Hackerpreneur magazine — Medium: The other week, I was invited to a dinner hosted by a friend. Those attending included people I’ve admired for years. Halfway through the dinner, I silently asked myself, “How did I get here?”
For years, I heard people talk about their influential friendships and subsequent success, and I would seethe with envy. It seemed unfair. Of course those people were successful. They knew the right people. They were in the right place at the right time. They got lucky.
13 comments:
This article is really interesting. When I look back at the jobs I've gotten, my favorite ones were always about being in the right place at the right time and talking to the right people at the right restaurant at USITT or some other gathering of theatre people. I don't know that I'd call it unfair, though. I think what IS unfair is sending a resume into a job you'd be truly great for, and having it never make it through the computer to a human that would recognize your name. I think it's really lucky that we work in an industry that allows our name to mean something, and while, sure, that sometimes hurts us, it's a much more pleasant way of finding your way through and keeps you from being just another number at a job. All of what he is saying is true, I'm just not sure what he's so upset about.
Everyone I’ve ever met in the world of theatre has told me about the importance of networking. It’s so funny that creative fields are so often based on networking. But if you think about it, that makes a lot of sense. In the muggle world, people get desk jobs, which typically have very clear paths and steps up to the top. You start as an intern, become an employee, then a manager, then a district supervisor, and up and up and up until you hit the big shots. If you work hard, the path is clear and the only networking you need is your immediate supervisors. Your job usually does the networking for you. But in a creative world, we aren’t settled into an organizational system like that. We bounce from project to project, with no steady maintaining of your status or position. If you want to make it in a creative field, you have to be friends with the people who start a project. You have to know who’s hiring, and leave a good impression. In creative fields, everything is based off of interpersonal communication, so of course networking would be important. I know that a lot of the upperclassmen have told me that they found their internships through the CMU Alumni network, which is a great example of how networking can pay off. In fact this weekend there was a good opportunity to network; the Themed Entertainment conference happening in Purnell. Networking is an important skill to have, and one that I hope to thoroughly expand and use during my time at CMU.
This article is fascinating to read just after my experience with the SATE conference this week. Three key moments really defined my experience. First was painting the fence with several of the conference attendees. I ended up having this awesome opportunity because I was lucky enough to be on the list of people Trent ended up asking to help him out. The next however was a little chance. While standing in line for dinner with Zara we noticed Lennie Larson was in the next line over. After we got our food I went up and explained that as students in the school of drama who might be interested in themed entertainment we would love to have dinner with him if he had time. It turns out that in addition to being a really cool person Lennie is a CMU SOD graduate and extremely nice. He agreed to have dinner with us and we ended up talking for about an hour and a half. I think connections like this are the foundation of a career and while I was lucky with the circumstances I think sometimes asking for help is all you need to do.
Having just recently starting to think about my potential future career in theater and the arts in general, the ideas of “networking” and “connections” and “reaching out” have been buzzing around my head quite a bit. The idea of the “systems” approach is interesting to me, and while it’s obviously heavily simplified, I think the components of it make sense in considering not how someone is/ becomes talented or creative, but how someone can take that talent and creativity and make it known. This is especially applicable in our weirdly specific world of theater, where there are countless numbers of unbelievably talented performers, artists, managers and technicians, but too often there aren’t enough positions to go around, or people take advantage of the passion you have for your work instead of rewarding you for it. I think this article relates well to one of the ones from last week, which talked about introversion vs. extroversion in people in positions of leadership, because to me at least, the ideas of networking and making connections and reaching out to people in the industry have always had at least a slight association with being outgoing, brave, and forward. However, I don’t know if i would call this “an unfair truth” as much as I would call it a necessary part of being an artist in today’s society. In this case, I think it’s important to note that it’s not just raw talent that makes someone successful, but hard, dedicated work, and it think that can sometimes include seeking people out and making them aware that you exist.
I’ve always been told that good networking is vital to one’s success in any field. Knowing the right person at the right time can make all the difference. However, part of what makes the entertainment industry so much more reliant on networking is its being more personal. To acquire a more or less traditional job in a corporation, one is hired and promoted based on factors that are more tangible and directly communicable to multiple people. It is much easier to measure a salesperson’s performance relative to a goal than it is to measure a designer’s quality of creative output and effect on an audience. The inherently qualitative nature of an artist’s work is difficult to objectively adjudicate. Close relationships between professionals are part of what makes this industry so interesting. There’s nothing else like it. As a result, one must put much effort into networking and building relationships to have any chance at steady work. Of course there’s disadvantages to this, but I think this system is beneficial overall. It teaches people to be good artists and good communicators.
Having just had SATE this weekend, the fact that networking is vital to ones career especially at an early age holds strong in today's society. I started out in the theatre in high school, I got a job as an intern at a theatre called casa manana. From there I went to a smaller theatre company that payed me a little more than minimum wage. The other avenue I was able to work was architecture. I was a good architecture student in my class and my teacher noticed. He contacted a local architect that said he wanted me to work for him if i had no other plans. This allowed me to work on tons of projects there which led me to got the attention of themed entertainment companies. By letting them see my portfolio of architecture design, set design, and themed entertainment they were able to imagine what I could do for them. A strong portfolio makes networking easier but as they said at the conference, if somebody doesn't like you they wont hire you, no matter how good you are or how much you've worked on. In themed entertainment especially its like juggling projects and jobs one after the other. In this article they explain that in order to get out there you have to put yourself out there, always say yes to "would you be interested in" or "would you mind doing". In order to be successful you must be willing to work with others in order to succeed.
My mother always told me, 'Javi, start networking now". Mind you, I was 7 years old. Networking is something that I have found to be so important and something that ultimately leads to success in the arts. Referring to an older post, it's is easier to create a quota for a desk job but way harder to trust the artistic ability and depth of a designer. Knowing people in the industry who know your background, who have worked with you in the past, who are familiar with your education... these are the people that will end up giving you jobs and knowing them even after you complete employment is going to help so much because it is yet another connection you have made in this daisy-chain of a business.
While reading this article, one line in particular stood out to me. When Goins makes the statement that "Creativity is not a solitary invention but a collaborative creation," something clicked with me. Before that line, the article had seemed like a vague introduction to a dense handbook about defining and achieving success through this elusive entity known as "creativity." However, that line in particular really resonated with me. After a short period of rumination, I realize how true this article is, and how much networking, conscious or spontaneous, I've done to get where I am as a theatrical professional. If not for my mother, I would have never met the woman who would eventually give me my "gateway" theater job, an internship that ultimately led to a proper job. Networking, as anyone in the School of Drama can tell you, is crucial, as much a part of any given job as the physical work associated with it. Goins has managed to effectively summarize this fact in this article, which is why you'll find me bookmarking it, so I can send to some younger techs beck home.
This article is exciting in the sense that it makes you feel able to have success. The Gatekeeper is a great way of thinking about it, and the nuance to be able to say that you need multiple gatekeepers was also a great thing talked about in the article. Breaking down the network was also super helpful. What struck me the most, though, was something that he said towards the end, and how it related to an internships I did in Chicago this summer. "It's all about who you help." In Chicago, when my boss first created his theatre company and received some attention, the managing director of Steppenwolf brought him out to lunch. At the lunch, the managing director said "You're a good person, and you do good work, so I, and the company I manage, are going to help you succeed. The only catch is, when you have the ability to, you also have to help other good people along. That's what we do here in Chicago." Not only is this inspiring and great, but it brings up a great lesson for artists of all levels, that if we want our art forms to remain strong and relevant, we have to help each other succeed.
This article really hits home for me as I think about graduation in a few months. I find that have so much ambition but I will have to work hard to make things happen for myself. I think one thing this article kind of brushes over it that the talent has to be there as well. You can be helpful all you want and network until you drop but if you don’t have the skills to keep up you aren’t going to succeed. I think about the idea of helping people can get a little dicey as well. People are sometimes much to likely to take advantage of kind people and you don’t want to find yourself the local doormat. When I first started grad school I was set on moving back to Chicago, but over the past year I’ve realized that if I moved back there right away I would regret it. I need to go to the pinnacle of making in the US and give it a shot.
For anyone who is considering a career in theater, or any kind of creative art really, they have all heard the phrase, it is not what you know, it is who you know. And as much as many of us would prefer it not to be, it really is about your network. This article highlights that are really breaks down the reality of that. The concept of a Gatekeeper in my experience is very true. I worked one show with the right person and many new opportunities opened up for me. It was a show at a union theater house that constantly has Broadway tour like Newsies, Sister Act, and Elf coming through. By working one show there, Shrek that I stage Managed with a regional theater company, I created some really good relations with people on the union crew, then the next time they were down in how many people they needed, they called me to work. That one gate opened up other doors for me. It is kind of horrible that such a creative art form involves social networking to become highly successful, especially because most artists seem to lack in how to socialize, but everything the article said was very true to how it really works.
I absolutely love this article. This article has so many parallels to success in any field, theatre, academics, sports, the world in general. Sometimes I look around and think how in the world am I going to stand out when there is so much talent surrounding me? I still face that question. Nevertheless, this article reassures me that not only luck, but hard work will pay off. Once I master my craft, and am able to present myself and my work in an extremely professional manner, the networking kicks into high gear.
Networking, however, "kicked into high gear" the moment I started theatre. Building a name for oneself, I feel, is important in any industry. In theatre, success rides much on the idea of being a people person, a person who is well liked, and easy to work with. Positivity will put you in a better light, and allow you to breed that feeling onto others, and others perceptions of your. All in all, working hard and putting yourself in the right situations, and surrounding yourself with the right people, while counting a little on luck, will lead to good outcomes.
This article reminds of the book “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell, which I read last year. In the book, Gladwell (traditionally a statistician) looks at cases of exceptional success and failure, to try and theorize why some individuals seem to get lucky. One common theme in several of the scenarios Gladwell looks at is that success is not a product of hard work or luck alone, but a combination of the two. One example case in the book is the story of Bill Gates. Young Bill was lucky enough to have access to a computer when he was young, something very rare. This alone however, doesn’t mean anything. It was the hours and hours of work Gates put in learning the basics of coding that ultimately lead him down his path to success.
In the theatre industry, a lot of this translates to networking. There are plenty of designers, actors, etc. who work very hard but can’t seem to “get their break.” When we see someone go from being a “nobody” to having their name on a Broadway playbill, we may often assume it had to do with networking and them knowing the “right people.” While this is necessary, only knowing the right people won’t get you very far. One must also work hard and take advantage of any opportunity that comes their way if it can advance their career.
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