I’m a contributor to Minnesota Public Radio now!
Minnesota Orchestra’s ‘fresh start’ needs to go beyond talks with musicians
So – yeah! A big thanks to everyone at MPR who helped to make this happen. It’s an exciting opportunity, and I’m grateful for it.
If you feel moved to, please share my article via the social network of your choice. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, email, or printing it out and actually sharing it with someone when you speak to them face to face.
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And Mr. Henson, or Mr. Campbell, or Mr. Davis…any time you want to contact me, feel free… We’re waiting… *checks watch* *smiles politely*
Once again, I reiterate: I am not a scary individual. I am ninety pounds, 5’5″, and disabled. You would win in a fight. What are you afraid of?
Song of the Lark 
A great MPR article, Emily. Brava! You summed it up so well.
I like the self portrait you submitted to go with the article as well. The expression is perfect, one of contained rage, understated, but explicit: “I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANY MORE.”
Well put! I would add another, more recent business example… Netflix. Another well-cocooned business leader who made unilateral changes to they way people experienced his product, re-assigned cost/value without input from the customers, and didn’t know how to respond to legitimate criticism.
Wow. To date, none of the “experts” or “leaders” have been as lucid and assured as what you wrote. Ooh, is this a “reset” of what constitutes both?
Regarding a few points – have you seen this, esp. the bit at the end:
http://www.adaptistration.com/blog/2013/01/16/leadership-turnover-in-louisville/
Nice reply to Hiram at MinnPost, BTW!
Emily, I’m curious: once an agreement is reached (be it good, bad, or OK in your view), what will the Minnesota Orchestra have to do to make you feel like you can support the organization by attending concerts and/or donating again? What, in your opinion, is the best way to start the healing process?
Are you kidding?? Emily Hogstad has attended all the concerts of the locked-out musicians and blogged passionately about them…If they play, I’m guessing she will be there!
May I ask you, “Anonymous,” have you ever read this blog’s coverage of the the lockout? (I don’t mean to suggest outright that your question almost seems like it’s coming from a management-supporter…but…)
The ball has been in MOA’s court all along, when it comes to the healing process. They have changed the locks and thrown the belongings out on the front lawn, as it were.
Actually, I think this is a good question… and Emily is a great person to ask it of. This gets to something I’ve been thinking for a while now, that at some point the labor dispute will end. And then what? A huge part of me would want to punish the powers that be, and to boycott the organization as payback. To refuse to support the Orchestra financially in any way, through donations, tickets or what have you. But that, in the end, is just going to perpetuate a financial crisis and possibly necessitate further cuts or otherwise harm the organization. So what to do? What WOULD it take for me to come back into the fold, and do so joyfully instead of grudgingly? More transparence? More Sibelius? New leadership? An even newer new lobby?
Emily has been a great supporter and ticket buyer during this lockout—but I think it’s clear she’s doing it to support the musicians. Will that be the case later? Will she be conflicted, like me? I’d be curious to hear what she, or other people like her, think.
I’ve thought a lot about this, and it’s an interesting topic.
First of all, I think everyone is going to have to come to their own conclusions about what to do. What I end up doing will likely be completely different from what another equally invested patron will choose to do, and that will be OK. As long as our decisions are informed! There won’t be any “right” or “wrong” answers here. We will all have to follow our own consciences.
Second, I personally feel it’s way too early to make an informed decision about what to do, or what will need to happen for me to want to buy tickets, or donate, etc. There are just way too many variables at play. It strikes me a bit like talking about the 2016 presidential election right now. It’s an interesting intellectual exercise, to be sure, and it’s true; we’re going to need to think about it eventually; but there’s just so much that’s going to come between now and then, it seems a bit useless to worry about it or speculate how we’re going to feel once a settlement has been reached. Personally, I believe this thing is going to last until late summer, if not autumn. Who knows what will happen between now and then? I guess if one believes the settlement will come sooner, the question assumes more importance and urgency. But for someone like me, who thinks it will last until the fall, the question seems awfully theoretical at this point. And I think it would be a mistake to make any broad pronouncements when we don’t know the facts of the end-game yet.
So right now I think it’s best to focus on what we want to have happen right now in the context of the ongoing lockout, not what may or may not happen after the lockout ends. Hope that makes sense. :)