Concepts of the Professional Network

Looking deeper into Cooperation and Game Theory I was interested in Axelrod's questions.
When should a person cooperate, and when should a person be selfish, in an ongoing interaction with another person? 
In the entertainment industry competition is extremely high. Some negative and some healthy. I believe that every working surrounding should be slightly competitive but healthy as I believe this makes us work harder and strive for bigger and better experiences. 
As some aspects of this are looked, at not giving too much away if not reciprocated. In my professional practice as a dancer, giving too much away can lead to negative effects, whereas closely cooperating in a suitable manner will give just enough away. I have accounted these situations before and learn't from them, It's about getting the job in hand and many dancers are "in it for themselves"but then when others have some news or advice we tend not to extract that information to those people.
The "Tit for Tat" way is used by everyone nowadays, "You give to receive," as dancers and teachers if we are being helped then we help another- An experience with a friend in London, she lets me know whats going on down there regarding auditions and castings when I'm based in Manchester and so I help her with teaching and emailing people for work.
The questions bought to me were- Even though I believe that everyone uses Tit for Tat- Do they really? Are some people genially out to help? What do other dancers think of my beliefs? Are they selfish? I have experience uncooperative people before have you? Is there competition in every working surrounding?


Affiliation

Hofsted's has "argued that in individualistic cultures people develop social relationships in many and varied settings, but these relationships tend not to be particularly close. In collectivist cultures, on the other hand, people develop relatively few, but deep and long‐lasting, relationships"

This I believe is extremely interesting, as my grandparents originated for a collectivist culture but I live in a Individualist culture trying to balance is difficult. In my professional practice I become competitive and a individualist trying to be different and stand out but as a non dancer I am cultural. 

This has never occurred to me before without looking into it now, but I do think that many negatives outcomes can happen from these theories. 

What if you end up hurting a family member or a close friends whilst trying to get further in life? 

The western society is seen to be all about "I" and "Me" but this is how we have survived and become one of the richest countries in the world. Does this make it right though? Is being selfish the way forward? 

Steph has commented about the Adam and Eve story, this is most interesting as we all try to build social relationships, and that many people find it abnormal to not have a partner/friends in their life.  I believe the more we affiliate and be social the more we gain from one another within every surrounding.

Developing my Professional Network

Networks are commonly used in my profession whether you are a dancer, a model, an actor or a singer. We all have the same foundations and then we categorise which type of artist we are. The main resources used are technology based however, there are some that are non-technology based. It depends on the most appropriate way to contact the person it is aimed at.


These are the resources I use to apply my professional networking:

Facebook

Twitter

Emails

Phone calls

Texts

Websites( Professional Profiles) Dancerspro/ Dance cast

Face to Face

Contacts

Mail

Agents- Log on

When using networks there are certain people who have established this and other who haven't. For example- If writing to my principle at my Ballet School, I would write her a handwritten letter and send via mail. However, if I was sending my Cv and Photos to an employer then this would be sent via email. Both are efficient but if the more experienced practitioner has not yet established technology (or I could be wrong) I find it out of respect to coincide with them how I think they would interact with other colleagues.


Generally I contact my friends with phone calls and texts but I am very reluctant to contact a producer or agent using this method. As many of the professionals feel they are being "hounded" by phone calls and prefer to email and contact you. Which is understandable, showing that you want the job is one thing but sounding desperate is another. The key is to be subtle.

In my line of work it is necessary to be part of a professional network or even a social network having employers as friends. Employers are always advertising auditions and casting on Facebook, Twitter and other web sites. Talking online is always easier than in person especially with someone you don't have a relationship with. Technology gives us that option to form a professional bond with someone and then hopefully gain some work. 

The current networks I am with are about building your profiles and having a CV, Showreel and photos on the site. This is so any employer can browse and chose the suitable artists for the job. Everyday things are always changing and the use of CV and photos sent via mail is out the window. The most efficient options are to use professional networks such as email. 

I think networking is a very important aspect in the entertainment industry. As I have blogged before, from my experience many of the dancers that are professional working constantly get work by mutual friends or contacts. This comes from experience in the industry as building contacts takes time. I try to keep in touch with all of my friends and contacts but it does become difficult with hectic lives. This is an aspect I need to work at, networking more contacts as mine are limited can only increased my chances of work in this industry. When networking you are also meeting new people, In Steph's blog she mentions about not wanting to have the attitude of "What can they do for me " which I agree with. Meeting new people should be for guidance and help, bearing in mind these people could have contacts elsewhere. Learning from more experienced people is a key feature as there are many things I do not know about this industry. I feel I am always learning and establishing my own network.

If forming my own network it would be both a social and professional one. I think when building relationship it is good to have the best of both. Always keeping professional at all times. I do agree that sometimes this becomes difficult, however I have learn't that having a friend relationship with someone makes you employable to everyone.

Facebook is simular to my idea but it is stated as a social network allowing different unprofessional items to be included.

Networking is the future. 

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11395

Inquiry

Through reflecting my profession I am starting to answer many questions and explore further.

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about?

Enthusiasm comes from enjoying an activity you enjoy. As mine is Dance and it just happens to be my job I always have questions about everything. My questions about teaching are- What if everybody danced, what would the world be? slimmer no obesity? Even more obsession with weight and image? Would people live longer as they would be more fit and healthy? Should it be a sport in the Olympics? As Ballet is a very technical and demanding genre of dance it helps- Posture, Alignment and Pose would people prevent injuries in older age and be stronger?

This is a very far fetch questions as not everybody loves to dance- but its the same as,
What if everyone played Football or Cricket? Would the world be different or would everyone clash having the same hobby?

What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found away to work around the sadness or anger?

Generally the main subject that gets me angry is unsupportive people. I have mentioned in previous blogs on Nicole's page that family members around me are negative and unsupportive. It feels like they think Im wasting my time and its not a "proper" job. If someone is happy shouldn't you just support them and be happy for them anyway? 

Repeatedly I have invited them to shows and numerous events but still as it isn't a full time job yet "9-5" it doesn't count as I job. Constantly I am explaining what I am doing and what it is for. The older generation are very traditional and backwards- So makes me question- How would they react if they were with the 21st century? or What if I made loads of money of one job? What would they do if one day I was famous? Again far fetched but just makes you think sometimes. I keep trying to say everyone starts somewhere and everybody is a nobody at first you it have to work hard.

I admire my immediate family and my partner as these are the people that are going to be around and really support me with what I do. They always say just keep trying and it will happen one day. I always have to vent to them on the negative feedback I get off others  and I admire what they give back to me. 

Several of my friends have moved to London and are away from home chasing their dream...Is this the next step for me? Will I gain more success moving to a different city?

What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love? 

My passion is dance and being able to teach and choreograph my own work with other dancing is very rewarding. Most of my classes are teaching children aged 3-8, I love being apart of their learning ability as they are growing up. Especially teaching the younger children where they remember what I do and enjoy themseleves. The expression I love the most is when they are laughing and smiling, then most rewarding time is when they enjoy it. Defiantly dampens your methods when they get bored and tired easily. 

The person I admire the most with the same career as mine is my friend, Natalie who currently teaches dance and fitness to adults and children. She has a hectic life involving classes and training all year round, but loves what she does. 

Most dancers are all for themselves and don't help one another out, however she has been exceptional loyal and helpful to me. As she is slightly older than me, she has a head start and knows what she is doing so helping me is no worry to her with her already working and running a business.

Particularly in one area- Zumba is a new craze with everyone in the fitness industry, it is extremely popular and hard to get on a course. Natalie ask her trainer to hold a training day in Manchester and told me straight away to book, within 30 minutes the class was fully booked. There are no other training days for 6 months now.

I found this extremely loyal and kind, as this is a great help for myself with it bringing more work daily. Helping others make you feel better about yourself.

What do you feel you don’t understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found away of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same questions as you?

Understanding is having knowledge. This industry is complicated, with many different rules for employers and artists. 

Having attended numerous auditions and castings many outcomes have occurred. With some being my height, skin colour, age and simply not right for the role. What bothers me the most is when the employers invite you to the closed casting or audition and then turn you away. This is very frustrating for me as travelling from Manchester to attend 99% of auditions and castings doesn't come cheap.

Finding out that many dancers are employed by either mutual friends or previous producers/directors from other jobs, I feel this is extremely biased and makes it more difficult for countless new dancers entering the industry.

Many of my friends understand the same as me but when sometimes not understanding makes it interesting. When you attend and try to figure out who the panel will pick. Then picking at your brain why they chose you or didn't. Makes life more interesting and makes you step your game up even more and become better in your field. 

However, questions always come to mind....

What would have happened if I had different hair? Different skin? If I was taller? If I wore heels? If I wore different clothes?

Has an event, experience or incident prompted questions that you would like to find out more about?

Having a recent conversation with a head teacher about education and sports activities. Combining sports, fitness and education together helps keep the minds active and gives them variety. It also helps them with their education and having fun at school so its doesn't seem like a chore for them.

It did prompt some questions for me:

Would teaching Maths and Science be more successful with combining with sports and dance?

Would combining a dance lesson with 45 minutes Maths and 45 minutes dance help faster success rates?

Do children use dance and fitness of a way out of standard education?

Do children think it is an easier career step? Everyone can me it?

The teaching and dancing industry are completely different aspects to my life. Prompting many questions for me I defiantly want to figure it all out and gain positive outcomes. 

How has everyone found their own inquiries? 

Reflecting more on my Casting Day...

Taking into account Paula's last comment on my reflections and the knowledge I gained, I looked back into the readers and my past posts to see my differences.


My learning experience was using Kolb's cycle but inspired by Peter Honey and Alan Mumford.

• Having an experience 
• Reviewing the experience
• Concluding from the experience 
• Planning the next steps.

Looking back I already used this and instead of planning new steps I have already started them by teaching. They talk about communication and this is where I got my new steps from. 

With attending the event of my casting however not being successful I gained another experience from communication with other dancers and their knowledge. 

This time when I was planning on contacting the company it was Active Experimentation- trying out what I learnt. I gained information and actively experimented it using my friends knowledge and being out of my comfort zone. As I said I am usually a Visual Learner and from this I just took it upon myself to try something new without really having much knowledge of it.

Particularly noticing that I started at a different point in the learning cycle has made me think- 

What would happen if I just tried using Active Experimentation all the time?

Would I be more successful?

Communicating more, Does this help me?

Will other dancers help each other out?

Should I try this with auditions? How would that work?

Many questions came to my head and I believe this might be a start of something different and successful....