Currently living in the Baltimore area there is a woman who has been a friend of mine since 3rd grade. She was also my primary competitor for years - we competed for roles (usually a 50/50 split), we competed for boys (she always won), we competed for GPA in the same classes (I kicked her tush every time). She was also my best friend for the last three years of high school. She went from rival to friend when I was able to set the competition aside and
teach her how to play jazz flute for the school band. Now, for the first time since the early 90's, we've got the same job. She's a real estate agent - and a top notch one at that. But while we're in the same industry, we're not in the same market. I'm in Chicago, she's in Baltimore. And now I am learning by watching her. When I read her blog I think, "this is someone who knows her job really well." Yes, I'm a little jealous. But threatened? Not at all.
Can you really say that a community theatre SM in North Dakota is really competing for the same jobs as a regional AEA SM in Raleigh? Can you really say that a corporate SM in Singapore is vying for the same jobs as someone who coordinates cues for a college in Maine? No, but all of their contributions are valuable and one person's advice could very well assist the other.
We tried smaller regional networks - in fact, in the early years I built a test-balloon Seattle area mini SMNet that never really took off. I was approached in 2009 to do another spinoff for the southeastern US. In both cases, there wasn't the volume of discussion nor a strong promoter-type leader to get it off the ground. I cannot really quantify the amount of cheerleading and cultivation it took to get the site to become self-sustaining. If a regional network were to emerge outside of NYC or London I would certainly welcome it, but until then the internet will have to do.
Yes, you might be training your competition. Yes, there are times that the skills you've taught will come back to bite you in the butt. Matthew will know of one such situation that remains prominent in my memory.
But what if you're training your future ASM? What if you're training your successor? What if you're building your own expertise and your own reputation by contributing here? I have to say, the easiest interview I ever had for a stage management position was with a PM who followed SMNet. She knew exactly who I was and it served as a wonderful icebreaker. In the years since I stopped SMing, I've shown apartments to stage manager clients in Chicago who have no clue who Kay Cleaves is, but definitely know the name PSMKay.
Analogy time. My manager says that it isn't slideshows or market analyses or pretty pictures of houses that makes a client choose their real estate agent. They choose an agent because
they like him/her and because the agent's ability to assemble and convey those skills makes a successful connection.
Similarly, many actors study the same techniques. Viewpoints, Stanislavski, Meyerhold. They'll study with the same teachers. They'll warm up with the same games and exercises. Yet if they all read for the same role, only one will fit, and the reasons are not necessarily related to their skill but a combination of factors including reputation, connections, impact, presence, skill, practice and embodiment of the role.
I view sharing knowledge as leveling the playing field. Stage management is such an esoteric and malleable art that no matter what sugar and spice are provided here, Ingredient X is always
your personal spin on what you learn here. If you provide 3500 different stage managers with the same tools, every one of them will interpret and implement them differently. Every show will require a different subset and application of those tools to be successful.
I do not doubt that there are many people who hold to the same concept as Matthew's friend. After all, the unregistered guests on SMNet generally outnumber the registered members on at least a 2:1 basis at any given point in the day. I can also see this kind of defensiveness as a reasonable reaction of someone who is insecure in their position, their knowledge, or their rank in the general pecking order of the industry. Many people in theatre survive on those feelings of insufficiency as a means to keep working harder. However, SM being a lonely profession in many parts of the world, I think that disseminating the information we discover and share here remains absolutely critical.
To those who are worried about lessening their own impact, I challenge you - take it further. Learn what's here and then push it in your head to the next level. Make it your own, make yours better than ours. If you choose to come back and share what you've learned with the rest of the class, great, you've just raised stage management to the next level
as an industry. If not, chances are that someone else will stumble on the same idea - maybe not as quickly as you, but they will think of it. They'll share it, they'll get the credit for it, and they'll build their rep instead. Personally, I think an SM with the confidence to share what they've learned with the world - and to do so with enthusiasm and vigor - is an SM who can handle anything that comes their way with aplomb.
PS to Celeste: I was never AEA, and for the first few years I was writing about 95% of the content on SMNet. I had about 2 years of experience in year one of the site. Most of that stuff is still floating around the boards somewhere. Within the past month I linked in a post to the
very first form that I uploaded to SMNet eleven years ago, so some of it's even still valid.
Please, jump on in!
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