Business Acumen for Artists - An Online Learning Log Elaine Rumboll Business Acumen for Artists - An Online Learning Log Elaine Rumboll

Feedback from Rob on running the First process on Mon

Robert Poynton | rob@oyf.com | oyf.com | IP: 196.14.132.5 Hola. This is Rob. He of the loud T shirt. Monday night may well not have been what you were expecting from a business course. Which is perhaps a learning in itself. Personally, as someone that straddles business and creative worlds I think Fletcher was right - its not ‘us’ and ‘them’, which I think implies not so much learning a new language, but learning to find a way to use what you already have in a new context. If you feel like an imposter when you step into the business world you should remember that so do most business people, most of the time. The other thing I think is huge, is to disconnect price and worth, in your own mind (or heart). Price is what someone will pay for something, worth is a completely different question. So what you charge is not what you are worth. If you don’t make this distinction it can be hard to charge proper money, because you are always putting your personal worth in play. By the same token, even if you can charge a lot, that doesn’t make what you do necessarily good. For me it was a revelation when I realised that most stuff gets sold because of how much energy and work people put into selling it, not because of how good it is. When some other improv group got hired for a big job I used to think they must be better than us. They might be, but it doesn’t necessarily follow. Realising this helped me a lot. I am talking about my stuff, business stuff, here, though Max’s story, which I thought was very helpful, made the same point about art (when she dressed up to deliver her work to a gallery). Being business-like isn’t alien. It just requires common sense and clarity and energy and discipline just like anything else. Hopefully, by the end of the course, you will end up wondering why any of this ever seemed strange at all…..

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Business Acumen for Artists - An Online Learning Log Elaine Rumboll Business Acumen for Artists - An Online Learning Log Elaine Rumboll

Business Acumen for Artists - An Online Learning Log

I am programme directing the Business Acumen for Artists thirteen week process as part of UCT Graduate School's Corporate Social Investment. I have created this blog as a space to share ideas around the learning that comes out of this journey - insights for business and creatives. We kick off tomorrow night with Robert Poynton of On your Feet fame . We have brought him to South Africa to run the process underpinning the Executive Leadership Programme  at UCT GSB and he kindly volunteered to run the first process on the programme. The course is part of our voluntary involvement with the Observatory Community centre and all the monies will go to renovating the Victorian house that the centre operates in.

We have had to close the applications because of the phenomenal reponse we got from the market; helped largely by the blogging efforts of Max Kaizen and Dave Duarte (tx*). So the profile of the delegates (26 in total) is an extraordinary cross section

MusicianSingerFine artist/freelance illustratorTheatre makerVisual artistGraphic artistMultimediaArtistCeramic artistJewellery, T-shirt designRadio, production companyTheatre directorJewellerProducing diary of performing artsCeramicistFilmmakerArtistGraphic designerVisual artistDrama teacher and painterClothing designerFine artistMusicianGlass & toy making

I have also included a breakdown of the timetable to give you a sense of what we are trying to achieve with this. You are welcome to use any concepts or ideas that come out of this learning - my request is just that you share back the findings that you have. My hope is that this space will be a geminating ground for much discovery and joy. Here's to the celebration of one of the most important mash-ups - Business and Art!

SESSION

 SUBJECT FACILITATOR
ONE – MON 20 AUGUST IMPROVISATIONAL LEADERSHIP ROBERT POYNTON –

SPAIN
TWO – MON 27 AUGUST CONCEPTUALISING AND CONCRETISING YOUR PROJECT LIZ DE WET & ELAINE RUMBOLL – UCT GSB
THREE – MON 3 SEPT. MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE ELSPETH DONOVAN – UCT GSB
FOUR – MON 10 SEPT BRANDING YOURSELF – NETWORKING AND ADAPTING, CREATING & ACCESSING A MARKET ELSKE

HENDERSON
FIVE – MON 17 SEPTEMBER PR SKILLSONLINE WEB SKILLS JANE NOTTEN – ROTHKO

DAVID

DUARTE – HUDDLEMIND
SIX – TUES 25 SEPTEMBER LEGAL RIGHTS AND COPYLEFT

ANDRE RENS -SHUTTLEWORTH FOUNDATION

SEVEN – MON 1 OCTOBER STORYTELLING AROUND PRICING YOUR PRODUCT TBC
EIGHT – MON 8 OCTOBER NEGOTIATION SKILLS, PITCHING IDEAS AND CLOSING DEALS ELAINE RUMBOLL – UCT GSB
NINE – MON 15 OCTOBER PROJECT MGT DENNIS COMNINOS – UCT GSB
TEN – MON 22 OCTOBER ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS PAUL ABRAMS - LIGHTWORK
ELEVEN – MON 29 OCTOBER INTRODUCTION TO PERSONAL AND ENTREPRENEURIAL FINANCE & TAX FOR FREELANCER ARTISTS JANINE BLIGNAUT, UCT GSB
TWELVE - MON 5 NOVEMBER CASHFLOW AND BUDGETTING CONSIDERATIONS JANINE BLIGNAUT, UCT GSB
THIRTEEN – MON 12 NOVEMBER EXECUTING THE BUSINESS CASE ELSPETH DONOVAN – UCT GSB
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