Author Topic: The importance of on line presence  (Read 12941 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

MatthewShiner

  • Forum Moderators
  • *****
  • Posts: 2478
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA, SMA
  • Current Gig: Freelance Stage Manager; Faculty for UMKC
  • Experience: Professional
The importance of on line presence
« on: Dec 01, 2015, 11:51 pm »
Do a web search for your name plus stage manager . . .

Does a web page with your email come up?  Anyway to contact you?

I was looking for a stage manager's email here at work for a time sensitive gig . . . I knew his name, but nothing else . . . sadly, could not find him at all.

Just saying . . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

TarytheA

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 39
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #1 on: Dec 02, 2015, 08:26 am »
That's a good question - I just tried that and the answer for me is no. Suggestions on how to do this other than creating a website for myself? I know I don't have time to keep it updated and I think it looks worse to have a website that has clearly not been touched in months than not have one. (If I see a small theatre company whose website says "coming soon!" and the show listed is from 8 months or a year ago, I don't have much confidence in their ability to be organized and on top of things.)

Anyway, other thoughts? I hate LinkedIn with a passion! :)
« Last Edit: Jan 14, 2016, 08:18 pm by TarytheA »
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
-Herm Albright

LexieTaylor

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 47
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: Alum, UW-Whitewater
  • Current Gig: Former SM/Occasional Freelancer
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #2 on: Dec 02, 2015, 12:34 pm »
Well, linkedin was going to be my suggestion, but its not the only way.

Is it worth making a very simple one page website that won't need much maintenance?
Something like "Hi, I'm a stage manager in blah blah area with blah blah training. Here is how to contact me."

SMMeade

  • SM Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 117
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA
  • Current Gig: Asst. Company Manager, HVSF
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #3 on: Dec 02, 2015, 09:12 pm »
I've found about.me is a great and very easy way to have a simple contact page! Mine is about.me/katiemeade if anyone is interested in checking it out. I have a few things linked- you can send me an email, check out my linkedin and About the Artists page. Best of all, there's zero coding involved. I opt not to have my phone number available but that's an option too.

megf

  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 284
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA
  • Current Gig: Former SM
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #4 on: Dec 02, 2015, 11:48 pm »
Matthew - how do you balance security with search-ability?

My email is easy to find for people I know on social media, but I'm not a fan of strangers being able to get to me that easily. The likelihood that I'll get lots of spam is much higher than the likelihood I'll get work.

KMC

  • Forum Moderators
  • *****
  • Posts: 963
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Current Gig: Project Manager, Systems Integration
  • Experience: Former SM
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #5 on: Dec 03, 2015, 01:43 am »
The likelihood that I'll get lots of spam is much higher than the likelihood I'll get work.

I can confirm this first-hand.  The first professional website I made in college 10 years ago had my email address in plain text, and it has been inundated with spam and garbage to the point that I've had to abandon that email address and start fresh.  Google's spam filters are not capable of keeping up with it.  At some point I will try to re-claim it... but it is a herculean effort.

That said, I do think it's important for folks to be able to get hold of you either through LinkedIn or some other means.  One alternative to posting your address publicly is to use a "contact me" form on your website.  This option gives users an avenue to contact you without sacrificing your privacy.

For personal websites, Wordpress is a fool-proof setup that most folks who are even slightly tech savvy can figure out.  Once the back-end database is set up (don't let that be intimidating, most hosting companies will do this for you) the actual building of your site is quite simple and intuitive.  If you do use Wordpress, this plugin looks to be pretty good.  Also includes captcha for anti-spam! 
Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action. -T. Roosevelt

Michelle R. Wood

  • SM Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 164
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • website
  • Affiliations: EMC, East Carolina University
  • Current Gig: Resident Stage Manager at Temple Theatre
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #6 on: Dec 03, 2015, 02:08 am »
I second the contact form idea; [shameless self-promotion alert] it's what I recommend my clients do as opposed to listing an email address, since my other hat I wear is freelance web developer. If anyone wants to ask me specific questions or get advice, feel free to PM.
"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." -- Thomas Edison (Harper's Magazine, 1932)

dallas10086

  • Superstar!
  • *****
  • Posts: 562
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Current Gig: Freelance PSM; currently Charlotte Squawks 12
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #7 on: Dec 03, 2015, 10:42 am »
Do a web search for your name plus stage manager . . .

Does a web page with your email come up?  Anyway to contact you?


I came up pretty easily. But with a name like Dallas...

SMMeade

  • SM Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 117
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA
  • Current Gig: Asst. Company Manager, HVSF
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #8 on: Dec 03, 2015, 03:57 pm »
One of the things I like about my about.me contact page is that my email address is not actually on the page- there's just a contact box that people can use, but don't actually get my email from. I haven't gotten any spam through that, as far as I can tell.

babens

  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 320
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA/AGMA/SMA
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #9 on: Dec 03, 2015, 07:30 pm »
My LinkedIn page was the first hit, followed by About The Artists and my BroadwayWorld artist page. Then a lot of the old programs from Theatreworks in PDF form (even though the tours they are from are long since over).

CARo

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 7
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Current Gig: MFA Playwright Festival
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #10 on: Dec 16, 2015, 10:40 pm »
I've found about.me is a great and very easy way to have a simple contact page! Mine is about.me/katiemeade if anyone is interested in checking it out. I have a few things linked- you can send me an email, check out my linkedin and About the Artists page. Best of all, there's zero coding involved. I opt not to have my phone number available but that's an option too.

Thank you SMMeade, I just checked about.me and I really like the format. I've been wondering about online presence and I keep thinking when would be a good time to set up a SM site for myself, but I always stop the process once I start thinking about the formatting and how to list my credits... I just have to actually sit down a figure all of that out.

But about.me seems looks super easy to use, I will definitely be trying it out! Hopefully if someone needs me they can find me like this!

Plabebob

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 22
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: Equity
  • Current Gig: Opera North - Ring Cycle
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #11 on: Feb 15, 2016, 02:08 pm »
I just searched mine and the 3rd link down the page was a link to my CV which is published on stagejobspro.com. It includes my phone number and work email, I don't get any spam whatsoever to that address, the spam folder is completely empty, but it's clearly visible without clicking through. Maybe this is the best way to go.

southernsoprano

  • Tourist
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Experience: College/Graduate
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #12 on: Mar 12, 2016, 02:18 pm »
I actually have a question related to all this:

So my first + last name combo is literally (and I mean literally) the most generic female name on the planet. It's basically the feminine equivalent of "John Smith," and my middle initial/name is just a continuation of the generic Anglo-ness of it all. So no help there.

As a result, when you search my name, absolutely nothing related to me shows up, because there are 10,000,000 of me out there. So, in terms of making my linkedin/website/general internet presence as memorable and striking as possible... what should I do? Honestly, no one really calls me by my full first name, so should I just use my nickname? It's nothing immature or wacky, just a shortened version of my name, but it feels so... casual... to use my nickname with potential employers and other people I don't know. But I can't deny that I'm so much more searchable that way - I even had to change my facebook name to it because my friends couldn't find me! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
"You are enough, you are so enough, it's unbelievable how enough you are!" - Sierra Boggess

bex

  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 298
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • Twitter
  • Affiliations: AEA, Auburn University
  • Current Gig: Freelance SM/ASM
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #13 on: Mar 12, 2016, 06:12 pm »
I actually have a question related to all this:

So my first + last name combo is literally (and I mean literally) the most generic female name on the planet. It's basically the feminine equivalent of "John Smith," and my middle initial/name is just a continuation of the generic Anglo-ness of it all. So no help there.

As a result, when you search my name, absolutely nothing related to me shows up, because there are 10,000,000 of me out there. So, in terms of making my linkedin/website/general internet presence as memorable and striking as possible... what should I do? Honestly, no one really calls me by my full first name, so should I just use my nickname? It's nothing immature or wacky, just a shortened version of my name, but it feels so... casual... to use my nickname with potential employers and other people I don't know. But I can't deny that I'm so much more searchable that way - I even had to change my facebook name to it because my friends couldn't find me! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I say use the name that people call you. In this business, it's not at all unusual or frowned-upon for the name on your driver's license to be different than your name in the program.
If your name is that common, you'll have to use a different name if you join Equity anyway- might as well get used to using something different now.
You will have to sing for your supper & your mortgage, your dental coverage & your children's shoes, over & over again while people in desk jobs roll their eyes the minute you start to complain. So it's a good thing you like to sing.

SMMeade

  • SM Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 117
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA
  • Current Gig: Asst. Company Manager, HVSF
  • Experience: Professional
Re: The importance of on line presence
« Reply #14 on: Mar 14, 2016, 03:00 am »
Southernsoprano- the main question is when you search your name + stage manager, does another stage manager pop up? If so, maybe change your name around for a professional name (maybe your full name, but you could also add your middle initial, just your two first initials then last name, etc.) that's credited in programs and such so you differentiate yourself from them.