Task 3d: Critical Questions and Issues That Emerge

In turning to Reflection after completing task 3, I hope that it will further enable me to digest emerging thoughts about what I have learnt, both in terms of what I have been doing in my professional practice but also what others are doing. 

One very specific idea that has emerged and has become more apparent to me as the tasks have gone on is the importance to me and my career of being affiliated in a number of different networks but also the relevance they have in today’s society where technology is capable of massive impact. More than ever before, I am seeing examples of self-promotion, aided by Web 2.0 tools such as YouTube that had not been possible for practitioners who had reached the heights of their careers decades ago. Back then it was about being in the right place at the right time. Essentially it is still like that now, but networking and the internet are providing an alternative platform to being seen. Alongside attending classes and auditions, your material has the opportunity to be searched for and viewed on the internet, making employment more attainable for a certain few. In short, the ease and variety with which people network and source their information is aided by the use and correct application of Web tools which affect my professional practice and working life working in the age that I do.

O’Connor & Rosenblood’s (1996) theory of privacy regulation and how we can control our level of involvement to what we want it to be allows a professional to be able to manage their contact with their professional circles. I personally have noticed what I deem to be a healthy balance between my virtual networks and my actual ones with a mixture of on-line and real-life connections. Regular engagement within a network is conducive to the success and development not only of the network, but also of my career. The majority of learning I do in my daily practice currently comes not from a singular source but a shared network of collective intelligence and in order to get the most out of these relationships, I must engage more fully than I have perhaps been doing to date. I think in order to improve my engagement and nurture these relationships that I have formed, I should focus more on ‘giving back.’ So far, my involvement could be described as fairly limited and sporadic. I believe I would do well to get into a more regular routine of interacting across my networks throughout the week. Also the theory of ‘Game Theory’ states that if I ‘co-operate’ and give more back to the group, this in turn should mean my co-operation is reciprocated. I could learn of an upcoming audition or an idea to be tried and tested in one of my lessons that could prove invaluable. 

I believe that most of the successful practitioners currently have realised and mastered the importance of networking as another means of self-promotion. Followers and subscribers to blogs are met with information regarding their latest production or something they may be working towards which is up and coming. In addition, blogs that I have looked at from other students further on in their course than me have also shared the idea that the internet is now one of the more invaluable sources of information. Through reading these blogs, I also read about sites I was previously unaware of in terms of audition information, and to contribute to this network and ‘co-operate’ I also mentioned and contributed my own (see task 3c.) Having the ability to share ideas and communicate emerging ideas with others is so beneficial to me in terms of ensuring my thinking is well-balanced. That was certainly one thing that struck me about my Skype session with Adesola, how an outside view is determinate to the health of my thinking. Is it all one-sided? Have I looked at things from a different perspective? Not only that, but established practitioners that I admire who choose to share information in networks also dramatically shift my thinking patterns. 

Yes, I am most certainly left thinking differently prior to looking more deeply into networks and their importance. If I hadn’t thought of it as an imperative skill before, the positive impact that professional networking can have on a career is inescapable, and just as important as performing well in auditions or when the time calls for it, networking is a skill that is just as important in putting yourself out there. Whether you agree with the notion that we all have an innate need to affiliate with others or not, it is something that all professionals should be partaking in order to establish a healthy career with longer life expectancy. 

(With the upcoming Critical Reflection in mind, I tried to consciously be aware of the word count of this particular blog; in terms of what I had to day and in how many words. Definitely harder than first thought! I predict many more drafts and reworking before the hand in!)