Hank Knerr served as the executive director of the Lively Arts at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pennsylvania, promoting and presenting nearly 200 in-house and touring visual and performing arts events and projects each year. In his position, which he held for 28 years. Knerr supervised extensive arts-in-education outreach activities, the IUP Community Music School, performance facilities management, and web maintenance. He currently also serves as secretary with the North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents and as immediate past president of PA Presenters. He is also the vice president of the Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance. Knerr has also served on the boards of the Indiana Arts Council, Indiana Country Tourist Bureau, and Indiana County Humane Society. He is an active member of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals and recipient of numerous grants including such funders as National Endowment for the Arts, Japan Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Dance Project, PNC Charitable Trusts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and others. Highly active in state and national arts advocacy and arts-in-education programs, he has chaired several professional conferences and headed the planning for the 2014 Pennsylvania Governors Awards for the Arts. Knerr received his B.A. in music and theater from Lycoming College and M.F.A. in arts administration from Penn State University. Previous positions include faculty and director of public relations for theater at Minnesota State University—Mankato, faculty and business manager for the theater at the University of Northern Iowa, managing director of the Mankato Ballet, and general manager for the Mule Barn Theater in Missouri. An award-winning graphic designer, he also works as a free-lance consultant in arts management and arts-in-education.
– Hank Knerr As everyone knows in this business of touring performing arts presenting, it’s a busy time of year with three major regional conferences coming up starting next week through early October, then a list of state and smaller region meetings through November. And the finale is,the grandaddy of them all, Association of Performing … More A Busy Season Ahead
Since I retired just a little over a year ago and started consulting as Raising Arts, I have been privileged to work on projects with dozens of artists, managers, and presenters. Tomorrow, on Monday, August 6, 2018, I add Mosby Music Group, LLC. to that proud list. A boutique roster of artists including music and … More A New Client with Mosby Music
What a fantastic set of meetings so far with old and new colleagues from across Pennsylvania. Thanks to all those who attended and hosted and especially for sharing so great ideas. You are all doing impressive and important work and your passion and dedication are infectious. To fill everyone in, as part of my … More Passion Is Personal: Being Part of the Conversation
Every year, we think we have got this mass email thing under control only to find that it has gotten worse. For those in the performing arts presenting field, you know what I mean. For those who are not as familiar with this, let me give a brief explanation. Those who are active in the … More Mass Email Madness Gets Madder
I just found out that I will be stationed at the information booth for a few hours during APAP (Association for Performing Arts Professionals) at the conference in January. I am excited, and it will be a great way to see a bunch of colleagues. It is also a perfect opportunity to prove wrong those … More Making APAP an A+ Experience for Presenters
So, the three major regional conferences—Arts Midwest, Western Arts, and Performing Arts Exchange—are history for 2018. And many of the more local, state, and other smaller regional conferences and block booking meetings are over or just winding down. I was able to spend a few days on Columbus, Ohio, at Arts Midwest, and was, as … More Conference Aftermath: Why Go?
This is not a how-to guide—that’s a book and lesson plan. But rather, this is an overview on the issue of ahh … the dreaded showcase. In my more than 25 years as a presenter, I have seen dozens of showcases that grew to hundreds before my last conference, APAP 2017. For artists, agents, and … More A Presenter’s View on Showcases
This definitely falls in the “pet peeve” side of my blog. There are so many things about a conference call meeting that can be incredibly annoying and crazy. However, it tends to be the most cost-effective and time-efficient way to get business done, especially for organizations and boards at far flung locations. We all know … More Cracking the Conference Call Crazies
This is a delicate topic, but let me dive in starting with the difference between a self-managed company and a self-managed artist. If a company has a full staff that separates duties between an artistic director and a tour or managing director, that tends to work quite well. So I won’t address that in this … More Presenters and Self-represented Artists
Make sure your website and email signatures have these major components: Your name, mailing address, email addresas, website URL, and telephone number (s). And make sure it’s on every page or at least a link on every page listed as “Contact.” Sounds simple and logical, right? However, I have been frustrated many times over, as you probably have as well, … More Contact and Signature Items
