM)

 

Making Smart Strategic Choices

In today’s environment, effective leadership demands deciding what to do and, sometimes more importantly, what not to do.  In this interactive, experiential session, you will be thrown immediately into the mix, solving strategic problems in simulated scenarios and drawing lessons from how you react under fire.  You will then apply the lessons learned to real strategic choices you currently face. Participants will come away with a global overview of what strategy includes.  You will learn:

  • Two views on what strategy means and what it includes.
  • Two views on how strategy relates to the broader set of questions you need to answer in guiding your organization (mission, goals/objectives, strategy, resource allocation decisions).
  • Two approaches for analyzing your environment to inform your strategic choices.

Jamey Stowell (pdf bio), associate, National Arts Strategies
Presented by National Arts Strategies for the League of American Orchestras

pdf Agenda

Date:  Tuesday, June 7 (8:00AM-12:30PM)

 

Developing Ensemble Programs for Children in Your Community

As music programs across the country are being cut, orchestras are often being asked to support the music education of our children in new and creative ways. This seminar will explore building partnerships within your community to deepen the quality and impact of music education for underserved students, with a particular focus on creating instrumental ensemble programs.

Participants will learn how to design, implement, and assess high quality instrumental ensemble programs; connect with existing school and community music programs for greater impact; and develop community-wide coalitions of stakeholders who are committed to ensuring that every child has access to the experience of playing in an ensemble.

Gretchen Nielsen, director of educational initiatives, Los Angeles Philharmonic; Dalouge Smith, president & CEO, San Diego Youth Symphony & Conservatory

pdf Agenda

pdf Faculty Bios

Date:  Tuesday, June 7 (8:00AM-12:30PM)

 

The Role of the Board Chair

This timely and important seminar will focus on issues unique to the governance leadership role, and may be particularly helpful to new Board chairs. Participants will learn how the board chair and executive director can be true partners, and techniques for including your musicians in a collaborative governance model. The importance of continuity in leadership will also be addressed, sharing some of the best practices related to how long the board chair should serve and how to groom your successor. Topics covered include:

  • Navigating the challenges of the continued economic recession
  • Defining the board’s critical role in risk management and in responding to financial challenges
  • Engaging and empowering the board to focus on issues that really matter
  • Developing and leading your institutional vision
  • Board, staff, musician, and music director roles

Lowell Noteboom, board chair, League of American Orchestras and former board chair, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Alan Valentine, president and CEO, Nashville Symphony 

pdf Agenda

pdf Faculty Bios

Date:  Tuesday, June 7 (8:00AM-12:30PM)  


Digital Strategies for Your Orchestra

No matter what your resources are, this seminar will ground you in the basics for developing and implementing an effective digital strategy during a period of rapid change in technology and consumer behavior.  You will learn how to plan and prioritize digital projects and develop your own working 2-3 year roadmap, guiding you to develop robust and successful initiatives. 

Participants will learn how to integrate a digital media plan into your institutions; how other orchestras, and other nonprofit sectors, successfully navigate technology and digital tools; who the key players are in developing a digital strategy and how to address various perspectives about digital initiatives in your orchestra (among musicians, staff, and board); some of the common internal hurdles and misperceptions about digital initiatives; and strategies for implementation around staffing, accountability and metrics.

Vince Ford, director of new media, New York Philharmonic; Beth Kanter, author of Beth's Blog, co-author of The Networked Nonprofit and CEO, Zoetica

pdf Agenda

pdf Faculty Bios

Date:  Tuesday, June 7 (8:00AM-12:30PM)


 

Orchestra Leadership Academy seminars are made possible by grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Argosy Foundation, The Hearst Foundation, Inc., and National Endowment for the Arts.

Orchestra Leadership Academy seminars developed in partnership with the Nonprofit Finance Fund are made possible by a generous grant from MetLife Foundation.

Name badges for all Orchestra Leadership Academy seminars are generously provided by TALASKE l Sound Thinking.