Well in my last entry, I guess I must have been too smug about feeling I had achieved a degree of mastery over my domain after a year. The next day I experienced some of the political garbage I mentioned came home to roost. I try to adhere to the rule that one shouldn’t blog when angry so I pretty much had to stay away from my computer for a couple days. I am still peeved, but can resist editorializing.

Still, so that I am not tempted, I will talk about something other than work.

As a follow up to my previous entries on the Honolulu Symphony, is this KHPR interview with Gideon Toeplitz, the 17-year head of the Pittsburgh Symphony who has been chosen to oversee the transition to new leadership. (The full interview may be available by podcast, contact the host Noe Tanigawa if you are interested.)

Toeplitz is at the symphony as the member of a consulting group that was contracted to help with the transition. Because he has other projects, Toeplitz will only be available 2 weeks out of the month. He feels that the symphony’s problem is that the local audience doesn’t feel classical music is relevant. Like many symphonies, the Honolulu pops program makes money and supports the classical programming.

According to a recent article, Toeplitz is looking to straddle classical and pops by perhaps offering light classical. He notes Arthur Fielder made his name on light classical.

The one comment he made in the interview that I found interesting was a story about the Pittsburgh Symphony international travels. Apparently, when the symphony would tour, businesses would tag along to promote commercial opportunities in Pennsylvania. I don’t know how well it worked, but it seems like an interesting idea and certainly a way for an arts organization to prove its worth to their home community.

Been a little busy today so I haven’t had an opportunity to read things and form intelligent observations. And, you know, it is summer and I am not as motivated as I might usually be to squeeze the time in.

The staff and I have been keeping generally busy, though we find more opportunities to go out for lunch on Fridays. We have been straightening up the theatre lobby a little. We don’t have a lot of money for improvements, but we are giving the space cleaner looking lines if nothing else.

There is also an ambitious plan to clean the pack-rat technical director’s office and put shelving in. Unfortunately, the technical director isn’t co-operating. He won’t show up in the building so people know what he doesn’t want thrown out. There is a rumor that he had a third daughter who disappeared around the time the pile started to grow in the back of his office. It doesn’t look like she will be found any time soon.

I will have been in this job a year in three weeks and I must say this fall promises to be less stressful. Last year, I wasn’t here a month and I was flying to Spokane for the WAA conference. Heck, I only had a couple days to register for it when I arrived last year.

Now not only am I registered for it, my hotel and flight arrangements have been made.

Also, the website for the new year is nearly complete (as opposed to the marathon session over one weekend last year where I created it from scratch.

I am also happy to say that I will have a new online ticketing system. I spent most of the day learning how to use it and then programming my season in to it. The interface is not only more attractive than the hobbled together storefront I created last year, but will also end up being cheaper to run. (Unfortunately, I still am not integrated into the university ticketing system which would have been great.) If the ticketing thing goes well, I may sing the company’s praises here, but I don’t want to state anything prematurely.

I have also been doing site visits of local hotels to assess which would be good to place my performers in this year. Some hotels haven’t been interested in my business given that the economy is good and tourism just keeps increasing. Others have been happy to show me around and treat me to lunch to boot.

Alas, as a state agency, I also have to go with the lowest bidder. Of the generally decent hotels I have seen, I would love to place people in the second lowest bidding hotel. The difference in price is $20 a night, but the surrounding are a bit nicer than the lowest bidder. Granted, I could change the criteria, but $20/night adds up when you need 17 rooms over 3-4 nights. Suddenly you are talking about giving up major savings.

As much as I like to treat performers well, I need to have enough money left over to treat the next group of performers well too.

Not too much more has happened this summer other than the political garbage every campus has to endure. I don’t know if this gives anyone without experience in presenting theatre any insight into what all has to happen when you have a small staff and big plans, but, you know, like any egomanicial theatre manager I like talking about myself.