This weekend, March 5-7th, ArtsTech will be presenting SMartCAMP, a two day symposium on social media use for the arts, in collaboration with The LAB Gallery at the Roger Smith Hotel. We’ve put together a collection of case studies, panels and presentations that we hope will serve as a crash course and source of inspiration for artists and arts professionals getting social online.
“Social media” has gotten kind of a bad rap in the past year or more. The term is so overused and abused—and worst of all, nebulous—it’s lost virtually all meaning. “Social media gurus” and self-proclaimed “experts” have become a running joke in the community. Still, semantics aside, most people will acknowledge there’s more to it than mundane status updates.
The changes in communication and behavior implicit in the social web are undeniable and too important to ignore. We can now gather around shared ideas, interests, and opinions, forming global communities localized around passions and ideals. We discover and share information differently. We interact with information differently—in fact, the very idea that interaction is allowed, much less expected, is new in itself.
The idea behind SMartCAMP is to explore how these changes are affecting the arts and to create a forum where people can discuss what’s happening and what has yet to come. But my desire to bring this conversation to the forefront within the arts community goes beyond branding, marketing and social media strategy.
This isn’t about technology so much as it is about the cultural implications of its use and making sure that arts professionals are aware of the changing rules and know how to play by them. And perhaps more importantly, getting them in the habit of constantly re-evaluating the rules and the nature of the game, because it’s that process that’s going to be their most useful takeaway. Things are changing all the time now, so much so that the old vanguard and way of doing things, is growing more and more irrelevant by the day. Individuals and organizations need to be aware of these changes, and willing to adapt to them.
wish i was in town for this!
