Twenty One Hours

Modern Storytelling and the Singlehandedly! Storytelling Residency

2011-10-04T09:54:00.000-04:00

In May 2011, I was invited to participate in Singlehandedly! a storytelling residency that coincides both with a unique narrative collaboration with other storytellers and also culminates in a series of showcase performances.

Sponsored by Portland Story Theater and founded by Lawrence Howard and Lynne Duddy in 2009, this program is the only storyteller residency and showcase program of it’s kind. As such, it exists as a vital resource for narrative artists and in my opinion is one of the nation’s most important resources for modern storytelling.

Closing Night Performers: Lawrence Howard,
Penny Walter, Slash Coleman, Lynn Duddy.

Promoting and hosting one distinguished visiting storyteller per year, Portland Story Theater provides a 10 day-2 week studio residency. Every residency includes a comfortable, private bedroom, three excellent meals a day, opportunity for focused, independent work, access to a large and diverse creative community and opportunities to share work in various settings including: open studio evenings, workshops, readings, and performance.

As a result, I was able to complete some of my most important work to date.

Located in the heart of North East Portland, OR, the residency takes place in a hip urban environment that is unsurpassed by any city in the world. With accommodations a few blocks from mass transit as well as being located in the center of a walker's paradise, I found I was able to accomplish more in a matter of weeks during my residency than I could in a year at home. The residency offered a chance for me to work privately, but in proximity to other highly accomplished narrative artists with fresh insights, new ideas and stimulating conversation.

The Singlehandedly! process is so successful because at it’s root there is also a very important mission. To develop personal creativity, nurture the creation of new work, provide support for oral tradition and connect tellers through community relationships and alliances.

Are you a good match for the residency program? You are if you’re a storyteller who wants to:

uncover, develop or stretch your creative spirit
study with gifted teachers
join a supportive community that encourages experimentation and growth
create new work in the heart of Portland, Or
participate in a hands-on learning environment enriched by lectures, workshops and critiques

For more about Portland Story Theater please visit: www.portlandstorytheater.com

For more about the work I produced during this time please visit: www.slashcoleman.com

Earthquakes, Epiphanies, and Kirsten Dunst Part 1

2011-08-24T08:42:00.006-04:00

‎"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen

A lot of people have been wondering if the world is going a little wonky in terms of our weather. Does an earthquake in Brooklyn, NY mean the world is coming to an end? Is the earth really getting warmer? Have there been an unusually high number of devastating storms this year? What about tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes?

Sometimes it’s hard to know what’s real in terms of what’s going on in the world around us, what’s been filtered through the information spin cycle, and what’s just plain old conspiracy theory built by a brain that’s been playing Angry Birds for too long.

I think I first started to get a little paranoid after Al Gore’s Global Warming campaign which seemed to literally heat up with the political climate and then go cold soon after. It didn’t matter if we had thousands of hot days in December dating back to 550 BC. The idea that the earth was getting warmer seemed to be all that mattered. All I could see when I heard the word Global Warming was a frumpy Polar Bear walking around aimlessly on a melting iceberg.

Then, when CNN covered Hurricane Katrina like it was an epic Hollywood Blockbuster, I began to have anxiety about the weather. At about that time, a new market seemed to emerge and then snowball based on a new line of products meant to quell every consumers inescapable fear factor. Hurricane programming started to run throughout the year like the meteorologists were running an NFL draft.

Did it matter that Hurricane Cuba in 1924 and Hurricane Camille in 1969 practically knocked parts of the United States off the map? I don’t think my grandparents or my parents had much of a concern in those days. For a more extensive list of the hurricane cycle check out Wiki’s list at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Category_5_Atlantic_hurricanes

When a reality TV show about nuts who chased tornadoes in their cars started to air it suddenly occurred to me that information about the weather was a product that required the same kind of marketing as a McDonald’s Big Mac or a bottle of Kumbucha from Whole Foods. And, that’s when I began to understand that the information I might be receiving might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

Yesterday, I was eating a bowl of granola in a tiny coffee shop in Brooklyn, NY called the Blue Roost when the ground started to shake. As a recent transplant to the city and a first timer at the coffee shop, I thought it must be the subway and I wondered if the shaking was a selling point. “Get the shakiest cup of coffee in NYC!” Then, when everyone started running out into the street, I ran too - like a scared little boy.

Outside, as the ground continued to shake, there was a magical moment as all the coffee patrons and everyone else (from those in the beauty shop next door to those in the Indian grocery store) who flocked into the street began to bond over this unique experience. Traffic was at a dead stop and this busy NY street was silent.

In the street, I felt this beautiful connection with all these strangers around me. Everyone felt this. Boundaries were gone. Our differences had vanished. We were laughing together. Touching one another. The universe had pushed the reset button on our lives. I felt less alone in the world.

It only lasted about four minutes. Back in the coffee shop, everyone was back in their little confined world within the forcefield of their smart phones texting friends and trying to call family members though most of the phone lines were down.

On the subway ride home though, I began to think about the bigger picture. Does an earthquake in Brooklyn, NY mean the world is coming to an end? Is the earth really getting warmer? Have there been an unusually high number of devastating storms this year? What about tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes?

Like most people, I'm well aware of the recent earthquakes:

Chile - Feb 27, 2010
New Zealand - Sept 4, 2010
Japan - March 11, 2011

These were all over the news. But, is this a lot? A little? Should we be concerned?

Back in my apartment I did a little research and was relieved to find information that made me feel a little better. According to information listed on the Wiki page “Earthquakes in 2011,” which lists global earthquakes ranked at a magnitude 6 or above, there have actually been 140 earthquakes this year throughout the world.

But, is this a lot? A little? Should we be concerned now? Considering that in 2000, there were 146 earthquakes and in 2007 there were 178 earthquakes, it seems like we’re right on target for an average year.

And since todays earthquake was only a magnitude 5.9, it won’t even be included on this chart. Obviously, the media isn’t deciding to devote coverage to every time the earth decides it’s time to shake and wiggle.

But, if you keep yourself glued to the media, like I sometimes do, it’s easy to get paranoid about the earth coming to an end. Yet, the data just doesn’t justify it. As my father reminded me, there have been people saying the world was coming to an end since he was a little boy.

Slash Coleman is a professional storyteller best known for his award-winning PBS special "The Neon Man and Me." His twitter campaign helped him win over PBS stations nationwide and land a two year distribution deal with NETA His recent column in Storytelling Magazine concentrates on social media and marketing strategies for artists and he was most recently featured on the NPR series "How Artists Make Money." For more information about Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Earthquakes, Epiphanies, and Kirsten Dunst Part 2

2011-08-23T08:35:00.010-04:00

Being raised by a family of artists and groomed to understand the creative world through emotion and intuition, I know that quantified and qualified data can only ever provide half of an entire picture. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut on things.

Even though the data I’ve collected on earthquakes, tornadoes and temperatures shows that there’s no cause for concern, I began to dig a little deeper. I mean, if the weather is now a market like a Big Mac, then there must be information that’s deliberately being kept from me. After all, Mc Donald's doesn’t want you to know that using of their products leads to obesity, diabetes and death.

Meet my friend Elenin

It is most likely a coincidence, but there is a lot of information out on the web that says that the major earthquakes in 2011 have coincided with the earth’s alignment with a comet known as Elenin. Here’s a video that shows how the astrological alignments have caused the earthquakes in Chile, New Zealand, and Japan and is scheduled to cause 2 more major earthquakes in the coming months: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOZy5Gbfl1I

According to the NASA website, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-135 “Comet Elenin is coming to the inner-solar system this fall.” The official word from NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is, “Right now this comet looks kind of wimpy."

Yet, when I did research on the actual size of Elenin I found that NASA’s math just doesn’t compute. When Elenin comes closer to us next month it will most likely be the size of a large planet. Here’s a video which explains the math in elementary terms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVEfHW5-cR0&feature=related

If Elenin wasn’t bad enough, NASA also says that an asteroid named YU55 will nearly miss the earth on November 8, 2011. Here’s the link to the info on YU55 on the NASA site: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news171.html

To me it’s pure science that large astral bodies such as planets can and do and will have an effect on the earth, it’s rotation, it’s gravitation pull, etc. If the moon has an effect on the earth’s tides, it makes sense that a large astral body that is coming close to our orbit would have a similar pull. Quite possibly, enough to cause earthquakes. Quite possibly, to pull the earth out of orbit or push it off it’s axis by a few degrees like the earthquake in Japan did.

If you believe, as I do, that we share a collective consciousness and that often times artists create art that represents a collective vision then you may be more than a little disturbed that the movie “Melancholia” (by Lars Von Trier) starring Kursten Dunst which debuted at the Cannes film festival this year, reveals the scenario above. To see the movie trailer which literally took my breath away visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_xsm46s2Gg

Other ancient cultures such as the Hopi’s and the Mayan’s both left prophesies about the science listed above. Much of it reminds me of the ridiculous moment in the movie Ghostbusters when Bill Murray's character frantically says, “Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!”

If you can bare the cheesiness factor and let yourself be open to the idea that not everything is a conspiracy theory, then this video gives a good interpretation of how the science above applies to the Hopi prophecy. It can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y1GdKdNhY4

Lastly, I can’t help thinking about the buzz over 2012 and the Mayan prophecy. The Maya “long count” calendar is said to end on December 21, 2012 and end a 5,126-year cycle. In the late 90’s I lived in Portland, Or and came to know Jose Argulles’s work with the 13 Moon Calendar quiet well (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Argüelles).

Yet, Many scholars have said that the belief that the Maya calendar actually ends on that date, rather than simply resetting for another cycle, is erroneous -- and the implication that the calendar predicts a worldwide cataclysm is wrong.

Will 2012 be another blip in our encyclopedia of cosmic jokes like Y2K? Is major change on tap for the coming year?

My artist’s intuition reminds me that the fleeting four minute feeling of being close and connected to my fellow human beings in front of that coffee shop yesterday was palpable and real. Through a shared experience of fear we found a place to love one another even if it was just for four minutes. If the ground shaking could cause that, who knows what might cause that on a grander scale and cause it to last much longer. I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to sacrifice most of the apps on my iphone, including Angry Birds, to find out.

Slash Coleman is a professional storyteller best known for his award-winning PBS special "The Neon Man and Me." His twitter campaign helped him win over PBS stations nationwide and land a two year distribution deal with NETA. His recent column in Storytelling Magazine concentrates on social media and marketing strategies for artists and he was most recently featured on the NPR series "How Artists Make Money." For more information about Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Twitter Love Q & A with Slash Coleman

2011-03-27T10:54:00.001-04:00

Q: What’s the difference between Facebook and Twitter?

A: Facebook is a public platform that pushes the personal toward business. Twitter is a public platform that pushes business toward personal.

Q: What does that mean?

A: You can do business on Twitter 24-7 and no one will think any less of you. Do business on Facebook 24-7 and your account will get flagged and deleted.

Q: What does Twitter do?

A: Joining Twitter gives you the ability to scream on the internet. Once you choose to follow someone, you now get to eavesdrop on every scream they make. The more people you follow, the more screams you’ll hear. I’m following 1,335 people on Twitter. That’s a lot of noisy people!

Q: Doesn’t all the screaming hurt your ears?

A: Yes, that’s why you need to download Hootsuite.com. The free application gives you the ability to listen in on individual screams and target the screams you want to hear in two ways:

1) By a persons name (also called a Name tag)

2) By topics that interest you (also called a Hash Tag)

Q: What is a Name Tag?

A: When you sign up for Twitter you decide what your name will be. Each name tag in Twitter has the @ symbol in front of it. My name tag on Twitter is @slashcoleman. I have a friend Tiffany Ferreira. Her name tag is @iknowtiffany. My family runs a furniture biz called Tinkers. Our name tag is @thetinkergirl.

Q: What is a Hashtag?

A: When Tweeters tweet about topics they put the “#” in front of their topic. Some recent Hashtags I’ve used are #storytelling #virginia, #va, #grief, #bereavement. At Hashtags.org, you can type in a Hashtag and you’ll find out who’s using it on Twitter and how popular the Hashtag is. Better yet, it even breaks usage up by date, hour and number of times it's been used with a really cool graph.

Q: How do I use Name Tags and Hashtags?

A: As I said before, name tags have a @ in front of them. Topics have a # symbol in front of them. For instance if I want to mention something going on in Richmond, VA when I tweet it, it’s better to type, “I love the #rva #snow and drinking warm coffee with my friend @valleyhaggard” rather than “I love that it’s snowing in Richmond and am drinking a cup of joe with Valley.”

One is a scream. The other is a part of a global conversation.

Some Sample Tweets I sent out for my PBS Tweet campaign:

a) Thank you @WGTEPublic #ohio for deciding to air @PBS special #neonman about #loss #grief #widow #hospice http://bit.ly/neonhelp

b) sure hope @RMPBS will air #neonman #NETA @PBS special about #grief #hospice #widow http://bit.ly/neonhelp . Thanks @UNCTV for airing it!

Q: Is it good to have a lot of followers?

A: Yes and no. It looks bad if you’re following 1,000 people and only 13 are following you back. If you’re using Twitter to develop relationships most of the people you follow will want to follow you back. The best advice I can give is to follow others that are aligned with your mission. Friendorfollow.com will allow you to type in your Twitter name and it will tell you which followers aren’t following you back. Is it important? Sometimes it is.

Q: What is #FF or #Follow Friday?

A: There’s a trend or a holiday on Twitter that happens every Friday called #followfriday or #ff. When you want to thank someone for helping you out or want all your peeps to follow one of your own followers, you can make a list like "@kindnessgirl, @davidbhutchens @la_poetessa #followfriday" and send it out into Tweetland. This results in friends of friends finding out who your friends are. They in turn sometimes follow your friends and you've just made the world a better place.

Q: What is a direct message?

A: After a day or two of following someone, send them a direct message that shows them you’ve been following them, visited their website or at least read their Twitter bio. When I found out that @GingerTice loved making artwork I wrote," I'm looking forward to checking out some of your artistically inspired tweets."

Q: What is a RT or a Retweet?

A: If developing a relationship with followers is important, then re-tweet some of their tweets, which means you copy and paste their message into your tweet bar and send it off into tweetland with a RT before it. If you have an upcoming event that you’d like help with in spreading the word, you can add PLZRT (please retweet) after your tweet and, with any luck others will heed your call.

Q: How can I talk to someone I don’t know?

A: Follow their conversations and then try to find a way to include yourself. When you ask them a question or include them in your own conversations include something from their bio or about them in the conversation. This is an example of something that doesn’t work. A performer was trying to get on the Ellen show and wrote, “Hey @theellenshow I know a great performer you should check out!”

Q: How do people have time to tweet all day long?

A: I’m not one of those Tweeters who has a fancy phone to send tweets out all day. Plus, it's not my style. Hoot Suite allows me to sit down in the morning and create all the tweets I want and schedule them to be sent throughout the day. When I was sending tweets out to every PBS station for my campaign, this application was the terrific!

Twitter 103 with Slash Coleman

2011-03-20T11:12:00.001-04:00

Q: How can I improve my chances of being seen on Twitter?

A: Like most on-line tools that are meant to build your professional community, you’ll need to participate in conversations on a regular basis. If it helps, think of Twitter as a virtual telephone.

Q: What do you mean “participate in conversations”?

A: Twitter is more than just a Billboard for advertising your latest projects. Sure, your next tweet has the potential to be seen by thousands, but if you only Tweet “Look at me! Look at me!” your followers will eventually look the other way.

Q: What’s a good Twitter Strategy?

A: I recommend sending out 5 tweets per week minimum, divided up in the following ways:

1 Re-Tweet.
1 Follow Friday.
1 Random Thought.
1 Direct Message.
1 Conversation Starter.

Q: What is a Re-tweet?

A: I covered this in the previous article, but it bears repeating. When you copy and paste someone else’s message into your tweet bar and re-send it, you have re-tweeted their message.

Q: What is Follow Friday?

A: It’s a Twitter holiday that happens every Friday and is also known as #followfriday or #ff. When you want all your followers to know about your favorite people, tweet “@kindramhall @storyLornaMac, @pdxstorytheater #ff.” This results in friends of friends finding out who they are and in turn who you are.

Q: What is a Random Thought?

A: It’s a quote you like, it’s a reference to your current trip to Starbucks, or it’s a link to your recent blog entry. For example, “It’s always darkest when it’s really dark out,” or “The #traffic on I-95 is horrific!”

Q: What the best way to use a Direct Message?

A: A day or two after you start following someone send them a Direct Message that shows them you’ve visited their website or read their twitter bio. When I found out that @kindramhallhad also performed on the Exchange Place stage I wrote, “Hey Exchange Placer. Your blog is awesome.” An on-line twitter friendship soon blossomed.

Q: What is a Conversation Starter?

A: Find someone you’d like to start a conversation with, read their tweets for a week and once you’re familiar with them, find a way to include yourself in their conversations. This is a good example, “@thecheckoutgirl do you know about the @PBS program about 2 #VA boys? Since you write about #comedy I thought you'd like it too!” This is a bad example. A performer was trying to get on the Ellen show and wrote, “Hey @theellenshow I know a great performer you should check out!”

Twitter 102 with Slash Coleman

2011-03-15T11:04:00.001-04:00

(This post was originally published in Storytelling Magazine in 2011)

Q: Staring at a column of random thoughts (Tweets) is overwhelming, isn’t it?

A: Yes, that’s why you need to download Hootsuite.com The free application gives you the ability to listen in on individual thoughts in two ways:

a) By a persons name (also called a Nametag)

b) By topics that interest you (also called a Hashtag)

Q: Is it true that having Twitter without Hootsuite is like having a car without keys?

A: Yes.

Q: What is a Nametag?

A: When you sign up for Twitter you’ll decide what your username will be. Each Nametag has the “@” symbol in front of it. My Nametag is @slashcoleman. I used my own name. Others use something clever like @getstoried.

Q: What is a Hashtag?

A: When Tweeters tweet about topics they put the “#” in front of their topic. Some recent Hashtags I’ve used are #storytelling and #NSN2010. At www.hashtags.org, you can type in a Hashtag and you’ll find out who’s using it and how popular it is.

Q: What is the correct way to use Nametags and Hashtags in my tweets?

A: Right: The #NSN2010 in #LA is awesome. I’m meeting great #storytellers.

Wrong: I’m meeting lots of great storytellers at the National Storytelling Conference in California.

The first one is a part of a global conversation that others can search, find and read. Anyone who follows the topics #storyteller, #LA or #NSN2010 will immediately see my message in their Tweetdeck column. The other is a random thought that is un-searchable and lost. (When I set Tweetdeck up, I was surprised to find mentions of me dating back a year. Some resulted in bookings).

Q: How do people have time to tweet all day?

A: Most don’t, that’s why they download HootSuite (free at Hootsuite.com). It allows you to create all your tweets in the morning and schedule them to be sent throughout the day.

Q: What now?

A: Click your name in the right corner. When the menu pulls down, click “Who to follow.” Click “Find Friends” Type slashcoleman in the search bar. Click the green“+” sign. You are now following me. Tweet a message to me: “@slashcoleman I love your #Twitter article in #storytelling mag.” I will tweet back to you recommendations on how to use Twitter to boost your storytelling connections.

Q: What is a direct message?

A: A 140 character private message that only the person you’ve sent the message to can see.

Q: What is a Retweet?

A: When you copy and paste someone else’s message into your tweet bar and re-send it, you have retweeted their message. Retweeting is a nice thing to do, like holding the door open for someone else.

Twitter 101 with Slash Coleman

2011-03-11T10:55:00.001-05:00

Re-posted from my original article in Storytelling Magazine 2011.

Q: What is Twitter?

A: Twitter is a room on the internet that is open 24 hours a day where you can speak and listen to conversations happening around the world.

Q: Isn’t that what e-mail or a phone call is for?

A: Have you ever spent all day trying to get a Verizon representative on the phone or waited weeks for an answer to an important e-mail? Twitter conversations can happen instantaneously.

Q: Yeah, but I’m already overwhelmed with online stuff why should I worry about another one?

A: Twitter gives you the most bang for your buck, period!

Q: What does that mean?

A: Whether you choose to speak, eavesdrop on global conversations, or contact others directly, you are limited to 140 characters. That’s roughly 18 words. It’s quick, to the point and for those who tend to ramble, it keeps things tightly focused.

Q: Facebook consumes gobs of my time, won’t Twitter?

A: Nope. You don’t have to worry about photo albums, answering messages from old boyfriends, or losing hours of your life playing Mob Wars or Farmville. On Twitter you simply speak or listen.

Q: Isn’t Twitter just a stripped down version of Facebook?

A: No. Facebook is used to make personal connections. Twitter is used to make business connections. One is like a living room while the other is like an office space. Facebook will punish you if you use it strictly for business, Twitter won’t.

Q: How do I sign up?

A: Go to www.twitter.com. Choose a user name and password. My user name is slashcoleman. I used my own name. Others use something clever like storyconnect. (Hint: Use your first and last name, no capital letters or spaces)

Q: Any advice for creating my bio?

A: Reveal your most unique aspects. Avoid dry and factual and lean toward unique and truthful. Rather than write, “Award winning storyteller from Lexington, VA,” write “Storyteller and bicycling enthusiast who loves fishing.”

Q: What am I seeing on my screen now that I signed up?

A: A few self explanatory links at the top, space to write your tweets, followers, following and listed.

Q: What is it called when you speak on Twitter?

A: Tweeting. You simply write something in the empty space labeled, “What’s Happening?” and push the Tweet button.

Q: I signed up, what do I do now?

A: Click the Find People link. Type in someone’s name. If they come up, follow them. Now, when they send out a tweet, you’ll see it.

Q: What does “following” mean?

A: It means you are following this persons tweets.

Q: What does “followers” mean?

A: These are people who are listing to your tweets.

How to Reach Facebook Fans in a World of On-line Noise

2010-08-22T12:11:00.006-04:00

Back in the day, I could send out a Facebook invite for an upcoming performance and a couple of things would happen: 1) About 90% of those I invited would rsvp (either yes, no, or maybe) and 2) About 40% of those invitees would actually show up at my event. It was my most effective marketing tool.

When Facebook decided to turn on its money making machine about a year ago, the typical invite got lost in the shuffle. Now, I'm lucky if I get a 20% RSVP rate and for a 100 seat theatre, I'm lucky to sell 3 tickets from Facebook invites.

I understand the problem. Having nearly 1,800 friends on Facebook myself, not only do I get a lot of invites each day (about 15-20) but I also get a lot of other stimulation on my Facebook page that ends up looking and sounding a lot like on-line noise. There's just too much stimulation on my page for me to pay attention to something as specific as an invitation.

Although I've always tried to be personal with my marketing efforts, I have to be even more diligent now to make sure that my own invitations can be seen and heard through the haze of saturation. To be honest, I have ADD when it comes to Facebook and if you're planning an event, you should assume every friend you're sending an invitation to has ADFBD (Attention Deficit Facebook Disorder) too.

Here are 10 ways to make sure your invite gets over the firewall:

1) Use a title that describes the event itself or the location. For example "Illumination: Four Tellers Telling in Maryland" is better than just "Illumination." There is a balance between including interesting, length and location in your title.

2) Within the body of your invite, place just enough information to spark someone’s interest. In other words, don't cut and paste something from your website into your invitation. I don’t want to read through every review that’s ever been written about you.

3) Attach event-related photos, videos and other links on the actual invite page. Sounds obvious, but don't make me search to find out more information about the event. Also, use captions with every photo.

4) Put a “click-thru” link on the invite that will take invitees to a place where they can purchase tickets.

5) Invite all your friends, even the ones that live in

Spain

. Most friends want to stay in touch with you and will want to know what's going on in your performance world. An invite allows them to do this. Besides, if your friends like your work (which they should if they are your friends) this will allow them to forward the invite to their own friends who can attend.

6) Wait two days and then from the invite page, message all your guests with a short personal e-mail such as:

Hi,

Just wanted to let you know about my next performance at Seeker’s Church on September 25 at 7:30. It’s a storytelling concert I’m doing with three friends and I thought you might be interested.

For more information or to buy tickets you can visit.: http://bit.ly/illuminationstory

Thanks,

Slash

*This friendly note alerts people like me who received the invite, but didn't open it or even know where to find it to the fact that you are having an event. Without this note, I'd never know.

7) Four weeks before your event, begin to post one status update related to your event.

Remember to use the “@” symbol in front of your event title, wait for the link to upload and then place it in your status bar. For example, “Looking forward to @Illumination: Four Tellers Telling later this month. I’m so excited!” The @symbol should disappear and make your title into a live click-thru link. (Double check to make sure it works)

*Studies show the best times for status updates are usually 8am and 4pm

8) One to three weeks before your event, post 2 status updates related to your event that are similar, but different than the one above. For example, “Tickets for @Illumination: Four Tellers Telling are selling well.”

9) One week before your event, go back to your invite page and: a) send a personal note to anyone who has rsvp’ed Yes or Maybe. B) send a new personal note to those who haven’t sent in an rsvp.

10) If you want to bump up your response rate to nearly 35%, then you should actually send out a personal invite to every one of your friends. Yes, I actually do this for important events. Although I have nearly 1,800 friends and this takes a few days, it's an important and personal step. If tickets sales, filling seats or connecting with friends you haven’t heard from in a while are important to you, you’ll consider doing this too.

If you'd like to see an invite for my upcoming storytelling concert on Facebook visit http://bit.ly/illuminationstory

For more info storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Question of the Week: Funding

2010-08-19T08:06:00.000-04:00

Hey Mister! I gotta a question for you. When you are looking for underwriters and donations, do you send out a feeler e-mail or do you send the whole kit and kaboodle? Gotta project I am trying to make happen. It is so close, but thinking maybe I could get someone to underwrite part of it - then it would actually happen. Thoughts ideas?? Thanks!

It depends on what you're looking for in terms of donation amounts. Asking for $10 donations is very different than asking for $5,000. The latter requires a different approach.

As a general rule - the more personal the better - there's no shortcut for that. And the more options you give for giving the better with it clearly spelled out what they are contributing to and how it will help you.

Blast a *yawn* *yawn* cut and paste e-mail out into the e-mail or snail mail ether and you're lucky to get a 1% response rate.

If I got a request from you, I would most likely delete it or throw the request away myself and I know you. Don't send anyone anything unless you've developed a relationship with them to begin with AND they are expecting to receive it. If you break this rule, it's sort of like sending a big huge can of spam, especially in the world of money. The money people are getting hit up every other day to make a contribution for the next, best, greatest thing. A couple of my business mentors always had a pile of requests on their desk from people they didn't know that grew taller each day.

Better to spend 40 hours making phone calls than to spend 40 hours stuffing envelopes and sending out e-mails. It all goes back to old-skool rules. The politicians do it every time an election rolls around - One handshake at a time.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Question of the Week: My Press Release

2010-08-13T07:36:00.005-04:00

Q: Hey there!
I'm getting ready to do some press-release-sending out, and am wondering...is it better to actually mail a press release or to go ahead an email the release and a few photos to the contacts you sent? I suppose I got the cart ahead of the horse, and didn't think about method of sending. Thanks, Khalima

How to Use Your Media Contact List

The E-Teaser
A month and a half before your event, send out a short 1-2 line e-mail to each, individual journalist. In the subject bar type “story idea” in small case letters. In the body of your e-mail use their name and ask them, for instance, “If they accept story ideas relating to theater related events.” See the example below:

Subject: story idea

Hi Mike,

Do you accept story ideas for the San Francisco area? If so, I think I have one your readers would really enjoy.

Thanks,

Slash Coleman

Your initial e-mail serves two purposes. One, it allows your initial contact to get through the spam filter. By using all small case letters in the subject bar and keeping your e-mail brief, chances are better that your query will get through the spam filter.

Two, an e-mail such as the one I suggest puts you in a position of power. Rather than asking the journalist for something, you’re identifying that you have something that may help the journalist. Journalists, like artists, are usually hungry for their own big break. Could you be the key to that break? Maybe. The short e-mail like the one I’m suggesting is usually enough to perk the interest of even the busiest journalist. In addition, it allows you to make the first step in developing a relationship with the person on the other end of the e-mail – it’s a polite introduction of sorts.

You’ll be surprised at how quickly most media representatives will answer a teaser like the one above. Response times vary from 1 hour to 2 days. In some cases, the journalist will let you know a better person to contact. If they e-mail back saying they're not interested or they refer you to someone else, thank them and save their e-mail for the future if appropriate.

More likely than not, you’ll get a short response back that reads something such as “We sure do!”, “Yes” or “Go ahead and pitch me.” When you get this answer, send a press release.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Question of the Week: A PBS Program

2010-06-28T08:37:00.004-04:00

Q: Hello Slash. My name is Sam Dirani. I know this is untoward, but a friend of my fiancé, living in Richmond VA, recently told me about your work and with PBS and she recommended I send you a message asking for some advice.

My friend Matthew and I have finished developing a new children's educational science show and are now dealing with the difficulties of speaking to networks, producers, and agents. We were wondering if you could offer some advice on how to find agents and get in touch with the right people.

While still in its infancy, Matthew and I have developed a new children’s educational series focusing on all branches of science. This unique and innovate children’s show, the likes of which not seen since Bill Nye left the airwaves twelve years ago, is appropriately named Adventures in Science with Matt and Sam.

This new series promises to entertain children and keep them interested, all-the-while nurturing their curiosity and love for science, and ultimately to keep them asking questions about the world around them for the rest of their lives.

Please check out the link below to the theme song we developed and put together for the show.

Thank you very much, and I look forward to hearing from you and learning more about your career.

Sincerely,
Sam Dirani and Matthew Mendler.

A: Hi Sam, I couldn't really tell a whole lot from your song and my guess is that the decision makers will wonder what else you've got as well - that's why tv shows usually shoot a whole pilot season before they present it to the network.

It's an expensive but necessary risk.

Perhaps you already have 5-10 episodes, and if not they'll want to see snippets of some sort of season so they can make their decision based on the continuity of the program.

In addition to this, you’ll need to test market it yourself in front of some classroom children and then give the kids and teachers a questionnaire about the program. The information you get from this is all stuff they’ll want to find out anyway. This target demographic should be similar to the PBS demographic.

You get one chance with this and it’s important to have everything in place before you make your pitch rather then get impatient and blow an important opportunity.

Another important aspect of your presentation will be testimonials - filmed and written. But, kids on camera in your target demographic is just one part, you'll need to get testimonials from teachers, principals, etc. And this list should include important industry peeps (and even famous people can't hurt). Would a decision maker really say "No," to a show endorsed by Bono?

More important than your show though is your media kit - which is similar to a book proposal which will spell out your intended demographic in very specific terms and why your show is needed. This marketing plan will comprise the most important part of your pitch. I recommend a book called How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen. The Marketing Plan info in the book will help you get really clear about what you’re trying to do with your show.

And finally, I recommend spending some money and hiring a few PBS/Public Media crew members. It's a sure way into a long term and fruitful colloboration. You should contact several stations and get a quote as to how much some of their crew members would cost or even how much they would charge to produce the show. You'll avoid a lot of dead-end roads if you pre-plan with this in mind.

However, this is just a stepping stone to the next step which is pitching your finished program to a distributor - which is how it gets played on the actual stations. This requires an entirely different set of rules and planning.
Anymore, it’s not really about how good a product is… it’s about what you can do with your product and how big your platform is. There’s a ton of good information throughout my blog that should give you tips to fill in some of your platform gaps. Read through it and get back with me if you have more questions.

Good luck,

Slash

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Sponsorship and Fundraising 101

2010-06-14T18:39:00.005-04:00

Part 1: How do I get sponsorships?

There is an idea that getting sponsorships is as easy as finding an address of someone who has money, writing a letter, and then waiting for the check to arrive. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Most often, those doing the fundraising will target big companies since these seem to be the most likely targets. Aren’t these the companies we see in the newspapers, on TV or on the radio sponsoring everything from the local Breast Cancer 10K or the 7^th Annual Apple Jamboree?

Most people will approach these companies first, get shot down and then walk away from their fundraising efforts deflated. Before you approach that large local bank or grocery store it’s good to have a basic fundraising plan in place.

Part 2: The Money

How much money do you want to raise and what exactly are you going to do with that money?

I know it sounds silly, but most creatives go into a fundraiser thinking they’ll take as much as they are given and they have no real plan of what they plan to do with the money once they get it. Nothing reeks of a lame fundraising opportunity more than this.

Most companies and individuals want to know exactly how much money you’re attempting to raise and what you plan to do with it. You should have a budget in place and a detailed plan that is available to potential funders.

Often times raising a small amount is actually harder than raising a large amount. Most big companies will scoff at a $10,000 goal, but may be more than happy to contribute to a $65,000 goal. They know that a larger budget means more exposure and more community outreach potential for them.

Part 3: The Approach

When we approached companies for my PBS special, “The Neon Man and Me,” (a television program that deals with bereavement and loss) we first targeted large drug companies who created anti-depressants. The problem we ran into with these companies was that their budgets were usually planned and accounted for two quarters before we even contacted them. After researching and contacting these companies, we shifted our plan midstream and began to seek companies in the funeral industry including book publishers and funeral organizations. We found success with our new plan.

Most large companies like Target, Pepsi, and Kraft have grants that you can apply for, but they are mostly for non-profits, extremely competitive and have specific deadlines that usually occurred six months before you decided to visit their website.

Part 4: Linking the Like with Like

The salesperson I hired for my Neon Man sponsorships was someone who was extremely familiar with the funeral industry which made things extremely easy for us. I think this fact is extremely important. It helps build rapport. In fact, it’s so important that I would take someone with knowledge of a potential sponsor’s industry over someone with sales experience and no knowledge of the industry 9 times out of 10.

Part 5: Misconceptions

I raised the budget to create my PBS special by doing a living room tour. I made a DVD documentary about what I was attempting to do and took it into living rooms all over the state of Virginia. A host would invite me over to his house, and then invite 10-15 friends over. We would watch the 30 minute documentary, I would talk about what I was trying to do and then guests would make donations. I was able to raise $65,000 this way.

When you are fundraising there is no right way or wrong way to do things. But you should have a plan for how much you’re raising, a detailed outline of what you plan to do with the money, be able to explain what potential sponsors will get out of the experience, and provide multiple ways for people to give.

You should have a link on your website that allows people to donate to the “specific cause” (not just a general donate button) and you should have items for sale where a portion of the sales will go directly towards your goal.

Part 6: WIIFM

WIIFM stands for What’s In It For Me? Why are you approaching a company or a person for sponsorship? Is it because they have money? If so, think again. That’s not a good enough reason.

You should approach companies and individuals because you think there is a good fit. A good fit means that there is a reciprocal link. In other words, their own mission should be compatible with your own. You are helping them and they are helping you. You should know how your event will benefit a company or individual before you approach them and ask for money.

Part 7: Initial Contact

If you have all your ducks in a row (See Parts 1-6), and have a two-pocket folder full of the above information which you can mail to perspective funders (only when they’ve requested it), and the event now appears prominently on the first page on your website, I recommend you start by writing individual e-mails (the more personal the better) to your fan base.

Let me repeat the most important part of that last sentence - the more personal the better to individuals.

In the subject bar you should include the person’s name. The e-mail shouldn’t sound spammy, like you’re trying to sell something. What you’re offering is an invitation to collaborate.

This shouldn’t be a 10 page e-mail. It should be 2-3 paragraphs which outlines your goal, includes what sponsors will get out of it and include a link to more information. In the e-mail, you aren’t asking for money at this point. You are asking the individual if they know an individual or company who may be interested in sponsoring your event.

Once you get some return e-mails with individual names, phone numbers or e-mails, then you can contact these new individuals using the recommendation from the first person.

Part 8: Don’t give up

Big companies don't have an easier time with raising money. It's still done one handshake, one phone call at a time, just like a Presidential election. Even with big companies, that have a department dedicated to sponsorships, it’s no easy road. If you think a large company has an easier time, consider that they have to hit up potential sponsors year after year. If you think getting a person to give once is hard, trying getting them to give twice.

You should spend at least a month developing your plan and give yourself a deadline with a specific date to meet you fundraising or sponsorship goals. Three months should be plenty of time to do this. Less than that and you’re really not giving yourself enough time to brainstorm new ideas if your original ideas fall flat.

Don’t give up. If you believe in what you are doing, then so will other people.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

10 Keys to Platform Overdrive

2010-03-17T21:32:00.002-04:00

I get a question once a month from someone who wants the NASCAR version of platform building. They see all those fast cars wrapped in sponsorship dollars racing toward the finish line and they want to know the secret. They see the finish line, but they don’t see how much time it takes to not only finish the race, but to get invited to race in the first place.

For instance, the Checker Auto Parts 500 in Phoenix is actually 312 laps and 312 miles long. These days, creatives think everything is like American Idol. One day you’re standing in line with your “pants on the ground” and the next, you're a Supa’star. (If you need a footnote then make sure check out Steve Martin’s, “Born Standing Up,” and you’ll get a glimpse for what 12 appearances on prime time TV talk shows, won’t do for your career).

Everybody and their brother wants to be in the race now. Everybody and their brother wants to see the checkered flag now, but very few people want to spend the time to complete the 312 laps.

“Hey, I heard if I start a blog, I’ll be making $50,000 by the end of the year?”

“Hey, I heard if I start Tweeting, I’ll be totally famous by the end of next week?”

When did anything that was ever worth anything get birthed into the world without effort? If you doubt me, just ask your mom how easy birthing was. Whether you have a great platform and a great career or a crappy platform and a crappy career, good ol’ momma went through a lot to get you to where you are now.

A lot of what I have to say about Platform Overdrive comes down to basics. In fact, there is simply no other way around it. Building a platform is no different from running a presidential election. (Sure, texting was an essential part of Obama’s election, but it only comprised a small part of his success). It’s still done one handshake at a time - one relationship at a time. Social media applications that give you short cuts to get you more friends or more follows won’t change this.

Even if everything below seems obvious, it’s worth it to re-examine your relationship to each of my points since half of them involve social media applications. The fact is, things are changing constantly and what worked 3 months ago can sometimes be obsolete by the time you put it into practice or even master it.

I believe building a platform is really about having conversations with individuals. And so, I’ve broken 10 Keys to Platform Overdrive into 2 parts. The first part is about places to have your conversations and the second part is about the types of conversations you should be engaging in.

The 5 Conversation Platforms

1. Facebook

In terms of the 5 conversation platforms, Facebook is the most limiting because there is a fence around it that denies you access to the outer web world. Search engines can’t get in to see what’s going on in Facebook (except for the Fan page, which I oppose – see my article 10 reasonsWhy You Should Kill Your Fan Page Now).

So, in many ways, Facebook is like a little cult on a big ranch that is kind of secret to the rest of the world. This is Facebook’s greatest weakness and greatest strength. As a weakness, if you’re not a member of the cult you’re denied access. As a strength, it also has the potential to create your tightest bonds because there’s a huge common denominator connected directly to your profile.

Know that Facebook is more than your number of friends and your status bar. Facebook is a platform where you can shape your image much better than a website will allow you to do. Why? Because it allows you to create an on-line image and then have others reflect on your image. Because of these reflections, potential fans (as voyeurs) get a much better idea of who you are and what your mission is all about. Whereas a website is a one-sided your version of you, your Facebook profile is your version and then a reflection of your version as told to the viewer by others through comments and status updates.

To use Facebook effectively you should look not at how many friends you have (it’s not My Space), but how aligned those friends are with your mission. Facebook is a community and communities like it when you participate in conversations that inform, challenge or inspire. To get the most out of Facebook it’s a necessity to give others a glimpse of you in photos (lots), videos, links to important and recent media coverage about you, and notes that will inform, challenge or inspire your friends. Remember,as a rule, Facebook is more than a website and must be maintained.

2. Twitter

In terms of the 5 conversation platforms, this one has the steepest learning curve. Anyone can get a free e-mail address. Anyone can sign up for Facebook. Anyone can become a parent. Twitter is a little more difficult to use. After a tumultuous start to my own relationship with Twitter (See my Break-up Letter to Twitter) and seeking Twitter counseling from friends, this social media application has not only become my favorite, but has the most potential for getting the attention that your platform so desperately desires. Better to bite the bullet now, keep your judgments out of the way and open a Twitter account. Before you do though read my “10 Ways to Love Twitter Better,” it will soften the hard knocks you’ll experience on the way up and down.

3. Blog

If you put a sign in front of your apartment or house that reads, “I’m selling Radiators,” do you think anyone would stop by and buy a radiator on the first day? The second day? How about a year later? The idea that a blog = instantaneous fans is a myth.

It takes time to not only develop your blog voice, but to develop a following. Just like with anything else connected to your creative endeavors there will be two parts to it:

1) The creation of your creation

2) The marketing of your creation.

It will take more time to market your blog than it will to create it. And if you’re just in it because you think a blog = instantaneous fans, you’re going to be sadly disappointed.

Blog readers tend to follow blogs where the writer allows his “human vulnerabilities” to shine through. As a blog reader myself, I just don’t want smart, quirky and intelligent writing, I want to get a glimpse into a blogger’s own struggles and vulnerabilities. If you’re wanting to hind behind your blog then it’s DOA – Dead On Arrival. If you want to use your blog to creatively and publicly track your path through life then you’re on the right track.

In terms of how much you should blog or what the typical length of a blog entry should be is up for debate. Skull a Day met with great success because designer Noah Scalin created and posted one skull a day for an entire year. However, most fans of marketing and business don’t want to read a blog entry a day – it can be an overload.

Steve Pavlina who I interviewed for my book “The Art of Business for Creatives,” believes in lengthy blog entries, which are intelligent and thorough. And who can complain with a guy that has worked to gain over two million blog readers.

4. E-mail Database

So, yeah, it’s true even my 15 year old nephew thinks e-mail is old skool. But so is the post office and they haven’t gotten rid of that - yet. If you’re not collecting names at every single event you are a part of, you are way behind the times. You’re website should have an e-collection pot, your event should have an e-collection pot, heck you should even be carrying an e-collection pot around with you at all times.

Talent doesn’t cut it anymore when it comes time to taking your career to the big leagues. Agents, Publishers, and A&R music executives want to know how big your e-mail database is, how effective it is, and how you can leverage it. For instance, a typical call to action with my fans yields a whopping 25% return on any call to action and my list is tiny. It’s a meager 10,000.

Until the e-mail succumbs to the same fate as the VHS tape, you better go to Staples and invest in a good clipboard and start collecting those suckers on a sheet of paper. And FYI, collecting e-mails doesn't mean you leave the clip board laying on a table. The word "collecting" is a verb. Nu-uh, you’re going to have to ask others to sign up on your list and have a pen available. (I know, life as an artist just got really complicated and extroverty all of a sudden, didn’t it?)

5. You Tube

“Dude, I’m going to put a video up and go viral.” Yeah, right. Ask anyone who’s created a viral video and I’ll bet it was almost completely by accident. If there was a company you could hire to create a viral video it would have most likely existed in the front pocket of Jack Kerouac’s jean jacket.

Ask any marketing person and they'll most likely tell you, "You should be creating value with your work instead of thinking about what’s most likely to go Viral.” You should also know that You tube, although an important part of your platform, is shaped by the images you create. Shape a less than appealing image of yourself in terms of content and quality and it’s going to reflect poorly on your work as an artist. Remember, people have died of over exposure.

The 5 Conversations

6. Media Conversations

When an idea is in your head you are limited as to how many people know about it. Talk about it and it’s people reaching potential expands. Write it down and it expands further. Fax or e-mail it to your buddies and it’s just taken a huge leap. Send it to a radio or TV station, a magazine, or a newspaper and (pending coverage), you’ve just done something amazing!

You legitimized your idea, increased it’s value, strengthened your web presence, and expanded your audience tenfold. How much media coverage have you received in the last year? If you’re not getting it 1-2 times month (at a minimum) it’s time to look carefully at #10 and begin to develop some realistic media goals for yourself.

7. Community Conversations

In the book “The Artist’s Way,” one of the homework assignments is to take yourself out on an artist’s date. Yeah, you read that correctly. You take yourself out alone on a date to an event that will artistically inspire you. A foreign film, a concert, a reading at a book store. Below, in #9, it is all about your own agenda where you have a high perceived value from the public. In #9, you are the rock star. In #7, you're a humble "no-body," a mere fan.

But this section is more than just taking yourself out on a date. This is what my new Twitter pal Patience Saldago would define as a random act of kindness. Yes, egoless kindness or paying it forward or tithing or mentoring or whatever you want to call it is a great way to earn some creative clout in the Bank of Artist Karma. The more you give, the more you get. Aaron Wong's blog "Looking for My Life," devotes much more to the topic that I can here.

I attribute much of my success with my PBS special, “The Neon Man and Me,” with tithing on a regular basis. Sometimes I couldn’t pay my rent, but that didn’t stop me from giving away at least 10% of everything I made on every show. On paper it doesn’t make sense, but most things in the creative world don’t. Try it for a week, a month, a day. Pay it forward, pay a compliment to someone every day for a week. Give someone your time or give someone your ear, you’ll be amazed at one can come from it.

8. Web Conversations

When you type your name into Google Search, you should be appearing on at least the first full 2 pages and then scattered about on subsequent pages. For your industry, you should be ideally appearing on one of the first three pages. For instance, if you are Steve Hofstetter, Comedian, you should appear under both your name and comedian. If you’re not, you’re not having enough conversations. #6, #7, and #9 are all about how you are expressing your mission into the world. What are you waiting for?

9. Event Conversations

You might be comforted to know that there have been creatives that have lived as utter introverts and still managed to carve out a successful place in the world for themselves, but it’s the exception rather than the rule. It’s a myth that someone is going to come along and discover you.

From my experience, each artist who was ever discovered (and I’ve interviewed dozens of artists who have “made it” for my book) has created her own opportunities. That’s why Tony Robbins is such a popular motivator. The guy’s no snake oil salesman. The guy can teach you how to create these opportunities for yourself.

I’ve seen unsuccessful creatives hide behind a litany of excuses that are rooted in myths of limitation that are better serviced by a good therapist than a fledgling arts career. You should know that unless you’re willing to get into the public eye on a consistent basis, it’ll be hard for #6, #7, and #8 to reach their full potential.

During the first year of my career as a solo-performer and storyteller I did 4 public performances. The next year it tripled, the next it quadrupled and it’s doubled every year since then. Although I’m working on developing a 200 day tour this year, last year it reached about 150.

Meeting your fans and making new ones is essential to any creative career.

10. Your Goals & Objectives

There are all kinds of good quotes out there about goals:

Carl Sandburg: Nothing happens unless first we dream.

Ella Fitzgerald: It isn't where you come from, it's where you're going that counts.

As my 10^th grade physics teacher used to say, “A person will self destruct without a goal.” It’s true, but you’ll not only self destruct, you’ll wake up hundreds of miles from where you really want to be.

If you don’t have time to write up a full blown business plan, I suggest that the least you can do is write down one thing you’d like to achieve in the next year on a napkin. I can’t tell you the number of artists I meet with on a regular basis who chase their tail year after year. (see my entry on How to Make a Business Plan in 6 Easy Steps).

When you have specific goals and objectives that are written down, it allows you to carry them out into the world and begin to have conversations about them. When we converse with others it allows our ideas to take root with others.

Photographer Gordon Stettinius writes down his top 100 goals each year on his blog. Guess what? By the end of the year he’s usually able to cross off a good chunk of his list. It’s amazingly simple. It’s so simple, you’ll most likely finish reading this and still not write down your goals. I’ll tell you what, to make it easy, leave one goal as a comment below. I dare you! Now, you really don’t have any excuses do you.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Great Contest!

2010-03-14T22:52:00.000-04:00

If you are a writer you might want to check out this very cool contest. Entry requires little more than following a few very talented and gifted authors with representation on their blogs, Twitter and Facebook. The grand prize is a partial review from an agent from Fine Print Lit

Here's the link: Contest

Good luck!

Learning the Hard Way: Self Esteem & Self Confidence Classes for Teens

2010-03-05T20:27:00.002-05:00

For the past two weeks, I taught a course as an artist-in-residence at a private, school for privileged teen girls. The course was entitled, "Super Hero Training for Girls," and I created it to help teens and pre-teens boost their self-esteem, build their self-confidence and to ultimately help them counter some of the biggest challenges facing pre-teens and teens today including: bullying, anger, eating disorders, violence, substance abuse, anger, delinquency, and suicide.

I've taught the course to inner city impoverished teens and pre-teens with a great deal of success. The curriculum works really well with boys, girls, and with classes with boys and girls. I think a lot of that success stems from me being a dependent, positive male role-model to kids in situations where positive, male role models are far and few between.

I was curious how things would turn out in a situation where the home conditions for these students were more ideal - homes with both a mom and dad, college educated parents with good jobs, and homes in a stable economic bracket.

In the class, I give students a lot of room to express themselves in a multitude of creative ways including: creative writing, heart-to-heart discussions, confidence building theatre games, and lots of hands-on exercises meant to challenge participants to think differently about how they interact with the world and their family. It's worked in the past because I treat the students like adults, give them a lot of freedom to be responsible for their own behaviors and establish a safe, judgment-free environment.

What did we do in the class?

One homework assignment including going home and telling everyone in your family that you loved them and noting the reaction in yourself and each of your family members. Did the family member deflect it, take it in, ignore it, or make assumptions?

Another assignment included standing in front of a partner, looking them in the eyes and complimenting them. Both partners were required to note how they felt in the moment, including body language and any feelings that came up.Part two of the assignment included judging your partner.

Another included performing a Random Acts of Kindness. I even had them visit Patience Salgado's Kindness Girl Blog (@kindessgirl) to get ideas. They were required to give to someone anonymously. I told them things like this went into their karmic bank account and directly boosted self-esteem.

We also covered a section on how gratitude helps to boost self-esteem as well and I invited two guest speakers to come in and talk about the subject: Book editor, Valley Haggard and ex-super model Kim Alley. I even had them visit Nancy "Fancy Pants" Illman's blog to see how someone else has found a way to fit gratitude into their own life.

The examples above, to me, make up the foundation of self-esteem - how we deal with love, how we deal with judgments (both positive and negative) and how selflessly we give to others. These are akin to the fundamental drills a coach makes an athlete practice over and over again whether they are just beginning or they are an experienced, highly-paid professional athlete. In basketball, this would be like practicing your free-throw until you could do it in your sleep and then practicing it some more.

I explained to the girls that we often have lofty, confusing, and abstract ideas about how to make the world a better place that aren't rooted in practical, methods of implementation. For instance, it's more acceptable in our culture to go into the post office and tell the clerk off by saying, "You sorry, SOB, I can't believe you're so slow. I hate you," than it is to go in and say, "I really love you."

Often we want soldiers to drop their weapons, but could we except them to be able to look one another in the eyes after doing so and honestly give and receive a compliment and say I love you? Not likely!

We hear people all the time say that we'd like to have a world filled without wars, gang violence, fights, and a society filled with anger, but what then? Isn't everyone escaping through food and video games and drugs because the "what then" scares them? No one seems to be equipped with the skills to interact in a healthy way when we drop our defenses and no one seems to be interested in providing the skills to do so.

Over and over again, even in a safe environment, by repeating the compliment exercises, I couldn't get these girls to give and receive a compliment to one another and feel comfortable about it. When they went home and gave family members compliments, the compliments were either:

a) Deflected - "I think you look great!" "Oh, I think you look great too!"

b) Seen as Ingenuous - "I think you look great!" "What do you want? I know you're only being nice to me for a reason."

c) Ignored - "You're the best." silence or cricket, cricket

The concepts were simple and so were the exercises, but I know that what I put these girls through would have made most adults cringe. How well do you accept a compliment? Do you know what to say when you are judged by someone else? If I asked you to give a compliment every hour for an entire day and an extra compliment every time you heard someone sneeze, could you? Has anyone ever asked you to write down your top 25 goals and dreams?

Despite their awkward teen ways I didn't expect them to really change in 2 weeks. Although the over-all average self-esteem for the class increased by 15 points based on a questionnaire I gave the girls before and after, nothing really prepared me for what I read on the evaluations that I had them fill out on the last day of class.

The majority of girls felt the class was a waste. They felt the exercises were fake. They said the class was disorganized, the exercises were irrelevant, and the environment was creepy.

When I put status updates last week on my Twitter and Facebook profiles, I got a lot of positive feedback for teaching the course. But, I'm just guessing though, that if most adults had the opportunity to participate in a class like this, they'd find themselves rowing the same boat as these girls.

The quandary question then, is this: Is there a problem with our vision in our world or is there a problem with the implementation of our vision? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com.

Reinventing Yourself as an Artist

2010-02-26T16:36:00.003-05:00

If you know me, then you know I've re-created myself many times over as an artist. Originally, I was a cartoonist where I grew up in my father's art studio as a kid. Some parents keep their house well stocked with whole milk and good food, my father always made sure I had a fresh sketch book , plenty of art supplies and an eccentric posse of artists to inspire me.

As a kid I would have "art-sleep-overs" with my guy friends. We would check out football books from the library on a Friday and spend all weekend copying the pictures into our sketch books. When I hit middle school I started playing the keyboards in a country band with a bunch of adults across town. I answered in ad in the newspaper and my parents would drive me to band practice each week. In high school, I fell in love with The Police and was in various alternative rock bands through college.

During my junior year at Radford University, I fell in love with jazz and I discovered fiction writing. I started working as a freelance writer - or at least I tried to, while bringing home the bacon with various day jobs and touring with a jazz fusion band.

After college, I went to grad school to study creative writing and started a career as a full blown traditional jazz pianist. That lasted until I hit the age of 30 and then I gave it all up and went back to my roots. I started making my living as a visual artist in Portland, Oregon, selling my cartoon-like oil-pastel prints at the Portland Saturday Market. This led me back to the east coast where I rented a 1,200 sq ft studio in Easthampton, Ma and started painting on canvas - Large chakra paintings with water based oil paints - some as big as 8ftx8ft.

After a few years, I went back to the stage as a solo-performer which led me into my current work as a professional storyteller.

Hearing Raghava give his talk in the video below was very helpful especially since he and I seem to get a lot out of working with kids. Through the years my kid workshops like Raghava's, have always comprised a large portion of my work. The world likes to dismiss people like us as "Renaissance Men." But, I don't think this term quite fits.

Originally from TED TV: Raghava KK: Five lives of an artist.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Are You Responsible for Your Friends Behavior?

2010-02-23T11:05:00.003-05:00

About 4 years ago a friend of mine, I’ll call him Henry, e-mailed a bunch of his contacts. He said he had just finished reading a book called Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi and he suggested that anyone that took him out to lunch could have a copy of the book for free. I thought it was a pretty incredible and unusual offer and I came home from that lunch with a great book.

The gist of the book was about sharing your network freely and openly and after reading it, it sent my own connection gears into overdrive. Most of my friends have, at one time or another, gotten an e-mail from me where the subject bar reads SUBJECT: FRIENDLY INTRODUCTION. In the e-mail, I introduce two people to one another and explain why I think they should know one another. I’ve done this thousands of times through the years.

Right after I read that book, I connected Henry with an artist friend of mine. The artist stood Henry up twice and Henry was pretty pissed at me. I didn’t see the connection. Once I made the introduction, wasn’t the connection out of my hands at that point? It wasn’t like I was introducing a guy to a potential girlfriend where my vouching for the person might endanger her safety. (If you're interested in this topic in particular check out Andrea V Lewis' blog) This was simply business right? Wrong. According to Henry, the actions of the flakey artist directly reflected on me.

After that experience, I became a bit more cautious in how I handled my network switchboard. Though my new approach went against Keith Ferrazzi’s philosophy, my new path was eye opening. By pre-qualifying connections I was actually ensuring the strength of a connection.

What I found was this. Most artist’s are flakes when it comes to time, organization and business skills. (Sorry artists, it’s true) If I connect an artist who doesn’t show up on time with an important business connection, then I’ve wasted my time and my business connection’s time.

But there's more to the story than meets the eye.

Flash forward 4 years.

Henry asked me to team teach a workshop for his organization on a topic that I am extremely passionate about. He had another friend whom he thought would be a great co-teacher. Guess what happened? This great co-teacher scheduled a time to meet with us to discuss the proposed curriculum and he left us waiting in a café. He no-showed - twice. The co-teacher had great excuses, but Henry was understandably upset and apologized though I saw no need to. I simply do not think that a business connection reflects back on the connector.

This is what I have found in terms of those who "no-show" to meetings.

If our mission is not aligned with a proposed topic, then something interesting happens. We will unconsciously create a series of distractions that will prevent us from making the meeting.

For instance, if you asked me to give a talk about men’s gymnastics (I competed in the sport from middle school through college) I would probably say “Yes” and then when the time came to speak, I would either forget to show up, get delayed at the bank which would make me late, or something else would come up, etc. I simply am not passionate about the topic, even though you might think I’m qualified to speak on it. My mission does not include gymnastics anymore. If you asked me to speak on the topic when I was in college, when it was part of my mission, I would have probably driven across the state to speak for free.

The same goes for Henry. He was in a fraternity in college, but I doubt he would want to give a talk on the topic since the core of his mission now is on social issues. If he didn’t say no right away, he would create circumstances that would prevent him from following through.

And so although Henry thought this co-teacher would make a great addition to a this seminar, this co-teacher should have said no. When things like this happen now, I simply see through it for what it is. It’s not a priority for the co-teacher because it’s not a part of his current mission. It's not good or bad, just a reflection at something deeper.

I think when we see through the noise to what is really going on, it helps us see our own role in how things play out in our lives.

What are your thoughts on this? Agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear what you think.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

10 Ways to Love Twitter Better

2010-02-10T19:50:00.009-05:00

As many of you know, Twitter and I broke up a few weeks ago. If you read my break up letter then you know that things weren’t going well between us. I know this may sound weird, but we are living together again and thanks to some good counseling sessions with @Joannefunch and @iknowtiffany , and @Mox_eMediaGirl , I really think we might be able to make our relationship work.

As you might know, I was introduced to Twitter about a year ago and we maintained a cordial relationship during that time. I didn’t really understand her very well nor she me, and I didn’t share that much of myself with her. To be honest, I was still in a relationship with Facebook and a lot of my energy was still going toward that relationship. Even though things with Facebook had started to take a turn for the worse, I guess I was still holding out that things would eventually get better.

I guess it has a lot to do with my Sicilian blood. I sometimes like to throw the baby out with the bath water. Often, my lack of patience gets the best of me.

You see, my first step in changing things with Twitter was downloading THE TWEETDECK. I say it like Donald Trump refers to himself as THE DONALD. With THE TWEETDECK I felt like I had gone from an “elementary school puppy love lets hold hands during film strips kind of guy" to a full blown “going together junior high school romance kind of guy"

If you are newbie to Twitter then you may find yourself in the same frustrating relationship I found myself in. I can honestly say though, now, 1 month after downloading THE TWEETDECK I'm already looking on-line for engagement rings. Let me explain.

1) Understand Twitter Baggage

When you sign up for Twitter it gives you the ability to open the front door to the on-line world and scream your bloody lungs out. It’s the equivalent of me going into K-Mart and yelling, “Hey everybody. My name is Slash Coleman. I’m a storyteller. I have a PBS special called The Neon Man and Me. Does anyone want to help me?” For a moment, K-Mart gets quiet and then everyone returns to what they were doing. I am now utterly alone and feel stupid. My scream is soon forgotten.

But you not only have the ability to scream, you also have the ability to be on the other side of those screams. If you sign into Twitter, you basically get to see a bunch of other people screaming their bloody lungs out too. Once you choose to follow someone, you now get to eavesdrop on every scream they make. The more people you follow, the more screams you’ll hear. I’m following 726 people on Twitter. That’s a lot of noisy people!

2) Learn to use “I” statements:

When you download THE TWEETDECK (free) it gives you the ability to have individual conversations with specific people inside the K-Mart. And you and everyone else inside the K-Mart will now be wearing name tags. This is so you will know who you are talking too.

Each name tag in Twitter has the @ symbol in front of it. My name tag on Twitter is @slashcoleman. Remember my friend Tiffany Glass Ferreira, founder of the Real Small Art League, who I wrote about a few weeks ago? Her name tag is @iknowtiffany.

Whenever I want her to see something that I’m screaming, I’ll make sure to put @iknowtiffany in my message. Cool huh?

3) Wait 30 minutes before you go into the pool after eating

THE TWEETDECK will give you the ability to divide all the screams up two ways. 1)By a persons name tag and 2) By topics that might interest you. You can divide THE TWEETDECK into columns and follow these two types of screams.

As I said before, name tags have a @ in front of them. Topics have a # symbol in front of them. The # symbol is also called a hash tag. For instance if I want to mention something going on in Richmond, VA when I tweet it, It’s better to type, “I love the #rva #snow and drinking warm coffee with @iknowtiffany” rather than “I love that it’s snowing in Richmond and am drinking a cup of joe with Tiffany.”

One is a scream. The other is a part of a global conversation.

I have one column that follows #rva topics (Richmond topics) and in my Tweetdeck I put people I follow in Richmond into that column. Now, whenever anyone uses the topic #rva I can see those specific conversations.

4) Look in the mirror and say, “I love you.”

Rather than screaming downstairs, “Hey baby doll, is dinner ready?” You can now walk down the stairs and go up to your lover and whisper in her ear, “I can’t wait to eat dinner with you. I luuuuuv you. Is it ready?”

In one of my Tweetdeck columns I’ve set it up so if anyone mentions me (@slashcoleman), I can now see it immediately. That’s pretty dang cool! When I set Tweetdeck up, I was surprised to find, within minutes, mentions of me that dated back almost a year.

5) Take it to the next level.

I’m not one of those Tweeters that has a fancy phone to send tweets out all day. Plus, it's not my style. Hoot Suite allows me to sit down in the morning and create all the tweets I want and schedule them to be sent throughout the day. Since I’m sending tweets out to every PBS station for my campaign, this application is the bomb! Plus, Hoot Suite, like Tweetdeck, allows me to break up all the screaming into columns to follow certain people or conversations. In less than a month, I’ve gone from a bonified Cro-Magnon man to a civilized bird. Tweet! Tweet!

6) Go on a Twitter Cruise

Still want to go to the next level? At Hashtags.org, you can type in a hashtag (a topic) and you’ll find out who’s using it on Twitter. Better yet, it even breaks usage up by date, hour and number of times it's been used with a really cool graph.

7) Visit the Swiss Alps and Marvel at their Beauty

At http://visibletweets.com, you can type in a name or a hashtag and all the tweets using that name or hashtag will be displayed in a stunning, incredible and quite trippy way. Put some good music on your I-Pod, type in some hashtags and be prepared to be wowed. For those who are looking for an artistic way to find out what to follow on Twitter - this is it.

8) Be Up Front About Your Intentions

Adam Ant sang a song in the 80’s about this topic or maybe he had an album under the same name. Anyway, http://friendorfollow.com will allow you to type in your Twitter name and it will tell you which followers aren’t following you back. Is it important? Sometimes it is. It looks bad if you’re following 1,000 people and only 13 are following you back. If you’re using Twitter to develop relationships most of the people you follow will want to follow you back. The best advice I was given in terms of this was from Jonah Carla Holland. She said, "You need to look at why you are following someone and see if their mission aligns with yours and reevaluate if you still want to follow them, even if they aren't following you." After that, I went through my list and un-followed a lot of people that weren't aligned with my mission. She was right. Once I did that, I found I was able to get more focused on why I was using Twitter.

9)Remember Our Anniversary

There’s a trend or a holiday on Twitter that happens every Friday called #followfriday or #ff. When you want to thank someone for helping you out or want all your peeps to follow one of your own followers, you can make a list like "@iknowtiffany, @Mox_eMediaGirl #followfriday" and send it out into Tweetland. This results in friends of friends finding out who your friends are. They in turn sometimes follow your friends and you've just made the world a better place. A website that has taken the Follow Friday concept to the next level is www.wefollowfriday.com. It’s kind of like a chain letter for Twitter. If you actually want more followers and you don’t care who they are, then this is a good way to get them.However, there's something to be said about too many on-line friends.

10) Be Etiquette!

What does this mean exactly? If you follow the rules of social engagement in your everyday off-line life, chances are you’ll want to follow them in your on-line life too. As Kimberly mentions in her blog post (see above) it's good to know your neighbors. How? Use the following steps in this order to develop stronger Twitter relationships.

a. After a day or two of following someone, send them a direct message that shows them you’ve been following them, visited their website or at least read their Twitter bio. When I found out that @GingerTice loved making artwork I wrote," I'm looking forward to checking out some of your artistically inspired tweets."

b. If developing a relationship with followers is important, then re-tweet some of their tweets, which means you copy and paste a previous tweet of theirs into your tweet bar and send it off into tweetland with a RT before it.

c. Find ways to begin to ask your followers questions or include them in your own conversations. This is an example of something that doesn’t work. A performer was trying to get on the Ellen show and wrote, “Hey @theellenshow I know a great performer you should check out!” This is just a scream.

And speaking of screams, my Jewish grandmother Hilda, when I would say something weird and funny to her would say (with her Yiddish accent) "Oh Slashtipher, Yewr such a scream!"

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

How to Create a Vision Board

2010-01-31T11:46:00.006-05:00

In the middle of all the madness that has become my PBS project, I took some time out last weekend and invited invited friends and fellow artist members of my Facebook group "Manifest Your Creative Destiny," to my apartment to create vision boards. Although I do this every year, this year I wanted to invite some new friends over and so, I put out a call to fellow manifest members. It was fun to see my circle of friends expand.

Each person brought over 2 magazines, a glue stick and a pair of scissors. Then, after introductions, we sat around my living room and cut out pictures from what we wanted our lives to look like during the next year. As we talked about our artistic goals and dreams, we eventually started sharing photos. Someone would ask, "Hey I'm looking for a photo of someone playing the guitar?" or "Did anyone see a picture of a tree?" and then a few minutes later someone else would say, "Who was looking for that photo of a tree, I found a good one?"

It wasn't a formal thing and we didn't do any prayers or deep breathing exercises. I simply opened up my apartment, made two pots of chili (one vegi and one turkey), wheat-free cornbread, tea and drinks, gave everyone a piece of poster board and said, "Hey, mi casa es su casa. Go for it." I provided the space and got out of the way.

The only thing that I offered that was unique was I invited my friend Jerod Eisenshtadt over to give a talk on health and acupuncture and he offered free sessions to anyone who wanted them. So while people were doing vision boards and eating chili, some people had needles in their bodies.

I actually had a hard time making my own vision board. As an artist, I tend to be somewhat rebellious and to be forced to "Make a vision board now!" Well, I kind of felt uneasy about it. What a weird experience to rebel against my own rules.

The following artists showed up and if you don't know them, please visit their websites or find them on Facebook. There are some very creative peeps in Richmond doing some pretty rad things.

Eliezer Sobel - author, musician, visual artist
Shari Cordon - experimental psychology researcher and film maker
Valley Haggard- author, blogger,
Susan Singer - visual artist
Chris Singer - grant writer for non-profits
Becca Bernard - clown and choreographer
Lara Kimbrell O'Connor - visual artist
Dawn Layne - musician, poet
Joanna Lee - poet
Shelia Grey - sculptor
Jarrod Fergeson - Gallery Owner J Fergeson Gallery
Jerrod Eisenshtadt - Acupuncturist, owner of Community Acupuncture

Oh yeah, artist Susan Singer keeps a blog and she posted photos of her vision board. Visit her blog to learn more.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 20: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Say Goodbye to Constant Contact

2010-01-21T16:53:00.002-05:00

A year and a half ago I could send out a Facebook invite and get a great response. About 75% of all invites would actually RSVP and of those nearly 80% would actually show up. If I was trying to fill a 100 seat venue, during that time I could depend on at least 14 seats being filled from my Facebook invite efforts.

However, 6 months later a flip occurred which is about the same time Constant Contact started it's campaign off the web. The Facebook invite went belly up as everyone and their brother seemed to be flooding the Facebook in-box with them. Try to send one now and you're lucky if anyone actually looks at them.

At about the same time, I noticed the number of Constant Contact users increased as well and my e-mail in-box was suddenly flooded with informal e-Newsletters - all of them looked the same - smart, glossy, professional and blah. What was once unusual became so old so fast that I, like a lot of other internet users, started deleting them almost immediately.

Now, if I'm holding an event and send out Facebook invites, my response rate has fallen to less than 3% which is what business books typically tell you is "normal."

In sending out my requests during the last few days via e-mail. I experimented with two different versions of an e-mail. Although they are both effective, can you guess which one is getting a better response?

E-mail #1

Hi emily, happy new year – I hope you are well!

I wanted to ask you a favor?

My show, The Neon Man and Me, has been picked up by a national distributor and will begin to air on PBS stations nationwide in March. But even though every PBS station has the opportunity to broadcast the show doesn't mean that they'll air it. I wanted to ask if you would write one e-mail or call one station on my behalf? On my website at http://bit.ly/neonhelp there is a sample e-mail that you can cut-n-paste, a sample phone script and a station list. It’s extremely easy to use. Thanks in advance for your help. It means a lot. Slash

E-mail #2

Hi Emily, Happy New Year. I hope you are well!

I wanted to share some good news and to ask you a favor. My show, The Neon Man and Me, has been picked up by a national distributor and will begin to air on PBS stations nationwide in March 2010. I’m excited because part of my mission from the beginning has been to inspire men and boys to talk openly about their feelings related to bereavement, loss, male friendship and other difficult topics.

Although every local PBS station has the opportunity to broadcast the show doesn't mean that they'll air it. I would really be grateful if you would write an e-mail or call one PBS station on my behalf. On my website there is an e-mail that you can cut and paste, a sample phone script and a PBS station list. It’s extremely easy to use: http://bit.ly/neonhelp.

Also, the program has three 15 second commercial spots available. For most companies, this is a great opportunity to reach a national PBS audience in a targeted demographic. If you know someone who might be interested in a commercial spot, please let me know and pass along this information to them.

Thank you in advance for your help. I truly appreciate it. I look forward to catching up with you soon!

Slash

Have you guessed?

Yep, e-mail #1! It was created to look like someone who didn't know much about what they were doing created it. I purposely used lower case letters in the name and even in the subject bar. It's quick, easy to read and clear. In a world where we are flooded with information this is important to keep in mind. #1 sounds personal. #2 is kind of formal and sounds kind of spammy. In addition #2 is asking for two things, e-mail help and funding.

I continue to use both though because with some of my contacts I need to sound formal and with others I don't. Which would you prefer receiving?

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 19: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Making Good Video

2010-01-19T16:32:00.001-05:00

The following story "Hero By Tens," is story #3 from "The Neon Man and Me." At it's foundation, it's a story about trust - which connects us to others and to ourselves.

It's a true story based on a photograph I have of the actual incident that took place. My Dad and my Uncle were egging me on to rescue the girl's beach ball. My Mom wasn't all that enthusiastic about the plan. I paddled out after the ball, all the while the west wind was blowing it away.

I returned without the beachball...without a hero's status, nearly 45 minutes later. The entire time I kept thinking about the theme to Jaws. "Da-dum. Da-dum."

When you go paddle out that far, the ocean floor just drops out from under you and the water seems to take on a life of it's own.

Part of my personal mission is to inspire men and boys to talk openly about their feelings related to bereavement, loss, male friendship and other difficult topics.

If you believe in this too, please help by sending a quick e-mail to 1 PBS station. The station list is available at http://www.slashcoleman.com.

Day 18: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Good News

2010-01-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

So, I started sending out requests to by e-mail list. Asking my friends and fans to contact at least 1 PBS station on the list and send the following request.

"Hi, I would like for you to broadcast The Neon Man & Me. It's a program that's being fed by satellite to PBS stations by NETA on Sunday, March 21, 2010 from 2100 to 2200 ET/SD 07. It's an uplifting tale about best friends that explores family, following your heart, and a journey home. The show is moving, informative, timely, and fun and there's more information at www.slashcoleman.com . Thanks"

It's hard to know what the PBS folks think of this. So, the following response was great to receive today. Thanks to my friend Pat Correll who works at Bliley's Funeral Home in Richmond, VA. After she sent her request, PBS sent her this message back. It made my day to have a human being on the other end respond. Thanks Pat and Thanks Megan

Ms. Correll,

Our Director of Television Programming will look at the program when it feeds to decide if we will air it and when. Since it does not feed until March, we will not know more until then. Please feel free to search our schedule as the time grows closer at http://whro.org/home/publictv/search.htm.

Sincerely,

Megan Brown

Community Relations Manager

WHRO-TV/WHRV-FM/ WHRO-FM/WHRO

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 17: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Twitter Reconsidered

2010-01-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

After one full day of staying away from Twitter, I can't say I necessarily want to get back together, nor am I regretting our break-up, but I do feel I'm missing out on something. Maybe Twitter wasn't that bad? Maybe I I don't have to have a social media relationship that encompasses everything.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 16: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): More Personal Connection

2010-01-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

So, I talked with Elli Morris today. The person in charge of selling the three 15 second underwriting spots for the PBS special. She said she talked with a company in the bereavement business that had two questions.

1) Could 1 company purchase all three spots?

2) Would the company logo appear on the DVD and could promotional copies be sent to the company?

This was the answer I found out. One company could purchase all 3 commercial spots, but would only get 15 seconds worth of air time. I guess PBS wants to push the commercial idea, but doesn't want to push it over the top. Money always talks, so I inquired just how much money it would take to purchase all of the 45 seconds. Answer? 2.5 million dollars for 45 seconds at the end of a PBS special. Great Gatsby!

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 15: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Break Up Letter to Twitter

2010-01-15T12:22:00.007-05:00

Dearest Twitter,

My intention in writing this letter to you today is to say things out of my love for you, for support of your own path. To point things out about you that you may not see, things that affect those around you whom love you and things that seem to hold you back from being all that you so desperately seem to want to become.

With that said, my letter isn’t meant to be judgmental or hurtful - only truthful. In a relationship where there hasn’t always been a lot of truth, I think truth can be a gift if you let it.

The reason I am writing this letter to you rather than breaking up with you through my Tweet Deck is so you can reflect on my words, read them again if you need to, print them out and perhaps show them to your counselor.

Besides, if I broke up with you in 140 words or less, I knew all your followers would just say, “That's just plain out harsh.” In a relationship that’s been plagued with judgment and distance I don’t think I can handle more.

Twitter, you have so many rules and I know rules can protect us from bad things – lies, deceit, people who might hurt us physically. But rules also keep the good out as well as the bad.

Rules keep out good things like – more than 140 words, e-mail addresses, the warmth of a hug, and trust. It is these good things that sustain us and give us the energy for life itself, without these essential things; it can feel as if we are being crushed by life. Since we started our relationship, more often than not, I feel crushed by you.

Since we started our relationship nearly 8 months ago:

I’ve found that more and more I’m afraid to express myself freely with you and I feel like I have to watch what I say around you. I’m looking for a partner where this isn’t an issue. I know Facebook isn’t perfect, but at least I know where I stand in that relationship.

And to be honest, I get jealous a lot. You seem to have so many followers and with all the distance (sometimes I don’t hear from you for hours or days and the best you can say to me is ‘What’s happening?”) I can’t help but to make assumptions about your love for me. As a result, I feel that my self-esteem has taken a blow since we’ve met.

One of the bigger issues is that besides reading all my correspondence you prevent me from spending time with my friends, family, and anyone else outside of our relationship. You pretend you are open to this sort of thing, but in the end I just don’t feel like you respect me.

I know I may lay awake tonight longing for you and deep down, I may want you back and I hope you will eventually appreciate my honesty because I know deep down you are decent. But I know this break-up is for the best.

I love you,

@slashcoleman

#neonman

PS. I wrote this poem for you last night.

”Tweet me one more time.

Tell me what You need.

Tell me you’re mine.

Fill my heart with joy, but keep me close.

It's only one second from 4ever.”

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 14: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Twitter Fall Out

2010-01-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

For the first time since I committed to writing a regular blog on August 13, 2009, it's official. Twitter has totally ruined my relationship with all social media. I feel like I've been cheating on my blog and Facebook. I am ridden with guilt and shame. I know what I need to do on Friday. It's obvious. I'm breaking up with Twitter.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 13: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Twitter What?

2010-01-13T08:00:00.002-05:00

So, it takes me like an entire hour to compose one tweet. How I can win over 300 PBS stations at this rate is beyond me? I feel like I'm programming HTML code for love sick aliens.

When I passed the question on to @iknowtiffany (Small Art League)I found out I can program my tweets in advance through http://www.socialoomph.com/ and I can even set them on one day for the whole week... to go out at "peak times" (7am, noon, 4pm, 7pm).

But, you know what, I'm beginning to question my sanity.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 12: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): The Viral Marketing Plan

2010-01-12T08:00:00.006-05:00

On March 21, 2010, every PBS station nationwide has the opportunity to broadcast "The Neon Man and Me" by satellite. But just because the show will be readily available (through NETA), doesn't mean that any of the stations will air it.

In fact, statistics show that without a promotional campaign to let PBS stations know about my program, it will likely air on only 10 of 300 stations. Based on a series of interviews I've conducted over the past few weeks, and posted on my blog, I've come up with a viral marketing campaign plan aimed at improving my program's chances of airing.

I would be very interested in receiving your feedback on my plan. Please leave your comments below or e-mail me directly at slashs21hours@gmail.com

Viral Marketing Campaign Plan for Slash Coleman (Steps are listed in order of importance)

Goal 1: Secure distributorship on 60% of PBS stations.
a. Implement a daily Twitter campaign three times a day targeting the cities where PBS stations are located. Tweet links will take viewers to: the request for help on my website, a PBS Contact Database which shows viewers how to help, and a weekly video that promotes the show.

b. Send a gift package to all the PBS stations that contains: A picture that my friend’s son drew, his photo, a personal letter, and a small press kit.

b. Post new videos promoting “The Neon Man and Me,” once a week until March and post them on Twitter and Facebook.

c. Send individual e-mails to my 1,500 Facebook contacts asking them to repost a request for help with this campaign. The link will send others to the request for help on my website.

d. Send individual e-mails to my e-database of 6,000 asking each person to e-mail or call their local station. A link to the PBS contact list on my website will be provided.

e. Implement a fax campaign where I send a series of 5 clever fax stories over the next few weeks to each PBS fax promoting “The Neon Man and Me.”

Goal 2: Secure national media attention for the project 3-5 times by March 15, 2010 as follows:
a) Contact journalists in the past who have written about the production and tell them about the national distribution and my viral marketing campaign.

b) Call and press release: People Magazine, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Today Show, David Letterman, NPR, Rush Limbaugh, etc.)

Goal 3: Sell three 3 fifteen second commercials for my program (also called underwriting sponsorship spots).

a. Create a list of: drug companies that deal with depression, national funeral home companies and professional fields that’s seem appropriate.

b. Hire 1 salesperson to make sales calls and give them 15% commission on sales.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 11: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): More Personal Connection

2010-01-11T08:00:00.029-05:00

Last week when I met with Tiffany Glass Ferreira, found of the Real Small Art League, she mentioned that she knew someone at PBS down in Florida. She said she would let them know about what I was doing. I didn't think much about it until a couple of days later she sent me an e-mail.

Seems she e-mailed her friend down at WUFT who works in the community outreach and education department and her friend passed along my info to the Program Director. Just like that mu information was "in the room."

After all my many hours of coming up with all my ideas of how to get my foot in the door of each PBS station - from sending cookies with The Neon Man logo on them to an exstensive fax, e-mail, and phone campaign, this e-mail suddenly changed my approach.

The reality is that people help people that they know and everything else is like twitter without a tweet deck - a lot of white noise and static.

Part of my plan which I would welcome feed back on when I post it on here tomorrow is how to make those important individual connections with each station. In other words, how to turn the static into a station that others can hear, enjoy and feel good about becoming a part of. Stay tuned. for more on Tuesday!

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 10: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Personal Connection

2010-01-10T07:22:00.002-05:00

This weekend I spent Sat and Sun in a storytelling workshop with Donald Davis. There were about 12 of us storytellers who holed up in a farmhouse in Ijamsville, MD and gave feedback to one another, told stories and learned sage advice from Donald.

For the weekend, I put my viral marketing campaign on auto-pilot and just let it be for a few days. Often times I find when I surrender and allow myself to be in the moment and open to new experiences, then those new experiences bring me gifts I never could have imagined.

Jane Crouse, the storyteller/librian who I wrote you about the other day, sent me a newsletter from Mal Warwick. Warick & Associates gives advice regarding direct mail, telephone, and on-line fundraising campaigns. The newsletter on, "Building Donor Loyalty," is well worth a read. The most interesting thing I learned from this newsletter ties into something I learned from Donald Davis this weekend.

He said, "Facebook has totally destroyed the idea of the word friend."

What "Friend," meant in the past has been replaced by a new idea. Warwick suggests that one of the keys to connection and commitment is engaging someone in conversation. In other words working with the old notion of a friend in a new way. As I begin to set my sites this week on asking not only all my Facebook friends, but also my extensive e-mail database of almost 10,000 contacts to help me reach out to PBS stations nationwide, these ideas have now sprouted with my new plan on how to go about all this to ensure maximum affect while reserving my time.

In a previous blog entry on "Courting the Media," I suggested that often times it's easier to ask advice from a media source than to ask a journalist to write a story about your press release.

I've often called or sent an e-mail and asked, "Hey, I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I do a lot of events in the area and I was wondering what's the best way to get something like this into your publication?"

This creates an opening for a conversation to take place where both parties are on more equal ground. I'm not putting the journalist in a power position in which he/she must say,"No." In these instances, I'll usually get really good advice and the jounalist will end up reading my press release, offering feedback and in a lot of cases write an article.

On Monday, I plan to apply this principle to step one of my viral marketing campaign. Check back then to see how I do it.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 9: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Throwing out Ideas

2010-01-09T07:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it seems like I keep getting a great idea, sleeping on it and then throwing it out. At first I wanted to send a button to each station - you know a shirt button. I was going to put it in an envelope and have the station send it back to me. I was going to say it was from my friend's shirt and could they please send it back. I liked the idea of them being responsible for being a part of the process even if they said "No." I figured it would make a profound impression.

I don't even have to tell you why that idea is getting tossed, do I?

The cookie idea, while it seemed great at first just seems more and more not to work. Sure if I could send each station a dozen cookies that'd be the bomb, but sending one cookie with my logo on it. Well, a logo cookie isn't exactly appetizing is it? So, I'm back to the drawing board with the package idea.

This morning I woke up a little freaked out, which is unusual because typically these moments usually happen at night. But I remembered that God doesn't give us a problem without also giving us the answer and so, I just have to remember to hold God's hand a little tighter.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 8: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Fundraising Tips

2010-01-08T08:09:00.020-05:00

I had a long conversation with Jane Crouse today. She's a storyteller, a librarian, and a full-time student of fundraising (from what I can gather, she's enrolled in fundraising classes at Life University which I think is where most of us take classes to learn about things we feel we missed in regular school) and she passed a long a wealth of information to me.

First, in selling the 3 underwriting spots, I decided to target drug companies that deal with depression drugs, and also funeral and bereavement associations. As a librarian I figured she would have access to lists and databases that I wouldn't. Sure enough, she confirmed that hunch. She said she would start with the PDR (The Physicians Desk Reference) and once she located the correct drugs, she'd go on to find the companies. I could then pass this along to Elli who's going to be making the sales calls.

Although I put an ad out on Craigslist the other day for temporary Salespeople, I'm still on the fence about hiring more people. Part of me feels like I need a team, but Elli wanted to see how hard it would be first before I called in others. The Feb 19 deadline for the sales makes me kind of nervous, so I'm just going to trust my intuition on it.

She had a lot to say in terms of my ongoing dilemma of what to put in my "Gross Impression Gift Mailings." Jane said the most important thing she learned in fund raising is how important a personal connection is. She suggested I have my friend's son draw a picture for the package, that I include his photo and that I have my friend's girlfriend write a letter for it. But to tell you the truth it makes me really nervous. I've already stop sending checks to her from every show because I feel they remind her again and again of Mark's death. Mark's mom even suggested I stop sending the money and so now, I'm saving it all and maybe when he's older I can give him the money.

Jane also said I should send cookies. But I know how weird people are about food these days. She googled delivery cookies for me and guess what? Mrs. Fields will make cookies with a company logo with them. The price wasn't bad - $200 for 100 - which would allow me to send 2 to each of the top 50 PBS stations in the country.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 7: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Gross Impressions

2010-01-07T22:40:00.001-05:00

So, today my meetings continued.

I spent most of my day thrift store shopping with my cousin, stylist, Josh Coleman, who gave me some advice about my wardrobe/storytelling costume. I confessed to him that although I'd chosen one outfit to wear when I performed from now on, during my last two unpublicized shows, I rebelled against myself and chose not to wear my outfit. It seemed like I was putting myself into a box - like a 9 to 5 job. He said a lot of time that happens to him as well and situations, and emotions should dictate the wardrobe. He said if I settled on a tie, a vest and a shirt, then I could choose amongst many styles and colors of tie and vest and shirt to wear.

In the late afternoon, I met with Greg Kontos. This is a guy who writes about Lunar Radiation, Paranal Observatories in Chile, and Technovelgy on his blog www.aceize.com. Let's just say whenever we get together and talk our conversations are profound and world shaking. (Perhaps you felt the tremors move the sidewalks outside Ellwood Coffee Shop at 3:45 pm) We discussed my viral marketing campaign and more specifically the the idea of "gross impressions," and how to create them.

Greg was trying to help me come up with ideas of what specifically I should send to each PBS station under certain conditions. Knowing that I needed to send things to 300 stations across the country and knowing that I didn't have much money - these things needed to be flat, cheap and small enough to put in an envelope.

In the end, we decided on a couple things that I have yet to research:
1) I would spend the extra money on a priority mail envelope which would be more likely to get opened.

2) I would put a plastic, flat, neon colored, ginger-bread type man in the envelope with my contact info and "The Neon Man and Me," printed on it.

3) We tossed around the idea of including a saxophone reed since the show is about my late friend who played the saxophone, but we thought it might gross some people out with germs and stuff if they thought it was a used reed.

4) I would include a miniature version of my press kit - maybe index card sized, so it wouldn't look like I was trying to pitch something traditional, but I would still be able to pass along important contact information to them.

5) I would write a very specific letter. I will reveal this on my blog after the viral marketing campaign is complete so you can see how it worked.

I'm shooting for my campaign to win over the support of at least 80% of the PBS stations nationwide.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit slashcoleman.com

Day 6: Neon Man & PBS Gets Twitter

2010-01-06T22:09:00.001-05:00

Today I met with Tiffany Glass Ferreira founder of the Real Small Art League. We met over at Weezies Kitchen on Cary Street. She's been a real supporter of my work and she's taken a few of my artist marketing classes and so I was excited to hear what she might have to offer in terms of advice for my viral marketing campaign.

Let me just say that half way through the meal, I felt myself transition through a Vortex, as if I'd been living the life of an Aborigine for the past year and I'd just been introduced to Ultrabright Toothpaste and boxer briefs.

I signed up for Twitter a year ago and kept the profile because people told me "it's something you need to do." I didn't put a lot of energy into it. In a year I made about 160 tweets, following 1,200 people and have about 500 people following me. I basically used it like a Neanderthal for the last year. I friended people on it and I'd occasionally transfer a status update from my Facebook account to my Twitter account.

When I first started using it, I asked a lot of my friends who were on it how to use it and they all said, we don't really know, but that's the whole point. I never really understood it..... until today.

Wow! For those of you who have gone through that same vortex, you know what I'm feeling right?

She showed me the tweet deck and I got to view all these messages that were directed toward me that I never even knew existed. Better yet, remember that guy Jeff Anderson, that I wrote about the other day, the creator of The Cricket Toy (@thecrickettoy), well she showed me where he had "re-tweeted" my status update from the other day when I saw all the cone-heads walking around Carytown. When he re-tweeted it, it went out to over 5,000 of his twitter followers. Holy Cricket-moley.

Now, just to give you some perspective, I spent the entire morning separating the fax #'s on my PBS list so I could start my 8 week PBS fax campaign. When I asked Tiffany about my Fax campaign idea, she was very nice - she didn't laugh at me or anything.

After meeting with her I saw how it was insane to compare the fax with twitter, but it also helped me see how old skool Facebook actually is. I came home feeling that Facebook is a lot like snail mail.

Anyway, at home I downloaded the tweetdeck and am now well on my way to the modern world. I even had some queries about gigs that I found using tweetdeck that I would have never found otherwise.

I think maybe they should have a technology friend that they assign each person when they renew their driver's liscence so they can make sure we don't embarasss ourselves when it comes to stuff like this.

Day 5: The Neon Man and Me (Slash & PBS)

2010-01-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

If you ever need a reality check on the state of the world economy, I suggest putting an ad up on Craigslist advertising a job opening. This summer when I was searching for a personal assistant I put an ad out and received about 20 ga-zillion responses. After that, I knew I needed to hire a personal assistant just to read all the responses.

In the ad I asked potential assistants to e-mail me 2-3 sentences about themselves and why they wanted the job in 150 words or less, that was it. I got some whacked out responses (one person wrote to me from the "mothership" and sad responses (mis-spelled woes of job loss and needing to make ends meet - a couple that actually made me cry) and a lot of resumes with form letters that my potential worked bees had probably sent to the last 50,000 job openings they'd applied for. I even got someone who stalked me for a while and kept showing up at all my shows and cornering me and asking me about the job.

When I put the Craiglist ad out last night I was expecting the same thing. Although only time will tell it was actually refreshing to wake up this morning and only see one reponse in my box.

* In my on going quest to go viral I set up some more appointments today. Later this week I'll be meeting with Greg Kontos, who I met in 2006 when we each won Style Weekly's Top 40 under 40 award. He invented some kind of plastic tube that converts salt water into fresh water.

* I downloaded a program called Fast Blog Finder that I found on Kim Komando's website. It's supposed to search the internet ether and bring me back blogs that I specifiy according to key words. For instance, I can type in the words PBS and FBF will show me all the blogs where PBS is a topic. This will allow me to leave comments on these blogs, which is supposedly a great way to get "back links" which drives traffic to your won blog.

I thought this was kind of bogus when I first read it, but if you look at a comment that was made on my blog two days ago, you'll see what I'm talking about. Some guy named Jeff Anderson commenting on my tenacity and then talked about how it reminded him of his own marketing prowess in trying to get his product into stores. He sells a little toy cricket called the Cricket Toy that makes a cricket sound. The thing is pretty dang cool. I plan on buying one, telling my aunt to carry them in our store and heck.... look at this I'm even writing about the things on my blog, so that tells you the power of blog comments. Thanks Jeff for the lesson.

Seeking Part Time Temporary Sales Person: Telecommuting OK

2010-01-04T23:03:00.001-05:00

Although I have a more thorough detail sheet for the project which I can send, here's the reader's digest condensed version:

1) There are 3 commercial spots that are available for sale within my PBS special.

2) These are 15 second underwriting spots where a company logo and mention of the company are made following the program.

3) As a goal, I'm looking to sell each spot for $15,000, although the sky is the limit in terms of a price for a savvy salesperson. If you think you can sell them for more you're welcome to.

4) Sales persons will make a 20% commission on any $15,000 sale and 30% commission on any sale over $20,000.

5) Sales must be complete by March 1, 2010.

6) More specific information about the project is available at slashcoleman.com.

If you're interested in more details or you know someone else who may be, send an e-mail to info@slashcoleman.com.

Day 4: The Neon Man and Me (Slash & PBS)

2010-01-04T22:56:00.000-05:00

Today I was consumed with gathering more PBS addresses. The list that Mr. Felton gave me was kind of dated, but I managed to go thru about half of the list of 300 stations. That means from 9:00 - 3:00 I was visiting every PBS station website, and finding the fax #, the phone # and the Production Managers name and e-mail address. By the end of the day, when I went to yoga class I was seeing double.

My good friend Scary is also helping me with the list and a former storytelling bootcamp student of mine, Maddie Jay, is helping too.

It's funny, when I put a request out on Facebook a few weeks ago asking for help for the project all kinds of people came forward and said yes, but when I followed up with them I only heard crickets chirping. I think it's become too easy on Facebook and with other social media to say Yes to something and not feel like following through is important. To me though, it's a reflection of the person and their intergrity.

Now, the other things I have to start thinking about are:1) What I'll actually plan to send each station 2) How I'll pay for each little gift I create 3) How I can pay the postage on whatever I send 3) How I can get people all over the country to call each station and tell them that they want to see my show on their television.

Mr. Felton said I have three 15 second commercials that I can sell on my show. On PBS, these are called underwriting spots. For instance, after a PBS special there's usually a company graphic and a voice over that says, "The following program was underwritten by Dow Chemical Company." My goal is to sell each spot for $15,000 each and let whoever makes the sale keep 15% of the price. Not a bad days work for someone with some savvy. My friend Dr. Larry Volz (the infamous comedy hypnotist), reccomended I seek out drug companies that offer products around depression.

The things I've got planned so far:
1) Tomorrow I have a meeting with Ellli Morris ( a photographer and author) who is interested in selling the ads.
2) Tomorrow night I have a phone meeting with Jane Crouse, a storyteller and librarian, who said she would help me brainstorm ways that she might help me do research for the project. (I think she can help me research possible funding sources).
3) Wenesday I'm having lunch with Tiffany Glass Ferreira, (artist and founder of The Real Small Art League) who is pretty dialed into the social networking scene who I'm hoping will give me some ideas .

Day 3.5: Neon Man and PBS

2010-01-03T08:00:00.002-05:00

Today I found a site called http://www.momsrising.org.

It looks like she produced her own special like me and had to court the national PBS scene like I did. She had a list on her site, but it looked kind of dated. So, I've been visiting each PBS station site and updating the info. I'm not even ready to think about what I plan to do beyond that. This kind of work gives me anxiety and makes me feel I can't keep up. I feel the same way when I have to fold my laundry.

According to Mr. Felton, he says I need to a certain number of gross impressions on each PBS station so when the list arrives in March with "The Neon Man and Me," within a list of about 200 other programs that NETA will offer, the program managers will know about it. From what I know about advertising, I know we usually have to see something at least 7 times before we recognize it.

At first I was planning to send each station 7 things - seven postcards, seven neon bracelets from the dollar store, etc., but then when I talked to my friend George Tisdale (who used to work at the Martin Agency), he said one good thing is better than 7 crappy things. In fact, one cool thing that is over-nighted will get some prime attention and make a great gross impression.

Last night after visiting Steve Pavlina's blog and reading his article on How to Build a High Traffic Blog, I started the daunting task of visiting a blog carnival. It sucked. Maybe Blog carnivals are a thing of the past, but it didn't seem like there were enough of them to make the effort worthwhile. I did end up posting an article to a writing blog and another to a non-profit fundraising blog.

The last thing I did before going to bed last night was to figure out how to put social media links on my blog and my website and I found a really cool way to do that at Add This.com.

Here's what I've done so far:
1) Made a video about what I'm trying to do.
2) Starting compiling a list of all the PBs stations.
3) Started asking some designer friends what quirky and clever things I should send to the stations to make a good gross impression.
4) Friended all the PBS stations on Facebook (it will probably annoy all my friends).
5) Started researching how to increas my blog traffic.
6) Added Social Media links to my blog and website.
7) Created a page on my website for the project: http://www.slashcoleman.com/production-the-neon-man-and-me.html

The Missing Day: The Neon Man and PBS

2010-01-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

The countdown officially began on January 1, 2010. You might be wondering where day 1's posting is. I put that little grey thingy on the top of my site explaining what I was doing until March. It was all I could really do - really. Oh yeah, and I added the video for a visual explanation on the side bar.

No one knows about the project yet except me and the Vice President of Programming at WCVE Richmond PBS, John Felton. He thinks I've started a huge viral marketing program... and I have... but it's still only in my head.

I'm feeling a sense of dread and fear and stomach wrenching failure at starting this project. Maybe it's because I fear the failure the most. Maybe because this is the moment all my life I've been waiting for - like I've been playing for a farm league team for four years and I'm finally getting called up to the majors? That sounds reasonable doesn't it?

John told me if I do nothing, the PBS special will get picked up by about 10 stations nationwide. If I put forth a successful viral marketing campaign it could get picked up by about 75% of all PBS stations nationwide. With option A it seems like getting a single at my one and only at bat. With option B it seems like knocking it out of the park or at least getting a triple.

When I was procrastinating doing anything tonight and watching "Lord of the Rings," I swear Gandalf looked right at me and said the only thing I needed to do was wake up every day and plan my day out.

Day 3: Thoughts on The Neon Man

2010-01-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

In 2006, PBS green lighted my production of “The Neon Man and Me,” to become a special. There was one stipulation. I had to raise the money myself to produce and film the show. The price tag was $65,000. At that point, although I'd been making my living as an artist off and on for years, the most money I've ever made in a year as an artist was about $17,000. My first words were, “No problem.”

As a Leo I tend to have a little too much courage sometimes, seeing myself as I want to be rather than as I am.

My first plan to get the money would fail miserably. I sent letters off to First Market Bank, Ukrops, Golds Gym (which is featured in my show - so I figured they'd be a shoe-in), our local Food Lion and Kroger. Waited. Waited and Waited some more. Chirp...chirp. I never heard back from some. Others sent me a standard rejection letter.

I decided to take matters into my own hands. I created an Action Plan for both the creation of a documentary film and then a subsequent tour through living rooms. I got the idea from, musician Kyle Vincent and my friend Noah's sister, Mica Scalin.

I then went to work. I found a film student off Craigslist who would shoot the film in exchange for exposure, and after learning how to edit the video myself, and making a 30-minute DVD, I set up the Living Room Tour for the documentary film entitled, “Glow.”.

The idea for my Living Room Tour for Glow was simple. I asked my friends and local fans if anyone was interested in hosting the film in their house or apartment. Hosts would invite over 10-15 guests who would donate $10 - $25 to watch the film. After the film, I would discuss what I was doing, perform a selection from my show and provide a Q&A.

Over the course of nine months, besides my regular tour, I ended up spending every Thursday - Sunday in a living room.It wasn’t exactly easy. I was touring with the documentary film alongside my other tour. Every weekend for nearly nine months, I was taking the DVD into a new living room and watching it on a television with various hosts and their friends.

During that time, I also continued my media goals, landing my quest in the news every chance I got. As a result, PBS was so impressed with my desire to succeed, that they lowered the amount they were requiring me to raise. By nearly 3/4's. Wow!

A Salute to 2009 Artists of the Month

2010-01-01T08:00:00.002-05:00

I'd like to salute all of our 2009 "Manifest Your Creative Destiny" Artists of the Week. Congratulations to you all! Thank you for inspiring us with your creative spirit and artistic endeavors. I hope 2010 will be a great year for you.

Daniel Jose Custodio, Lucia Gulino, Susan Singer, Valley Haggard, Tiffany Glass Ferriera, Dean Whitbeck, Jarrod Fergeson, Jen Berlingo, Paulo Garbonzo, Stevie Jay, Dave Watkins, Heidi Spieth Klugg, David Pijor, Noel Williams, Joan Bellefield Davis, and Kim Weitkamp.

Check out our Facebook group “Manifest Your Creative Destiny,” at http://bit.ly/rISx2 to read more about her, her artist-centric law practice, and her book.

PROFESSIONAL CUE: GOING DEEPER WITH YOUR WORK

2009-12-31T17:19:00.001-05:00

THE FIELD IS A PROGRAM WHICH STARTED IN NEW YORK AND IS RUN BY INDEPENDENT ARTISTS IN SELECT CITIES WITHHIN THE UNITED STATES. THE PROGRAM ALLOWS YOU TO WORK WITH ARTISTS OF DIFFERENT MEDIUMS FOR SIX WEEKS, RECEIVING FEEDBACK ON YOU WORK AND ENDS IN A PUBLIC PERFORMANCE. THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO EXPLORE A NEW MEDIUM OR TO CORROBORATE WITH ARTISTS WHOM YOU WOULD NEVER GET A CHANCE TO CORROBORATE WITH. THEIR SOLGAN IS THE FIELD - ART GROWS HERE.

Artist Speak: Goethe

2009-12-30T17:12:00.000-05:00

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elemental truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help that would never have otherwise occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance which no man or woman would have dreamed could have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic to it. Begin it now."
- Goethe

On the Edge of Creative Failure

2009-12-29T10:41:00.001-05:00

In the early days of my art career, I didn’t have a mental database of experiences on which to base my risks on. I didn’t have much business experience either. Back then, I was still evaluating projects on emotions rather than on anything measurable.

For instance, when I started my on-line art print business, I rented out a 1,200 sq foot studio in Easthampton, MA. It made no sense to have the overhead on a business I could have easily run out of my basement. The huge space made me feel as if I had “made it,” and at the time that’s all that seemed to matter. I was caught up in emotions rather than fact, something which can get the better of you in terms of your art and the risks you’re willing to take.

During that time, I was surrounded by everything big - from the huge floor-to-ceiling windows to my painting area with three gigantic easels, to my huge computer desk and tall racks that stored hundreds of art prints. On the wall beside my desk was a map of the world; on it I planned to place pins on each country where I sold a print. Above it, four clocks showed the time in four different time zones. After years of having my art studio in the basement of my house, I felt like a million bucks.

Friends and clients were wowed by my studio, but in reality, I didn’t know what in the hell I was doing. I was living off my credit cards and money was leaking out of the studio faster than I knew what to do. In the end, weighed down by the expense of my risk, I knew I’d have to come to my own rescue. The art print business eventually ended in bankruptcy (with a lot of merchandise thrown by me into a dumpster by the thrift store) and after 5 years without one, I took another day job.

It what ways are you going to remain small or big or in between in the coming year?

Measuring Creative Success

2009-12-28T08:00:00.005-05:00

It’s interesting and rather funny how our culture tends to measure success. By most accounts when and if you quit your day job, you’ve succeeded. In fact, it’s so unexpected and impressive that there are no other qualifications. Your world could be falling down around you - your relationships on the brink of failure, your finances a complete mess, your artwork unappealing, etc., and as long as you're making art without a day job, you’ve “made it.”

In terms of my own personal success, taking that leap did, in fact, make me feel as though I had “made it.” It was empowering to feel as though I was a part of something greater - a long history of artists who spent their days and nights consumed completely with their art. I set out to achieve something and was willing to risk everything in order to achieve it.

Why Do You Create

2009-12-27T10:37:00.001-05:00

At the age of twenty-one, while living alone in a studio apartment in Chicago and attending graduate school, I created a template for what would eventually become my signature body of artwork. I used oil pastels and butcher paper which I taped to the wall of my apartment to create colorful and whimsical people, animals, and shapes.

The paintings served two purposes, to keep me company in a town where I knew no one and to give me a sense of freedom as I struggled through the strictly controlled environment of graduate school. A year later, after having been kicked out of the writing program and with a massive student loan debt, I decided to use my paintings as a way to repay my student loan debt. A friend of mine told me about a gallery she was connected with, so I unpeeled the butcher paper from the walls, rolled up my paintings with a rubber band, and paid the gallery a visit.

As the year winds to an end, it's important to think about the true purpose of your creative endeavors. Sometimes the reason will change with the season. Sometimes it remains the same. Sometimes the reason belongs to you. Sometimes the reason belongs to your parents. Are you creating just for you? To make money? Because you have something burning up inside of you to say?

Artist Speak: Jack Kerouc

2009-12-24T13:35:00.001-05:00

This holiday season make sure to take a moment to salute all the artists you know.

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the
status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them.

But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Jack Kerouac
From his book: On The Road

The Artists Ability to Change

2009-12-23T14:12:00.002-05:00

Most artists like to consider themselves rugged individualists who are not susceptible to falling into the same patterns of living that plague the mainstream. Most artists I know scoff at the idea of driving an SUV or owning a house in the suburbs. Listening to an artist like this wax poetic about lifestyle choices and how living life on the edge of a cliff is exciting can be intoxicating if not somewhat inspiring.

Why is it then that very few artists can get out of their own way and open the door when success comes to court them? I've found that the same lifestyle choices that drive these artists into an alternative life can also become so routine that they insulate the artist from success and act as a huge firewall preventing new ideas and abundance from coming in.

Author, mystic and medical intuitive, Caroline Myss says that most people, even when confronted with death, won't change their lives to allow health in. That's why, when my friend got cancer and the doctors removed part of his throat, he was sucking on the cigarettes again in less than a year.

All the goal setting and affirmations won't help you if you can't get out of your own way. In the end, your success isn't dependent on any person, place or condition. It's dependant on you!

Question of the Year: In what ways do you prevent yourself from sucess?

Your Idea of Making It

2009-12-22T08:25:00.000-05:00

December is when I typically begin to think about my goals for the upcoming year. In the past, as I've often thought about tools that might help me succeed, the Writers Digest books have always come to mind.

Books such as "The Writer's Market," "The Song Writer's Market," or "The Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market," are typically packed with massive amounts of contacts. They include the contact info for publishers, galleries, magazines, etc.

I've often bought these books during this time of the year and actually found myself so overwhelmed by the amount of contact info in each that it caused me to freeze up. Not only that, when I've used books , I've often met very little success.

Why? It seems it's not the number of people you know that is the key to success, it's how you know those people that count. For every success I've had in my arts career I can safely say it wasn't because I found a random address in a book and followed up. It was a face to face meeting or a recommendation from a friend that did the trick.

Have you had similar experiences? If so I'd love to hear about them.

Manifest Your Creative Destiny

2009-12-21T07:58:00.001-05:00

My father, a sculptor, will never tell you what he's working on next. In fact, he likes to build up the suspense so much that you just have to ask him. He'll finish one project and then just start dropping hints about what he may be up to. It's like watching a really good movie trailer. Some projects may take months or even over a year to complete, but he's always tight-lipped about revealing any information about them.

"You'll just have to wait and see," he will say.

As a result, he's been quite prolific throughout his career and he attributes much of his success to working in just this manner.

"A lot of people," he says, "will just talk an idea out. They're all talk and no do."

In a world where books like "The Secret," would have you think the key to manifesting is talking about your idea and letting others know what you're up to, evidently new research shows that people who talk about their creative ideas are less likely to actually follow through with them.

Why?

Check out the info I pulled off Derek Sivers blog. Derek is a musician and the creator of CD Baby. If you'd like to read his entire entry (which I highly recommend), you can find it at http://sivers.org/zipit

"Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you're less motivated to do the hard work needed.

In 1933, W. Mahler found that if a person announced the solution to a problem, and was acknowledged by others, it was now in the brain as a “social reality”, even if the solution hadn't actually been achieved.

NYU psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer has been studying this since his 1982 book “Symbolic Self-Completion” (pdf article here) - and recently published results of new tests in a research article, “When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?”

Four different tests of 63 people found that those who kept their intentions private were more likely to achieve them than those who made them public and were acknowledged by others.

Once you've told people of your intentions, it gives you a “premature sense of completeness.”

You have “identity symbols” in your brain that make your self-image. Since both actions and talk create symbols in your brain, talking satisfies the brain enough that it “neglects the pursuit of further symbols.”

A related test found that success on one sub-goal (eating healthy meals) reduced efforts on other important sub-goals (going to the gym) for the same reason.

It may seem unnatural to keep your intentions and plans private, but try it. If you do tell a friend, make sure not to say it as a satisfaction (“I've joined a gym and bought running shoes. I'm going to do it!”), but as dissatisfaction (“I want to lose 20 pounds, so kick my ass if I don't, OK?”)"

Video of the Week: Using Art to Change the World

2009-12-20T07:53:00.000-05:00

Pulled right from The Fun Theory site, it’s a company, sponsored by Volkswagen, with the following mission: “We believe that the easiest way to change people's behavior for the better is by making it fun to do. We call it The fun theory. Do you have an idea that uses fun to change behavior?”

Check out more of their inspiring videos and ideas at http://www.thefuntheory.com.

Artist of the Week: Dean Whitbeck

2009-12-19T07:49:00.000-05:00

Our Facebook “Artist of the Week” is performer and photographer and arts educator, Dean Whitbeck.

Check out our Facebook group “Manifest Your Creative Destiny,” at http://bit.ly/rISx2 to read more about the amazing work he does with kids.

E-mail Etiquette: Interested versus Interesting

2009-12-18T08:00:00.014-05:00

Face it. There are ten million other Facebook users who have the time to appear more interesting that you ever will on the internet. They'll have cooler photos, quirky and hip things to say under their "political views" section, and they'll usually have way more friends than you. So, why even bother to compete? You shouldn't!

If you're looking for ways to expand your platform as an artist, especially through Facebook, the most important thing you can do is to act interested rather than be interesting.

I'm not saying you should strike up a chat with people you don't know. (Don't do this if you've never met a person) But you can send a Facebook e-mail and ask a few questions to get to know someone better. It's really a no-brainer. For as much as people say that technology has isolated us, it's really just our continual failure to bring a human element to the medium.

Have you used ways to bridge the human contact gap with technology? IF so, I'd love to hear about them.

E-mail Etiquette: The Follow Thru on Facebook

2009-12-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

When you set out to do something on Facebook do you follow through with it? I notice there are a lot of artists who will say they are coming to an event or use the "maybe" section as a reminder. If you make a statement make sure you follow through. People are watching you. If you're not good for your word on Facebook, then how good is that word in the real world?

E-mail Etiquette: How to Beat the Odds

2009-12-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

If you’re still using a free e-mail account, you won’t have the option to personalize every e-mail with a “mail merge”, or send out more than 100 e-mails per hour and 500 per day. Most of us artists have free accounts through yahoo, g-mail or hotmail which leaves us with two options.

a) Type each individual contact name in every e-mail and send out each one separately.

b) Put all of your contacts in the BCC section and send it to yourself.

How you handle this step, will greatly affect the success of the outcome for your event.

How do you handle this? I'd love to hear how other artists deal with this dilemma.

E-mail Etiquette: Ways to Make the Internet Gods Happy

2009-12-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

As fringe theater festivals can attest, nudity, free booze, and a good slot on a Friday or Saturday night can greatly improve attendance, but if you don’t write your invitation properly, chances are slim that your call to action will be followed.

You must take the time to use basic e-mail etiquette. Just because we live in a world that is, for the most part, ADHD, doesn’t mean that you can ignore the basic rules of communication. The same rules for passing a friend in the street apply to creating your e-mail invite.

Things to do:

1) Say Hi.

2) Use the persons name in the e-mail.

3) Include the who, what, where, when, contact info, and cost of the event.

4) Let them know why the event will benefit them.

4) Use your name and a personal phrase in closing such as, “Hope to see you there.”

Things not to do:

1) Send an e-mail with nothing but a link.

2) Forward an invite with no personal note attached, such as, “I thought you might like to attend this event, it’s being given by my friend Jason.”

3) CC your list.

5 Ways to Piss Others Off With E-mail

2009-12-14T20:39:00.003-05:00

Just because you have a drivers license doesn’t make you a good driver. If you can pay the fee, pass the test, and your eye sight is relatively good, they let you drive. That doesn’t necessarily make you a good driver.

The same can be said of an e-mail account. Just because you have a free e-mail account, doesn’t mean you’re a good e-mailer. In a perfect world, along with classes for bad drivers, they would have classes for bad e-mailers.

Want to Piss Others Off? Then do these 5 things.

1) Don't say Hi or use my name in the e-mail. Just send me a link or a sentence fragment. (That really, truly makes me feel special).

2) Forget to proofread the first e-mail you send out for an upcoming event and then send me another one with the additional information and then another one with some more information you left out. (Can you say, "Delete, delete, and delete?")

3) Steal my name off someone's "CC" list and ask me to come to your event even though we've never met or you've never bothered to introduce yourself to me. Can you say, "Hello, I'm a telemarketer?" (You'll get an e-nasty from me if you do this, plus I'll turn your name into the Karma police).

4) E-mail an event notice out the day before the event and expect me to attend.

5) Will your very first e-mail to me be "Hi, it was great seeing you the other night...." or will it be a very spam-like e-mail asking me to buy something? Would you walk up to me in the street and kiss me before you shook my hand? (You're so gross)

Do you have things that make you mad as far as e-mail and Facebook go? If so I'd like to hear about them.

Life, Love, Sex, Death and other works in progress

2009-12-13T08:00:00.006-05:00

This is info about Stevie Jay's show ( He's our Facebook artist of the week this week in our group "Manifest your creative Destiny.") which will take place in Charolottesville, VA on Saturday, December 19, 2009.

Hey, Everybody! Saturday, Dec 19th--I'm doin' the show here in Cville!
; - )
Mark your calendars, rally your friends, click on "attending" and write something fun on the wall! (Nothing regretful--okay? Just PRETEND! Say YES and let those wall posts FLY!!!)

RESERVATIONS ARE RECOMMENDED for those who are REALLY planning to attend! No moo-lah required--just a request for seats. (Pay later!) Click here and scroll down to the reservation link and tell me how many seats you'd like to reserve: http://www.steviejay3.com/la

********************************************************************************
"As real as it gets! Naughty, bawdy, soul-searching, and hilarious! Like the deepest breath you've ever taken." -Yael Ksander, WFIU Radio

"Stevie Jay presents an evening of dangerous hilarity!" -Ray Faiola, CBS, New York

"No performer has ever had so personal an effect on me. Extraordinary!" -Kate Copstick, The Scotsman, UK

"Stevie Jay has invented his own genre of performing!" -Farhad Emad, Tashbain Chronicle, UK

"It would be impossible to advise someone in advance as to what to expect from Stevie Jay."
-Deborah Minsky, Provincetown Banner

"Like ecstasy without the holes in your brain." -Eli Duke, elisfanclub.com

"A study in naked narcissism like you've never seen. I would rather pass a kidney stone than see him again." -Bony Motel, cvillain.com

"This show is mind-blowing and life-altering and should be booked in every major city across the country--and then some!" -Barb G, Simply Yoga

"Not since Terminator 2 have I seen my husband so riveted by a performer."
-Gigi Payne, Family Preservation Services

Exploding with hysterical monologues, soulful skits, embarrassing observations, and intermittent go-go dancing, Stevie Jay paints a picture of real life on Earth with personal, uncensored stories about relationships, sex, working out at the gym, working out sexual relationships at the gym, and "the endless struggle to remain spiritually-oriented and irresistibly-gorgeous at all times."

For grown-ups only!

http://www.steviejay3.com