I recently learned a cool little trick on Facebook that I wanted to share with you.

You can now connect your business’ fan page to other business’ fan pages. You do this by becoming a fan of thier page. I created a little “how-to” video. Click here to watch it.

Thanks to @nickkeenan for this one.

: : : : : : : : : : :

A couple of weeks back, when I heard that Kristi Fuoco was going to Arts Reach in LA, I was insanely jealous. I immediately emailed her and asked her if she could take some notes and share some of her learning with us. She kindly agreed to do so.

So, without further ado, here’s Kristi…

From October 8^th to 10^th I attended Arts Reach (http://www.artsreach.com/conference.html), an annual National Arts Marketing and Fundraising conference that was held in Los Angeles this year. The theme of the conference was appropriately, Are you Ready for the Wave of Change? The first day of the conference was dedicated to Internet Marketing and I couldn’t wait to fill my mind with endless new ideas for social media marketing. The sessions on email marketing and websites were great, and inspired me to make sure that our website and our emails are relevant, interesting, engaging and capture the experience of what it is we’re trying to do whether we are a concert hall, theatre or dance troupe or a museum.

The social media session, “Fans, Friends and Followers: Facebook & Social Media”, was more basic than I’d hoped, but did bring up some ideas from other arts organizations in the US who are using social media in innovative ways.

Here are some of the most creative examples that I want to share:

The National Symphony Orchestra (http://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/) experimented with tweeting programme notes during the Beethoven Pastoral Symphony. The notes were written in advance by the conductor and then sent out throughout the concert at the appropriate moments and included interesting, sometimes funny bits of information about the composition, composer and any other random facts. Apparently they had a certain section on the lawn designated for those interested in receiving the tweets, so that they wouldn’t distract the other non-tweeting audience members. Here is an article discussing how it went from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073100006.html)

Another phenomenon is the use of IPhone applications by arts organizations. They used the example of the LA Philharmonic (http://www.laphil.com/) and their new sensation, the Venezuelan 28-year-old conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. I was lucky enough to see one of his opening concerts with LA Phil that weekend, and with this new IPhone app you can actually conduct along with Dudamel and as you wave your arm in the air the music plays. They’ve launched an entire microsite (http://www.laphil.com/gustavo/bravo.html) in honour of Dudamel that allows you to download the IPhone app, play a Gustavo game where you can match your conducting skills with his, watch videos of him, listen to his music, and much more. It’s a whole new level of experience, and of feeling connected to a conductor. Is this the way of the future for orchestras? Can other arts organizations use these tools in similar ways?

The third example was the Brooklyn Museum (http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/), one of the first “socially networked” museums, who now have an IPhone app that allows you to visit the museum virtually, and to learn about different works as you move through the museum as well. Here are some interesting blog posts about it: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/blogosphere/bloggers/2009/05/31/brooklyn-museum-api-the-iphone-app-released-on-itunes/

The general trend from this session was for arts organizations to see social media for what it is: SOCIAL. We are moving back to connecting with people one on one, and arts organizations need to use their creativity and resources in order to keep up with this new way of connecting.

Kristi Fuoco currently works at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia as the Marketing and Communications Assistant Coordinator. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Mt. Allison University and a Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology from UBC. She is a lover and supporter of arts and culture and a social media enthusiast. You can find her on twitter @kristifuoco

: : : : : : : : : : :

As you probably now know, Twitter recently launched a list function. And, oh the brou-ha-ha in the blogosphere! Some people love it. Some people hate it. Whether you love it or hate it, I think it could be a useful tool.

I never actually use the Twitter interface. I use a tool called Seesmic Desktop for my Twitter interface, and I do so for a couple of reasons. First,  I am able to group all the people I follow into categories: “friends”, “theatre tweeps”, “business”, “media”. This way, I can see at a glance if the people that I follow whom I deem to be most important have said anything interesting. Secondly, it allows me to manage several twitter accounts at once.

The functionality of Twitter lists is similar to what I use Seesmic for. You can now create lists out of people that you follow, grouping them into categories. Here’s the caveat: you own the list, so only you can add/remove from it. Similarly, if you find someone who has a list you are interested in, you can follow it. This does not mean that every single person on the list will be added individually to the people you follow. Rather, you click on the “Lists you follow” tab, then click on the specific list. All the latest tweets of those people will be displayed.

What’s great about this feature is that it makes it easier to find people on Twitter. Not just people, but people with whom you have something in common. What’s not great about it is that it’s starting to make people feel like they are back in high school again, and feelings may be hurt if you unwittingly (or wittingly!) exclude someone from your list.

Here are some links to some more information about Twitter Lists. Check them out and decide for yourself.
Miss 604’s tutorial
Mashable’s Twitter List FAQ
Listorious ranks the top Twitter Lists
Twit Tip: 8 things to consider before using Twitter Lists

: : : : : : : : : : :

Last month, I wrote a post on an interesting ethical dilemma that I found myself in. One of my clients, Down Stage Right Productions, was producing Evil Dead: The Musical in Vancouver. It was the first time EDTM had been done here, and they were doing it over Hallowe’en. Basically, this job should have been a cakewalk–it had everything going for it–timing, newness, and built-in fan base.

Except. As you know, another company, based out of Calgary, was also able to get the rights, and put their show up (which opened one week before ours) at the Vogue. They have a huge advertising budget–one which we could not compete against.

So, I wrote a post about this. I’d never had this experience before, and I thought it might be interesting to discuss with the theatre community at large. I had no idea it would be such a popular post. It’s gotten almost 500 hits, and garnered 25 comments. It’s likely one of my all-time top posts.

But I have to be honest with you. I didn’t allow every comment. On October 10, I got a comment from Kevin McKendrick, the director of the Vogue’s production. And I chose not to post it.

This is why:

1. There was one part of his comment which I found inflammatory. Let me be clear: he was not slagging anyone, I just felt that if I published his comment, Mark (the director of the DSR show) would feel obliged to respond to it, and then Kevin would probably respond to that, and there would be a “he-said-he-said” argument happening in the comments section of my blog. As much as I love stats, I love peace more, so I didn’t feel comfortable putting that up.
2. I am being paid by Down Stage Right Productions to be their publicist. I try, for the most part, to keep direct references to my work out of my blog. If a situation with a company I’m working with comes up, and I can reference it by re framing it as a business thing, I will. But I don’t actively advertise shows that I am working on on my blog. It’s not its place.
   The tone of Kevin’s comment that he wanted to publish on my blog was very PR-oriented. And as the person responsible for the PR of the other production, I didn’t want to post his comments. My loyalty was to DSR.

Here’s my question to you: did I do the right thing?

As bloggers, I don’t think we are held to the same editorial standards as newspapers. Blogs are, by their very definition, personal. They’re told from the first person, and I don’t think you can ever be fully unbiased. I don’t even believe newspapers can be fully unbiased, but at least bloggers are more transparent about it.

So, I’m being transparent. And I’d like to know your thoughts.

: : : : : : : : : : :

In December, Ruby Slippers Theatre mounts a production of Daniel MacIvor’s A Beautiful View. One of five published in MacIvor’s Governor General’s Award-winning collection, I Still Love You, it runs December 4-13 at Performance Works on Granville Island, and December 16-19 at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby. What makes this show unique is that MacIvor is also directing Colleen Wheeler and Diane Brown in this production.

That’s the publicist talking. Let me put the actor on.

I have been a huge fan of MacIvor’s work for many years, and I feel all giggly and star-struck that he agreed to do an interview with me. After I read his responses to my questions, I was completely blown away. Well, he is a writer, after all. But don’t take my word for it, read on….

RC: You’re from Nova Scotia. I grew up in Newfoundland, and I know that growing up in the Maritimes had a profound affect on the person I became. How did being from Canada’s East Coast affect the person you became?

DM: I think of myself first as a Cape Bretoner, that’s somewhat different than being from New Brunswick or even mainland Nova Scotia. I am an Islander. That is, I’m sure, something that someone from Newfoundland understands. When one is raised on an island one is always aware that the earth ends at a certain point. Especially an island like Cape Breton, small enough to circle in single day. One can walk or drive only so many miles until land stops and water begins. Then, one turns and heads in any other direction and soon enough land ends again. I imagine that instills in me a respect for endings and a perspective that I am on the earth rather than owning the earth. Also island life – a feeling of disconnectedness from the larger world – supports certain elements of old-world living like storytelling. Having been born on Cape Breton probably makes me more naturally a storyteller.

RC: What was the first play you ever wrote? Was it an abysmal failure, or were you proud of it?

DM: It took me many years of writing before I had an abysmal failure. I had to develop a whole bunch of expectations and an unhealthy concern for the approval of others before I could fail that profoundly. My very first play was “One Arm Free” about some kind of king character who was tied to a throne but had … you guessed it … one arm free. It was an absurdist thing influenced by “Ubu Roi” and Beckett I think. It was never produced and I’m not even sure I showed it to anyone. My first real “play” – as in people actually read it and it was produced – was called “Blue Bells” and I wrote it my first year in the theatre department at Dalhousie University in Halifax. It was based on my parents volatile/passionate relationship. My classmate Amy House and I ended up doing it in one of the school’s studios as an independent project. It was directed by my acting teacher John Dunsworth. I was a minimalist even then, the set consisted of two chairs. We went on to perform the play at the University of Cape Breton’s One Act Play Festival and it won every award they offered. Including Best Set Design. So I guess it was something to be proud of.

RC: Do you like to write old-school: pen-to-paper, or do you like to write on a computer?

DM: I often start on paper with notes and then move to my laptop once I have a sense of structure in place. The whole process of playwrighting feels architectural to me and the computer supports that. However these days I feel laptop writing is old-school – people are probably writing plays on iPhones now.

RC: Do you prefer writing to acting?

DM: I like both. Writing connects me to something more personal and acting connects me to a broader sense of humanity. In terms of acting I think I’m best with my own writing. I haven’t done a lot of theatre acting in other people’s plays. The last time was over ten years ago in a Morris Panych directed revival of Judith Thompson’s “White Biting Dog”. I think I may have rather sucked in the role actually. When I’m going through customs I identify myself as “writer”. So I guess that’s how I see myself.

RC: Twitch City was a brilliant show. Like all brilliant shows, it died quickly. What was your experience of working on that show?

DM: I had a great time doing Twitch. It was a family affair. Socially we were all part of the same gang, so it felt more like a theatre thing than a TV thing in terms of energy on set and around the show generally. The show was originally conceived by Don McKellar and Bruce MacDonald as a 90 minute TV movie, but the CBC convinced Don to create a one-season-only series instead. When the first season went well the CBC wanted another cycle of shows. Don didn’t want to do it again so Bruce asked me to write a treatment for a second series. I wrote up a scenario of twelve episodes where Curtis (Don’s character) and Nathan (my character) are in high school back in the 70’s and trying to get Trooper to play the high school prom. Each episode was named after a Trooper song. In the final episode we ended up having Trooper cover band play the prom. The cover band was to be played by Sloan. Don looked at the treatment and immediately agreed to write a second season on his own.

RC: I love the story of how you created da da kamera. All of us who are struggling to make it and produce our own work look up to you, because you made it! Do you have any words of advice?

DM: I think the best advice is Don’t Make Money Your God. If you worry about money, money will become a problem. Don’t worry about money. Just do it. (I think I said that before Nike.)

RC: I love blogging. How did you get into blogging, and what are your thoughts on it?

DM: Blogging keeps me grounded. Also, I love photography and since I use a photograph with each post the blog means I’m always looking for photographs as I move through my day. I try to blog every day and it forces me to consider how to talk about what I’m doing. For the most part I blog only about work related stuff. And I try to keep it as positive as possible. If I see a show I don’t particularly like I won’t usually blog about it. There’s enough negative shit out there.

RC: Many of your plays are set in surreal other-worlds. Can you say a little about why that is?

DM: Theatre is a surreal other-world already. I’m just using the truth of the medium.

RC: What are your thoughts on Vancouver?

DM: When I was first in Vancouver in the mid-80’s – (I was going to move there – it was for “love” – never do that) – I remember being absolutely confounded about why people would drink decaf-cappuccino and then go running. Now I drink decaf-soy-lattes and go to the gym five times a week – Vancouver was twenty years ahead of me. One of the things I love about Vancouver is how light and dark it is at the same time. The brutality of Hastings and Main up against the beauty of Stanley Park. This kind of juxtaposition is a reality of life on earth and what a real city is made of.

RC: What is A Beautiful View about, and what inspired you to write it?

DM: A Beautiful View is a love story about friendship. I wrote the play as a response to how we have become so comfortable with labeling ourselves and our relationships, even when those labels are restricting.  The star of the play really is the friendship between the two women, that means that beyond everything else it’s all about what the actors bring to the play.  I’m very excited about working with Diane and Colleen – I’ve been a fan of them both for some time.

Diane Brown and Colleen Wheeler. Photo credit: Tim Matheson

RC: Why should people come and see A Beautiful View?

DM: Because it will make you laugh and remind you of the exquisite sadness of being.

For more information on Daniel, or to read his blog, visit his website.

For more information on A Beautiful View, visit the Ruby Slippers Theatre website.

: : : : : : : : : : :

I woke up this morning to this email via my Facebook from Kevin Teichroeb, who does some of the technical/website stuff at The Alliance for Arts and Culture.

Hi Rebecca,

We’re excited about a new PSA we’ve just uploaded to YouTube. I just finished it for the Alliance for Arts and Culture with editing wizard, Jenn Strom. It’s a community project that involves the photography – both time lapse and stills – of a few dozen flickr photographers. The force of social media is behind us. I hope you like it, and will blog about it because it will give the video a real push. We want to keep expanding our reach farther and farther. If you could send this off to your contacts we would really appreciate it.

Many thanks, Kevin

It’s great. Another excellent example of using video to promote your business and cause. Please pass it on to your own Facebook/Twitter contacts.

Restore Arts Funding Now!

: : : : : : : : : : :

Today is an aggregate post, a bunch of links and news items about what I’ve been up to and what’s coming up.

First off, I have just finished a major rewrite of my Guide to Getting Started with Social Media for Artists and Arts Organizations.
The rewrites include:

• A fully re-worked chapter on Facebook
• A new chapter on You Tube
• Updated screenshots
• More exercises, which makes it feel more like a workbook.

For those of you who have already bought a copy, thanks. And I’ll be sending you the updates in the next little while. For those of you who are interested, you can purchase a copy by clicking here. It will also be available, in hard-copy, workbook format, later today at Biz Books, 302 W. Cordova St.

I did a couple of interviews last week, too.

One with another Rebecca (Krause-Hardie) who does stuff that is surprisingly similiar to what I do, only in the States.

One with Toronto’s Ian MacKenzie, for his company’s marketing blog, The Big Orange Slide.

One final reminder that Simon and I will be on a panel this weekend entitled The Power of Social Media. We’ll be joined by Angela Crocker and Ryan Mooney, and the discussion will be moderated by Sean Allen. This takes place Saturday, Oct 31, at the Making a Scene Theatre confrence at Granville Island, from 1:30-3 pm.

Finally, stay tuned to my blog next week for an interview I just did with that wonderful Canadian playwright, Daniel MacIvor.

: : : : : : : : : : :

Earlier this year, I wrote a post on how to use moving pictures to promote your show.

That was 10 months ago, and things are changing at a rapid pace. It is estimated that YouTube attracts one billion (billion!!) views per day. Their traffic is somewhere in range of 10 billion per month.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a billion.

I recently had a special occasion to go to, and thought I’d try a makeup technique called “the smoky eye.” I know nothing about the smoky eye, but a brief Google search lead me to several videos that showed me how to do it. I can pretty much guarantee you that anything you are interested in, or would like to learn how to do has had a YouTube video made of it.

We love video–it’s engaging, and, honestly, it doesn’t take as much work to watch something as it does to read. Plus, the medium is arguably more powerful than the written word. With the huge popularity of smart phones like the Blackberry and the Iphone, its easy to access without even a computer. I download Sesame Street podcasts onto my IPod to keep him happy during long car rides. Finally, I think its popular because it has given us the power back. Anyone with a cell phone camera and an internet connection can shoot a video and get it up on the web, where millions of potential viewers are just waiting to make it “go viral.” Who can forget Susan Boyle?

Here are some ideas to harness this powerful medium and put it to work for you and your business.

Slide Shows: You don’t even need to have a video camera to do these kinds of videos. You need photos, a voice-over or music, and a video-editing program. Drag-and-drop your photos onto your video editing program, and arrange them in the order you like. Make sure each photo is viewed for at least 4 seconds, and if you want, add transitions between, and titles with explanations. Put a rocking soundtrack beneath it all, and use that as your video. Click here to see an example of this.  You could use this technique similarly, to create a how-to video with screenshots and a voice-over.

Interviews: Simon Ogden has perfected this medium with his Video Listings service. The reason why this kind of interview is so successful is because it is simple, and people are speaking from their passion. Simon simply interviews key players and asks them one simple question: “why should people come see your play?” He gives them about a minute to answer, and, in editing, adds all the contact info at the end. You can see Simon’s VanStage listings here. I have recently been playing with this format, doing a slightly longer version. You can see those videos here. You can also record Skype video conversations if you are doing a long-distance interview, and upload that.

Behind-the-scenes videos: People are fascinated about what is going on behind the scenes. What happens backstage? How did you achieve that special effect in your film? What was it like in the studio the day you recorded that song/painted that painting, sculpted that piece? Have someone film “the making of” any given piece of art, and offer that as added value. The last two Great Big Sea albums have come with two discs: the CD with the songs, and “making of” DVD with interviews with the cast and live performance footage. They also have lots of this kind of video on their website.

How-to videos: If you are a master bohdran-player, painter in a specific technique, or you make the world’s best Veal Scallopini (hey, cooking is an art!), then you could create a video that shows other people how to do it. Better  yet, if you have  a product you are trying to sell, create a video that shows people how to use it, and maybe even show them some unconventional ways of doing so. When my son was a baby, I was an avid user of The Baby Trekker, a baby carrier. It came with an instruction manual, but it was complicated. A video like this one would have helped me out a lot.

Reviews: Do people like your work? What do they have to say about it? Film people (ask for their permission, first!!) as they are coming out of your show/concert/exhibition/film, and ask them how they liked it, and what they liked about it. Edit several of these clips together, and upload them.

Performance footage: While performance footage may be the trickiest of all video to get right, it certainly can be powerful. Remember “Video Killed the Radio Star”? Well, they may have been on to something. MTV and MuchMusic are huge. The bulk of those videos, however, are shot in very controlled studio environments. Live footage is much trickier–and I find that it often doesn’t translate well onto film.

Video Blog: Like a written blog, but done by speaking directly to camera (this is super easy to do if you have a webcam). Your topic can be on anything! Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV is the finest example of this I can think of.

Commercial: If you are selling a product or service, you can create a commercial for it. I think the most successful commercials are those that have a sense of humour. Some of the commercials that get the most hits on YouTube are ones that are cheesy, have low production value, and are purposely over the top. I’m not certain that this is the best way to sell your business, but it appears to be successful.

Final tip:
The most important thing about using video to promote your business is to make sure that if people find and watch your video, they are able to find you. Have, at the very least,  your website’s URL at the end of every single video you create. As a marketing tool, it could go viral, but still be useless, unless people have a way of connecting to you.

: : : : : : : : : : :

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve written a series of posts on how to use the Flip Video Camera. You don’t really need a Flip–any video camera that allows you to dump your files onto your computer so you can edit them will do fine. I just like the Flip for its convenience and affordability.

Now we come to what is arguably the most important part: sharing your videos.

You can have video that would make Speilberg jealous, but if he has no way to view it, what’s the point?

When it comes to sharing your video on the internet, you have three main options: YouTube, Blip.TV and Vimeo.

YouTube: It really doesn’t get any bigger than YouTube. Every day, 150,000-200,000 videos are uploaded to YouTube. If you lived to be 100 and did nothing but watch YouTube 24 hours a day, you would still not be able to watch every single one.

Google owns YouTube, so if you already have a Gmail account, you can get a YouTube account within seconds. Choose your username carefully, as this becomes your YouTube channel. Mine is http://www.youtube.com/titaniaproductions. Once you have your account activated, go to the pull-down menu underneath your name in the upper right-hand corner, and click on “Account.” This will allow you to customize your page with colour choices, upload your photo and bio, etc.

Once you have your page customized to how you like it, you can begin to upload your videos. You simply click on the yellow “Upload” button in the upper right-hand corner. When you are uploading your video, be sure to give it a name, a description (including a URL), and keywords so that people can find it.

You can also subscribe to other’s YouTube channels, and “Favorite” videos that you enjoy.

Once your video is uploaded and processed, you’ll notice two URLs to the right of it. The upper one is the video’s distinct URL. Use this to link the video through Twitter, Faecbook, email, or any other place you can share links. The second URL is for embedding your video. You can use this primarily for your blog. You can embed the video right into a blog post or your website so that people don’t have to leave your site to watch it.

Be sure, once you have uploaded your video, to share it around by putting it on Facebook (either in your own profile, or on your business’ Fan page), Twittering it, and putting it on your blog. The more ways you have of putting it out there so others can see it and share it, the better.

Blip.TV: Blip.TV is purported to have 48,000 “show creators”, 2.4 million episodes and 22 million viewers. What makes it different from YouTube is that it focuses more on episodic shows. What that means, is, if you have an idea for a television show, you no longer have to go through the major networks. You can create your own, and upload it to Blip.TV, and probably find an audience.

One of Blip’s strongest selling points is that it franchises your video out to multiple streams: you upload it to Blip, for example, and they make it available on YouTube, ITunes, Yahoo Video, NBC, etc…

Vimeo: Vimeo is a Video-sharing community. Built by filmmakers, it is more like Facebook in terms of its values than the others. Again, you can upload your videos and share them, but you are really encouraged to become part of the community. They also have much stricter guidelines than many of the others, in terms of being respectful, and not using it for commercial purposes. If you have a video that is a blatant “buy this!!” kind of commercial, it won’t be welcome here, nor will anything that could be percieved as an attack, hatred, or racism.

A couple of others:

Yahoo Video: if you have a Yahoo ID, this works much the same as YouTube. It’s pretty new, Yahoo is just jumping on this bandwagon, so it won’t be as populated.

ITunes: As of last month, Apple has sold a whopping 220,000,000 IPods. All of those people are using ITunes in some capacity. In addition, the IPhone is wildly successful, and all of those people are also using ITunes. Getting your videos on ITunes could be a great way for people to find you. You need to have an account, and you need to convert your video to M4V in order to upload it. You can also try to monetize your video by charging for it, but if you are using it for a marketing tool, you might want to give it away for free.

: : : : : : : : : : :

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the business we are in and how hard it is to continuously be motivated. As artists, we are one-man-shows, chief cooks and bottle-washers. For the most part, when we write that song, sketch out that painting, work on our novel, we do it alone. The arts can be very solitary.

I talk to people all the time to who struggle with this. Forced to have a job to support themselves while they build their art practice, they find themselves too tired/burnt out/uninspired to focus on their art practice at the end of the day.

The answer is just to show up. To treat your art as a job that you carve out time for every day, and show up to. It works because you no longer have to worry about inspiration or quality. Just by producing your work in sheer quantity, you will eventually come up with something great, or be inspired to create.

Still, like going to the gym, it can be tough to have the self-discipline to make yourself do it. So I suggest you get an art buddy.

Find someone who does what you do, or someone who doesn’t but is still an artist, and make a pact with them: you will both spend ‘X’ amount of time on your work over the next day/week/month. And then phone each other, send each other emails, or meet to discuss how it went. Having someone to be accountable to outside of yourself can be a very powerful motivator.

I’ve used this method many times in my life. It started when I worked at the SEARCH program, a self-employment program for artists. We would regularly create “Success Teams” out of groups of graduates who were encouraged to meet after the program was over to share ideas, help and motivation. The first few times I tried to get through The Artist’s Way, I was unsuccessful, but by going through it with a group which included weekly meetings, I got through it and I got lots out of it. Currently, I belong to a small business support group. We have been meeting bi-weekly for two years, now, and this group has been a great source of assistance–both by cheering me and kicking me in the butt.

So, whoever you are, whatever your art practice, I encourage you to not go it alone. Find someone, or a group of someones who are like-minded individuals, and create your own support group.

You can learn more about how to create your own “mastermind group” here.

: : : : : : : : : : :