Dan Rather Keynote – SXSW
One of the highlights for me at this years SXSW was Dan Rather’s Keynote. It spoke a lot about truth in media which is something I think about a lot as both a reader and a writer.
I found it very enlightening to hear the differences in reporting from twenty years ago and now. The biggest difference that I found was how at one point reporters banded together. If a reporter asked a question to say the President and the President didn’t really answer it, the next reporter would have said, “Mr. President, you didn’t answer So & So’s question.” Now, if that happened the next reporter would just ask a new question – no one holds the President accountable for answering it. Journalists to a large degree, have become afraid to stick up for one another or press questions or find the truth. And, as an audience, we have become lazy about questioning what we read and if it’s the truth.
Hearing this keynote inspired me to really write as organically and truthfully as I can. And I’ve been thinking about advertising and how that plays into it and I think if you have personal integrity, if you keep at something that is important to you, if you believe in truth and true creativity, then nothing should get in the way – not working for a big news corporation, a small corporation, an advertising company, or for the President. It’s all about personal responsibility and beliefs. And I just love the way Dan Rather puts it all together.
How to apply for a job.
You just happen to forget that a literary journal has submission guidelines. Please, oh, please send me your 75 page tome. Please send me your entire pile of poems written on scrap paper plus a few short stories thrown in for good measure. Please single space everything, submit in Comic Sans font, please draw little pictures on your submission. Because us editors make up these guidelines for fun, of course. A diversion between all of our projects, which should be ignored at all costs. We have SO much time on our hands. Of course you can’t be expected, writers you, to actually read submission guidelines, oh perish the THOUGHT. But of course, a staff of volunteer readers and editors should read every last fucking syllable of your work. – Felica Sullivan, Editor
I receive a lot of emails asking to work for me. A lot. I would say out of the thousands I receive, perhaps two of them I would even consider if I had jobs available, which at the moment, I do not. The letters I receive are almost always unprofessional, written to a BFF or from a “fan” point of view. A lot of them talk about “feelings” and “blessings” and the “journey they want to take with me.” I have people pleading, begging for a chance at something they think I have and that if I gave it to them, everything would be great.
Then I have people who want to write for the popular Girls Guide to City Life and yes, I do need writers there. However, it’s been hard to find great people because out of the hundreds of queries I receive again maybe only two are worth looking at because they did not follow the guidelines.
It’s not that I don’t receive queries from talented people – I do. There’s degree’s and experience coming from everywhere but somehow, all that goes out the door when it comes to the application process. The people who query almost never query the correct email (which is SUCH a pain because this site and that site are run separately and to switch emails and deal with it – well, I’m not going to). They never follow the guidelines and never submit the right kind of writing. A lot of people come across as insecure “please? Could I maybe write? I don’t write good but um, I’d like to if I could have a chance? I’m nice. My mum says so. Honest!”
I’m creative and, for the most part, like a relaxed atmosphere. It’s true that I have a chaise in my office for napping, I drink a lot of tea, I wear a lot of pink but I also run a business. And when I talk to people, I make sure I’m professional, I’m on the ball, I have the info they need and nothing less. I work hard, follow the rules at first (don’t think of even breaking them before you’ve worked with people) and that’s why all the work I get is referral based. I’m put together so people know they can trust me. They see me as creative but also as someone who gets the job done. I think a lot of people who want to run creative business forget the “business” part of it – especially women. They think if they’re nice that should be enough – it’s not.
When I have people apply for a job and write to the wrong address, I ignore it. If they don’t follow the guidelines, I delete. If they send me a business proposal that is terribly weak it’s out the door. I’m busy – I don’t have time to weed through potential and I don’t think anyone else does either.
I understand that when a person is starting out, you hope to be “discovered.” When I was young I used to think each time I walked past an on-location movie set that somehow the director would see me, come running over and say, “That’s her! That’s the talent we’re looking for!” I never got one movie job that way; studying the industry, connecting with the right people, working my ass off on every shoot or in every development meeting – that’s what got me in and kept me in.
It’s frustrating on my end because when I delete all these bad submissions I feel as though I’m destroying a little bit of hope in someone when I do. But at the same time, I don’t want to be “nice” and just say, “Sorry love, not today” because that doesn’t help anyone get any better.
I’ve said it many, many times that it’s great to have a dream but just dreaming doesn’t make things happen. You have to do to be and there’s just no way around it.
So my advice to those who want to write/work for me (or anyone else):
1. Be professional and put together. You can still have personality in your email/query (and people love when you do) and be professional. Don’t write as you would to your mother or girlfriend but to a stranger whose respect you’re trying to get. No smile’s, no LOL’s (I get that a lot), and please, for the love of everyone involved, no “blessings.”
2. Know the person and/or company that you’re applying for and figure out how you will add value to them. Inexperienced people always want a mentor, a guide, someone to show them the way. I can tell you that while I’d love to do this, I do not have the time to teach someone. But if an inexperienced person says, “I know how to file, to edit, to code to something you really need” then I would consider them because then they’re not a drain but an asset.
3. Follow the rules. There are guidelines for a reason people. Nothing pisses an editor or potential employer more than someone thinking they can “get around the rules.” I cannot tell you how many people write to me at this site for jobs I’ve posted elsewhere.
4. Be committed. If you start a job, finish it. Give it your all while you’re there – even if it’s not always 100% what you want to do. Trust me when I say you learn from every job. I don’t complain about corporate America anymore because without that experience I don’t think I’d be as successful as I am today. I learned a lot about marketing, meetings, communicating, structure, finance, and PR from jobs I thought weren’t my passion. Think of something you’re doing as a semester at college; it’ll teach you something so you can stand on your own someday.
5. Be Professional. Just worth repeating.
Authentic Marketing
In preparation for the upcoming Boss Lady panel I’m participating in at SXSW, I had a long, wonderful talk with Emira today about business. Talking with her was really good; it’d been awhile since I talked business in casual, candid terms with a friend.
We talked about how we worked, some of the challenges we face, what we do about it, what’s going on etc. Hearing her perspective on a lot of things was really helpful but the one thing that stuck out the most from the conversation is when she talked about “authentic marketing.”
Both of us run our businesses very similar; we both only work on referral only. We’ve never advertised and we don’t market. Everything comes to us by word of mouth and we both currently have more work than we can handle. The only time we have to really “market” is perhaps when someone calls us to work with us. Then we explain what we do but because we love what we do and are passionate about it, we don’t have to “sell” ourselves – it’s authentic marketing.
For me, this model is essential for my survival because I don’t want to be out there hustling. I’m not good at it nor do I don’t enjoy it. There are those that do but I’m not one of them. I love talking about the work or the process but I don’t talking about the who or the what of it all – especially with people outside of the business arena where it doesn’t matter. I don’t want attention for who I know or what company I work with but I do want to be known for the work I do – and I feel they are separate.
Room for everyone
[Larry] KING: Now you tried out for [Dream Girls], right.
[Fantasia] BARRINO: Tried out for the part.
KING: But you didn’t beat [Jennifer Hudson], she wasn’t on the same show you were on.
BARRINO: She was on the season with me. And like I said, I just felt like that part wasn’t for me, it was for her. It wasn’t my blessing. It was her blessing.
KING: But you beat her?
BARRINO: I did, I won.
KING: Have you seen the movie?
BARRINO: I did.
KING: What do you make of this?
BARRINO: She’s amazing. She was amazing on the show. So much talent on the show. Me, her and Latoya, we’re all still home girls. But even when we went on the show, I gave her, her props, she gave me props, I gave Toya props, they are both powerhouses.
KING: Because they were saying, Ryan, how did Jennifer Hudson not win? Nothing against Fantasia.
[Ryan] SEACREST: Nobody really loses if they become a household name on the show. If you make it into that final group, you don’t lose. It’s just a matter of what you can do with what you have been given. And, you know, I’m a big believer in hustling. I’m a big believer in work ethic. I’m a big believer in making things happen and being proactive. Any male or female that makes it into that group and I call it the group of household names, it’s really up to them whether they leave on the fifth week or the last week. It’s up to them to capitalize on a massive machine that is “American Idol.” That momentum is really unprecedented and it’s up to the individual to capitalize on it. And you know I believe in that. – From Live with Larry King, January 18, 2007
Why I love this conversation is because it does something not often done by people who achieve success – it has successful people discussing, supporting and showing that there is room for everyone to be successful – especially in the same field. There’s no “failing” if someone else does what you do. It doesn’t mean you’re less than or can’t support the other person. Some people have said that Fantasia “lost out” on the part to Jennifer Hudson, but as Fantasia so eloquently stated, it just wasn’t her part but she has won in other ways. They’re both signers/actresses and they will at times be up for the same roles, but if one gets one role and the other gets a different one, you can’t really say someone is less than, right? They’re both working, they’re both doing what they love, and they’re both successful. There’s no need to bitch slap here and be unsupportive in case “they take your role.”
I’ve known a lot of very successful people who, once they achieve success/fame, become very insecure about losing it. The thought of “losing out” to someone else is even worse and the things those with success do to try to “prevent” others from stealing their mojo is ridiculous. It’s also completely pointless because what they fail to realise it that someone else having success does not take away from their own. It can actually help it.
I’m not competitive at all; I can spend hours bragging about my friends, connecting them to the right people, giving them ideas and so forth. I feel very free in talking about my ideas with people instead of worrying that they’ll be “stolen” at any moment. Because of this, I think I’ve become more successful and enjoyed the road here so much more. Because when you opt to support others no matter what stage of the game you’re in, it’s bound to come back to you. Likewise if you try to make others look bad and fear the worse.
Publicity
I get asked a lot about publicity; how did I get so much? Why is my name/site everywhere? What did I do? How do I market? Who do I know? When I received yet another email about it, I realised I hadn’t ever really addressed it and so here is the question and my response.
Question:
Hi Alex! I found you via the long list of Women to Invite at Conferences on Personified* and am quite inspired by your blog! My sister and I are both creative types and I in particular have been thinking of ideas for a potential portfolio website for a while now.
My reply:
How much do you enjoy?
When I stopped working in Hollywood months ago, I also stopped going to screenings and premieres. I thought because I wasn’t in the industry anymore, I shouldn’t go. I didn’t need to network, I didn’t need to see everything, I didn’t need to keep up. I had equated going to movies with work which I had equated to no fun.
Despite adoring movies and working on sets, my opinion of it all changed because others kept telling me that what I was doing wasn’t enough. If I wanted to be successful I had to take X job, get X title, meet with X person. As soon as I did that, they said, I’d have passed a level and it’d be onto the next one. I didn’t really understand what they meant because I loved what I initially did and became confused by the attitude that movie making wasn’t fun – it was business! And all that is one of the reasons why I stopped working. Unlike most of Hollywood, I wasn’t trying to prove anything. I just wanted a little fun.
So when the work stopped, going to the movies stopped. But then a little while ago I was invited to a screening of Kinky Boots, and, since I’d once lived in Northampton where the movie is based and filmed, I thought I’d go just to see if I could see shots of the city. After the screening was a Q&A with the main actor which was just really thoughtful but also fun. It was after that screening I realised that I could go to a movie just for the pure fun and enjoyment and not because of where it’d get me or how it’d make me look.
Without having others opinions and meanings of movies or movie making involved in whether or not I enjoy something, movies began to once again equal fun. And in the past little bit I’ve gone to more screenings and premieres which, I must confess, have been not only fun, but useful. I normally wouldn’t see these films if I had to pay to go and I’d miss out on so many great little films and little bits of inspiration here and there. So I’ve learned that by saying yes to the fun, I’m saying yes to always being open to learning which is really saying yes to being personally successful.
So last week I was invited to a of Little Miss Sunshine and, without knowing much about the film, decided to go. Besides, Toni Collette was going to be there and I think she’s fabulous (and she was. So tiny!).
The movie was fun. I wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did – and if you see the last shot of the film, you’ll understand. But more importantly, the film also really got me thinking and confirmed even more.
The opening shot of the film is brilliant; it shows a man who is selling his “9 steps” to success. Using the mumbo jumbo self-help lingo, selling his words, using that selling tone. Then if flashes to his class – all six people. Then you follow this man home and his life is a mess, something I wrote about in a previous post which said a lot of self-help gurus sell their ideas but just don’t live them. (Which is why I think you should only trust ideas that make sense to you and you can make work but do not trust anyone who just wants to sell you a book – or seven of them). He has a daughter who, by default, is able to compete in a beauty pageant called, “Little Miss Sunshine.” The story is of this family and their trip to the pageant and then the pageant itself.
Win, win, win! Is what the self-help guru father is all about. He doesn’t want to be a loser, his kids to be a loser, his brother in-law to be a loser. He can point out which steps make you a loser, and which ones make you a winner. Everyone in his family is annoyed by his 9-steps yet, they all hold the same belief that you do one thing to make you a winner, and one thing to make you a loser. Each person in the family holds the belief that if they could just do X, they’d be winners. And when those things don’t happen, they fall apart. It’s actually a really well-done movie with real characters that, if you allow them, will get you thinking. Especially since they go from holding one set of beliefs about what success and life’s purpose is in the beginning to changing them in the end.
The interesting thing about the people in the movie is that the beliefs they first hold are common beliefs that most people have – and you can’t blame them, really. After all, I think in America especially, we’re set up for this. In school you’re taught to pass tests. If you study and answer X, you’re a winner. If you don’t, you’re a loser. If you do graduate from school – winner! If you don’t – loser! If you go to university – winner! If you don’t – loser! If you have a great big wedding before 30 – winner! If you’re single at 32 – loser! If you get a job with benefits – winner! If you’re an artists – loser! And so on and so on. We’re told that if we do x, y & z, we’ll be winners and so we try so hard to follow a pattern to make sure we “win” – after all, who wants to look like a loser?
Elsewhere