Task 3a: Current Networks

In an industry like the dance and entertainment industry, networking is the key to a successful and long-lasting career.
In the course of this task I had to look at the networks I'm using, how I'm using them whether good or not to its full extend, and ways to improve my networking skills.

I think one of the biggest networking groups and one that probably everybody has is Friends. Networking with your friedns is the easiest way of networking. You can be yourself, don't have to worry about appearances and there's no pressure like there is when you're talking to an agent. Personally, I think it's the easiest and best way to find out about auditions, castings, jobs, workshops, etc. There have been numerous auditions and castings I went to because one of my friends told me about it. The great thing about a group of friends is that it's a give-and-take. One time one of my friends tells me about a casting and next I'll tell her about an audition I'm going to. Back in college it was much easier to network because we used to see each other basically every day but since I graduated we all moved to different ends of the world. Since then, we moved on to using social networking more and more.

Nowadays, in the time of Facebook, Twitter and co. it's so much easier to stay in touch with your friends. To be honest, as far as the social network is concerned I've only made it to Facebook. I tried using Twitter but seeing as my phone doesn't have any internet (yeah, I'm probably one of the few people left in the world that has a phone that can only text and call people) there's not really any point in me using it. Besides, I never really got the hang of it ;). But Facebook I think is a great networking page. Not only can you use it for your personal networking but also in your Professional Practice. The good thing with Facebook is that you can join different groups that share the same interests as you, f.i. your favourite films, books, leisure activities, food, clubs, etc. Professionally, you're able to see upcoming auditions, castings, workshops, vacancies and we can share our experience and advice.

Another web 2.0 tool I use is DancersPro and Spotlight. Both of them give dancers, actors, singers the opportunity to create a profile and put all the important information about themselves on it, f.i. CV, Portfolio and Showreel. Employers are able to view all of this and to hire dancers.

Since I started out on BAPP, I started to use web 2.0 much more. Before, I didn't know that Flickr, Google+ and Blogger even existed but now, I'm getting more and more familiar with it. I'm still not using Google+ to the max because I just can't seem to figure how to get people into circles and I don't think I actually realise all the ways of networking I can do with. I guess one day I should go on an exploring mission through the deep ends of Google+. Flickr was also completely new to me. It's great because it gives me the chance to share my portfolio pictures aswell as other photos so that people (employers) can look at them, comment and maybe even give me advice on how to improve. The great thing about Blogger is that it created a group including everybody on BAPP. It gives us the chance to talk to other people with the same interests, to discuss certain topics with them, to make suggestions on how to improve and to learn new ways of thinking. Personally, I could and should be more active in commenting on other peoples blogs and ideas because that's the way to make new connections and that's the actual networking. 

And, as I said at the beginning, networking is the most important part of any profession. It doesn't matter in which aspect of your life because you never know what opportunities might arise through networking.