Networking/begging in my free time

My day today has been like this:

9-12 Helping with hang and focus at Forum as ALD for Scorched. I will be there for focus and color 8-12 tomorrow. This is in Maryland.

1-5 Day job in Arlington. Virginia.

6-9 Dimmer check and board oping for Something You Did at Theater J. DC.

9ish drinks with the sound designer of Something You Did to talk about me assisting her on an upcoming project.

And when I get home I need to spend 4 hours "working from home" writing articles as part 2 of my day job.

So when i DO have free time I usually do something that doesn't require so much energy. I have a new obsession with Netflix.

And sometimes I look for new projects to get involved in. How?

A really awesome asset for designers/technicians/stage managers/sometimes directors is the yahoo group DC TheaterTech. Companies post

So sometimes I reply to those.

I also play my clicking game a lot. I pick someone I've heard a lot about and look up companies they've worked with or people that have assisted them that I could assist to work my way up to them. Then I send lots of emails.

Emails I sent last night:

I emailed 2 smaller companies in the area looking for lighting designers for spring productions. These jobs were posted on the yahoo group.

I emailed a company that Amanda (who I graduated with) is currently acting with. When I looked at this website they were looking for technicians, but I also sent my design resume.

I emailed the artistic director of one of the companies I sent my resume to, because I know she knows Jeremy and I'm also very interested in working with their company in whatever capacity. I offered to buy her coffee to chat.

I emailed the director of the show I am board opping for and let her know I'd love to assist her on any upcoming projects.

I emailed a girl who has been doing a lot of great work in Children's Theatre. I don't remember how I found out about her, but she is currently working on developing a new piece with young people so I was excited about that. She emailed me back and said she was interested in my work too (I had included a link to my website, but hadn't pushed it) and we should meet up for coffee. Hooray!

For anything that was an application for a particular position (the design jobs) I always attach my resume AND a specifically written cover letter with a link to my portfolio. I never attach images or anything larger than my resume.

For people I want to get involved with (the artistic director email, etc) I never send a resume in order to be clear that I am generally interested in speaking with them over coffee, I'm not just looking for a job. I don't write a cover letter, I just write a concise specific email with a link to my website if they're interested in checking it out.

So I spend a lot of time emailing new people and companies that I'm excited about. My emails are always very specific. I don't reuse cover letters, outside of select paragraphs sometimes.

What an exciting life I lead.

Bu if anything comes from any of it - it will be exciting indeed.