Bear Witness

I was lucky enough to get a dream job: being a marketing director for the Yukon Arts Centre.  The Arts Centre is a venue for a lot of non-local acts (and does host lots of local acts and artists as well) that come through Whitehorse, and into the communities.  It encompasses not only the actual Arts Centre, up on the hill, but the Old Fire Hall, the Yukon Arts Gallery (adjacent to the mainstage), and various venues for workshops and talks around town.

Before I got the job I was a Waterfront Trolley interpreter, a guide for the Beringia Centre (our ice age/mammoth museum), and a vaudevillian.  I told you about some of these jobs.  Mostly, I talk about writing, and I talk about the cool things that happen in Whitehorse.  I always have.  Most of those arts centered events happened at the Yukon Arts Centre.  And I raved about them because I thought they were good.  I wanted to share what I’d found.

As it happens, I now get paid to promote the Arts Centre.  Does that change my sincerity?  Not in the least.  If you got paid for what you love to do would it change the way I view what you say or do?  No.  I just happen to love what I do.

For the purposes of this blog, my thoughts are still my thoughts.  I intend to still tell you about all the cool things that I find, and I don’t think that should stop suddenly because I get paid to promote one organization.   I’ll critique movies, talk about writing.  I’ll still promote good local plays, from local playwrights.  And I’ll still find great things from the Yukon Arts Centre too.  I probably won’t be negative about a Yukon Arts Centre event, but you would expect that.  I’m not really into being negative anyway.  There’s too many good things happening here–I want you to see them.

I don’t think that people stop being art-lovers when they suddenly become marketers for art.  They are hired because they are enthusiastic about art in the first place–so that is an asset.  After not being able to pay bills for too long, landing a good job as a marketer doing what I already love to do is fantastic.  It’s a good match for me.  It was already what I was doing.

And writers who have blogs are doing lots of self-promotion all the time.  In fact, you could say that all the “advice” that writers give to the public on a blog is merely trying to establish enough credibility as a writer/critic of writers so that you will buy their stories, their books.

So, not only will I tell you about my writing triumphs, but I’ll keep telling you about stuff that happens in the Yukon–thinks I want to highlight–things I would have highlighted anyway.  My blog will keep going as is–and if you see me promoting something, I’ve seen it, experienced it, and want to share it, like you would on your blogs.

Most marketing directors have human hearts and they are moved by art, too.  Five days ago I wasn’t a marketing director.  Today I am.  Tomorrow I may be something else—but the common denominator is this little boy inside that loves cool stuff, and thinking about it in strange ways, and telling everyone else about it.  Is that what makes us all marketers in some way?

As always, enjoy.