“A Bay Area pilot project pairs ex-corporate bosses with local nonprofit organizations that could use their expertise. The program is about to be expanded nationwide with funding from the Serve America Act to promote volunteerism.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Research: We Think Milliseconds Before We Speak
A new study has “found that it takes about half a second to transform something we think into something we say. And three very different kinds of processing needed for speech are all happening in a small part of the brain called Broca’s area….”
Public Radio Pledge Drives: Annoying, But Kind Of Brilliant
“Pledge drive is last-nerve-frayingly exasperating–but it’s also sheer genius. One recent weekend, I fast-forwarded through the actual programming and listened only to the sales patter…. What I found was a band of ace pitchmen who know their audience better than we know ourselves.”
When The Artist Wants You To Move The Ceiling
“Contemporary art often demands much of its viewers with imagery or performance pieces so avant-garde they can be difficult to understand,” but “it is often museums and art galleries that face the biggest hurdles to stay on the cutting edge of the art world.” New York’s New Museum is lowering a ceiling by 2 feet for an Urs Fischer show.
Radio Royalty Bill OK’d By Senate Judiciary Committee
The “effort to pass a bill requiring broadcasters to pay performers when their music is played over the air … extends back generations, and the victory in the Judiciary Committee is a significant step forward as previous efforts have stalled.”
Sotheby’s To SEC: We Can’t Give Details On Executive Pay
“Sotheby’s said it can’t disclose the specific criteria it uses in setting executive pay because that would give an unfair advantage to closely held rival Christie’s International. … Amid calls for more corporate transparency, Sotheby’s case illustrates the challenges of a publicly held company when it has a closely held rival.”
A Much-Changed Vietnam Embraces NY Philharmonic
“A warm reception for the orchestra in the capital that endured Richard Nixon’s Christmas air raids in 1972 shows how far Vietnam has come from the days of the conflict known in the country as the American War. The Vietnam of 2009 is open to Americans, both for investment and culture, its government says.”
Gnomes Giving Nazi Salute Spark Controversy In Germany
“[N]o one in Germany would usually think twice about seeing a garden gnome, given there are 25 million of them across the country. But a battery of 1,250 of them that appeared on a square in a Bavarian town has caused an outcry, not least because their arms are in a Nazi salute.”
To Fight Graffiti, Boston Hires Artists
Under the Boston Arts Commission’s PaintBox program, artists are painting over gray electrical boxes throughout the city with designs of their own. The $300 fee they receive “barely covers materials,” but “artists say they’re not doing the job for the money.”
With Foundation’s Help, Institutions Digitize Their Archives
“[N]early two dozen institutions,” including, this week, the New York Philharmonic, “have received grants from the Leon Levy Foundation since 2007 to identify, preserve and digitize their archival collections and to make them available online to scholars and to the public.” Some organizations “barely realized they held potentially valuable archives.”