Friday, 11 May 2012

3a: Current networks



Facebook

Initially I used Facebook to promote social events but realised that it could benefit me professionally as well. It is an affordable and quick way to alert friends about an event. It is however limited to the people you know and if you allow those to extend the invitation to others you are unable to control who the end invitees will be. 

 
Hither Green Forum

This is a local forum, which has proved very useful in the past, as it has allowed me to target people in the specific geographical area. The downside of the forum is that the user group is quite small, people don’t check the updates frequently and it is often used as a place to vent about petty issues.

Final Exhibition:

Arts Project Workshops:
http://www.hithergreen.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3720&p=13514&hilit=leegate#p13514

Leegate Arts Project Fundraiser:
http://www.hithergreen.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3497&p=12007&hilit=leegate#p12007

Twitter

I have gone so far as to set up a Twitter account for the use in an event I created. I did however not use it at anywhere near its full potential. I think twitter could be of huge benefit, not only advertise an event, but to keep the momentum going before an event is launched. I imagine that the downside could be having to constantly tweet to keep people interested.

Crowd Funder

This was a really useful site in bringing much needed funding to set up a project I ran. I also organised a fayre as part of the fundraiser, which involved a great deal of work in preparation and facilitation. In comparison it didn’t take long to set up the page on Crowd Funder and the donations made almost matched the funding from the fayre! The only drawback was that donators commented that the site was quite difficult to navigate and they also charged for each donation made. I’m not sure that I would use this particular site again because of this feedback, but I would like to investigate others that provide a similar service.


Utrophia

Utrophia are an arts collective that provide a platforms for the promotion of new work from artists all around the globe. They have been established since 2002, so have accumulated a large following of users within the arts. Their target group is ideal to promote my own artwork and to connect with other artists.


Flicker

I have only started using Flicker since starting this course. I haven’t explored its potential as much as I would like too.


I have recently been introduced to LinkedIn. I would like to create a profile on this platform to keep in contact with past colleagues for potential job opportunities that could further my teaching career.

Since starting my blog, I realise that it has massive potential both as a space for networking and also as a platform to guide followers to links to other networks e.g. Twitter, Facebook etc. The fact that you have to be a follower to view profiles hinders its accessibility.

My ultimate aim is to create my own website. On this I could utilise other networking sites by including links to Twitter, Facebook and other umbrella sites like Utrophia, that I have been included in. Having my own site would provide a space that I could divide into professional and social interest categories e.g. music, youth work, personal artwork, community work etc. This would mean that all my experience could be viewed in one virtual space, without the need to follow links or reference other sites. I would also like it to be a place that I could provide a downloadable version of my CV and folio of artwork.


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