Drew McManus wrote an interesting post recently on his blog Adaptistration concerning the current labor situation in the San Antonio Symphony. San Antonio Symphony musicians have authorized a strike if there is no new agreement in place to replace their current collective bargaining agreement (expiring at the end of the summer).

Some musicians in the symphony maintain a Blogger blog at www.sasmusicians.blogspot.com, and while this blog is typically used during the year to provide an insider’s view of life in the San Antonio Symphony, it is now being used to distribute pamphlets and provide a way for patrons to interact with and support the musicians (not the management) of the orchestra. This is a great example of the power blogging has in shaping public opinion and providing members of an organization a means to interact with their supporters and fans without management.

Typically, musicians (or, for that matter, any company employees) interact with the public in this fashion:

Musicians–>Management—>Public

During times of conflict, musicians often turn to the press, pleading their case to newspapers, television, and other news outlets. Still, there remains a middleman in the process:

Musicians—>Press—>Public

With blogging, the middleman is eliminated:

Musicians—>Public

Opening up direct lines of communication with the public necessitates a great deal of responsibility in accurate representation of facts and situations on the part of the musicians. Musicians effectively become the press in this model, and if they are functioning as the press they must behave with journalistic integrity if they are to be seen as being a credible source. Smearing or misrepresenting management positions and tactics is an unwise idea (both legally and ethically) for musicians, no matter how great the temptation.

Being able to present alternate viewpoints in a public arena can really help to level the playing field and encourage fair treatment of musicians by management, so long as musicians respect the blogging medium. It will be interesting to see if more orchestra musicians take up blogging during such times of conflict and what kind of effect this direct interaction has on negotiations.

Related Posts:

• Adaptistration post about ‘Road Warrior’
• My TAFTO post for Adaptistration
• Roger Ruggeri on Adaptistration
• Bill Harris on Adaptistration
• Henry Peyrebrune on Adaptistration