21 Presentations = 140,726 views of PDS

Three years ago I suggested recording the SNAG Professional Development Seminar at the conference.


The goal?
Share and keep sharing the information with the arts and crafts community beyond the one, live afternoon at the SNAG Conference.

Why share these presentations for free?
Because SNAG is dedicated to education.

Now, after three years and 21 recorded presentations, there have been over 140,000 views.

 

WOW!  Beyond expectations!

But it wasn't magic that made this happen. Lots of people and organizations made this possible with their hard work.

And special thanks goes to every speaker that allowed us to record their presentation and post it online.

Thank you to SNAG, the NEA, and MJSA for providing funding. Thank you also to Jeweler's Mutual for their sponsored representative  Tina Pint.

Every presentation can be found online on:

the SNAG website, or
my website  or
view the presentations directly on Slideshare & YouTube.

Everyone is invited to share this information with their local or national art organizations.

 

Link to a single presentation or the entire group.

 

There is also an embed code for your website or blog (with appropriate links and attributions.)   

 

 

Please contact me directly through my website, Facebook, Google + if you need help or information.

The Professional Development Seminar was organized over the past 10 years by Don Friedlich, Andy Cooperman, Brigitte Martin and myself, Harriete Estel Berman.

 

Contact Brigitte Martin or myself for suggestions of future topics.
Harriete Estel Berman

 

P.S. Just ask for the link to a specific presentation, an image or the embed code.

10 Tips for Catching & Keeping an Editor's Attention -- by Michelle Bilodeau

This is the last presentation from the 2013 SNAG Professional Development Seminar.

As part of our purple cow series, we recognized that photography of jewelry, clothing, accessories and wearable work were all increasingly using models.

The isolated object with the graduated background is not the only option. In addition, the type of model and the styling of the photos are morphing with purple options and purple brick roads.

As organizers of the Professional Development Seminar, Brigitte Martin, Andy Cooperman, and I felt very fortunate to find Toronto based fashion editor and stylist Michelle Bilodeau.

An experienced speaker and spokesperson from the fashion and design world, Bilodeau (left in photo below) deftly organized her lecture into
"10 Tips for Catching & Keeping an Editor's Attention."


Without a doubt, you will find nuggets of information that you can adapt for generating purple cow visibility for your work. My favorite tip for finding free to low cost professional quality models came out in the Q & A with the audience, so listen to the entire presentation all the way to the very end. I promise. It is worth listening.

Another suggestion from Michelle Bilodeau is to anticipate trends especially if your work aligns with fashion. An example is shown below in this two page spread from Elle June 2013.

In this ad, Tiffany riffs off the Gatsby movie with jewelry and styling inspired by the 1920's. The pearls, long necklace, hair diadem, and bracelet hand ring accessory all pick up on this summer blockbuster.

Another point is how the diadem worn by this model picks up on the fascinator trend from last winter. Everything old, can be new again. Consider new ways your jewelry or clothing can pick up on fashionable trends.

Tiffany's obviously had to be planing months in advance to have the jewelry, photo shoot and ad appear simultaneously with the movie, but you can do this too.

Michelle Bilodeau points out the blogs have a shorter lead time than magazines, but they still need to hear your pitch and see your images a month or so in advance of the next trend.  

10 Tips for Catching & Keeping an Editor's Attention by Michelle Bilodeau. View this lecture directly on SlideShare.

You are welcome to share this lecture on Facebook, or Pin it to Pinterest. The embed code for your blog or website is also available. The easiest option is to share the link to this blog.

Find all 21 presentations from the past SNAG Professional Development Seminars on the SNAG web site and my own website. The information is offered for free to build a stronger craft community. Share the information. Information is power.

Harriete Estel Berman

Customizing the Cow: New Trends in Cross Platform Web Optimization by Justin Hartzman and Jeremy Poriah from All You Can Eat Website

There is no web-access platform more in flux right now than mobile. From tablets to smart phones, personal to professional, we are all trying to figure out the next best step. My own family keeps discussing whether we should get new phones and how big they should be. Then we move on to who gets to use the iPad. Every conversation involves looking something up on line. Purchases to restaurant choices are all inspired, reviewed, and determined online. Business to leisure, the internet has changed our lives.

So what impact does this have your own business development? How can each of us be part of  the future in internet commerce.

During  the SNAG 2013 Professional Development Seminar, I said, "emarketing is such a part of our lives and yet we forget the fact that it is still in its INFANCY!" 

"In his book Risky is the New Safe Randy Gage writes:

 
“The statistics you read about online commerce may seem mind-blowing, and the numbers grow substantially every season, but you have to keep in mind that we are still at the very, very earliest stages of online purchasing right now. Those huge sales figures you see reported today are miniscule in comparison to what they will be in 5 to 10 years.”   

I highly recommend the book "Risky is the New Safe" for its insight into current marketing trends.

Another resource to bring us up to speed for cross platform web optimization comes from the experts, All You Can Eat Website. They have a great looking website, but beyond the appearance, they are into performance. I'm hoping that they will be able to optimize my website for mobile with a few lines of code. What about you?

In this presentation below from the PDS they offered lots of information and answered lots of questions and gave some information that will to help us with long range planning...so listen in for free, courtesy of SNAG and MJSA. 

Customizing the Cow: New Trends in Cross Platform Web Optimization by Justin Hartzman and Jeremy Poriah from All You Can Eat Website

Customizing the Cow: New Trends in Cross Platform Web Optimization by Justin Hartzman and Jeremy Poriah from All You Can Eat Website from SlideShare.

ASK Harriete also offers lots of information about Search Engine Optimization for artists and crafts people.  There are a number blog posts with tips, tricks, and skills for your website that are easy to implement....so let me help (i.e. Ask Harriete) if you have any questions after listening to this presentation.

Harriete Estel Berman
P.S. Here is my question for you?
What information would you like to see covered as a topic in 2014. Any ideas? Please leave your suggestion in the comments or contact me privately through my website.
I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Bringing the Purple Cow to the Market: Tapping Into the Experience Economy by Lara Bazant

Mootivational Cow
Artist: Joanne P. Cassaro
Sponsor: Waypoint Bank
From the Cow Parade in Harrisburg, PA

In this lecture from the 2013 SNAG Professional Development Seminar Sacred Cow,
Purple Cow,
Cash Cow speaker Lara Bazant offers articulate explanations for how her "experience" workshops have provided visibility, increased retail purchases, and augmented revenue.

Her lecture presentation offers a new perspective on the experience economy. Within only 15 minutes plus the Q & A with the audience she was able to answer all our questions and offer a solid approach to finding a new audience.

Below are some the questions we asked her to address:

• Can you tell us how your experience workshops came to be?
• What led you in this direction--was there an “aha” moment?
• Do your experience workshop increase purchase of your jewelry or compete with retail purchase?
• How do you promote your experience workshops?
• Do you charge the same price for every event?
• Do you charge per person?
• How many people can take an experience workshop at one time?   
• Do you charge a material fee?

As you listen to this lecture, THINK about how you can participate in the experience economy. 

Bringing the Purple Cow to the Market: Tapping Into the Experience Economy by Lara Bazant posted on  SlideShare.

Harriete Estel Berman

P.S. The 2013 Professional Development Seminar was organized by Brigitte Martin, Andy Cooperman and myself Harriete Estel Berman to provide nuts and bolts entrepreneurial information. It is sponsored by SNAG and MJSA.  

Here is my question for you?
What information would you like to see covered as a topic in 2014. Any ideas? This is your opportunity to be a force for good. Please leave your suggestion in the comments or contact me privately through my website.
I look forward to hearing your ideas.

The Experience Economy is GROWING

Next week's presentation from
Sacred Cow, Purple Cow, Cash Cow
is about the experience economy. The experience economy is described by Joseph Pine in his TED Talk: "What consumers want."

Maker Faire is a great example.  It is all about the experience. The attendance at the Maker Faire events has increased significantly every year. The original Maker Faire event was in San Mateo, a few miles from my house, so I've gone on several occasions. You would not believe the crowds and excitement at $25 to $35 per adult (depending on when you bought the ticket).    

MAKE Magazine is all about the experience economy filled with do-it-yourself projects appealing to a wide range of ages and demographics. My son has had a subscription for years.

A parallel growth on line is Instructables. There are multiple ways to participate. You can post instructions online, or follow the instructions that other people post. They are even doing a 3-D printing month tapping into new technologies that require no hands on skill, but perfect for the geeks more familiar with a computer than a pair of pliers. If you write instructions for Instructables, you get a free class at the TECH SHOP.

The TechShop is all about the experience economy and it is growing! The TechShop now has multiple locations. The first location was 20 minutes from my house. Now there are three in the San Francisco Bay Area alone. Three more in other U.S. locations. Three more in planning. The TECH Shop wisely offers day passes, month, yearly and business memberships. They also offer free memberships to Veterans. In the Bay Area they are a hub of start up businesses. The are about the experience of hands on making of anything, practical, industrial, artistic to experimental.

The experience economy is a growth market and it is expanding exponentially. It appeals to a demographic that may be interested in the craft show marketplace, but also to D.I.Y.'ers, hobbyists, and geeks. The experience economy is developing and growing phenomenally despite the poor economy and has a strong future.

What does that say for all of us with a craft background?

On Monday Lara Bazant will talk about how she has been able to tap into the "experience economy" with her presentation from the Professional Development Seminar.

Subscribe to ASK Harriete or become a SNAG member. Two ways to assure you will not miss this  lecture.

Harriete Estel Berman

LOOKING for a JOB - Step 10 A Dream Job

What is your dream job?

Have you every thought about that?

Research your field or media. Who would you want to work for?
Still in school,  just graduated from art school, emerging artists? What are your long term goals?

Is your future with production, one of a kind, digital technology?  ...or some other media?

Have you considered working for free? Not necessarily long term, but a day or two per week at a dream job....as an intern to gain experience? I've had several interns from a local college, and the super irony was that they paid the school for credit.  They could have contacted me directly, it would have cost them less, and they would have had the same experience.  

For recent graduates, the reality is harsh. The art craft market is not exactly flourishing. Even established artists or businesses may be reluctant to hire help in a slow economy.

But that doesn't mean that you can't work to gain experience.  Consider contacting people personally about a job -- especially if you can make a valuable contribution to the studio. 

Skill diversity is the key to success. I am betting that if you could offer media specific skills and working knowledge of Photoshop, Dreamweaver and CAD to help a business gain more visibility online, they would take you up on the spot. 

Businesses these days need these skills desperately and many lack the background to develop an online presence. How are your skills with social media, Twitter, Tumbler and Instagram? This could be of invaluable assistance.

 

 

Do you know Dreamweaver or WordPress? Could you work on their website? Your skills can give a jump instead of hiring a media firm. 

If you have some basic skills in accounting or working with Excel, they may need a versatile book keeper.

If you know how to edit video, you could offer to make a video about their studio or business or skill.

This range of job skills is not just my fantasy . . . I saw a local jewelry store advertising for one person with ALL of the skills listed above and more.

Here are "9 great questions you can use or make your own on your next job interview."

Harriete Estel Berman

RELATED POSTS:

An intern's response about his internship experience.

Internships: Who benefits from this experience?

Intern or Employee? Legal issues

Looking for a JOB - Step 9 Volunteer

Looking for a JOB - Step 8 - Join Organizations, Mentoring & Network

Looking for a JOB - Step 7 - Walk In

Looking for a JOB - Step 6 OLD FASHIONED PAPER Produces Amazing Results

Looking for a JOB - Step 5 CUSTOMIZE Your Resume

LOOKING for a JOB - Step 4: Innovative Resume

Looking for a Job - Step 3 Work on Your Resume

LOOKING for a JOB - Step 2: Facebook Privacy, Join LinkedIN

LOOKING for a JOB - The Year After School Step 1: Take a digital class.

Purple Cow Documentation via Video and Photography by Rachel Timmins

Today's lecture by Rachel Timmins from
Sacred Cow, Purple Cow, Cash Cow examines new approaches  to documenting art, craft, and more specifically wearable work.  Video is becoming the largest trend with online visibility, marketing and SEO. Models are sometimes used in a more informal style with the girl next door. What is the impact of cell phone documentation?

Andy Cooperman, Brigitte Martin and myself (organizers of the SNAG PDS) asked Rachel Timmins to address these issues with the following questions: 

When you make work do you have a model in mind already?

How deliberate is your choice of models?

Instead of professional fashion models, you work with “the girl next door”. What are you looking for in someone wearing your work?

Is the image/ video conceived to somehow market the work, or do you want it to exist solely as another expression of your work?

What do you think the videos do for your brand or artist reputation?

Purple Cow Documentation via Video and Photography by Rachel Timmins

During this presentation Rachel Timmins played this video titled Tiny.

More presentions every Monday for the next three weeks . . Subscribe to ASK Harriete (in the left column) and don't miss a single presentation -- or become a member of SNAG.

Other SlideShare presentations published to date:
Introduction to “Sacred Cow, Purple Cow, Cash Cow” by PDS organizers Andy Cooperman, Brigitte Martin and Harriete Estel Berman.  

 

The Unexpected Purple Cow: Pop-Up Stores and Alternative Exhibition Spaces by Natasha Granatstein

 

These presentations were recorded during the SNAG Conference and brought to you by the 2013 PDS sponsors: SNAG and MJSA. 

 

 

 

Brigitte Martin and I are currently selecting the topics for the 2014 Professional Development Seminar.  What topics do you think we should cover? What do you want to know? Contact me directly  bermaid [at] harriete-estel-berman.info  or find me on Facebook.

Harriete Estel Berman

Related articles

The Unexpected Purple Cow: Pop-Up Stores and Alternative Exhibition Spaces

Cash Cow, Sacred Cow, Purple Cow - Intro

"Make Like the Masters" Manufacturing Insight

Looking for a JOB - Step 9 Volunteer

Volunteering is a fabulous way to accelerate your professional goals.  WHAT?

Yes, volunteering is a great way to gain visibility, learn new skills, get to know other skilled people and professionals in your field, and  . . . they will get to know you. 

All of this can be happening while you make a contribution to organizations in your media.

This works at every level and in all fields.
Do you want to get to know other artists? Volunteer.

Do you want to get to know the leading professionals in your field? Offer your help. Volunteer.

Feel uncomfortable with networking? Volunteer. It is a great way to survive being shy when you have a job to do.

Want to learn more about organizing an event? Help out. Volunteer.

Learn a new skill? Volunteer 

Be the change you want to see. Volunteer.

You've got the idea. Volunteer. Volunteer. Volunteer.

Of course, all of this means working without cash compensation. Perhaps at a low level. But learning is your primary reward and working your way up the ladder of success is your first lesson.  The return on your investment will be invaluable.

Work hard. Listen. Do what you can do . . . then ask for another job.

Sparkle and shine with enthusiasm and sweat. Your hard work will be remembered. Volunteering can be a way to get experience and ultimately a job.

Harriete Estel Berman

P.S. Volunteer Opportunity below...

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY:
San Francisco Metal Arts Guild needs a Social Media Intern

• Want to learn more about what is happening in the local craft/jewelry community, and be introduced to a network of like-minded makers?
• Do you find yourself drawn to posting on Facebook and Pinterest?
• Are you a quick learner on the computer and enjoy expanding your digital know-how?
• Polish your online skills as MAG's Social Media Intern! Receive a free Metal Arts Guild membership in exchange for volunteering. This is not a Board Member Position, so you don't even have to change out of your comfy pants to get involved!

RELATED POSTS:

Looking for a JOB - Step 8 - Join Organizations, Mentoring & Network

Looking for a JOB - Step 7 - Walk In

Looking for a JOB - Step 6 OLD FASHIONED PAPER Produces Amazing Results

Looking for a JOB - Step 5 CUSTOMIZE Your Resume

LOOKING for a JOB - Step 4: Innovative Resume

Looking for a Job - Step 3 Work on Your Resume

LOOKING for a JOB - Step 2: Facebook Privacy, Join LinkedIN

LOOKING for a JOB - The Year After School Step 1: Take a digital class.

BE GOOD- Ethical decisions & advice

I found this book Be Good by accident at the library, and ever since I opened the book it is hard to put it down.

Why? Randy Cohen writes about challenging ethical dilemmas, exploring a wide range of issues, but cuts right to the core offering a clear recommendation with a delightful sense of humor.

No wonder about the humor.....he used to write for David Letterman.

BE GOOD is endless entertaining because of Cohen's acerbic wit and sense of humor but he doesn't drift from difficult topics.  Chapters include: "Money, Love  & Sex, Community,  School, Religion, Work, Arts, and Community." That was just a few that I read first. There are many more chapter topics.

If you read ASK Harriete, you'll know that I have been discussing ethical issues within the art and craft community. It isn't easy to tease apart the tangle that new technologies are placing on our workbench. (Lots more to say about this in past and future posts.)

In the chapter about "Technology" Cohen is able to digest many of the issues into one sentence that resonated with me as a tool that I will keep forever:

"When You injure yourself, that is unfortunate; when you injure someone else, that is unethical."

Think about that one statement in regards to the arts and crafts community before copying  instructional materials, content, ideas, or images.

Here is one quote from the  "Community" chapter that applies to many ethical and legal issues in the arts and crafts community.

"To lead an ethical life requires us to empathize with other people and ask, 'What circumstances would induce a person to behave this way?' "

This is where discussing the legal and ethical issues and behavior needs to come to the surface, bubble up from the depth of private whispers, and become a construct for  a health vibrant craft community. While giving people the benefit of the doubt that they did not understand the impact of their actions.....and then, discuss the ethical use of copyright materials.

• Use tutorials and instructional materials for what they were intended….. your personal use. 
• Do not copy, distribute or share tutorials or instructional materials unless you wrote the content.
• Do not sell or exhibit work  derived from tutorials, workshops, or books.
• Teach only materials for which you are qualified Master, not an imposter.
• Be more specific about how books, tutorials and information are to be used ethically and legally.

 

The ethical and legal problems surfacing are not just limited to one media. I have heard stories for years, but often lacked the tools for how to address the issues. That is what I think is so helpful about reading Be Good and practice discussing ethics.

The problems are growing exponentially with the Internet and digital technologies. While the issues/solutions  are rarely black and white, there are definitely ethical boundaries that we should not cross in our "desire for attention" or "carelessness, provided no one will notice."

"These serious issues pervade the craft community. But too often the  elephant in the room is an unspoken concern of being ostracized by one's own community for being outspoken despite the honesty.  We should not be afraid to discuss difficult topics."

I highly recommend reading the book "BE GOOD."   

Harriete Estel Berman

Related articles

GOOD Increases Your Visibility with Search

"Abilities versus Choices" & Choice Quotes

CraftCast Interview about the BAD & UGLY

The Unexpected Purple Cow: Pop-Up Stores and Alternative Exhibition Spaces

Today's feature presentation from the 2013 SNAG Professional Development Seminar is: The Unexpected Purple Cow: Pop-Up Stores and Alternative Exhibition Spaces by Natasha Granatstein

Natasha describes her neighborhood's POP-Up shop program sponsored by the Danforth East Community Association. She answers the following questions:

• What is the motivation for doing pop-ups?
• What was the larger objective of the program?
• Where to find information that will help people learn about POP-Up shops?
• How to advertise your pop-up spaces?
• How to pick artists for your spaces?
• Is some artwork more suitable than other work?
• What work should not be shown? Why not?

The Unexpected Purple Cow: Pop-Up Stores and Alternative Exhibition Spaces by Natasha Granatstein -- a SlideShare video from the 2013 SNAG Professional Development Seminar.  

Think about you can apply these experiences to your own community or for your own pop-up shop. Natasha also mentioned Renew NewCastle as a model program that the Danforth community used for their Pop-Up shops initiative. 
 

More to come in the next few weeks . . .

Each Monday for the next four weeks another presentation from the PDS will be published.

 

Subscribe to ASK Harriete (in the left column) and don't miss a single presentation -- or become a member of SNAG.
 

The Professional Development Seminar program was organized by Andy Cooperman, Brigitte Martin and Harriete Estel Berman.

 
These presentations were recorded during the SNAG Conference and brought to you by our sponsors:
SNAG and MJSA. 

 

 

 

We are currently planning the 2014 PDS. Brigitte Martin and I would love to hear your thoughts about the pressing issues for makers and metalsmiths. What topics do you think we should cover? What do you want to know?

 

Sacred Cow, Purple Cow, Cash Cow

Other SlideShare presentations published to date:

Introduction to “Sacred Cow, Purple Cow, Cash Cow” by PDS organizers Andy Cooperman, Brigitte Martin and Harriete Estel Berman.

Moola Mae Cash Cow  by Artist: Robert Stadnycki
Sponsor: Waypoint Bank, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

UPCOMING PDS 2013 PRESENTATIONS:
Rachel Timmins -- "Purple Cow: Documentation via Video and Photography"

Lara Bazant -- "Bringing the Purple Cow to the Market: Tapping Into the Experience Economy"

Justin D. Hartzman and Jeremy Poriah -- "All You Can Eat Website - Customizing the Cow: New Trends in Cross Platform Web Optimization"

Michelle Bilodeau -- "10 Tips for Catching & Keeping an Editor's Attention"

 Looking forward to your comments.... 

Harriete Estel Berman

Related articles

Cash Cow, Sacred Cow, Purple Cow - Intro

"Make Like the Masters" Manufacturing Insight

Cash Cow, Sacred Cow, Purple Cow