make a backup
stop reading this now and go buy a new big drive. get something external, firewire (or networked) and very large. this drive is the drive that all of your everything will go on every day from now on. if you have a sister or brother make sure you send them the link of what you bought with a note BUY THIS RIGHT NOW so you don’t forget. it’s so cheap that you have no excuse other than I don’t have a drive to make a backup which is solved and delivered with 5 minutes of effort.

clean a drawer(s)
every hose has one. a drawer that catches everything. it’s full and it’s time to sort it. the most effective way to do this is to remove everything from it then replace the contents one by one. make a point to put things you will never use into a bag that you can either recycle or give away (which is like recycling).

make a year book
iPhoto has a tool for making a book. it’s really simple. you just pick the shots you want, choose a style from the list, arrange them, then click make. it’s that easy.

make 3 party mixes for you iPod
normally I’d say music player but iPod will do. the task here is to make party mixes. the idea of three mixes is to be ready for several parts of the party. new playlists give you a fresh look at your old music. if you wait until the last second it won’t be fun. build them and after building them don’t listen to your mix. you can come up with a theme yourself but I will offer you these: beginning, middle, end. traditional, childhood, now. the xmas I remember when I was 7, 12 and 18. let it snow, ready for the beach, road trip. the morning comes alive, busy leaving for lunch, five o’clock.

quit something
getting something out of your life is as important as starting new projects. the end of the year is a great time to give the heave ho to something you don’t want to keep doing. there are a few ways to quit but by far the best way is to just not do that whatever anymore. being non-dramatic about the end is important because whatever you are leaving behind is something your are leaving behind. you are over it so just leave it there and keep going.

rewire the computer
under every computer desk is a rats nest of cables, power cords and other things wire related. the task is simple. unplug every thing then plug all back to working. you should have two things at the end. extra cables and a neater system. be sure to label things that you aren’t obvious. and be REALLY careful with external power supplies for hard drives. they may look the same but they actually are not the same. you will fry the circuit board on the drive if they get mixed up.

develop the film
lots of people don’t take the time to get things off of their media devices. they leave hundreds of pictures on their camera as if it this is permanent. this is lots like how people never developed the film in their cameras. don’t do this! the habit that you want is to pull, organize and share your images while they are fresh memories. there are lots of ways to share with things like blogs, flickr, facebook and even printing the pictures. do start using something. don’t worry about getting “stuck” with one service as it’s pretty easy to move to other places.

one thing that I’ve said about students, actually lets broaden this to artists, engineers and designers, is that if you tell them they can do anything they want to do they will come back to you days later with nothing. the very idea of “anything” is to broad that absolutely nothing gets done. I’ve seen this happen again and again in all the time I’ve managed projects.

it’s only when you put budgets, deadlines and constraints on a project is when things become interesting. the very problem of sky is the limit is squelched making it possible to put your mind around the thing as a whole thing. “something to work within” in other words.

the box, even if it’s nothing more than the idea of limits, is what allows you to think about the very thing you want to think out side of. when making a new product I will go into the project with a list of requirements. sometimes this is called a MRD (marketing requirements doc) or just a “spec”. it can be simple like “GPS – small, waterproof, rechargeable without having to plug it in. cost is a factor but not for v1.” or “150 experiments to make you a better designer.” from that we know what the next steps are. it could anything from source possible parts to a trip to the book store.”

it’s during this phase when the box is actually defined. you may find a new material to work with, a component that was just released or you may find that what you are trying to make is in fact impossible to make given what you’ve been asked to do. it may cost to much to make, take too long to produce or something that makes it possible isn’t available for some reason (like a part is is too new).

another problem that you may encounter is that the box isn’t interested in you because it’s actually bigger than you envisioned it. when I was working on a streaming video project I was driven by NBC announcement that they had booked 8 BILLION dollars in advertising for the Fall season. I did the numbers game doing what every entrepreneur  does and came up with a number which fueled my excitement for making the project. however, this was a fatal flaw. it was that number I made. and even making the number smaller and smaller I was still dealing with such unbelievable number so much so that nobody believed my project was actually real. not because of the engineering problem, or a bandwidth problem or the staffing problem but because it made too much theoretical money. so what right? Sandhill Road wasn’t interested maybe Horrywoo was. turns out they weren’t either.

this is not to say that thinking outside the box doesn’t always have impossible to go with it. but you really need to understand the box before you venture to the other side. your problem will be that if everyone has an idea of the box so much so that being outside of isn’t even of interest you really need to rethink what you are thinking. if I had to do it over again I would have made a Power Point clone and shipped that instead.

I interviewed for a jorb with a tech company long ago that was set up by a friend of a friend. I needed the jorb. really needed it. but the interview revealed that it was not the place for me. the conversation went okay, and I didn’t dislike the guy who would be my boss. but when I met people on the project it was clear that it wouldn’t work. clash of personalities, way that the office looked, even the music that was playing. it wasn’t my thing even for a short run which changed me during the interview. later I got an offer. they needed somebody anybody to fill the chair but I declined. it was clear that they really didn’t want me either as the offer was low and benefits none existent beyond the standard issue. making it easy to say no. later on I got word that “they” felt I wasn’t really a good fit either meaning that potential boss really was all that and chips.

later that week I interviewed again. same company. different team. another potential PHB. I was late, I was casual, I didn’t have business card, resume or demo real. 10 minutes into the conversation my boss to be said, “…you are a dream come true… can you start…” “tomorrow!” I blurted. “I was thinking after the weekend if that’s okay” he replied. paperwork was the issue which was was a top notch offer.

bottom line. mind that instinctive feeling that “this is wrong. and I don’t want to say yes.”

Respect is key. You can’t drop in on a conversation without annoying the people in the small group. Be mindful of what they are saying and wait for a polite time to add what is on your mind. A good way to do this is when one of the group leaves to get something. While waiting in line for drinks you can say, “I overheard what you were saying and…” then make your point.

Be ready with the one liner about what you do. At a recording when asked this question I replied, “I’m a host on a podcast.” Suddenly I was elevated from crew to specialist. There should never be an “and” in that sentence. Just be one thing. It’s less confusing that way. You should stick with your story for the entire event as well. Don’t change it up depending on who you are talking.

A stack of cards need to be in pocket ready to go. Take them out of a carrier or wallet. They should be instantly ready. Take a lot of cards with you. These days I have 30-50 cards in my computer bag.

Learn to hold your drink with your left hand. That way don’t have to transfer it from right to left to shake hands with your new prospect. The key benefit is that your right hand won’t be cold and wet from holding the glass.

Get introduced. If you know somebody in the room that knows somebody you want to talk with have them do an introduction. This builds nearly instant credibility for you. Think pre-qualified.

Never demo during the mixer. Instead set up a meeting to do a demo at a later time. You can also exchange business cards with the promise to send them what you want to show them. Remember the event is social and you need to keep it that way as much as possible.

While its possible to meet 20-30 people in an hour nobody will remember you. I’ve learned to work slower with the idea of retention. However, sometimes you just have to power through. Like the time when 30 people followed me to a restaurant after the GVFX2 event. It was really a lot of work but I managed to talk to everyone that came that night.

Don’t dominate the speaker, star, or panel person’s time. There are many people that want to meet them as well. They are very likely tired, hungry and have had it with the event. Give them the space they need.

Be complimentary. Never bring up something negative. Especially when talking with the events people. They’ve worked hard to get to the event making your complaint the last thing they need to hear. Better to find a way to get them the message at a later time so it can be fixed for a future event.

Getting sloshed is a bad idea. The drinks may be complimentary but that doesn’t give you permission to suck ‘em down like a frat boy. You’re there to make an impression. So don’t blow it be projecting the impression that you are a fish. There are three exceptions to this rule. 1) You have the ear of somebody that mutually wants to continue the conversation. 2) There’s a possibility that you’ll be taking her back to your place. 3) It’s an event where the subject is about beer/wine/tequila.

Pitching business at the event isn’t the best time to pitch. Simply because you don’t have enough time to make a good case. It’s always a good idea to make an agreement to do business at a later time. If you must pitch, be sure you are ready to pitch. You should be well rehearsed. If you aren’t you’ll come off looking not ready so don’t bother.

Ask first. “Can I ask you a question about your speech?” “Is it okay to send you my story idea?” “Can I show you a minute of my short film?” Yes, No and NO!

Lucky, Ready, Useful is key when you are networking. There’s nothing worse then Lucking out but then not having the muster to close a deal.

Don’t be shy. Networking is a performance. You have to practice doing it just like being on stage. If you stand alone in the corner the only people that you will talk to are the other scared people standing in the corner. Get over it and go mingle.

Think like a bee. There are lots of flowers in that room.

Don’t lie about what you do. Okay, funny story. I crashed a Class Reunion once where I showed up toward the end, grabbed a name tag that said “Nick” on it and then got introduced as that guy. His friend Emma spotted me as an impostor right off. I whispered her my plan and she was in. For the next 2 hours I was Nick and she introduced me to the forgotten. “His name is Tom. You ate lunch with him.” “TOM! You gonna eat that?!” pointing to the pizza on the table. “NICK! Nothing changes with you…” I kept the answers short and listened to Nick’s old high school buddies. “What happened to the Torino?” “Crashed!” “NOOO!” “Yep.” “Damn.” “Have you seen Susan?” “Not tonight.” “Where do you work?” “Up until a year ago a dotcom.” Plausible deniability. In the end I left with a stack of cards (I don’t have a card right now), some girl’s phone number (Nick never called her as he’s such an ass) and a promise to “do lunch about a job…I’ll call you on Monday” was never followed up.

How could I have forgotten this one last and possibly most important tip. It goes something like:

Follow up on each lead like you said you would. To make sure you remember what you promised each person you talked to take 5 minutes to mark your cards just after you leave the room you worked. Otherwise the next day it will all be fuzzy. This is especially true if you mixed the mixer with mixes. Believe me I’ve blown a deal or two because I didn’t write down what the lead was about or getting the call the next day from “mystery Diana” who could have been the GFC but turned out to be insulted because she was really calling about a writing jorb. D’oh.

Finally here’s what needs to go in your pocket. First off, leave the confuser somewhere else. Trunk of the car, checked with the coat, behind the bar or at home. You don’t need it. It’s heavy anyway and just gets in the way. Now the pocket 5 things:

Two working pens (counts as 1 item). Some block head will ask you for a pen at some point because they won’t have one. You can give him/her your spare without a care if you get it back. Plus you can use the “pen” as an intro to your next lead.

Paper that isn’t a business card. I like to keep 1 or 2 folded pages with me. This is an instant white board or idea capture place. Having paper means you aren’t wasting a business card to make a note.

20 bucks or more in cash. This gets you a cab home, drinks at the bar, dinner or whatever else you might need cash for. The reason why you want cash is that if you do something with a group that leaves the place you won’t be stuck fronting the whole tab on your card.

Business cards. This is the bread crumb that gets you business. If you don’t have a card stop whatever you are doing and make one. Get some thick matte paper stock then print out your design cutting up a series of 8 on a page. Or use one many services to that will print 50-500 glossy 2-sided cards for $10-100. Or use one of the “free” services.

Your reel, demo, writing examples, static web pages or whatever it is you do ready to go on a Flash drive. Make sure it works on a Mac and a PC. The idea is that you will very likely go home with your drive but on the off chance you’ll have it ready to surrender to a prospect. The reason to use a Flash drive instead of a CD/DVD (either mini or Normal sized) is that the FD is much, much tinyer. And is has the curiosty factor. Whoever you give it to will look at the contents. Tip: if your stuff uses QuickTime make sure to put the Windows installer on the drive. It’s only 30 meg or so to insure the person can play it. That or compress two both QT and WiMP to insure that everyone can see it.

Once the buzz has died down (and uninstalled) its time to follow up. Be sure to collect all the cards, scraps and matchbooks from your pockets and pants before you toss to tradeshow garb into the wash. There’s nothing like washed up lost opportunity.

If you are like me there’s a chance you’ll end up with a card without the slightest bit of memory why you have it. Don’t dispair. Because on the back of the card your past self wrote you (future self) a note about why you have this card. “Publisher looking for a writer for a advanced book.”

Email a follow-up. Keep it short. Keep it simple. Write something that will help the person remember who you were. “Hi Joe, thanks for talking with me at that super fun party that IOTA threw. We chatted about your [talents, products, possible outcome]. Let’s [whatever you want to have happen next here.] Talk to you soon.

Don’t expect everyone to remember who you were. I find that follow ups that are over a week don’t get answered 10% of the time. But month old leads never get answered. You’re just a flake at that point.

If you don’t want the work or project or business relationship don’t send a note.

This is something I have wrestled with for nearly two years, and the only conclusion I have been able to arrive at, is that I am more confused than when I started my search.

so you’ve sat there looking at specs, making comparisons, reading reviews and other metal masturbations for TWO years because you wanted to buy the right thing. repeat after me. THE SPECS DON’T MATTER. THE CAMERA DOESN’T MATTER! THE LENS DOESN’T MATTER.

what matters is actually having a camera, any camera and using it. period. you guys really have to stop over thinking these things.

figure out what you can afford and buy it. get on with the day. go out and shoot instead of pining about f stop, shutter speed and mega pixels.

here’s another way to look at it… how many picture have you missed because you were sooooo concerned with specs that you didn’t have a camera. or worse, when the picture is in front of you will have chops to make the camera do what you want to do? personally, I think you won’t because you haven’t been practicing.

The world of tomorrow is not about being able to do one job. already, you must have multiple skills and you must be willing to retrain yourself to use a completely different toolset. If you read a typical craiglist job title the candidate must have the knowledge of many different practices: coding, art skills, design sense, organization, photography, editing movies, making sound scapes with the ability to write.

If you look at the past, you find that same job would have been filled with 3 or 4 people. Today being mono-skilled means that you will get passed over more often then not. even if you have a great portfolio.

To be an artist means that you, the student, have to be prepared to live like an artist. It’s a lifestyle. Don’t expect a 6 figure job. You won’t to make $50 an hour. It’s feast or famine. The hours are long and the clients (spelled c-h-a-n-g-e) are mean.

You have to have the mindset that you are hands are doing work for other people. You don’t get to be creative. Even if what you are asked to do will make the story suck. Your input will get ignored or it won’t count. You don’t get a say.

That being said there is one thing you need to know. The internet. It’s the leveling place. Learn it, know it, embrace it. It is your future. It’s there for the taking. It’s a place where your movie, your art, can find its audience. Or your t-shirt can get purchased. 

Start something there. Don’t wait for a job. In fact pretend there isn’t going to be a job and create your own. Do it while you are in school. While you have infinite time and mad talent all around you. And while you parents are funding it.

Your “art” degree is meaningless anyway. Why? Because you are expecting a piece of paper to be the notification to the world that you are an artist. But unless you start saying “I am an Artist” right now then you aren’t one. Don’t wait for “permissions granted” by some paper with a gold star and a administrator’s signature to enable you. You have my permission to be an artist. Right now! Everyone… repeat after me: “I AM AN ARTIST!”

wait….

Pathetic. This is why 90% have already failed. You don’t believe in yourself. You don’t hold in you that you are what you want to be. If that isn’t in you not me, your teachers or your friends can help you. You might as well save everyone’s time by packing it up, cashing in, trading your paint brush and pencil for a pancake flipper.

Now… one more time: “I AM AN ARTIST!”