Thistle's the Way: Performing Arts in the Concho Valley

Leaving the Army after 22 years and somehow ending up in performing arts venue management may seem like two sides of two different rocks, but actually they are similar in many ways. Strategic planning, for example--not the strategic plan for a fiscal year, but the 5-10 year planning required to meet the needs of a future development--is common to both. Who on an Army staff doesn't like strategic planning? It is one of the most fun and engaging activities that an officer can do during their career. I jest of course. Strategic planning can be daunting, ponderous, complex, and unfinished. In the performing arts and non-profit world, strategic planning are all those things and more. In San Angelo, for example, we have to consider many factors such as the planned extension of the interstate, transition of organizational leadership, developments in other nearby cities, and the shifting trends in audience interests. At the forefront of all the variables, however, is the planned extension ...