culturalentrepreneur.org

One of the best facilitated networking events I’ve attended was produced by a local branch of eWomenNetwork. We sat at tables with 6 or 7 other women entrepreneurs, and were encouraged to introduce ourselves by saying (in this order):

1. Something unusual about ourselves
2. Something we needed help with
3. Help we could offer
4. A description of our business
   

What I learned from this exercise, that can be applied to more casual networking situations, is:

1. People will remember a funny story, or an unusual fact about you before they will remember your elevator pitch.
2. Know what you need, and how to ask for it. People are very willing to help, if you are specific.

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1. Arc Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation
2. Arts Enterprise: Art as Business as Art, UW-Madison Arts Institute
3. Arts, Entertainment and Media Management, Columbia College Chicago
4. Austin Conservatory of Professional Arts
5. Centre for Cultural Research, University of Western Sydney
6. Creative and Cultural Skills
7. Creative Enterprise Network
8. Creative Enterprise Project, British Council/Strathmore University
9. Cultural Enterprise Office
10. Cultural Leadership Programme
11. Enterprise Centre for the Creative Arts
12. First Cultural Entrepreneurship Institute at Cooperstown
13. Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program

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Are you a mid-career museum, preservation, or historic site professional with a desire to change your institution and engage your community? Do you wants to learn how innovators in cultural institutions apply the tools of successful businesses, and acquire the skills of an entrepreneurial leader?

If you just answered yes and yes, consider applying to be a fellow for the First Cultural Entrepreneurship Institute at Cooperstown happening May 2-5, 2010.  According to the call for applications on the Museum Association of New York’s site, 20 fellows will be selected to receive the 3 1/2 day training, plus room and board, for only $200. The deadline to apply is March 22, 2010.

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“On the business side, blogs are designed to help promote creative wares or services, and if done well, they can be an invaluable business tool.  Those who blog for business live creatively; their businesses, their personal lives, and friendships are all approached through their creative spirit and it shows in their blogs.  Whether they promote products and services through their sidebar links or talk about business in every post, their blogs are beautiful and inspiring.”

-Tara Frey, Blogging for Bliss

I just finished reading Blogging for Bliss: Crafting Your Own Online Journal:  A Guide for Crafters, Artists and Creatives by Tara Frey, and highly recommend it.  Frey covers everything from what to write about, how to choose a blogging platforms, how to customize your blog’s look, ways to increase traffic, and the basics of blogvertising.

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My last stop is at the Inscription Rock Trading & Coffee Co. where I sit at the cozy bar and chat with its owners, Jonathan and Pam Pickens.  As I had learned that the Old School Gallery across the street is so much more than a gallery, I learned that this gift shop is so much more than a gift shop.  Inside the shop they have a small café that serves everything from cappuccinos to pastries, but then outside they have a stage and patio for outdoor performances.  I was blown away that a community of this size had a music venue!  Jonathan, a musician himself, moved from Nashville Tennessee back in 2001 to the El Morro Valley with his family.

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