Although for people who have been marketing themselves longer than I have this may not be a big deal, the press release for my classes was just posted on insidemedford.com and I feel like I’m a step away from famous. Not that I actually am, but last week when I was at the Dance for World Community Festival in Harvard Square a woman recognized my name. We had never met before and yet when she read my name-tag she looked up at me and said “Do I know you?” In the end, it turned out that she received an e-blast from Springstep and read my name there.
So no, I’m not well-known, I’m not nearly close to famous, and I don’t really want to be. But I am getting out into the community and getting recognized for that. This week I’ll be preforming at the Medford Farmer’s Market, this time as an official entertainer, and I’m talking with other market’s in an attempt to get out even more. Next come the libraries, the kids programs, and who knows what else.
As I keep marketing Summer Stories, the class I’m teaching at Springstep this summer for my internship from Lesley University, I’m learning what it takes to actually get people interested. I’ve even got a Google Alert set up on myself. Who knew you could do that? I continually feel like a little old lady being introduced to all this fancy modern technology, except it’s really just the opposite. I’m the age where I’m supposed to know how to do all this, but setting up a Google Alert on yourself just isn’t the type of thing most kids learn how to do in their free time.
Although my education in studio art was wonderful, it did not prepare me for getting people to see my art or to come to my classes when I teach art. Thankfully, for my job at the MFA I have a steady group of children who I work with so that even when children and their parents don’t sign up specifically because they’ve heard about me somewhere I still get to teach. Now I just need to continue learning more stories so that I’m actually worth coming to hear.