James Undercofler

So even from my own (humble) assessment, the 2nd class was a huge success, going beyond my expectations. Approximately half the students (15) pitched their ideas to the class. Each had 2 minutes for their presentations, plus a bit more time to answer clarifying questions. After each pitch, the student taped a paper to the wall with h/her project’s name on it. After … [Read more...] about Entrepreneurshp in Music and the Arts, 2nd Class Report

I have completed my planning for my course that begins next week. The course catalog entry reads, “Frequently the failure of the most creative ideas lies with an inability to build a working model and "business plan." In this course students will learn to build business plans, both linear and non-linear for projects and entities in the arts. Having a pre-existing project idea … [Read more...] about Entrepreneurship in Music and the Arts, Class Planning

I have learned a lot from teaching this recent class (now at the end of the first half of the semester). The students’ projects are superb: in imagination, breadth of subject area and commitment to positive change. However, it was their work in developing their projects that gave me greater insight into how to teach this difficult subject of arts entrepreneurship. First, … [Read more...] about Entrepreneurship in Music and the Arts: Class 5 Redux

Here is the email recap + assignments that I sent to my class this morning. Dear Class, Here’s a recap of last night’s class + your assignments for the next 2 weeks. I congratulated you as a group for your superb ideas. I am genuinely impressed by your imaginations and ability to create in a practical manner. We opened by talking about how ideas develop, grow, … [Read more...] about Recap, Class Four, Entrepreneurship in Music and the Arts

Class 3 focused on personal branding, and then transitioned to idea development and enterprise creation. We talked about 3 issues related to personal branding: alignment, extension and integrity. We (often humorously) compared students’ responses from their assignments (asking 2 people who knew them personally to describe what makes them distinct as individuals, and 2 … [Read more...] about Recap, Class 3, Entrepreneurship in Music and the Arts