In a guest post over at Simon Ogden’s The Next Stage, Kris Joseph offers some thoughts on new media.
To quote Kris,
ARTISTS, I firmly believe, need to start looking at this stuff with the same level of priority they give to things like keeping their resume up-to-date and keeping on top of audition postings and agent relationships.
Why are these new media tools so important?
Whether we like it or not the internet and all of its tools have made us publishers.
Before we needed to rely strictly on old media to help us get the word out about our work. But now it’s possible to build our own platform. This allows us to empower people to talk about our work. To get them excited about it. So they want to see it.
New media is not a replacement for the work
It’s a chance to extend the story and allow people an entry point. Each tool should be thought of as an extension of the work.
If the storytellers don’t take advantage of this now. I fear they’ll get left behind wondering where it all went wrong.
That’s not good.
Maybe that’s the scary part
If it fails, who’s to blame?
But I seem to remember the best moments onstage coming from people who embrace the fear.
It’s time to pioneer this new media landscape.
It can’t be done in isolation
The focus actually needs to shift to the audience. Stop thinking of them as though they’re some type of mysterious statistic in a new report.
Talk to the actual people who like what you do. Don’t worry about people who go to other shows around the country. Concentrate on the people that make up YOUR audience.
Then use these new tools to get them the information they want.
It boils down to sharing the work
Then people start to feel part of what you’re doing. They get excited about it. They share it.
Which means they’ll bring a new audience with them. That’s good.
What do you think? Am I off-base looking at it this way?