3b, Theories relating to networking

In my professional practice these networks are valuable to me and i rely on them very much for my career.

No doubt in years to come there will be many more ways of networking, but as of yet there are a hell of a lot of tools already out there.

Some of these networks are free , such as facebook and bloggs but i feel that the more people use them, companies will latch onto people having to pay in society to continue networking.

Facebook, and bloggs are a brilliant way to promote yourself and a way for clients, agents and other professional people to find out about yourself. It's a network where you can be seen at any time.

i feel that i personally could use Flikr and youtube a little more. Before i started my BAPP course i had never used these before, youtube to search things but never to promote myself. I personally feel that both of these networking tools are very handy. I could use these a lot more to my advantage. I now have an account on flikr and i have only recently uploaded a video onto youtube for my first set of tasks. But for my professional practice if i had a show reel this could be put onto youtube to be seen by thousands more people, this can only be an advantage for myself. With Flikr, people can now see my professional pictures. It's a positive move for me to include theses into m networking tools.  The other option i have thought about is setting up my very own website, to promote myself within the industry, many people have this, and i feel i could put all my links to flikr, youtube send people to my blogs. this could be so beneficial to me and its something i am currently look into.

The theories i have read through in great detail and i feel that each will some how suit every ones character and how they network. These networking tools defiantly come to light in these theories.

My professional practice is highly important to me so that is why i need to constantly maintain it, and networking is the main part of this game. The performing industry that i am in, is not always about what you know but who you know. Networking can open a whole can of worms, makes sure you work hard and maintain this. My professional networking does most defiantly has a huge impact on my career and success, promotion and development. By constantly networking this can lead to future work, achievements and an even more enjoyment to my professional practice. Hopefully by reading these theories will now give me a better understanding on how to use my professional networks more effectively.

Cooperation

I believe cooperation is a process where people/ organisations can work together to achieve the same end result. You work together in a process that helps one another.

However the Game theory believes that one player succeeded and another misses out. This i believe happens in everyday life but are we a selfish society, shouldn't we be helping one another out. However in this industry that i am in, its all about yourself. People choose to not cooperate as they believe this is helping others, they may be giving the game away and i think cooperation doesn't happen as much as it should.

People hold back on cooperating as they feel they need to benefit, have a reason to move forward whilst helping others. The game theory is interesting because it focuses on the decisions people make weather to cooperate or not, their strategy would they benefit from cooperating?.

I picked out of the reader , Out of the extract from Axelrod, R (1984) pages xi-xiv:

The term tit for tat is very apparent when it comes to cooperation. People always need to have some thing beneficial to them before they cooperate i think this is awful, that people are almost not nice enough to help out in a kind hearted way for the love of it unless it is beneficial to them.
But the question is where do you draw the line, how far do you go to help someone i know myself i always cooperate as i feel its the right way to look forward in life.


"The will and way to win" (Alan Durrant- From the Reader 3)

This quote is associated with the game theory 

In my professional practice i feel that cooperation is key. No one would want to employ a dancer that did not cooperate, other wise you would be straight out of a job, hopefully the more you cooperate this is noted and works to your advantage.


Affiliation

Affiliation is related to social psychology. It uncovers as to why we associate ourselves with other people, and how and why we form relationships. It makes me realise how much we actually talk to other people. We socialise a hell of a lot, and its something that comes completely naturally for me. Affiliation is a social process but each person seeks a different amount of interaction. Everyone has their own preferred amount of interaction. O' Connor and Rosenblood (1996 pp267) believe that this may link to preferred levels of social stimulation. If the person hasn't had much contact with other people socially, then they won't want to interact as much as others would want to.

I also feel people in this industry do a lot of talking, meeting of new people is a huge way of networking, getting yourself out there showing your face interacting more within society can only be a positive. I feel i socialise with a lot of different people, and these can all have an influence on me as a person. By talking to people you can learn a hell of a lot, so if i was talking to a choreographer i could learn about their technique, where they are in the game of the industry, or simply knowing someone.
You could also look at this as people can talk to you via networks to get to know you, is this private or are they simply intrigued as to what you do.



From the extract from Crisp, J &Turner, R (2007), Pages 266-268;

According to physiologist we  have a tendency to seek out others and form close relationships, its inherited and that's why we affiliate. This trait helps us to extract information, form relation ships, socialise more and also learn.


Social Constructinims

The way i read into this theory is that in this society we all have systems that we have engaged. Such as social structures that have been made and put into place. These social structure have rues but are only there to enhance you as a person of society. For example public schools are there and have been put into force for children to go to learn. Whereas in my profession people attend auditions, there are rules to follow and structures that have to be adhered to.

Connectivism

Connectivism i feel is all about the way we as individual connect to networks to learn and make our own choices. It's about learning influenced ideas. Our brain is a huge network, and we as individuals choose to put ourselves out there. We make choices on connection what ever our preference may be. I feel that learning networks benefit myself and my professional practice and helps me to move forward.  I believe that all our networks are all inhabited with information from which we read, take in, process and learn, this can be done in an interactive way to learn.

In the extract from Siemens, G (2004)

Where it says "Learning is a continual process lasting for a lifetime. Learning and work related activities are no longer separate. In many situations they are the same"

I could not agree more with this statement. In the performing industry you are constantly learning, and its something that always stays with you.  The activates are not separate i learn for my professional practice i network to learn and keep my practise up to date.

Driscoll (2000) also is interesting, that learning has a change on a human person's performance. We learn from our experiences and interaction with the worlds. Our experiences and knowledge from reflection on the experiences make us the people we are today.

Communities of Practice


This final theory i feel i can relate to very easily. Lave and Wenger, believe that people only understand your practise if they are involved in it. If they get the context of it they will agree. This is my field. I find as though i can connect to this, on many occasions when socialising and even talking to family members when i discuss the industry they can sometimes tend to disagree, and i feel this is because they are not part of the community of my practice. But this can also work to my advantage whilst attending auditions whilst i talk and socialise with other performers i can listen to those that are in this community of practise and learn, bounce of them for my own personal benefit. People come together because we all have a mutual interest, that is why i completely agree with Anna Timms, whilst reading her blog i feel for this theory to work comfortably you also need to incorporate cooperation, social interaction and connectivism.

These theories i feel can help many people in the same professional work co-operating together to succeed and move their professional practice forward. We are all there for the same reason, this binds us all together into a social entity.