Program Notes, or Project Management 101

November 12, 2008 at 4:21 PM

Coincidentally I've been writing a couple of program notes/bios recently. I am an enthusiastic, maybe obsessive, reader of program notes, so I think this is important.

My experience has been now, twice, that I have not been given clear guidelines relating to length, style, or content, until after I wrote something that was too long. I was also not given a clear deadline for the first set, and only for the second after I specifically asked.

At my day job, clear guidelines are some of the most basic things that need to be set up when a project is begun. And "as soon as possible" is not a deadline. That is just an opening for possible to not be soon enough.

Everyone is busy, including me, and I can sympathize with being overworked and preferring to concentrate on the musicality over the program notes. But last-minute, seat-of-the-pants, deadline-less workflow wastes more time and is more stressful than just being clear up front.

From Tom Holzman
Posted via 167.176.6.8 on November 12, 2008 at 4:43 PM

Sounds like your problem can be solved by asking each time: "When do you want this and how long should it be?" Then, don't accept a vague answer like "Asap." Just ask "What does that mean to you?" Disorganized folks are not easy to deal with. Good luck!

From Marianne Hansen
Posted via 165.106.220.195 on November 12, 2008 at 5:12 PM

I attended a community orchestra concert a couple of weeks ago, and was stunned at the typos in the program. The info wasn't bad, but it was pretty clear someone had popped it off way late. If you can stand to do the notes every time, you might put yourself on a schedule for your concerts. That way you don't have to ask someone else to specify. They may be hesitant to direct volunteers, which can lead to a lot of wishy washy half-communication. But I applaud you - I like to read the notes too!

From Karen Allendoerfer
Posted via 18.4.1.146 on November 12, 2008 at 6:31 PM

Yes, I think there is an opportunity here for me to become the program editor. (Someone else is happy to do the copying, but wants to hand off part of the task). I enjoyed doing the research for the notes and probably would again. As usual, it's a question of time . . .

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Program Notes, or Project Management 101

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