...Professional Practice Powerpoint Presentation....

Today I gave my Powerpoint presentation!!! It was made more interesting for me because for some reason the laptop hooked up to the overhead projector wouldn't accept my memory stick! So, I had to use a computer screen at one of the desks and sit on a chair by it. This made it far more cozy and comfortable for me and so much more informal, pretty much like my presentation. I think it went well, not too sure because I lost my place a little at times due to the fact that I had no idea what slide I was on as there was no preview of what slide was coming next as it would have been had I been able to use the overhead projector. Still.. it's done now and filmed by Graeme to assess it and mark it.
Here is my presentation script,....(The numbers are the slides and when to push the button for the next one)

1.      Good morning!!!

2.When I first started thinking of my presentation my first thoughts were of my role within our exhibition and how I fulfilled those rolls and how I tackled each one, including the video that I made for 53 degrees in which I did at one point 3.drown my video camera in the bath.

4.But each time I went over what I did I kept looking further and further back into the beginning of the year, how those rolls were chosen and it came to me that I should talk about what it was that I had learned.

5.As you know my profession is in the entertainment business. Although the concepts of obtaining gigs and work are very similar in one way, they are fundamentally different in other parts. I had already held an exhibition a few years ago and even at the time I knew that I had made a few mistakes, but this was because I was approaching the venture from a different point of view. I was working in a way that I know that works as an entertainer but not as an artist.

What are these main differences I hear you ask, well, it all comes down to one thing the main difference between finding an exhibition and finding a gig is the structure, 6.how to do things in a certain order, and this was the most fundamental thing that I had learned. The structure of arranging an exhibition is unlike any other structure I’ve had to deal with before

7.STEP 1: CONCEIVING THE CONCEPT

The 1^st part of the structure is to have a CONCEPT. When the concept is there, the beginning has begun. In our case the concept was a Group Exhibition. A group exhibition is a great concept. It has so many more benefits than a solo exhibition. Straight away the fact that,8. in this case there are 9 extremely talented and versatile artists, gives so much more to the public and venues for an exhibition.

So, once the CONCEPT has been made, what comes next? This is where, straight away, things are so different from how I would normally work.

** (I’m a trained Salesman and have been in sales since I was 16. In Sales the main thing to have is stock. You buy the stock, you sell the stock. That is the very basics of sales. I had always been applying this to my entertainment business. I can’t sell an hour and a half’s worth of singing if I only know 6 songs and have 6 backing tracks. )**

9.STEP 2: VENTURING FOR VENUES

We were given the task of finding the locations. What I didn’t realise is that Galleries are usually booked up from 6 months to a year, sometimes even longer. I learned that it is extremely wise that before you do anything else book a venue. In other words, it’s like planning a party!  you don’t buy everything for the party and book the entertainment, the cake, the disco the bouncy castle before you know when and where you are having it. In the case of contacting venues this is exactly the same as what I am used to. I had no problem in making calls10. and sending emails and eventually arranging a meeting with Patrick at the Steel Rooms. (I’m a big believer in meeting with people face to face, it gives people time to get to know you and for questions to be asked and answered by both parties). But here this meeting is different to what I’m used to, I’m selling a concept, not a final product. We had discussed whether the exhibition should be theme based or site specific. At this point we hadn’t chosen either. So, here I am talking to Patrick and selling him the concept of a 2^nd year degree group exhibition with 9 talented and individual artists. AND he went for it.

11.STEP 3: NAMING THE BABY

This could be quite a tricky part. With the booking of the venues in place it’s time to find a name. In some cases this would be at the top of the list, (If there wasn’t one already) and that’s understandable, but if the concept is sound, the galleries aren’t going to be sold just with a name, or even that bothered what the name actually is, (Unless it’s just ridiculous, but then this is art so a ridiculous one could easily be acceptable, in fact, “Ridiculous” actually sounds like a pretty cool name )

This again is a different view from my business, sometimes the name is everything! A band or solo artist can be sold on just the name itself; it’s the “brand”.e.g. when I was in a band and people found out, the first thing I was asked was, “What band?” although as a solo artist it is different, the question is “What do you sing?”.

In our case, the name12. 53 degrees came about due to the geographical locations of the 3 places we were to be exhibiting, thanks to Jason for noticing that one. It’s also notable that it’s possibly easier in a group to come up with a name as everyone can come up with a different idea. I still like “Ideam”. (It’s interesting to note that if we hadn’t contacted the galleries and booked with them, then the name would never have existed)

13.STEP 4: FOUNDING A FANBASE.

Once a name has been established it is now time to build a fan base. Build a following that is interested in seeing the exhibition. With the 53 Degrees group we started to build an interest by setting up a 14.  Facebook page. Again, this is an area that I had dealt with before and it’s so easy to start up, I did it in about 20minutes. Once the Facebook page is live all it needs at the moment is the basic information. What it is about and that there WILL be exhibitions. A couple of pictures to start with and to invite people to “Like” it. According to The Guardian.com (Tuesday 4^th Feb 2014) the average amount of friends a Facebook user has is 338. In the case of this being a group exhibition with 9 people involved if each person invited every “friend”, that could possibly be 3042 people invited to “like“ the page. Of course, not everyone would “Like” the page. It’s interesting to note that in sales we always said that if you spoke to 100 people, 5% would definitely buy, no matter how incompetent a salesperson you were. (In other words without trying you can sell to 5 people out of 100). 5% of 3042 is 152.1. As of yesterday 53 Degrees’ Facebook page has 171. That’s without even really trying. Imagine how many that would be if we had put all of our effort in as a collective group.

15.STEP 5: THE INTERNET BUSINESS CARD

To be considered as a professional group what was needed last of all was a webpage. It’s possibly the most important weapon in the arsenal of selling in this day in age. I must admit I have absolutely no idea on how to set up a webpage. Although I do have one for my business, I knew what I wanted but I got someone to do it for me. In my case a webpage is invaluable, it’s the silent salesperson, it’s where people find you to get information to book you, it needs to make people get in touch to ask questions. Here in lies a major difference that I have learned. The artist’s webpage is all about the art, the person and the artist. It needn’t be flashy but what it does need is constant attention and updating.  It doesn’t require people to get in touch with you, it’s for information, where to see your work, how to get in touch. And if lucky, for people to commission you , but that won’t happen if there is no work on there, but only give a peek of what you have in store for the exhibition, otherwise, what would be the point in going, it’s just a taster of what could be seen at the exhibition even if it shows 2 pieces by each artist. On a performer’s website, there needs to be proof that you can sing, that you can perform and what you look like, very superficial I know but it is important.

16.STEP 6: SETTING THE THEME.

Now is the time to look at the theme! Our theme was 17.“Undercurrent” this was due to the fact that the exhibitions were close to water. So that fit in quite nicely. Interestingly, we wouldn’t have come up with the theme if we didn’t already have the venues. This again is something way out of the way that I would normally do something. This would have been, again, one of the top priorities for me.

So, we’ve come up with a concept, booked the galleries, given ourselves a name, started to build a Facebook following, got ourselves a professional webpage, but so far, no work has been done! There is nothing!!

The Final Step of obtaining an exhibition……….

18.STEP 7:  DO SOME WORK TO SHOW!!!

19.What this has taught me is that in art I don’t need everything in place before even contacting the galleries, which is something completely different to how I would have gone about setting up an exhibition. The most invaluable lesson that I have learned through this process is how to get started by putting the project in order.20.

Here is the way that I would have done things:

STEP 1: CONCEPT

STEP 6: THEME

STEP 7: DO SOME WORK

STEP 3: NAME

STEP 5: THE INTERNET BUSINESS CARD

STEP 4: FAN BASE

STEP 2: VENTURING FOR VENUES

21.