Daniel Pink's unique career guide Johny Bunko tells the story of the common situation many people face when deciding what they want to do with their professional lives. Do I follow my passion and do what I truly love to do, or do I take a safer route to ensure financial stability. As someone who chose the path to follow their heart without question, this was not a difficult choice for me. However, I also did not have parents, teachers, and friends discouraging me from that decision but everyone has a different situation. Johny Bunko loved to illustrate and wanted to pursue a career in the arts, but his family pressured him and made sure he went into accounting and now is stuck at a dead-end job and is very unhappy. Bunko is suffering from mind numbing repetition, deadlines, work overload, and boss pressure. what he wanted was a satisfying successful career. throughout the book Bunko learns the six career secrets in order to be successful and satisfied no matter what your field is.
1. There is no plan
2. Think strengths, not weaknesses.
3. It's not about you
4. Persistence trumps talent
5. Make excellent mistakes
6. Leave an imprint
I know I can apply all of theses points to myself and how I pursue a carer in music. There is no plan: I certainly have an idea of where I would like to be 10 years from now but I also realize that no matter how hard I set a plan, I have no idea where or what I will be doing or what oppurtunity's will come and take me in a new direction. X might lead to W and W might lead to Red. Life is not an algebra problem. I think you can have goals, but not a set plan. Think strengths, not weaknesses: in music practice, there is so much emphasis on practicing what we aren't good at, which is necessary but it is more important to know what your strengths are and capitalize on them. I'm a really good rock drummer so I play in a rock band, not a Latin band. I have a "flow" with rock that I'm confident with that isn't there with latin so if I'm looking for a gig I go for what I'm good at. It's not about you: this makes me think of writing cover letters or applying for a job. Focus on what you can offer them and how you help them rather then what you can get from them. how will they benefit from having you. Teamwork, cooperation an problem solving are positive and effective ways of realizing its not about you. Persistence trumps talent: I do agree with this but I do feel that there are exceptions. Some poeple are extremely talented and don't have to work as hard as others in order to achieve a goal, on the other hand persistence leads to success 100% of the time regardless of talent level. Hard work pays off and that's a fact. Make excellent mistakes: everyone knows we learn from our mistakes, you can't be afraid to take risks and make some mistakes because that's how we grow, and many times as a musicians we stumble onto something really new and cool when we mess up. Leave an imprint: Do things that matter and are larger then yourself. dream big and make an impact. Create new sounds and ways to approach music even if its dumb or you think people won't like it. I feel like I've found my place and purpose in the world now it's up to me to do something with it.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
A Darling visit
Rapper/ vocalist Dessa darling of Doom Tree had plenty of great information on promoting myself/band and getting into local press or other media sources. She brought to my attention the most important aspects of promotion and materials I need to catch the attention of a local newspaper or radio station. I really liked her attention to detail and awareness of all the little qwerks of the different newspapers, like knowing what color clothing to where for black and white photos and knowing the space on the page that the picture will fill. The most important thing to have is a "Bangin' Bio" and have more then one. I need to cater to the source that I'm trying to get involved with. The less work the person receiving my info has to do the better, and everyone is looking for something different.It is also good to have multiple press shots so you can fill the need for multiple scenarios. You can never have to much stuff! But it's also more important to have quality meaningful content that people are going to respond well to and want to keep checking out. she also pointed out that a lot of young groups don't promote as much as they should because in social situations it feels slimy or wrong.You don't need to be overbearing or pushy but positive self promotion is necessary in order to get yourself known.
One thing I never thought about that Dessa discussed was exchanging services with creative fair trade. What do I have to offer, other then money, that will make both parties benefit from what I need to accomplish. I can't think of an examples in my current situation that I could use but now that I am aware of this strategy I will certainly look for a situation to put this concept into practice.
I mentioned in class that my bands song "What Makes You Happy" was aired once on the 89.3 the current and that I didn't feel it was beneficial because one air play doesn't really launch much exposure and nothing came of it. Dessa responded with a philosophy that maybe nothing did come of your one air play but maybe the next step you take like getting in the Vita.MN will raise the brow of someone and gives us some type of opportunity. the point being, I need to do twenty things and maybe only one of those promotional things will lead to something else beneficial, and maybe it wont, but if you just keep working at it and trying to make things happen, something eventually will.
Dessa also mentioned having web content that fans can check out even if its dumb playful stuff that is just for fun to show your personality and raise awareness of who you are. Below are a couple of links to promotional videos my band made that have had good reactions and are similar to dessa's example.
Rapper/ vocalist Dessa darling of Doom Tree had plenty of great information on promoting myself/band and getting into local press or other media sources. She brought to my attention the most important aspects of promotion and materials I need to catch the attention of a local newspaper or radio station. I really liked her attention to detail and awareness of all the little qwerks of the different newspapers, like knowing what color clothing to where for black and white photos and knowing the space on the page that the picture will fill. The most important thing to have is a "Bangin' Bio" and have more then one. I need to cater to the source that I'm trying to get involved with. The less work the person receiving my info has to do the better, and everyone is looking for something different.It is also good to have multiple press shots so you can fill the need for multiple scenarios. You can never have to much stuff! But it's also more important to have quality meaningful content that people are going to respond well to and want to keep checking out. she also pointed out that a lot of young groups don't promote as much as they should because in social situations it feels slimy or wrong.You don't need to be overbearing or pushy but positive self promotion is necessary in order to get yourself known.
One thing I never thought about that Dessa discussed was exchanging services with creative fair trade. What do I have to offer, other then money, that will make both parties benefit from what I need to accomplish. I can't think of an examples in my current situation that I could use but now that I am aware of this strategy I will certainly look for a situation to put this concept into practice.
I mentioned in class that my bands song "What Makes You Happy" was aired once on the 89.3 the current and that I didn't feel it was beneficial because one air play doesn't really launch much exposure and nothing came of it. Dessa responded with a philosophy that maybe nothing did come of your one air play but maybe the next step you take like getting in the Vita.MN will raise the brow of someone and gives us some type of opportunity. the point being, I need to do twenty things and maybe only one of those promotional things will lead to something else beneficial, and maybe it wont, but if you just keep working at it and trying to make things happen, something eventually will.
Dessa also mentioned having web content that fans can check out even if its dumb playful stuff that is just for fun to show your personality and raise awareness of who you are. Below are a couple of links to promotional videos my band made that have had good reactions and are similar to dessa's example.
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