Imagine that a Society member or Associate was ready to write a million dollar check to Harmony Foundation. But he or she needs a cause that they are certain would be a great investment. Would YOU know what to tell them?
I’m pretty sure I already know what Harmony Foundation would tell them. They already gave $450,000 to the Society in 2009 to fund our entire Youth in Harmony program and to help dozens and dozens of chapters improve via Director’s College scholarships. And I know they’re hard at work trying to raise money for additional Society priorities: Read the rest of this entry »
This question comes from a younger Society member who belongs to 52Eighty, 2010 Youth Chorus Festival Champions and Sound of the Rockies, 2009 international bronze medalist. He was a barbershopper elsewhere before moving to Colorado. We’ll keep him anonymous so he can be blunt. Here’s his question:
Having come from choruses that post scores no higher than a 55% [high C-level], and now singing with a chorus that can sing in the 90s, I can’t put my finger on what exactly makes a chorus strive to do well enough to reach the A-level category [81 or higher]. I know that one of the chorus I sang with in [prior residence] can certainly produce the types of sounds you hear from the Vocal Majority or the Ambassadors of Harmony, but the discipline isn’t there. Obviously, not all choruses start out like Westminster, in fact most choruses don’t start off as an A-level chorus. What is needed in order to get the average and below-average choruses to obtain the discipline and work ethic needed to become A level?
*Update: Please note in the original post that “looking at” = “considering,” and nothing more. Also note that cost reduction is one of the reasons we’re looking at a more permanent membership card.*
The above is NOT a proposed membership card — just a very early proof of concept prototype. The point is, based on member feedback, we’re looking at changing our membership cards. No designs yet, but please participate in our poll about what might appear on the card.
We’re looking to create something more colorful and laminated, closer to the thickness of a credit card. It would be durable enough that the ink won’t rub off or stick to anything in your wallet and flashy enough that you may be proud to pull it out of your wallet and show it off. The idea is that this would become your permananent membership card and would not be replaced each year.
Here’s something for all you snowed-in barbershoppers to chew on: How would we have structured things if 30,000 barbershop singers had somehow gotten together just today to form a singing Society? How would we be structured? What would we do that we don’t do now? What would we modify or drop that we are doing?
On balance, we’re far too critical of ourselves as barbershoppers. We’re so intimately aware of our own warts and unrealized hopes that we rarely realize that the outside world is far more impressed with us than we are. Ever heard the “Wow!” from a sharp music professional once he starts to become familiar with our educational system, our contest and judging system, our organizational structure, youth outreach, fraternal culture, etc.? (Maybe that’s a post or Harmonizer article for another time!) So I don’t want this to devolve into a gripe session of “What’s wrong with the Society,” cuz frankly we hear plenty of that already.
That said, organizations can be like computers. After you’ve had one for a while, installed this program, tweaked that, added this data, both a computer and an organization can start become sluggish. There’s really no way to avoid it, but all those necessary tweaks and changes can build up “lint” that can hamper system performance. For all the customizations you can’t live without anymore, you still wish your machine were operating the way it did when it came out of the box. Read the rest of this entry »
Here we are six weeks away from the Midwinter Convention in Tampa, Fla. (January 28-31, 2010) and we’re headed towards what looks to be our largest attended Midwinter ever. As of this morning we are sitting at 1210 registrations! Last year at this time we were at 893 registrations and by the time everything was said and done we had 1291 folks in Pasadena. Where will Tampa finish? Come on and find out!
As you can imagine, we here at HQ are very excited about this. I am especially excited because quite simply, more barbershoppers in the same place at the same time=FUN. Even now, however, the convention is still somewhat of a “best kept secret” in the Society. Read the rest of this entry »
God bless the realists, the folks who tell it like it is—who call a spade a spade, who never stick their head in the sand, and who know they aren’t doing anyone any favors in varnishing the truth. The Barbershop Harmony Society needs all the reality it can get. If the preceeding words describe you, this post isn’t directed at you.
On second thought, this post may be ESPECIALLY for you.
What I say next will probably brand me as a blind Pollyanna skipping to the precipice, but oh well:
STOP BEING SO NEGATIVE! YOU’RE ONLY MAKING THINGS WORSE!
Realism is vital, but it is severely overrated. If that last sentence made you cringe, I’ll point out that science is on my side for this one.
It turns out, a large portion of self-described realists are also pessimists. And because they are pessimists, they will not have access to the thoughts and actions that will lead their chapters and our Society to better days. Want proof? Want examples? Keep reading. Read the rest of this entry »
This is a well-produced piece about Les Weiser, a barbershopper out of California who sings with 7-time International Gold Medalist Chorus The Masters of Harmony. It shows the joy and satisfaction of performing in a top barbershop ensemble through the eyes of a man who has dedicated much of his life to the artform, and perhaps puts into words (and picture) what many barbershoppers also share in their own quartets and choruses.
Keep singing, Les!
Video produced and directed by Tammy O’Connor and David Dowell
(Note: Load times for video may vary, depending on Vimeo.com’s bandwidth capabilities)
I’m about to launch into what amounts to a pep talk, and I hate pep talks. They don’t work for me. The emotions fade quickly, and then I’m left with the same circumstances and no more solutions than I had before. I’m left even more cynical. Don’t give me a pile of shiny, trite mantras that don’t point me where to go next.
I’m not pretending to have all the answers here, so why am I even writing this? Because I see a lot that makes me feel positive about the future. You choose whether I’m being trite or not. If I get to be dismissive about empty motivational speeches, it’s only fair that I be equally dismissive toward the gloom and doom demotivational speeches many of us have been giving lately, even if unintentionally. Read the rest of this entry »
I received the following email a while back from a member, who appears to be concerned about whether a chorus will inevitably decline if they keep the same musical leadership. Here’s his question and here’s my answer. When you’re done reading this, please comment on the following two questions:
We are beginning to plan all of the small details (schedule, classes, etc.) for next year’s convention. Each year we take into account survey responses from those of you that came to the most recent convention to help us better prepare for future conventions, but we’d like to have an open dialogue here where we can share ideas with each other. Here are a few questions to get you started: Read the rest of this entry »
Picture that happening to you. Suddenly, a small group of experienced barbershoppers want to start a new chapter in a neighboring city. SINKING GUT FEELING #1. “What will we ever do?” This is a totally factual story (as best as my memory and our records might provide). You might be surprised by the result. Read the rest of this entry »
Society President Bill Biffle has announced the appointment of a task force to create an overall strategy to achieve sustained growth of the organization. Chaired by Immediate Past President Noah Funderburg, the task force consists of eight committed barbershoppers of varying ages, length of Society membership, and personal background. Read the rest of this entry »
Music Specialist James Estes sent this around to the staff this morning. Would you take a look at these kids’ faces? How can anyone watch this and believe that music is anything less than an essential investment in making better students and better people?
We have a number of chapters who are doing an AWESOME job helping fill what would otherwise be a gaping hole in the lives of children. For example, here’s what barbershoppers in British Columbia are doing: Read the rest of this entry »
I know, I know, Aptify progress seems to be an oxymoron, a two word phrase where the words mean opposite things. But seriously, folks, some very dedicated people have been working diligently to bring progress to our database. Remember, it took many years before the old AMS was useful, and Aptify is already churning out many, many more bits of useful data. Most of our data fields are dependent on the local chapter and or member’s input. Garbage in, garbage out, but that’s what we have to work with. So here’s a short progress report: Read the rest of this entry »
Society Music Specialist Mike O’Neill, has submitted a short compilation of great tips for selling more tickets to your annual show:
Is your annual chapter show a sellout every year? Is there someone in your chapter that is a wizard at selling 50-100 tickets without breaking a sweat? What are the tricks of the barbershop ticket selling trade? Discuss some of your success stories and help others around the world of barbershop have successful tickets sales to their annual shows.
Below are two examples of proven methods from the Nashville, TN chapter:
Recently I sent an email to all the men who joined the Society in the first quarter of 2008, asking for comments about their first year in barbershopping. The following is one of many replies. Read the rest of this entry »
So far registration numbers are ABOVE last year at this time but we can always use more help in getting the word out. Please tell your chorus mates, local music teachers, friends in the Sweet Adelines and Harmony Incorporated organizations, or pretty much anyone that you meet that Harmony University is THE place to be July 26-August 2 this summer. Let’s work together to make this year’s event the most fun and exciting HU yet!
If you haven’t registered or decided on your final schedule yet here are few class titles you should consider. Read the rest of this entry »
Our Society has a great system to find and honor the groups that put the best product on stage every year — and there are a million good reasons to continue to honor these achievers. We’re also getting better at recognizing the best recruiters among us. (When Roger Lewis was Society president, he recognized the best recruiters on the international stage, something I’d like to see return.) But those are easy: add up the scores or run a report and there are your winners.
