Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; By Indirections Find Directions Out

Parody. Satire. Photoshop.

A PR tactic that is going around – the”economy card” – is a really nothing but an “old school” pressure tactic used by orchestra managements and boards to sway their labor disputes.

While external factors – - such as the economy, Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 – - can indeed have an impact on any organization, announcing this now (in this bad economy) could easily backfire. The Arts of late are more or less considered a luxury in many parts of the country.

People spook easily these days; blaming the economy for a budget crisis could actually scare support away. Nobody wants to put money and resources into anything that resembles a sinking ship.

Years ago I experienced this art of deflection for the first time when an orchestra I played in – an organization that had been around for over 40 years – collapsed under similar circumstances. They blamed 9/11, among other things.

At the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra labor dispute, Executive Director Doug Gerhart released a wordy (and snoozy) 698-word press release. The musicians are, at least implicitly, put at fault:

We believe our proposal was more than fair and remarkably generous, especially in this current economic climate… We have repeatedly tried to work with the musicians’ negotiating team and have encouraged them to consider the plight of our donors and audience members who are all cutting back where possible in this economy.

At Adaptistration.com, Drew McManus makes note of Gerhardt’s repeated use of the “economy card.” Gerhardt does not back up his assertions with any quantitative statistics.

McManus detects bad smells and foul odors – - the well-known “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” quote came immediately to mind.

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