I’ve sat at the desk too long today. My task was to spread the word about two projects we run. “The Art of Being Heard”, our one day course for business managers, staff and leaders offering support in personal impact and presence. And the “CGO Surgeries” which I am about to expand with mid-week London days and Saturday sessions in Manchester, Suffolk, York and Colchester in the next few months – thanks to a little support from Arts Council London.
Firstly I took to heart a fantastic piece of advice I received on a one day course I took at the back end of last year with Steve Clarke who is a tough money making powerhouse. Check out http://www.eurekasales.co.uk/ . He talks sense. His first challenge to us was ring 4 people we needed to reach before 10am the following day. Pick up the phone. Forget the email, the direct mail, the web, and the prevarication. Just get on the phone. Well I had three people I needed to be interested in AOBH. I’d emailed them a few times. Nothing. So I rang their offices. All of them out, but voicemail allowed me to leave a message. I’ve heard back from one…and there’s a possibility of some good news. I’m waiting for another to return to the UK. And the third we’ll see. But his advice is good. His passion for money and sales had me reeling at times. But thank you Steve. It works…and it got me off the keyboard for a moment.
Next I climbed inside Linked-in and really took some time to sort contacts and find as many people as I could from one region, Ipswich, where I needed real interest in our work. I did a polite blitz of many people and I’ve got one email back this evening wanting to talk to me tomorrow. So a chink of light in that bit of the dark. The next two AOBH courses are 18th March and 8th April at DanceEast in Ipswich for anyone in need of some empowerment and additional confidence in stressful situations.
I then tackled Facebook and for some reason I’ve got completely confused by event pages, pages, groups, closed groups, open groups etc. Its all a bit of a muddle, and I will need to find a friend to help me sort myself out. I feel I am in the dark again by trying to be too clever. Start again Grady.
In the meantime I want to share with my Blog reader the dates for our expanded CGO Surgery programme:
Thur 6 March – London (South Bank),
Sat 22 March – Manchester (Home),
Wed 9 April – London (South Bank),
Sat 12 April – Halesworth (High Tide),
Sat 24 May – London (Wilton’s),
Sat 31 May – Colchester
Sat 7 June – York (New Musical Festival)
And a really lovely quote from someone who came on the Surgery and is now opening a new show at St Leonard’s Church called Sun this week . Check them out. http://nationalartservice.org.uk/
“Thank you for the illuminating conversation, ideas and provocations, they have had an immeasurable impact on our process since. We have been much more articulate and clear about what we need moving forward and what the potential of the show is… A good place to be.” Jemima Yong, National Arts Service
So my day ended with placing adverts on the Arts Council listings, Arts Admin, hopefully A Younger Theatre and ITC, an event on Ideas Tap and bemoaning the sad demise of the New Work Network which seemed to reach the creative artists and theatremakers who populated our CGO Surgeries for 2-3 years.
Dear Blog Reader. If you have connections to networks in Manchester, Colchester or York please pass the word along. The Surgeries work best through word of mouth – so please help if you can.
This all feels quite “broadcast” shouting in order to reach 7 people for the Art of Being Heard and 7 people for the CGO Surgery – but at the same time I want to spread the word as far as possible. Now I just hope we reach the “right people” and they will want the two different services we offer.
Time to pack up
Chris
