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Presenter

Drew McManus

Principal, Venture Industries Online

Drew McManus may be Venture’s Principal but don’t let that title fool you into thinking he’s just a tech geek. He brings 20 years of global broad-based arts consulting experience to the table and helps clients break the cycle of choosing one-size-fits-none solutions and instead, deliver an option that allows them get ahead of the tech curve instead of trying to catch up by going slower.

 With the vision of legacy support strategy and the delights of creative insights, his mission is to deliver a sophisticated next generation technology designed especially for our business. The first step in that journey began in 2010 when he released The Venture Platform, a purpose-designed managed website development solution designed especially for arts organizations and artists.

His expertise spans across multiple sectors and regularly quoted as an industry expert in media outlets including New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Dallas Daily News, The Guardian Unlimited, and the Melbourne Age along with more than 100 additional newspapers, trade journals, and magazine outlets. Broadcast appearances include NPR’s All Things Considered, NPR’s Weekend Edition, MPR’s Morning Edition, WQXR’s Conducting Business, WNYC’s Soundcheck, CBC One’s Definitely Not The Opera, and SoundNotion.TV along with two dozen additional regional market appearances.

As a sought-after speaker and panelist, he has worked with the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, Opera America, Americans for the Ats, National Arts Marketing Project Conference, Southeastern Theatre Conference, National Performing Arts Conference, Chamber Music America, NewMusicBox, The Conductors Guild, the Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians, and the International Conference of Symphony Orchestra Musicians. He’s been a featured lecturer at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Bolz Center for Arts Administration, Northwestern University School of Music, Eastman School of Music, and Arizona State University. In 2011, he was featured presenter for Chicago’s TEDx Michigan Ave conference.

For fun, he writes a daily blog about the orchestra business, provides a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, leads a team of intrepid arts pros to hack the arts, founded a free arts admin jobs board, and loves a good coffee drink.

 He currently reside in the Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood with his wife, violinist Holly Mulcahy.

Our Sponsors

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    Dream Warrior Group provides graceful yet technologically savvy solutions for Arts organizations. The goal-driven services focus on audience and action. As your technology advocate, we will be your ally and can manage and fully implement your online presence. Our services (à la carte or contracted) include: Web site design and development, e-marketing, e-promotion, social media management and optimization. We implement your message in a digital environment.

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    InstantEncore powers over one million patron experiences every year. helps arts and culture organizations thrive. Our two innovative mobile services – Appscension and InsideGuide - breakdown barriers to attendance, increase convenience for patrons, and drive ROI for you.

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    BroadwayWorld is the largest theatre site on the internet, covering Broadway, the West End and beyond to 100 US cities, 45 countries and in 12 languages worldwide. With over six million monthly visitors, BroadwayWorld delivers complete up-to-the-minute Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatre news, in-depth interviews, extraordinary photo coverage, entertaining video features, lively message boards, ticket discounts, reviews, and more.

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    Spektrix is a complete solution for ticketing, marketing, fundraising, and CRM, designed specifically for the performing arts. With world-class technology and support, Spektrix helps 650+ organizations across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. grow their revenue and deepen patron relationships. Powerful, intuitive software, at-a-glance insights, frequent and seamless upgrades, training, support, and strategic consultation with experienced professionals come at no additional cost - making Spektrix the fastest-growing solution for arts organizations today.

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    Arts organizations that put their audience in the spotlight will fill their houses. We work with you to make sense of the chaos and create a​ ​plan​ that gets your audience excited for your next ​show.

    Count on us to be your steady partner on anything from strategic guidance to tackling Tessitura or executing a campaign — all while helping you find ways to be relatable to your audience members. ​You also won't be left figuring out how to implement a lofty plan. We can execute it ​for you so you can focus on your endless to-do list. Or help you prioritize and get efficient execution systems in place that work for you and your team.​ Get to know us better at one of our Executive Roundtable Discussions. Learn more and RSVP at NEW-MarketingSolutions.com/events.

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    EleeHub was founded in 2021 to address a critical gap in the nonprofit marketing domain. It became evident that most nonprofits could be categorized into three groups: those unaware of the Google Ad Grant, those who had attempted to utilize it but were deterred by its complexity, and those engaged with costly consultants yielding minimal or expensive outcomes. EleeHub emerged as a beacon for small to mid-sized nonprofits seeking an efficient, cost-effective, and impactful marketing strategy.

    As a certified Google Partner, EleeHub champions the belief that all nonprofits should fully utilize the Google Ad Grant, with professional assistance, to optimize their outcomes. The EleeHub team brings together over thirty years of collective expertise in nonprofit marketing and Google Ads, positioning itself as a leading force in the sector.  https://www.eleehub.com/

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    Elevent is the multi-event ticketing & membership platform made to modernize all things ticketing for professionalized venues, festivals, and seasonal event organizers. White-label by design, high-scale, omnichannel, and holistically blended with a real CRM, Elevent digitally transforms your event organization into what you envision. https://readyset.goelevent.com/

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    At Ludus, we believe ticketing, marketing, and fundraising should be effortless, allowing you to focus on what truly matters: your events. Our simple, web-based software simplifies event management with integrated tools for ticketing (both online and in-person), marketing, fundraising, and built-in CRM tools. Additionally, Ludus offers Collections for payments beyond tickets, registration tools, a streaming platform (AnywhereSeat), and volunteer management features. Ludus is completely free, with no contracts tying you down. Plus, enjoy live support every day and night, including weekends. We listen to our community and continuously evolve, creating new features and updates to serve you better. Simplify your operations and free your time with Ludus, ensuring a successful and streamlined event season. https://hello.ludus.com/

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