Band Of Puppets Fest (Brooklyn, NY), 2010, Photo by Sue Kessler
50 Responses to the 2012 Slam Survey Question: How could a Puppet Slam Network help you? Any recommendations for improvement? Any services we could provide outside of our semi-annual grants?
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Things are on a great track.
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A guide to getting started and a geographically-arranged list of slams and possible mentors.
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Perhaps some kind of bulletin board where we could find out who is going on walkabout/ tour/ travel and whether they may be in our vicinity- we want to take an adult piece on tour next year and would love to also hit slams along the way. We are flexible enough to change the date for a traveling puppeteer if we know when they might be around. I like the mystery of a non-homogenized format but it would be great to be inspired - a puppet slam curator’s conference??
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The Puppet Slam Network could aide me by assisting in purchasing a Mac and a new camera. Simply, my technology holds me back when it comes to documenting and updating ATS information...not just for Puppet Slam Network, but for our own Facebook and website as well. I feel if I had a digital camera I could get such great photos of my spaghetti dinners, and also, keep you updated with digital and inspiring documentation. I use a PC and I have a hard time getting photos where they need to go. However, your funding has already enhanced these needs, and I am very grateful.
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It has helped tremendously to get the posting of what other slams are doing.
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Nothing comes to mind- you guys are doing a great job, and offer vital support.
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I already appreciate the hard work it’s taking to organize and alert about upcoming slams. I would love to have a more direct way of connecting with people that want to screen their films at slams. Maybe a big Dropbox where permission is granted by the filmmaker(s) to screen when and wherever so long as credit is appropriately given?
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No recommendations at this time
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Travel expense is always a factor in importing acts for the festival. We are working on finding regional puppeteers to participate in the event. Perhaps as part of the network, puppeteers could register the title, description and specs of a slam-worthy show they have at the ready. This would aid curators in finding talent and would help talent find venues.
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It will help to let other artists and curators hear about the work we are presenting here in LA. conversely, it will help us to know about other artists and curators around the country, and possibly lead to presenting some of these artists in our cabaret. It will also help us in terms of national visiblity, and will help the artists who participate gain more national attention.
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We would love to have more information about touring puppeteers or companies that are traveling to (or near) Montreal and might want to perform at our cabarets.
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It could help connect puppetry artists with each other in our respective locations. If there were not only a page about upcoming listings, but where artists could post listings for puppet makers, writers, operators, and those with an interest in helping out with producing a puppetry event in other ways (i.e. tech support, marketing, etc.) it could help knit together puppetry groups within larger communities. The listings could even extend to: “Hey, we need a bright red wig for our show! Anyone in Los Angeles have one?” or “We have a narwhal puppet we no longer need. Would anyone like to purchase it from us?”
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I’m not sure if this is possible, but it might be helpful include other organizations that would offer grants for projects that the puppet slam network does not. For example, grants for larger projects or festivals.
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By continuing to recognize us and letting Puppet Slammers know of our monthly presence, and by letting performers around the country and globe be aware we are very open to quality work and puppet artists of all varieties.
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Help us to find artists to feature at our festival.
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Certainly it would be great to get more info on how out of country slams (like ours) can apply for grants through partnerships with groups in the U.S. Also it would be great to create a page where we could solicit performances from traveling puppeteers looking for a space to perform and visa versa.
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hmm – I will think about it!
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The calendar that is maintained by the PSN is a great resource. A handbook (physical or virtual) for getting a slam up and running could be a good thing, filled with testimonies and tips from established slams around the country. Assistance in connecting the various slams to each other for the purpose of sharing acts and setting up tours is another recommendation (of course these things might already exist and be unfamiliar to us as newcomers).
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Maybe we could add to each Slam page a note about how to apply to perform,. The Slam Network could then help disseminate this info to potential performers.
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We look forward to including the Soirees in this network. Soirees appear to be filling a need in our artistic community, a place where people can share ideas, get feedback, and truly experiment. It would be great if NYC-based puppeteers could find these events through the Slam Network, and bring their developing experiments to show.
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Shared mailing lists for Slams in the same geographical region? Lighter administrative burden?
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It would be great to have a directory of puppeteers by region that might also participate in our slam.
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A suggestion of artists/individuals to contact about inviting to perform or host one of our Slams would be helpful.
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Not sure yet, since this is our first application and will not have our first slam until Nov 2011. Grant will be a big help.
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I wish there was a way for artists at the puppet slams/cabarets to play musical chairs a bit in terms of performing on other slams/cabarets in the network (although the issue there is travel expenses). The Network could help by asking the various curators and venues if they would be up for providing housing and presenting an out-of-town artist in their slam/cabaret. Then maybe let all the slams/cabarets who say yes know about each other and see if a touring network can come out of it.
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No answer
The National Puppet Slam (Atlanta, GA / Multi-City)
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N/A
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To allow (via another webpage perhaps?) the various puppet slams to see and learn from one another’s fundraising techniques, partnerships and alliances.
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Develop new ideas and artist exchanges.
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A more user friendly system of connecting with other Slams. Maybe something available just to Slam Captain/Curators. A Dropbox file for video short sharing would be AWESOME!
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It would be amazing to hold more seminars or conferences where puppet slam organizers could meet. Even an online forum or private group for exchanging ideas and tips. A mentoring program would be cool, too.
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As artists working with puppetry in the modern era of pastiche continue to make work, we begin to see a need for technical equipment we do not own-- and would be wiser to own than continue to borrow or rent. First on the list would be a video projector that would be available for the Slam artists—as well as serve the Handmade Puppet Dreams showing. A grant for the acquisition of this much needed equipment would be appreciated.
Second, documenting the Slam is also a costly affair, and if I must choose between paying the artists or paying a photographer to document—I always choose to pay the artists. This is a true dilemma when the budget is sorely stretched to cover all the fees of the staff that must be in place to make a successful event, and paying the artists who must be paid because we are not playing at this-we are working in our chosen career path. Documentation Grants which would be intended solely to help pay for that service would be a great help.
Second, documenting the Slam is also a costly affair, and if I must choose between paying the artists or paying a photographer to document—I always choose to pay the artists. This is a true dilemma when the budget is sorely stretched to cover all the fees of the staff that must be in place to make a successful event, and paying the artists who must be paid because we are not playing at this-we are working in our chosen career path. Documentation Grants which would be intended solely to help pay for that service would be a great help.
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I anticipate that the Puppet Slam Network will not only provide financial support, an therefore a means of paying for PR material, support staff, equipment rental and spaghetti dinner supplies, but also in truly networking with other regional and national slams, slam organizers, puppet artists, participants and slammers in general.
The PSN could become a wonderful resource for short form puppetry not just as a networking and granting organization – but also as a way to facilitate short form festivals, festival participation such as at this year’s PoA best of national slams, an online resource for slam RFPs, RPQs, publication, marketing and equipment forums all as it relates to the world of short form puppetry.
The PSN could become a wonderful resource for short form puppetry not just as a networking and granting organization – but also as a way to facilitate short form festivals, festival participation such as at this year’s PoA best of national slams, an online resource for slam RFPs, RPQs, publication, marketing and equipment forums all as it relates to the world of short form puppetry.
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At the moment nothing jumps to mind, but I will think on it and let you know if I come up with something.
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It takes a great deal of work to coordinate tours with other slams. It would be very helpful if there was a way to document that type of work in the Puppet Slam Survey. I believe it shows that the Puppet Slam Network is working and will help be a measure of who takes advantage of the Networking opportunities.
It would be great if there was a list of puppetry friendly venues across the nation. If we were to plan a tour, we could contact those theaters to make arrangements.
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The Puppet Slam Network has done phenomenal work, keep doing what you are doing! We are not sure if you are interested in this sort of thing, but perhaps the Puppet Slam Network could delve further into publicity & PR: reaching out to journalists/writers, magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc to write articles about specific slams & slams in general. Perhaps look out for PR opportunities for the slam community?
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Simply to continue to be a network
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As it is helping develop connections as we plan a “Florida Puppet Slam Tour” in the region - some mechanism could help to track the slammers as they travel the country or even list their work available to tour. We have also been talking to Hannah Miller about how to create a self-sustaining, travel slam network for puppeteers along the East coast without financial strain on either the presenters or the artists themselves. We would welcome your input on this concept.
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- More promotion to the press, (outside of the puppetry press) would be appreciated.
- Grants for puppeteers to travel to with their shows, or support for commissioning new pieces would also be valuable.
- More online tools for performer recruitment, tour planning, and possibly slam administration would be helpful.
- Recognizing excellence, whether through awards or commendations, could also help encourage quality work and could build morale. Maybe an annual “Slam Hero” award, or some sort of juried competition? It could be a variety of things (Best host? Best slam name?)
- In general, I think there are still things that the PSN does that we are not yet fully taking advantage of at PST; becoming more involved in PSN is a goal for us for the coming year.
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The biggest challenge we face is finding new performers and booking enough puppeteers for each slam. This situation has improved as the Slam has gotten more popular and performers have started to make work specifically for the slams, including performers who are new to puppetry. We could take better advantage of the Puppet Slam Network Facebook page to find new performers, I suppose. One service that would be helpful is if you kept a contact list of performers/puppeteers (opt-in only, of course) who are interested in touring an act, so that we could include them in our performer calls. We have cobbled one together, but know there are many performers/puppeteers on the Eastern Seaboard that we are probably not reaching who might be interested in coming to Baltimore.
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At the moment, what you have going on has provided what we’ve needed! It’s awesome to learn about other slams with your monthly calendars, it’s awesome to be able to have a small budget for each cabaret, and it’s awesome to be connected online to other puppeteers doing similar work.
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Since we haven’t worked with the Network before, I’m not sure how it could help us, however, being able to reach across the country can only be a huge strength. I saw several acts at the recent National Festival that were amazing - we would love to host our own talent and be able to communicate with other puppet artists across the country through the Network. Also, we would love instruction in recommended promotional methods and publicity calendars.
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Being connected to the slam network can help us promote Cantastoria as an ancient and important form of puppetry, the root source of many of the more familiar shadow puppet, rod puppet, and street show puppetry traditions.
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We are looking forward to being the first ever Aussie Slam in the official network! We would love to know that advice from the network is available to us as we embark on this adventure. As this is our first dealing with the slam network, I am unsure of what suggestions we might make, but look forward to seeing what is already available. Joining the Puppet Slam Network will help lift the profile of Australian puppetry internationally. It will link our participants to puppetry organizations and artists in both the US and Canada. It will establish a context within which Australian puppeteers can experiment and develop new forms and content. That context will also provide a forum for discussion and skills exchange.
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Perhaps a crude “manual?” Also, it would have been helpful if the grant info had been on the home page of the website.
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NO. You do a great job! We are honoured to be part of the network.
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We hope to make some new contacts within the Puppet Slam community. Being involved in the Network expands our audience base and allows our actors an opportunity to expand their portfolio.
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We would love to open our slams to an invited guest each year (from outside Puerto Rico). We never can raise the funds for this …so maybe a small travel fund might be lovely.
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Your efforts to post a nation-wide calendar are great. Could something be written about the puppet slam phenomenon? A book?
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I really enjoyed watching slam performances at the National Slam (at the National Festival), and I want to be able to bring some of these artists to Asheville to show their pieces at our slams. We are fortunate to have some overlap with Beau Brown and the Puckin’ Fuppet Show in Atlanta because we are only 3 hours way. But after seeing pieces at the National, I am trying to figure out ways to have performers from New York, Boston, LA, Chicago, and all over to come and perform here. One of the ways to do this is through video, and I would like to see more of an emphasis on video recording slams. This allows us, with help of a projector and the internet, to show clips from other slams across the country, both to fill slams that are lacking in performers, but also to feature work the audience would otherwise never get to see.
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Perhaps this exists already, but it would very helpful to have a unified list of puppetry artists who are willing to travel to other cities/countries to perform in other puppet slams.
