As many of you know, I am into all things career development and arts employment related. Recently, the NY Times ran a story about how employers aren’t hiring even though they are interviewing and have openings. The story “With Positions to Fill Employers Wait for Perfection” is worth the read.

By K. Ryan Henisey and Stephanie Stallings

The good news: arts leaders are encouraged by the high salaries of performing artists, the size of the arts sector’s impact on the LA area economy and the wide variety of arts represented in the Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region . The bad news: those same leaders are surprised by the projected slow growth of the economic rebound and they want more and clearly defined data. Overall, arts leaders are impressed that this research is being done and are pleased by the amount of economic weight the arts have in our community. The question remains then, how do we use this information –  for advocacy and to form partnerships?

One can easily see how the 2012 Otis Report emerges from the trend of attempting to determine the economic value of the arts for advocacy and funding purposes—an attempt also seen in Americans for the Arts’ release of the national Arts and Economic Prosperity IV last year.

While the AEP IV focuses on the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry, the Otis Report gathered data in new and interesting ways. Building on Richard Florida’s “creative class” theories, it incorporated the local visual and performing arts economy into the larger scheme of creative enterprise in the Los Angeles region. By doing so, it makes a much more persuasive argument about how the arts contribute to overall economic development.

The report mattered to the leaders gathered at the LA Stage Alliance and Emerging Art Leaders / Los Angeles event on Monday, February 4th, because it shows that the “creative economy is the fourth largest employment cluster” and “creates one out of eight jobs” in the region.  It states that “direct and indirect employment in the creative industries based in Los Angeles County totaled 589,600 jobs in 2011.” These numbers have an impact on the regional economy and on the creative sector.  The report also moves away from the “art for art’s sake” model built on the attempt to convey the intrinsic cultural and aesthetic value of the arts, an approach that has lost much of its efficacy due to shifting demographics and economic uncertainty.

In a workshop led by Terence McFarland, CEO of LA Stage Alliance, 25-30 LA Area arts leaders and emerging leaders tackled the Otis Report on the Creative Economy for 2012. The widely diverse group discussed challenges, hopes, and action steps needed with this large report on creative money making.

McFarland led a lively discussion with break out groups covering the Otis Report as a whole. Participants discussed their biggest surprises and worries concerning the report and ways to leverage the information to further the creative economy and economic growth in LA.

Though largely representative of nonprofit arts organizations, the participants discussed actions and displayed an interest in using the information presented within the Otis Report to further enhance the creative economy of the region. Many members called for further work with local chambers of commerce and policy makers, developing a wider nonprofit community dedicated to furthering the creative economy, and building lines of communication concerning economic growth in the arts sector to city councils, law enforcement, and more.  These thoughts reveal of willingness for cross sector collaboration in the development of a total creative economy among participants.

There were some concerns with the report voiced in the room.  There were questions concerning the data, especially ways in which nonprofit arts organizations were lumped with for profit arts and Hollywood. One of the largest complaints across the room was that the report did not clearly define what constituted the creative economy – for instance, the inclusion of journalism as an arts sector with no inclusion of any other publishing media.  Participants pointed out other missing bits of information including statistics on higher education, job placement, and job loss across the arts sector.

Overall, the atmosphere was positive, with participants clearly concerned with how to effectively use the measurements of the Otis Report in meaningful ways across LA.  It was remarked with seriousness that the Otis Report reveals LA to be an arts capitol in our nation. McFarland and EAL/LA closed the evening with a promise to keep the conversation alive with more sessions dedicated furthering the impact of the data and the creative economy.

More than anything, the Otis Report gives us data about how the arts interact with other areas of the creative ecosystem in the Los Angeles region. It’s now up to us to leverage the data and continue to build coalitions that recognize the unique contributions of the for-profit and non-profit arts to education, connectivity, engagement, and economic prosperity.

At the Branding Workshop on January 19th, led by Nancy Hytone Leb, the focus was largely on branding an organization but my take away was how this can be applied on a more personal level. That being said, why does anyone need a brand? How do you develop one? And what’s the difference between a mission and a brand anyway?

Why does anyone need a brand? Well, you need one because you already have one. A brand is your public perception, the sum of your parts, your essence. It’s your trusted promise to a target (or intended) audience.

How do you develop one? This is where a bit of external research can be helpful. It is important to understand what people are already saying or thinking about you. People are always going to talk; give them something to talk about! The easiest thing to do is to conduct a Google search on yourself. Go ahead, do it! You know you want to. It’s really interesting what you’ll find. I found a newspaper interview that I gave when I was 15.

Another way to do this is to survey people whom you trust and ask them what their opinion is of you. I’d recommend using Survey Monkey because you can preserve anonymity to a good degree (i.e. block IP addresses, email addresses, and name recording). This can be intimidating but very insightful. The fun part is converting the results into a word cloud using Wordle. This will let you see what words are the most common by making those the largest. Once you understand your public persona, you can foster it or change it.

Next define your goals in the form of a personal mission statement. Developing a personal mission statement is a bit different than creating an organizational one, however it’s just as important. Think about writing your story in such a way that you can put it out in a deliverable fashion. Remember that your mission is fact driven and not consumer friendly (that’s where your brand comes in). Having a well-defined mission statement will empower you to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to opportunities that come your way. Set a three-year time limit on it. Careers and priorities tend to change so quickly these days that thinking in terms of 5-10 years is outdated. The most straightforward way that I’ve found to do this is borrowed from Rosetta Thurman and involves 3-steps.

Step 1: Identify your values
Take 15 minutes and write down a list of everything that means a lot to you. Be as specific as possible.

Step 2: Identify your goals
Now take another 15-20 minutes and write your own eulogy. Not really! All kidding aside, think about what you most want to contribute to the world. This probably should be related to how you want to build your career. This includes: career aspirations, volunteer interests, ways to make a social impact, and ways you want to grow personally/professionally.

Step 3: Write!!!
Now take at least 30 minutes to write your personal mission statement. It can be as short or as long as you think it needs to be. If you’re rather verbose, like me, just be prepared to develop an elevator speech later on. Oh, and don’t be afraid to update this as time goes on. We’re writing on computers, not stone.

Now that that’s done, it’s time to translate all of this into a brand statement. Remember, your mission is fact driven and written for advisors, and therefore not consumer friendly. Your brand statement communicates what you do and why you do it into a single sentence. Your mission is lofty. Your brand is here and now. It is what motivates your audience to interact. You can also create different taglines for different audiences; just ensure that the brand is consistent. Your brand statement should basically be “I am a (blank) who does (blank).”

You’ve probably already got a social media presence but now that you’re this far it’s a good time to make sure that it’s consistent. At a minimum you’ll need a LinkedIn but you may also have a Twitter, Facebook, EAL/LA profile, and a blog. Keep your audience in mind; LinkedIn is professional and Facebook is more personal. Use these platforms as an opportunity to communicate your brand. Write a fantastic bio that reflects this. To keep it simple, make sure you cite blog posts, events, or quotes that communicate your mission and values using keywords. For better or worse, if you talk about the same things often enough people will associate them with you. A blog is great if you have the time and inclination to maintain it. It’s also a great opportunity to let your opinions be heard. Go ahead, have a point of view! Just be prepared to stand up for it if you are ever asked to.

Also make sure that you’ve got a well-composed photograph as your profile image. If you can afford it, hire a professional photographer and have some headshots done. An alternative is to bring out the best outfit from your wardrobe, hold a simple DIY hair and make-up session, and head out on location with a friend and a camera. The average camera and editing software is more than enough to create a perfectly nice picture for your profile. A bit of effort goes a long way. Besides, if you’re female you most likely enjoy getting gussied up anyway.

Lastly, don’t forget your in-person persona. Always dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Never leave home without a business card, preferably a personal one (separate from your organization). That way if you have multiple interests, (e.g. fundraising, creative placemaking, and playwiting) you can have the appropriate card for each. Vistaprint offers free business cards for first time customers. MOO allows you the option of printing a different image on every card in the pack. The perk here is that you can provide the same contact information with different images that relate to your varied interests.

Also make sure you’re keeping your brand advocates (read peers and mentors) in the loop on your accomplishments. You’ll need them to be able to speak about your quality, value, reliability, and relevancy. Your advocate’s brands lend itself to your brand, and always make sure that both parties’ brands are good for one another. Your association with someone rubs off on you, and vice versa. If someone’s helping you make sure you return the favor.

Ultimately, it’s a long-term project to create and foster your personal brand, but so worth it! Take some time to reflect on who you are, who you’re perceived to be, and where you’re headed and you’ll be glad you did.

This post was submitted by Laura Sardisco.

Congratulations to Year 4 of Arts Professionals Advisors Link (APAL) participants!

Pilar Alvarez

Virginia Broersma

Natasia Gascon

Alma Guzman

Andrew Kaiser

Stephanie Kistner

Christa Lorenz

David Marks

Seth Pringle

Emily Rumack

Laura Sardisco

Elizabeth Wachtel

To learn more about this program please visit ealla.org/about-apal

We’ve searched long and hard and we are proud to announce our new Managing Director of EAL/LA is Stephanie Stallings! Stephanie will ensure successful operations of the EAL/LA Leadership Council by guiding efficient communications and organization.  We know she will keep us on track as we grow and build a better network for emerging leaders, and help EAL/LA to strengthen the vibrant arts community in Los Angeles!

A little bit about Stephanie:

Stephanie Stallings is a musicologist with over 13 years of experience in the arts and education sectors. She has worked as a marketing and sales coordinator at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC and as a lecturer in music history at George Washington University.

Stephanie researches the use of visual and performing arts in public diplomacy as well as other forms of inter-cultural dialogue. She created Arts Diplomacy Network in 2012 to address–in thoughtful discussion with arts ambassadors, diplomats and policy experts–some of the challenges inherent in current arts diplomacy practice (artsdiplomacy.com). Her future plans include curating and evaluating artistic programming that both increases awareness of international arts and celebrates U.S. cultural diversity at a time when both are imperative. Her other interests include cultural policy and globalization, and the role of the arts in diverse, democratic societies.

Stephanie’s professional experience includes work in higher education, publishing and editing, fundraising, direct response marketing, and work with the Cultural Data Project, which gathers longitudinal data on the arts and culture sector. She’s also an active member of Arts for LA, the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles, and the Young Professionals of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, and she was selected as one of 40 participants in Americans for the Arts‘ 2013 Local Arts Classroom.

Turn your passion for the arts into your profession.

Join us for our next brown bag lunch at the LA County Arts Commission to learn about the MA in Arts Management program with others who are searching for the next right step in their career.

Laura Zucker, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and Director of the Arts Management program will speak about this academic opportunity.

Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM PT
Location: LA County Arts Commission
Address: 1055 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 800
(corner of Bixel St. just east of the 110 downtown)
Details/Directions: Parking is available on the northwest corner of Bixel and Wilshire ($8) or the southwest corner of Bixel and Sixth ($5). The “A” Dash stops across the street from the building on Wilshire Blvd.

RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/bammu5f

For more information contact: Diana.luna@cgu.edu
www.cgu.edu/am

Dear EAL/LA,

We’re one of five Emerging Leader networks nationwide engaged in an Arts Action Fund membership drive! This is a great opportunity for our network to gain visibility and contribute to the important work being done by the Arts Action Fund. Between now and January 31st, 2013, I encourage all of you to join (it’s free!) and help us spread the word so our network is announced as the winner of this membership drive.

As you may know, the Arts Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit membership organization affiliated with Americans for the Arts. The Arts Action Fund’s goals are to enlist and mobilize 1 million citizen activists who will help ensure that public and private resources are maximized and that arts-friendly public policies are adopted at the federal, state, and local levels. Our network is one of over 30 Emerging Leader networks nationwide, all affiliated with Americans for the Arts.

To join, please click here. Don’t forget to indicate you’re a member of our network!

We’ll be posting on Facebook and Twitter about the competition. Please re-post and help us sign up the most new members