This week's chapter is about "Real Live Networking" (i.e. making those connections in person).
It's timely chapter for me because I'm going to the Western Arts Alliance conference next week (a presenter's conference) so I'll get to put Ariel's tips in action.
I'm reviewing the networking reminders in this chapter
(Be memorable, ask about THEM and thinking how you can be helpful to this person, your focus, etc.).
I'm also thinking of the great networkers I know, and what it is about them that makes you want to have them in your circle and be connected. I have a friend, Monty, who is a great Irish mandolin player. He and I played together in various bands over the years. Monty would call now and then to say hi - and I think this also reminded me that he was around so when I was looking to add an extra musician to something, I'd have him in the front of my mind. Also though, if he thought of someone I should meet or run across something I should know about, he'd let me know. Monte moved to the South a few years back and I knew I'd miss playing with him. Several weeks after he left NY,thought, he forwarded a "help wanted" ad from a NY restaurant 2 blocks away from my apartment. They were looking for a musician. So Monty really got the "How can I be helpful to this person" side of networking.
The other "work a room expert" is a little girl I know who's 6 years old. She seems to remember something about everyone and arriving and leaving school is always an event. "Bob, I like your shirt", she says. "Karen, how was your knitting class, did you get a chance to try that new stitch you were talking about?". It's a genuine interest in people as people, and the truth is, we like to work with people we like and enjoy as people too, right? I know I do.
Since I'm somewhat shy, I'd always rather talk about the other person anyway, so that part isn't as big of a stretch for me as it is for some musicians (you know those types that run up to you at networking events and immediately want you to sign their mailing list and don't even ask what kind of music you like or your name). Or that immediately dismiss whatever you do as irrelevant to them since you're in Irish music and they're in "Subversive hip-hop with a twinge of metal".
I learned not to make these assumptions when I did a workshop in Nashville. I was paired up with a musician named Saturn who was a gay Afro-American guy from Baltimore that did a lot of music shows with homosexual themes/dancing, original music with a pop flavor etc. Saturn ended up being the one to tell ma all about the Irish scene in Baltimore- you never really know what people will bring to the table.
So we'll see how it goes at the conference. I have the business cards/outfits/Ariel's tips ready and am going with the intent to explore and meet people as people. There will be a lot of concert presenters (it's a presenter conference after all!), and that can be a little intimidating as a musician because there does seem to be a gap somehow between presenters and musicians. Plus that whole idea that "if you're not represented by an agency, you are not qualified" ...
But there is a quote on my mirror that I cut out years ago, I wish I'd saved the source, but it was a pop artist answering this question
"What is the most difficult thing you have overcome?"
ANSWER: "Waiting to be "discovered" by the entertainment industry. One day I woke up and chose to discover my own damn self!"
So that's Chapter 8, I'll let you know how it ends up, using all the tips in the chapter.
Continuing with writing down Five Successes every day, here are some of my top ones for this week.
1. Worked/negotiated to establish a fall schedule that will give me more chunks of time to work on both the performing/creative aspects and built-in office hours to do the business aspects of music.
2. Put on a concert in a "classical series" that also included some Irish music and found ways to blend them for new audiences.
3. Experimented with some new "smoothies" with vegetarian protein (one of my goals is to be more healthy)
4. Contacted my mentor to get advice on the 2 min. pitch/presentation I'll be doing
at the conference.
5. Started brainstorming about a video series I could do on my youtube
Exploring potential topics from Irish music ideas to "A day in the life" to "Helpful info to parents whose kids will be studying instruments".
site-(www.youtube.com/cadyfinlayson)
Two other books to recommend:
ONE: The Music Teaching Bible has lots of ideas for presenting art/school presentations, etc. It's a serious book that asks a lot of those "what is valuable about what we do" and how to bring this to people in a way that combines it with what they know already.
TWO: "Making Music and Enriching Lives": A Guide for all Music Teachers. This one is a very in-depth book about teaching (with a focus on private teaching/studio teaching, but the ideas can apply to any situation). What I loved about it is that that there are a ton of very specific and helpful examples for teaching and it is also inspiring to read.
