Creative Living for Dancers — Grant Report #2

Project Update

Overall I'm satisfied the work I've done to establish Creative Living for Dancers during the funded period.

I believe that I made a difference within the dance community (no matter how small) by serving as a bridge to new knowledge and opportunity. I also deepened my love for my fellow dancers, dance entrepreneurship & empowerment and providing resources for others. I began to see the possibilities of technology in a new way as well as the importance of finding balance (more below). I even expanded into Dance Coaching by working with my first test client.

Marketing was tough for me and I heavily relied on my established social media channels. Instagram in particular became my life and at one point became a pain point. In my interview with Amber Case, Mozilla Fellow in Web Economics in explained this "Problem of the Content Creator". The idea of putting out enough content in the pool of content to be seen and heard or even just noticed by the billions of users out there. I felt like I was scrambling to pre-schedule posts to keep up with/build my audience and to make a "sell", in this case joining Coil.

It actually made me reflect on the importance of content creators who use WM At one point. I feel the pressure to "sell" would be diminished because we would be supported through the micropayment for anyone who views our content. On instagram I felt overwhelmed, but I know that my strategy probably could have been better. I plan to take a look at my personal network strategy and take smarter steps in the future.

Although I worked with a videographer for my content and a PR expert for communication, I look forward to adding more permanent members to the CLD team. As a one-woman show I set the foundation, now I look forward to finding and working with like-minded people who believe in CLD'a mission.

Progress on objectives

Creative Living for Dancer’s successfully completed it's objective to address the problem of the lack of resources, knowledge, and financial security for professional and pre-professional dancers to be successful within their field through the completed of the professional development materials and 4 Dance Films by Dance Artists.

We were able to redirect how dancer's use and disseminate their content with the web-monetization for dancers award and increase their control over their own data and content. In a post awardee survey 2 awardees mentioned that they planned to keep using WM and the other 2 were unsure.

"Thank you for creating this project and introducing me to web-monetization. I feel supported, encouraged, and seen as an artist in a new way through the virtual platform and I will continue to utilize and learn more about the tools of web-monetization. I think web- monetization will be a huge catalyst for artists in the future! I also feel so honored to know Briana and the other awardees. I will continue to explore web-monetization moving forward as a new way for my work to be supported and accessed. Thank you to all involved in CLD! I am eternally grateful for this opportunity."

• Kelsey Paschich, 2021 Creative Living for Dancer Awardee

Key activities

The Following deliverables were outlined in my original proposal and all have been completed. They can be viewed on Cinnamon or via the CLD website with Chrome's Coil Plug-in.

20 - 10 to 20 minute Testimonial Style Videos
20 - 1 to 3 minute Content Teasers
20 - Downloadable Worksheets (Consolidated to one document)
4 - Dance Videos created by Web Monetization for Dancer’s Awardees

I was very happy with the work created by the dancers. Each project provided a different take on the possibilities of dance in the digital sphere. Kelsey Paschich's project in particular incorporated motion capture technology and the Baira's research looked at virtual reality technology.

Although I didn't reach the number of views and downloads of the CLD material, I am content with those I was able to touch and connect with to spread the message of empower dancers professionally and personally in the digital sphere.

Communications and marketing

Since my first grant report I continued with CLD weekly IG Lives to continue building conversation around CLD's work.

To improve CLD Communications and marketing, I worked closely with PR expert and professional editor Victoria Jones to improve the language used in explaining the benefits of WM and breaking down step-by-step how to utilize Cinnamon. We've since improved the What is Web-Monetization page on the CLD site:

https://creativelivingfordancers.com/about/web-monetization/

As well as the Coil Membership step-by-step:

https://creativelivingfordancers.com/professionaldevelopment/

In addition, Victoria connected to over 120 dancers, blogs/podcasts, dance organizations, and schools which led to a successful instagram takeover with Dancer's Amplified, an organization dedicated to highlighting dancers and their work around the world.

During the takeover I posted moments throughout my day on DA's story and spoke more on CLD. This was an great experience that helped me spread the word of WM and got me connected with more dancers world-wide. You can still see the Takeover on Dancer's Amplified's page:

https://www.instagram.com/dancersamplified/

I also did a giveaway of Coil codes to increase engagement with CLD Content. That provided a simplified explanation of Coil and it's benefits:

Other Communications include blogs written on the CLD site:

https://creativelivingfordancers.com/2021/05/17/cld-awardees-nadine-baboy-and-kelsey-paschich-discuss-the-cld-award-and-the-shift-of-digital-communication-through-dance/

https://creativelivingfordancers.com/2021/05/02/cld-awardees-rosslyn-wythes-shaina-and-bryan-baira-share-how-web-monetization-brought-hope-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

What’s next?

I see the potential in the future of Web Monetization and would like to continue sharing it with the global dance community. My next steps include:

• Building a stronger branding/image for CLD
• Improve user experience on CLD website
• Creating a sustainable business model/plan for CLD
• Discovering/researching the best methods to introduce WM to the dance/arts community
• Continuing to support new digital dance projects through the annual CLD Awards
• Seeking new ways to premiere CLD dance films (i.e. online virtual space utilizing WM) and/or house all CLD Dance content (i.e. A CLD App)
• Plan the next set of CLD Content (ideas: include interviews with dance entrepreneurs, Why WM & Dance Web-series, etc)

What community support would benefit your project?

I'd be interested in advancing my work through collaborations with developers & programmers interested in creating or incorporating a platform for Web-monetized Dance Content.

I have ideas regarding an app for WM Dance content our even utilizing an online virtual space for the CLD Dance Film Premieres.

Additional comments

I'd love to connect with anyone interested in Web-Monetization in the Arts and those who have connections to any communities interested in arts related content.

Check out CreativeLivingForDancers.com for all relevant links & resources.

Relevant links/resources (optional)