For Immediate Release: June 9, 2009
Contact: Jeff Morgan
Public Relations
515.281.3858
Jeff.Morgan@iowa.gov
“No More Starving Artists II” conference June 20
Workshops focus on marketing, business tools, social media, emergency preparedness
(DES MOINES, Iowa) — Iowa artists can learn new marketing skills, business tools, social media outreach and emergency preparedness tips this month at the Iowa Arts Council’s “No More Starving Artists II” conference.
The conference will be 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 20, 2009, at the Des Moines Social Club, 1408 Locust St., in Des Moines. Cost to attend is $30 and includes lunch. Register at www.Iowatix.com or call 515-281-4657 for more information.
“Visual, performing and literary artists who attend this conference will learn new skills and tools they can apply immediately,” Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs Director Cyndi Pederson said. “We want to boost the efforts of artists because they make a significant impact on Iowa’s quality of life, create thousands of jobs, generate millions of dollars in revenue, and attract highly-educated workers and companies with good-paying jobs to our state.”
The No More Starving Artists II conference will feature the following workshops:
Marketing for Artists – Staff from Springboard for the Arts of St. Paul, Minn., will lead this session, which identifies the right audience for artistic output, positioning, and developing marketing strategies and a marketing plan geared for that audience.
Pricing Your Work: Getting Paid for What You Do – While many artists excel at the design and production of their work, they feel far less confident when it comes to deciding a price. Most want to be compensated fairly, but what does that mean? Too often, a number is plucked out of the air because it feels right. In this workshop, discuss what to consider when “doing the math” for people who are producing products and for those providing services. Presented by Springboard for the Arts.
Building Your Brand – Mike Wagner will talk about branding basics and steps for building a unique brand.
Expanding Your Digital Footprint with Social Media – Hillary Brown from Lava Row will discuss techniques and tactics for success with social media.
Emergency Preparedness – Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) Representative Craig Nutt will discuss disaster preparedness in his presentation. Each participant can register to receive a free Studio Protector, an emergency planning and disaster response tool for studio artists created by CERF. The Studio Protectors have a retail value of $16; conference participants will receive them in October for free. The Studio Protector includes resources for how to protect art, assets and archives in case of a disaster, and instructions on what to do immediately after a disaster. Visit www.studioprotector.org for more information.
IAC offered the first “No More Starving Artists” conference in June 2007.
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The Iowa Arts Council is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and works to enrich the quality of life for Iowans through support of the arts. Funding for the Iowa Arts Council and its programs is provided by the state of Iowa and the National Endowment for the Arts. More information at www.iowaartscouncil.org.