Task 3a- Current Networks

In the industry I am working, networking is so essential, especially with the cabaret artists we receive and also for future employment keeping these close networks at hand. Also the professional networks we use within Warner/Bourne Leisure are vital. Some vital information I remember receiving at college by a teacher was keep a little diary of everyone you meet, where you met them, their contact details and the contacts they have (eg- cruise contacts). The common phrase most performers use these days are 'It's not what you know, it's who you know'. As awful a phrase that can be it's incredibly true.. it's not entirely about talent these days.
College is something I am trying to cling onto, the networks there are MASSIVE! Guest teachers and the experience even the permanent teachers have is so important, it was so vital I gave them a good impression for if a choreographer was ever to to go them and ask what I was like... In this task I am looking at the networks I currently use...

For Warner's the sharepoint network is probably the biggest, for readers of my blog, sharepoint is a site where all warner information is stored and shared... from the diary of entertainment and what artists we are getting to all the guests we are dealing with for different break this network is like a warner's thesaurus. In terms of professional networks this site works more like a dropbox site where one user can get some information another user has uploaded.
Another useful network here at Warner's especially for management is the outlook service we use, from the outlook programme we can access all the Warner's email addresses for every hotel and all head offices. Without this network we wouldn't be able to contact everyone as a whole so easily. For me the head of entertainments are the most important to keep in the know with, however as part of outlook we can also share with the whole of bourne leisure companies, so haven holidays and butlins etc.... In terms of job prospects for entertainers, this can be huge.

Other obvious networks close to me are of course going back to what Web 2.0 delivers - the social media aspects of the online world - Facebook/twitter etc. These social media sites are few of those the professionals out there use... nowadays we have Linkedin and other professional business networks.
As well as being in groups on facebook like 'The Hustle' a page where people post about current performing jobs and groups that share things like sheet music, I am an administrator of the Nidd Hall Warner Entertainment team page.. this is essential for promoting ourselves to people especially of a younger generation who may come to us after seeing a video on our facebook page.

Other sites I currently use in order to professionally network myself are Casting call pro, spotlight, equity, all that are full of professionals in the industry.


Last but not least one of the biggest networks we always seem to forget about are friends and the live communication we have everyday. Especially here in my job we all like to share song choices for cabaret but it can be quite frustrating when someone decides to 'copy' your song. The competition that we have in this industry is massive! But without it how would we be strong enough to get through.