The 5 most important sources of information for me as a professional are mostly about jobs.
The stage is a website that I look at the most for auditions and job openings.
http://www.thestage.co.uk/recruitment/
The Hustle on Facebook is a page that was created by dancers for dancers. This page is where all dancers can post about auditions, especially if the auditions are private to make it more public.
Facebook itself is a big thing for me because it is not just how to communicate with friends. I also find job posts and other opportunities available.
Blogs are something I use a lot now and not just because they are part of the course. I enjoy doing them a lot as I get to learn new things and post things I have learnt for other people to learn. It is great to see what my peers are doing and how they are getting on. Some people post some great and interesting blogs.
Google is very important for me because it is the main search engine I use to research and search topics. It is also a great help when searching for jobs. My first professional teaching post with found from google. I typed in Performing arts teachers in Leicester into the search box and up came a list of schools and performing arts providers in the area. I emailed most of them from the first page of the search and one of them replied.
With these sources there are not any major issues or copyright issues that would affect me. With the hustle when posting private auditions the only problem you may have is that you will be turned away from the audition because you have not been invited personally but that is a risk most performers are willing to take to get a shot to audition. Most internet sources have issues when it comes to confidentiality because you should never post any information that is personal about yourself. As you may have heard or may have had an issue concerning yourselves you should never post personal information about yourself online especially bank details or addresses. Some people take risks giving out phone numbers or email addresses but this is at their own risk.
I personally think I post quite interesting and informative blogs where as some people may not have ideas come to them as easy. This is not a problem but they should not just post because they think they have to. Even not posting for a week then after a week posting an extremely interesting blog is much better than maybe 3 a week that have no relevance to anything. At this point in the term very few students have posted blogs for task 3c so looking at the range of posts in task 3c is not as big as i'd like it to be but the ones I have seen was very good. They had pretty much the same top 5 sources as myself as I can see why because they are the most popular with most young people in my profession
Hi Ruth
ReplyDeleteI too found that not many people had completed the final tasks before me, meaning I was unable to progress onto Task 3d.
You mention blogs as one of your important sources of information. Whilst with Facebook you go on to name a particular group, you haven't done this with your blog reference - are there any blogs you find particularly interesting? If so, what are they and why?
I completely agree with your statement in your closing paragraph that blog posting for the sake of posting is pointless. I feel the same about blog commenting despite it being a necessity of the course. However during a conversation with a friend we spoke about the importance, in certain professions, of keeping yourself 'out there'.
The friend in question is a Jeweller, and in the run up to Christmas she did a kind of 'advent' blog each day highlighting a different piece of her jewellery each day. I asked her how she found the time for this, and apparently Facebook business pages have a function whereby you are able to set a date for your post to go 'live'. This interested me because some days I have a LOT of ideas and thoughts and worry about over saturating my blog:
For example, Although completing all 6 of my task 2d posts I did not post them at the same time as I was worried it would be too much for people to read and I would not get any comments - interaction being something that is pushed within the course. I am also working on a time difference and worry about whether I am posting at a suitable time - I know that I certainly am more likely to read something that comes in when I am sat at my computer.
Once things got a bit heavy, course wise, I made the decision not to post my own blogs but just to post the tasks even though the posts I often enjoy both reading and writing are the ones 'off task', continuing my thoughts within my journal.
Do you find some days you have a lot of ideas? Do you decide to write about one, and disregard the others? Or do you keep your additional ideas stashed away for another day?
I wonder if the 'going live delayer' for want of a better term is possible on a blog? If so, do you think it is something that you would use or are you happy posting as and when?
Best wishes
Megan