Can You Build Your Own Website? (Yes, You Can)

CAN YOU BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE? - YES YOU CAN!

By Buzz Roddy, Eastern Region Principal Councillor.

December 8th NYC Council Room of AEA - In an effort to help members more elegantly sail into the computer age, the Eastern Region Membership Education Committee sponsored a seminar entitled "CAN YOU BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE? - YES YOU CAN!"

"I'm a MAC…" declared the chiseled-jawed Jimmy Ludwig
"and I'm a PC," I countered (with a jaw not so chiseled.)

Buzz Roddy - PC user

Jimmy Ludwig and myself, fellow self-taught web site builders, hosted a seminar aimed at Members & Equity Membership Candidates (EMC's) who have thought a website might be a good idea, but had no idea where to start. Attendees were anxious about sticking their toes in the waters of the information super highway (pardon the mixed-metaphor) and were about 50-50 in their respective PC/Mac usage. Jimmy handled things from the MAC perspective and I, the PC. We fielded questions and tried to quash the fears of the web-phobic. In a lively 90 minutes, we went over how a website can burnish ones professional image and even directly lead to jobs. "Your website is a show," I said, "and you are not only the star, but the director and producer, as well."

Jimmy Ludwig - Mac user

"Why have a website at all?" asked one member. With the ubiquity of the internet in all areas of our business and much casting being done on-line, those who dismiss the web as a peripheral option will soon find themselves out of the loop and in the unemployment line. "We as performers have to keep in step with this technology," declared Jimmy, then holding aloft his iPhone, "in four years, even this will be out-of-date!"

Though not a technical tutorial, we went through the steps involved in getting ones website from being just an idea into a fleshed-out presence on the World Wide Web.

We cuddled up to dreaded terms like 'Domain Name,' 'Webhost' and 'HTML,' (Upon closer examination, they showed themselves to be not so threatening.) We discussed how building a website is a process and that it can cost very little money if you only do some homework. I saw not only the veil of trepidation lift from many faces, but the dawning of comprehension, and in some cases - even zeal.

Emphasizing the importance of keeping ones website current, Jimmy said "Having a website is like having a pet, you have to feed and walk it." Rather than an archival repository, it is better to think of a website as a living, growing document. And I always stress the importance of interactivity. It is good to have something for people to do on every page of a site. That said, just because one has a lot of mind-blowing technology at ones fingertips doesn't mean that one has to use it all. If your website is about you, the performer, don't overwhelm the reader's eye with too many animations; a list of your favorite movies or photos from your last trip to Mardi Gras. Both Jimmy and I are proponents of simplicity. My main rule of thumb - Make it fun, but always be professional.

Should I hire a professional web designer? Some came to the seminar pondering whether or not to hire a pro. Just as when interviewing a headshot photographer, asking to see past work is important, as well as making sure that you and your web designer are in accord about presenting your image. Cost, naturally, is an important consideration.

The questions from the floor came, at first with trepidation, much like the first day of Sex Education class. Web-wise, many felt embarrassed that they didn't know certain terms. Luckily, Jimmy Ludwig is the Dr. Ruth Westheimer of the web world and allayed any abashedness. As the room warmed up, questions came more rapidly as well as answers - not just from me and Jimmy, but from all over the room so that the seminar was more a dialogue than a class. As I said before, Jimmy and I are both autodidacts - everything we learned about web design was by trial and error. What we have learned is what works and what does not. For both of us our knowledge (and our websites) continue to evolve.

To paraphrase a common pop-psychology phrase, "Website design is a journey - not a destination." We gave a cursory page-by-page tour of our own websites and talked about desirable features: photos and resumes, of course, but we also touched on online video and audio demos and security. Many musical performers have need of web marketing for CDs (especially if they are not signed to a label). Some have club acts and want to keep fans updated. The web is an easy and low-cost way to accomplish all these. And in these days of blogs and instant disinformation, ones website can serve as a central source for press and official biographical info.

Jimmy, the MAC user, wanted to have apples available for snacks but thinking it would be partisan, we served oranges.

Buzz Roddy and Jimmy Ludwig are currently serving on Equity's National Council, (the governing body of the Association). Additionally, Buzz is a Vice Chair of the Eastern Region Membership Education Committee and Jimmy is Chair of the New Technology Committee. The Membership Education Committee presents seminars and workshops as a free benefit of Equity Membership. More seminars are planned - so check out the Equity website for specific dates and times.

from the Actors' Equity website December 17, 2008

Inferiority Complex

 

Inferiority Complex 

Freelance

I have worked quite extensively in Europe and just returned from a tour in Germany.  We did 23 different cities in 6 weeks and put in over 4000  miles (6400 km). We had one stretch where we played a matinee in one town, did an evening performance in another, then back the following day to the first city and then the evening in the second city.  Only those who negotiated for it got any extra money, and no one got enough sleep.

One does not have to work long in another country before realizing that American actors have the best working standards in the world.  A few years ago, in partnership with Fédération Internationale des Acteurs or FIA, Equity hosted Sankwe Michael Nkambole, who was then the president of the National Arts Association of Zambia (NATAAZ).  We showed Michael around New York, took him to see a few shows and had him as a guest at one of our monthly Council meetings.  He let us in on the state of the theatre in his country. Many of our actors snicker at seemingly frivolous requirements like the "Equity cot," while in Michael's country, when a production there got a bit controversial, and angered faction burned the theatre down.

In Germany, the arts are state-supported.  Most medium to large city have a Stadtheater or city theatre, and each of Germany's 16 states or Länder have their own Staatsheater.  These facilities are as good or better than anything we have on Broadway.  Most have full staffs of stagehands, stage management, front of house personnel, actors, dancers, orchestra, ballet corps, etc.  Actors get a 2-year contract and are therefore civil servants.  The idea of a freelance actor for the most part, does not exist in the consciousness of those in the lively arts.  Though the romance of words like "Broadway," and "Hollywood" resonate with German actors, when I explain the day-to-day life of auditions, meetings, agents, staged readings and the realities of the 90/10 ratio of unemployed/working, they are horrified and grateful that they are where they are.

They still long for America, though.

Though my tour did not involve anyone blowing up the theatre, I was still wanting many of the standards and protections afforded me as an Equity member in the States.  Though the GDBA Genossenschaft Deutsche Bühnen-Angehöriger (the German theatrical union) certainly has its standards and practices, it is nowhere near ours.

American actors have the idea that they are out battling the elements all alone.  So many long for a greater feeling of community.  Do you remember before you had your Equity card?  Having the card seemed like an unattainable goal; one that was prized and coveted.  How long did it take for some of us to lose that sense of accomplishment and fall into the jaded, been-there-done-that feeling that being an Equity member is now but a veritable tax which one is subjected to.

I got involved in things Equity like many, in that I was angry and "wanted to tell those clowns down there" a thing or two.  Very quickly did I find that I could not only affect change for the greater good, (as well as my own) but that I was part of a very vital community of artists and business people.  Yes, I am a free lance - roaming the countryside plying my trade - but I am also surrounded by a collective populace heading in the same direction.  It's a voluble, passionate, gregarious and talented group.  And I am one of them.

You can be, too.  Go to a quarterly membership meeting; join a committee (there is a committee for just about any facet of life in the theatre; attend a Council or regional board meeting as an observer (any member in good standing has this right) or run for Council.  You will get back much more than you give.