"Have you learned to play yet?" - Creative Motion. I was introduced to Creative Motion a few years ago when it was barely a fledgling out of the concept stage, through a friend whom I met through MySpace when I first started spinning fire. Since the days of the monthly Spinfest at White Rock Lake, where I became a semi-regular, Creative Motion has grown into a much larger "skill toy enthusiast" community.
They now host a weekly get-together called Cirque Out, either by the Richardson Public Library/ Civic Center, or at their rainy day location, The Peace Pipe; and Spinfest once a month at Heights Park.
Two months ago, a few members formed the Creative Motion performing troupe: the Circus Freaks.
I recently reconnected with the Creative Motion main, which included the vanguard of the performing troop, and got to hear a bit about what they are trying to do and how they are going about it. In a nutshell, the idea is to bring "circus-styled variety performers" into the performance side of Dallas and create a network with and a community of performers across Dallas and DWF.
Most of this networking and rapport building is done IRL through words and works, but I've seen Creative Motion come a LONG way in developing their online identity and presence as well, especially with the emergence of the performance troupe. They now have a maintained website, Facebook page, twitter feed, and an in-the-works wiki page, all of which can be conveniently accessed from the main site: http://www.circusfreaks.org/index.html
While you probably won't find them on Google unless you specifically search "Creative Motion" and/or "Circus Freaks," the effort they have put into using the social networking tools goes hand-in-hand with the traditional networking means. As a not so active skill toy practitioner, I keep up with Creative Motion's events and any time changes/cancellations through Facebook and it is incredibly convenient since I don't see these people on a regular basis.
Even though the Circus Freaks have their little corner of the web, every gig they have gotten so far as been through word of mouth. Someone is looking for performers, and someone knows someone. Not only was I surprised by this bit of information, I was surprised that I was surprised. The web and the networking tools in it are great and should be utilized, but it is NOT the be-all end-all. Real life networking is the foundation, digital networking is a tool to further it - to communicate across the space/time limitations.
Duh. Apparently I need to get out in the real world more. Instead of blogging ;)
Interesting way to approach the topic of the relation between "rl" and online networking. The writing here is personable, but also clear and effective. This is a good combination for a blog audience.
ReplyDeleteThe spacing of your paragraphs is a bit odd, but otherwise the formatting is good. I wonder if you could push the analysis a bit further? If the in-person or real life networking should be the main focus, what do you predict for companies that use online social media as a marketing crutch?
Overall: good topic, personable writing, keep working on the critical analysis.