I recently received these questions in an e-mail:  “If Membership Growth is the Society’s greatest need/problem, and now is our leaders’ first priority, (1) why does the list of Harmony U 2009 classes, and Anaheim convention interest classes include practically nothing that could be considered Marketing & PR? and (2) can HQ now pressure the Districts to stress Marketing & PR in their upcoming COTS/Leadership courses?” I want to share my (not necessarily the) answer with you here on the blog.  Read the rest of this entry »

This is a cool idea from the Rocky Mountain District.

Has anyone else tried this? Have you participated in this? Inquiring minds want to know!

Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend, 28 men attended a summit meeting in Nashville to discuss how best to begin the process of growing our Society again. It was a mostly free-form event that encouraged discussion, discourse, deliberation, disputation, and dialog. We agreed that there is a lot of “low hanging fruit” – programs and processes available now that can make a difference right away.  (For an example of what’s working now, check out Chuck Greene’s amazing program.)  And we talked about what’s worked in the past that we’ve stopped doing.  (Remember Eric Jackson’s Liveblood program and the Bryn Mawr Experience?  Why’d we stop doing THAT?)  Read the rest of this entry »

I am writing an article (probably for the Harmonizer) about choruses that have some sort of private voice instruction (PVIs) included either in their weekly meeting or available for their members outside the meeting night.  I would appreciate any feedback you can offer about this topic.  Here are a few questions that may guide you: Read the rest of this entry »

Here are the raw facts:
Last year, January 1, 2008 to April 15, 2008 we recruited 473 new members into the Society

This year, January 1, 2009 to April 15, 2009 we recruited 647 new members.

Everyone say Hazzah! Read the rest of this entry »

In the blog article “Are our 20 percent most devoted members unwittingly the barrier to growth?” one of the comments (#19 from Keith Eckhardt) says:

My chapter has recently added a youth chorus as a second chorus. They have their own director and meet on a different night from our adult chorus. Several of the youth are also members of the adult chorus. The youth chose to join us this way to get instant Non-profit protection, liability coverage, an experienced treasurer to handle their money, and a youth team to act as consultants when they need help.

In a year we will have a problem with the current C&J rule that only one chorus from a chapter can compete in the same contest. I would like to see this changed.

Isn’t it time for us to give choruses the freedom to compete in the contest that best fits them? The only real change I would want is to allow a youth chorus to compete in the regular contest along with the regular chorus in their chapter. I would expect each chorus to submit their average ages such that the youth chorus would average below 25-30 and the regular chorus be above 40.

Read the rest of this entry »

The collection of 965 songs from the early 1900s is now available (all in MP3 format) at http://www.barbershop.org/musicDownload.aspx.  There are many great treasures and old chestnuts in this collection you will enjoy.

Each year the International Convention offers classes/seminars for all attendees.  While these are always well attended we do want to make sure what we offer is what interests you.  Please take the time to complete this short poll about what classes would interest you and we’ll do our best to make them happen.

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You can now not only view each weekly edition of LiveWire on our website (www.barbershop.org/livewire.aspx), but also, Directly Involved (www.barbershop.org/directlyinvolved.aspx) and On the QT (www.barbershop.org/ontheqt.aspx) have recently been added!

For LiveWire questions/concerns/comments, contact Marketing & Public Relations Coordinator, Danielle Cole, at dcole@barbershop.org.

For Directly Involved and On the QT questions/concerns/comments, contact Music Specialist, Mike O’Neill, at moneill@barbershop.org.

Enjoy!

A long time ago in a galaxy … actually it was this galaxy, before the Society became its own music publisher we partnered with an already established music publishing company thinking, “why reinvent the wheel?”  Well, fast forward to 2009 and all of those SPEBSQSA published arrangements are technically STILL owned by that music publishing company and there is no way for us to change that.  Read the rest of this entry »

Unless you’ve been in a cave, by now you’ve seen the video of Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent. Something like 80 million views and counting. Millions of dollars couldn’t buy a promotion at any price that will get the views that the dowdy, unemployed, never-been-kissed 47-year-old with the angelic voice has gotten this past week. It was the message people wanted right now, set up perfectly by the TV bosses, and the show’s ratings and Susan’s life will never be the same again.

Anybody would kill for a video to go viral like that, including the Barbershop Harmony Society. Do we have something in our back pockets that could go viral? Read the rest of this entry »

Mike O’Neill, Society Music Specialist for Chorus Director Development, recently sent an email to the Director’s Listserve asking the following:

Does your chapter, or are you aware of a chapter, that is really
great with the fraternal side of barbershop? Read the rest of this entry »

Current membership rules (Society Statement of Policy, Rule 2. Membership, section e)) require that permission be granted by one chapter to allow the “transfer” of one of their members to another chapter. This is problematic on several fronts.

Read the rest of this entry »

The awesome, exciting barbershop documentary that we can’t stop talking about–you got a problem with that?–is showing this week at the Nashville Film Festival. Here’s some love from The Tennessean and from Nashville Scene.

Has your chapter signed up to get American Harmony showing in your hometown? Click here to fix that!

The Dapper Dans barbershop quartet has been performing at Disneyland in Anaheim, California since 1959. That makes this year their 50th Anniversary in show business. To help commemorate this milestone and because the Dans have touched so many lives for so many years, the Barbershop Harmony Society will be presenting the Dans with a Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday night July 4, in front of a packed house at Anaheim’s Honda Center. Read the rest of this entry »

On a guest night in a past chapter, I was asked to take the guests downstairs and show the “Singing is Life” video. It had been a few years since I’d first seen it as a Society employee. As I watched the faces of the men in the room, I wondered whether we perhaps should have had some outside focus groups look at that script before we committed it to celluloid. Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted to directors@yahoogroups.org  by Society Music Specialist Mike O’Neill, creator unknown. Get the full PDF version here.

(Bloggers, I got wind of a chapter discussing what they got for their dues, so I sent this message to their president.  I hope it informed them and will inform you as well.)

 (Chapter President)

A little birdie told me that some of your members were wondering what benefits are derived from paying dues to the district and the international Barbershop Harmony Society. A good, fair, and thoughtful question and one I get quite often. Read the rest of this entry »

A request has been made that each of the 57 songs from the Heritage of Harmony Songbook should have learning tracks made for them. This project will likely cost any where from $6000-9000 of unbudgeted spending and take almost a year to complete. Before we react one way or another based on one member’s request, here are several questions: Read the rest of this entry »

Many people got their first whiff of barbershop harmony watching the Buffalo Bills sing in Meredith Willson’s The Music Man.  Now, a new generation will have the opportunity to see barbershop on the solver screen once again, as the award-winning documentary“American Harmony” comes to theaters across North America this spring. Read the rest of this entry »

A Tennessee record was set recently – 27,959 people attended a World Cup Soccer FIFA qualifier match between the USA and Trinidad & Tobago at LP Field (Titans stadium)  in Nashville. Read the rest of this entry »

In a word, “No,” not from the Membership side. But let’s clarify some things: To compete in a Society Chorus Contest (Divison/District/International), you MUST be a member of the chapter in which you are competing. Read the rest of this entry »

I was judging at an LOL divisional contest a couple of weeks ago and was fortunate to both score as well as evaluate a chorus that had not competed in about ten years.  These guys were excited to be there for a number of reasons: Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll be seeing all of you if you come to Anaheim for our summer convention.  Right now it’s not looking so good, as we see the effects of the economic downturn and experience a definite drop in the number of paid registrations.  Read the rest of this entry »

The annual Contemporary A cappella Recording Awards (CARAs) recognize the best of recorded a cappella music. CASA just announced the winners. Congratulations to our 2006 champions Vocal Spectrum and 2008 international semifinalist Lunch Break! See y’all in Anaheim! Read the rest of this entry »