The NAMAC Member Listserv: Speculations, Dreams & Analysis
Today, I m checking my email for evidence of the community-building I had imagined. Here s my checklist: the listserv was activated in mid-98; it has been promoted in all NAMAC materials including our bi-weekly electronic newsletter "B_U_L_LE_T i_n" and the website; and articles have been published in MAIN. To date, seventeen users are currently subscribed. Although the list is as quiet as a church mouse, I believe it s the quiet before the storm.
This article is an attempt at public self-analysis so that we can take a less passive approach to the listserv (as described above), and really refine and improve our tactics, structures, and content so that the list becomes useful. My thoughts have produced two main speculations:
Speculation #1: Comfort Level with the Modes of Communication
How comfortable is our constituency with the "delivery system" of email? For many folks it s seen as a pesky overload, while for others it s a saving grace. Most of us have evolving and revolving preferences to these communications systems. To illustrate, frequently NAMAC Director Helen De Michiel and I will have completely opposite ways of communicating with the membership. While we both use whatever communication forms are necessary, Helen is more likely to pick up the phone to make "personal contact" where I m more inclined to reach someone via email. Helen considers the phone more direct, where I enjoy the efficiency of the Internet. In order for a listserv to be a thriving interchange of issues and ideas, the participants must place value in the usefulness of email communication.
Last week I participated in The National Association of Artists Organizations (NAAO) West Region Co-Generate think-tank. This series of regional meetings is NAAO s attempt to scan the field of emerging arts professionals in order to determine the needs of "youth" in the field. I was discussing the development of the NAMAC Member listserv with NAAO Executive Director Roberto Bedoya, and he said "Dewey, I don t have TIME for email. If I need a question answered, I pick up the phone."
This brought up two important points for me.
Roberto s statement about time completely contradicts my own relationship to using the Internet to save time. I know I don t have time to play telephone tag to make an appointment, find a resource, or to confirm an obligation. For me, email is a useful tool for my time management. I can put out a query or answer one when I am good and ready. It might be the weekend, it might be 1:00 am, or it might be after I meet an important deadline.
Secondly, in order for Roberto s scenario to operate, you must already have a colleague to call - someone in mind with the expertise you are looking for. An online forum is a mechanism where support staff who don't have developed networks can use email as a way to access new people. You also get input from list members who are outside of your immediate sphere. For example, if you are looking for a particular video tape by a certain artist, you could decide to call your friend in New York, or you could broadcast your query to numerous people at once through the listserv. The stage is set for a more diverse and far-reaching set of responses. NAMAC is on the ISSFED (International Society of Specialty Film Exhibitors and Distributors) listserv where filmmakers, exhibitors, and distributors post announcements about the exhibition and acquisition of independent feature films. A recent post looks something like this:
Re: Desperately seeking coffee filmRegarding your 3/25 request for information on the Italian film "The Man Who Came for Coffee"
We don't have such specific distribution information ourselves, but why don't you try Women Make Movies? They handle distribution, and perhaps they would at least be able to direct you to someone who might have that info.
Their e-mail address address is: info@wmm.com.
Erica Rodriguez
nywift@earthlink.net
Speculation #2: Who Is the Audience?
Many of the directors of NAMAC member organizations have long-standing networks that have been in development for years. These networks have served us well, and when we need some advice we call an old friend. So if the power of the NAMAC listserv is in establishing and developing peer relationships, then it s probably the support staffs of NAMAC organizations who have the most to gain as "end-users."
A limitation of NAMAC s infrastructure is that our communication stream has generally been with one contact person - usually the Executive Director. NAMAC member organizations generally have two to twenty employees, who we must consider part of "the field" and who can professionally benefit from NAMAC membership and services. People in support positions tend to desire assistance, but don t always know where to find it. Many are new to the field and haven t identified or worked with a larger pool of colleagues in the media arts network. These individuals - all experts within their programs - can take the NAMAC Member listserv and run with it. Let's not hesitate and sign them up! Lively discussions between media literacy specialists and educators, for example, will not only support their individual work, but the resulting discourse will help inform the NAMAC conference planners identify topical issues and presenters for Conference 2000.
With the goal of strengthening peer relationships and networks among the NAMAC membership, our objectives from May-July 1999 are:
- to acquire data on key staff within member organizations so that direct contact information can be accessed through the organizational profile on the website.
- to create communication loops based on individual expertise: connect programmers with programmers, educators with educators, distributors with distributors, and directors with directors and so on.
- to schedule one "moderated email forum" on the subject of media literacy in early summer. Members will need to subscribe by July 15. We will publicize this by fax, snailmail, and email.
- to make clearer instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing; how to post to the listserv; how to organize your email files, folders, and filters.
You have probably already received an email or snail-mail requesting your key staff information. Thank you to everyone who responded! The data we receive from you will help NAMAC better know our constituents, add dimensionality to your organizational profile, and open up the listserv to a more diversified group of people (i.e. those support staff end-users). We will be contacting you directly about the listserv in all its wildest potential, so be prepared!
Remember what we say: NAMAC is here to connect the field.
DANIEL SCHOTT is the Program Director at NAMAC.
© 1999 National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. All Rights Reserved.
