My current networks are really based all online. I use web 2.0 in my everyday life, either for professional networking or for my social reasons. As I am currently injured my main focus at the moment is to concentrate on getting back to full fitness, so my professional networking as a dancer has taken a back seat. I am also working full time so my university work is my number one priority in my spare time.
However, that doesn't stop me from using social media tools to explore the dance world. I am very passionate about dancing, dancers and their lives, food,and music so I use Instagram on a daily basis to feed me with information! It's also a great way to keep in contact with friends and to see what their up to. Facebook is an invaluable tool for me. As well as keeping in touch with friends who live abroad, it provides me with many different social groups to extend my current networks. For instance, I used to use the "Hustle" whilst I was auditioning, which posts upcoming auditions and the specifics of what the director's requirements are. I particularly liked Danielle Austen's blog about this; she stated that she travelled to London for an audition costing her a vast amount of money, only to be cut straight away, and then realising that they were only looking for boys in the first place. She then discovered how she could join different networks such as the Hustle on Facebook, where people in your line of work can freely communicate with each other. These groups on Facebook was only something I identified by my dancer friends- so word of mouth and connecting with other people was imperative when I was looking for work.
"The Stage" was also a tool I used in searching for auditions when I was fresh out of college before social media became such an important part of networking, and it's strange to think how the power of web 2:0 has quickly become such significant part of lives as dancers.
I also had to look for other work to fund myself travelling to auditions in London, so "Promo Fo's" on Facebook was a brilliant way to pick up any flexible, well paid jobs on the go. It was extremely difficult to work full time when I was auditioning so I had to work for a number of different promotional agencies. There is a brilliant app on the iphone called ' Stuck for Staff', where you upload your previous experience in the promotional world and update your availability, so agencies can freely contact you when a job pops up in your area.
So it got me thinking of my current networks at present. I have found the BAPP blogs extremely useful as a networking tool, connecting with other students and communicating with them on their blogs has given me piece of mind, especially as this course is distance learning! Of course I use social media on a daily basis for my own personal use, but my professional networking is something that I really need to work on. Realistically, I need to be proactive in engaging with others to develop my ideal network. I intend to work with my BAPP degree in either adults or teaching, or go down the route of dance therapy. But like many other students I still don't know what I am going to do! I need to know more about my desired field:
- Searching the web for more information on my acquired field
- Perhaps if I was going to open my own dance school I would need my own website and advertisement tools?
- What would I need after my BAPP degree to go into dance therapy?
- Would I need to use Youtube to make a video to promote a potential dance school?
- What other social networking tools do I need to be apart of?
This has given me food for thought- I need to be proactive so I can engage with others and extend my current professional networks.
However, that doesn't stop me from using social media tools to explore the dance world. I am very passionate about dancing, dancers and their lives, food,and music so I use Instagram on a daily basis to feed me with information! It's also a great way to keep in contact with friends and to see what their up to. Facebook is an invaluable tool for me. As well as keeping in touch with friends who live abroad, it provides me with many different social groups to extend my current networks. For instance, I used to use the "Hustle" whilst I was auditioning, which posts upcoming auditions and the specifics of what the director's requirements are. I particularly liked Danielle Austen's blog about this; she stated that she travelled to London for an audition costing her a vast amount of money, only to be cut straight away, and then realising that they were only looking for boys in the first place. She then discovered how she could join different networks such as the Hustle on Facebook, where people in your line of work can freely communicate with each other. These groups on Facebook was only something I identified by my dancer friends- so word of mouth and connecting with other people was imperative when I was looking for work.
"The Stage" was also a tool I used in searching for auditions when I was fresh out of college before social media became such an important part of networking, and it's strange to think how the power of web 2:0 has quickly become such significant part of lives as dancers.
I also had to look for other work to fund myself travelling to auditions in London, so "Promo Fo's" on Facebook was a brilliant way to pick up any flexible, well paid jobs on the go. It was extremely difficult to work full time when I was auditioning so I had to work for a number of different promotional agencies. There is a brilliant app on the iphone called ' Stuck for Staff', where you upload your previous experience in the promotional world and update your availability, so agencies can freely contact you when a job pops up in your area.
So it got me thinking of my current networks at present. I have found the BAPP blogs extremely useful as a networking tool, connecting with other students and communicating with them on their blogs has given me piece of mind, especially as this course is distance learning! Of course I use social media on a daily basis for my own personal use, but my professional networking is something that I really need to work on. Realistically, I need to be proactive in engaging with others to develop my ideal network. I intend to work with my BAPP degree in either adults or teaching, or go down the route of dance therapy. But like many other students I still don't know what I am going to do! I need to know more about my desired field:
- Searching the web for more information on my acquired field
- Perhaps if I was going to open my own dance school I would need my own website and advertisement tools?
- What would I need after my BAPP degree to go into dance therapy?
- Would I need to use Youtube to make a video to promote a potential dance school?
- What other social networking tools do I need to be apart of?
This has given me food for thought- I need to be proactive so I can engage with others and extend my current professional networks.
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