Coming Back Stronger – Using the Shutdown to Rebuild Audience Loyalty

Executive directors, youth orchestra directors, trustees, marketing staff, and anyone seeking to learn more about audience development during a shutdown.

• $20 for Members
• $35 for Non-Members

Michael L. Mael
Founding Partner, Advisory Board for the Arts

Before starting ABA, Michael Mael held leadership roles in three Washington, DC area performing arts organizations. Most recently, he was Executive Director of the Washington Ballet.

He spent ten years with the Washington National Opera, becoming Executive Director in July 2011 upon its affiliation with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Highlights of his tenure included: production of WNO’s first Ring Cycle, five consecutive years of meeting or exceeding financial targets, development of innovative marketing and community engagement programs including Opera in the Outfield, and creation of a new commissioning program.

He worked for nearly five years for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) as Vice President of the BSO at Strathmore where he was responsible for launching and managing all activities related to the BSO’s second home at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD.

He was involved in assessment and planning projects for the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic and was the first Director of Government Affairs for the American Symphony Orchestra League. Michael received his AB from Brown University and his MBA from Stanford University.

Karen Freeman
Executive Director, Research, Advisory Board for the Arts

Karen Freeman joined the Advisory Board for the Arts as Executive Director of Research in December 2019. She was most recently the global head of digital & analytics learning for generalist consultants at McKinsey & Company. In that role, she led a team upskilling roughly 17,000 consultants globally in topics including advanced analytics modeling, leading digital transformations, agile methodology, and design thinking.

Prior to McKinsey, Karen spent 13 years at Corporate Executive Board (CEB) in research and learning & development roles. There, she led three best practice membership organizations, developing insights, advice, and benchmarks for Global 1000 functional heads in marketing, sales, and customer service. Much of the company’s highest-impact research was spearheaded by the teams that Karen created. Several were published in Harvard Business Review and became the subject of two best-selling business books (The Challenger Sale and The Effortless Experience). Later, as Head of CEB University, Karen oversaw development and delivery of over 1,000 training sessions for more than 10,000 participants worldwide in sales, insight & advisory, and corporate roles.

Karen has an A.B from Harvard and an MBA from MIT, plays cello and piano, and currently lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and two children.