First and foremost, the Creative Futures network exists as a channel for each residency to express themselves. By giving your project a profile of it’s own within the community it becomes it’s own entity. Individual participants and organisers contributing to the residency are encouraged to create their own spaces on the network to discuss their personal experiences - but here the residency itself has a focus and voice.

For this reason, the presence of all individual residencies on the site is incredibly important. Each project has an appointed “representative” to take responsibility for the residency’s profile, ensuring the most up to date information is being given and to act as the main point of contact for any questions and updates.

Here are a few suggestions and hints for you as representative on how to make the most of Creative Futures for you and your residency:

1. Say hello
The first thing to do is introduce the residency to the community. Write a blog or join this discussion telling us about your project: what are it’s aims? who is involved? where is it based? As with any good party, the way to make connections is to be welcoming and open. Make sure you include an image or two to make the post visual for the audience.

2. Support your fellow residency members
Take a look at what the organisation and the individuals taking part in your project are doing on Creative Futures. Leave comments on content they upload, “like” their content, share with others, spread the word.

3. Connect with others
Ask questions, make friends, interact. Most importantly be present, approachable and make others feel welcomed. Maybe even introduce people you think should meet to each other. Letting people know that you are listening is a great way of making new friends and connections.

4. Broadcast your news
Tell others about the residency, the process, what is happening. Take images, or shoot videos if you are more familiar with moving image, and upload them. Document different phases of the process, even the very early stages. Ask what others think - find out if they are doing things differently. Show us where the activity is taking place.

Here are some hints to get you started:
Do you have an event happening? Would you like to let a wider network of people know about it? Add it to the Creative Futures event pages here.

Do you know about an opportunity available for artists? Maybe you have a call out for your own project. There is an Opportunities notice board that you can add to here.

Don’t be scared to blog over and over again - your news is important to the community and  every step of the residency process is of interest. Blogs which have a visual element are always popular, so if you have some images or video make sure to add them. You never know, your content might be featured on the homepage too.

Remember to make coming back to the network a part of your routine - people may have commented, asked you questions or requested to be your friend. Being present on the site might feel like extra work for you to begin with, but when you start to see the benefits of being part of a network of people who want to hear about your residency it will feel like a natural part of the working day.

If you have any questions about the above information or you would like to make some suggestions, email us here.

 

You can find more useful hints & tips in these guides - How to use the network as...
as a delivery partner or organisation
an individual connected to a residency
a casual browser not connected to a residency

 

[Image by Major Clanger, used under Creative Commons]