Holden Hackney
-How did you prepare?
To prepare for this networking assignment, first I had to decide where/what I was going to go to. I decided to write this on my experience playing at SXSW, and networking while I was in Austin.
-What was your goal?
My goal was to establish connections, meet other bands/musicians, and follow up with the connections after the fact.
-What worked best?
All of these worked well. It was good for me to set up my Instagram and artist brand before going so I had a platform to follow people on and for people to follow me on. I established connections, met many other musicians and bands, and I have since followed up with these connections. From a connection we made with a band from San Francisco called “Carpool Tunnel”, we (Faze Wave) have planned a west coast tour with them from July 10th-27th.
-What are some interesting things you learned from the people you met?
I met people from all over the country, and some from other parts of the world. It was interesting to me to meet these other musicians and bands and really recognize that they’re all just other normal humans with lives that just love music and have established themselves enough to be able to tour and travel all over doing what they love.
-What seemed to spark the most interest in people you spoke with about you?
What definitely sparked the most interest in other people I met and had conversations with was the background I have in music. I shared with people I attended middle school, high school, and college for music studies and had been trained classically, and in jazz studies. People were often impressed, interested, and intrigued to hear this. Many people I met had just picked up music by ear, or a few informal lessons here and there.
-How will you improve the next time you do this?
The next time I do this, I will have a much more established and successful social media/artist page setup. I will also just try and improve my social interaction skills, and make sure I can stay there longer. We were only able to spend about 36 hours in Austin.
-What kind of events do you feel are better suited for you to network at?
Events that are based mainly around music.
