Art & Shipping

Remember. 

To have an arty biz, you have to be arty. 

....and remain arty.

....and keep up with the times.

To grow an arty biz you have to finish and ship on time.

the arty, biz babe

I'm Just Like Every Other Boss

Aw geez - arrogant me.

I thought I was going to be a different kind of boss...don't we all?

I was going to be the one who understood the needs of the people who worked for me. I was going to be the one who really "gets" artistic priorities. I was going to be everybody's idea of the Perfect Boss - understanding, sympathetic, and the Queen of Flex Time.

Who do I think I am? Why would I be the exception? why did I think I was so special?

I turns out, I am like all small biz bosses. I want to get the product beautifully finished and shipped - in AvantGarb's case, that product is really cute, fuzzy mascots.

I have wonderful, talented, well-educated, experienced, smart, funny, good-looking people working for me. Some have dreams of designing for significant plays & films. Maybe they will.

Right now, however, they work for AvantGarb and there are schedules that have to be met.

I love talking about what's new in theater, film and the arts. My employees keep me up to date. My employees make my life richer and I love them for it.

....but, AvantGarb creates mascots and ships them out on time. We are not an art organization. Anything that gets in the way of production & shipping is a problem. 

Any extracurricular outings, like theater design meetings during the day, are a problem. As a small biz owner, I have enough problems. Unless its a really big problem, I don't want to know it.

All bosses/small biz owners are the same. We're growing and nurturing our businesses. We have enough worries; getting the job done and making payroll.

Some people have been with AvantGarb for many years. Other for just a few weeks. 

I like a team. I don't like a bunch of individuals who don't have AvantGarb's best interest at heart.

I used to think I was exceptional, creative, insightful & nice. But really, I'm just like every other small biz boss.

Pete Seeger - A True Blue American

I saw Pete Seeger when I was in junior high at Carnegie Hall. In my mind he is the leading peacenik, the great folksinger, the ardent bring-us-all-together balladeer.

Now I'm watching Pete Seeger's 90th birthday special on PBS. I've been listening to the guy since forever. His voice is a bit wobbly, but his spirit is strong. He looks the same as ever. The long, lanky body, the flowered, peacenik shirt, the humble cap. He still plucks the the banjo, singing with chin jutting out, with pure exuberance, making the whole audience his chorus & back-up singers.

I remember riding a bus past the big NY public library - the one with the lions. Pete Seeger got onto the bus to take it where ever he was going - same peacenik, flowered shirt, same humble cap.

Listen to my 90 year old hero sing Amazing Grace.

The Auditor

The State of Indiana decided to send an auditor to AvantGarb. Having an auditor---and our auditor, by the way was a delight, as a person---is really a creative buzz killer.

The auditor was at our studio for 2 full days. I probably lost 4 days of work. The day before she came I scurried around, collecting lots of pages and files full of numbers. For the 2 days she auditing us, the feng shui of my mind was ruined. Then she returned 2 days later to tell me the results of her audit.

I was never able to get into the the swirl of creation. I make the heads for the mascots here in MascotLand. When I'm in the thick of creation, its like I'm on my own planet. There are the materials, the worktable and me. Sometimes I feel like God in the Garden of Eden---oh gosh, is that an arrogant image.

The thing about being in business, is that you are in business and have to deal with the beauracracy of the larger, mainstream world. What I consider the minutia of business, others consider the nuts and bolts of business.

All in all, I'll pick difficult clients over an audit.

Twitter & the Twittosphere

Hmmm...to twitter or not to twitter---awww, c'mon, join the twitterati!

Of all the social networking sites available, twitter is absolutely, beyond a doubt the most fun.

Now, of course, as a slightly grumpy artist---although de-grumping a bit everyday--I had my own, pretty boring rant about how silly twitter was.

Twitter is silly, which is a strength. It is also smart, compelling and mind-expanding. I am connected to a grand population of mascot people (remember, my arty biz is mascot-making) , marketing people, philosophers,news mongers, fashionistas and my Dad!

One of the people I'm following is Guy Kawasaki wrote recently, great companies are founded on the desire to make meaning—and not necessarily to make money. Sounds like art to me.

Here's the link:
http://beta.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article?postguid=832894cd-cde1-413f-bd03-68a70ac49e28

A Dozen Don'ts for Entrepreneurs

I've been twittering away and learning things. I came across this article - A Dozen Don'ts---good advice!

Here's the link:
http://blogs.openforum.com/2009/06/30/a-dozen-donts-for-entrepreneurs/

These economic times!

Grrrr!

I have a lot of thoughts about pricing, marketing, promoting the work, but oy vey! these are tough times!

Am I the only small biz person who is working all of the time and kinda staying in the same spot?