from Peachtree Street ...

Once again, I type how hard it is to believe how fast time is passing this year. Today marks the four week completion mark for how long I have been with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In short, here's what I have done / will be doing during my tenure here:

• Touring: My first weekend with the ASO was spent in NYC, as the ASO and ASO Chorus performed Verdi's Requiem in Carnegie Hall to rave reviews; my second weekend with this group was spent in Savannah, GA - the ASO had their debut performance in Savannah at the Savannah Music Festival; just following the Conference in LA, I'll go on the tour to the Ojai Music Festival in CA, and directly after this trip will make the quick trip to Chicago for the performance at Ravinia. Not only have I been immersed with great music and been able to get to know the musicians of the ASO on all of these tours, I have been learning (and will continue to learn through these next few tours) the operations side of touring from John Sparrow (GM) and David Daly (Operations Manager).
• CBA: I'll be working with John and David to prepare for the upcoming contract negotiations of the ASO. A part of this project is to collaborate with American Symphony Orchestra League Conducting Fellow Laura Jackson to fully understand the current CBA, analyize it, question it, and come to a consensus about what we like and/or what we would like to change/implement differently when we both move on to our respective organizations.
• Development: Working with Paul Hogle (VP, Development) and his crew, I'm learning about the development operations of the ASO - both their Annual Fund campaign and the Symphony Center campaign (for the new ASO Symphony Center). Additionally, we are brainstorming new ideas for measuring the successes and achievements of the development officers through redefining the tools of measurement. Lastly, I'll be an observer for the League's OLA Fundraising Seminar next weekend. All of this combined should take me from the basic Development 101 learning through understanding the immense ASO Development operations.
• Strategic Planning: This will be the bulk of my work, which entails: (1) facilitating senior staff meetings and a senior staff retreat on the evaluation of the 1998 Long Range Plan; (2) working with each senior staff member and with Allison Vulgamore to create and write an executive summary of the 2005-2006 season's real-time history and accomplishments; and (3) (combined with no. 1) facilitating senior staff meetings and their retreat to create a 3-5 year ASO operational document, including fiscal responsibilities. Fascinating work - both looking at the history and looking towards the future, and what changes and growth is possible.

Besides attending the ASO concerts and the work outlined the above, I look forward to connecting with a few friends of mine that now live in Atlanta, seeing the sights around town including the new Aquarium and the High Museum of Art, and hopefully seeing a few more sightings of Atlanta's own Baton Bob! (stay tuned for this explanation). :-) Until next time - that's the news from Peachtree Street.