I have seriously considered my professional contacts and grouped them into several groups as follows:
1. My own family members, who take an interest in my career
2. Ex Conti both students and teachers
3. My agency team
4. Casting Directors who have employed or auditioned me
5. Producers I have worked with
6. Employers I have worked for
7. Work colleagues at Conti Associates and Stagecoach
8. Middlesex University Network
As I do more work the list and members on each list will grow over time and I need to create a referencing system for my contacts in each group. This will form a data base to allow me to retrieve contact details for individuals and groups as the need arises. My first thoughts which I need to think further about are that my email address book could be the best way of creating such a data base.
Some groups or individuals in different groups are people I am in closer contact with than others. They are included in my Facebook contacts and are the ones I am in most regular contact with.
As time goes by and my career develops I will need to add to and subtract from my professional networks both groups and individuals. This means that my data base needs to be sufficiently flexible to facilitate these changes.
I think your idea of creating some kind of a database is a very good one! When i first left drama school, I used to be very good at keeping a record of all the casting directors and directors that I met. However, I never created a proper 'system' for doing this, so as I result I ended up with messy unorganised files of paper that we impossible to search through, and in the end I stopped doing it altogether.
ReplyDeleteA bad mistake in terms of building networks, as I am now relying completely on my memory to recall whether I have met someone before. For example, when I write to people to submit myself for a part, imagine how much more effective my letter would be if I could jog their memory and describe a previous meeting, however brief?
I'd be really interested to find out what system works best for you, as I still haven't found the perfect one. I suppose ideally you need to be able to search it alphabetically, but perhaps also by date? Don't forget to back it up if you do it online!....
I agree with Stephanie keeping a database of contacts is a very good idea. I don't really go on facebook so i wouldn't know how you could start to separate your contact however creating a filing system using your email is a good idea. At least that way all your contacts can be categorized in any order you want.
ReplyDeleteLooking at your list of professional contacts maybe the order that you have used there might be the order you could use to categorized your contacts. I do feel that you are right your database will grow; I’m sure your constantly meeting new people who you may feel you benefit from.
Lastly as you start to progress in your career you may find that you list of professional contacts may change, you may end up having another category added. This would also apply to me.