I was recently at a Cultural Network Luncheon (at Ray's very own Hyde Park Art Center), and I was thrown for a loop when I reconnected with someone I knew from the past and they asked for my business card. My business card? I'm a student, I said, I don't really have one right now -- which is LAME (I made one as an undergrad when doing my thesis research - why on earth don't I have one now???).
THEN, I saw this article on CNN.com about digital business cards. I thought you guys might be interested in some of the resources they mentioned.
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LOVE this article. LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that everyone has to have a physical business card, though. And always carry it, even at the grocery store! Although I'm always forgetting. I have a pro card & just got new personal ones http://picasaweb.google.com/harperprairie/Other#5388879089172222018
I'm one of those terrible people who judges people when they hand me a torn up dirty old business card! :)
The thing with business cards is that there isn't a quicker way to get people's info, even if you won't keep it once you've got the info digitally. Plus, for those of us emerging in our fields, it's socially acceptable to pull out your card in any setting and initiate giving it to just about anyone, even a big wig who probably does not want it, where telling any other contact info means would be obtrusive and bizarre-- plus I usually get one in return, even from big wigs.
I agree, business cards are essential tools for artists and everyone else. When I changed from a marketing position to the art school and moved from Germany to the US, I was surprised about the importance of "business" cards for all members of society. No doubt a part of American culture, I thought. Product of the highly developed service mentality that makes people feel good and important. This wasn’t even second nature in Germany years ago. There, business cards were appropriate for business administrators, people in power and affiliation on a certain level of the business hierarchy, industry, and commerce.
ReplyDeleteThe card, now a days rendered either digitally or in print, offers ways of getting in touch with people in an easy and fast way – social networking. I appreciate the freedom to choose and pick from the amazing variety to tailor what fits one’s needs. I print and cut my own and I think I adjusted to this culture right a way. I know there is room for improvement. But, to really get to the point, artists of all genres need more than the fast greeting on the surface. There must be something that triggers the initiative to communicate, an impulse like creativity or inspiration, or something that comes from the heart and connects from one to the other. Something that reaches beyond the imprint of the fine press, the handwriting, or the input on the keyboard. A card is just the organizational tool to cause action, a puzzle piece to help memorize or may be impress others if you want. Sometimes people connect without a card - that’s even better.