Conversations

Started by: gottadance
Mar 20, 2008 6:41pm
254 views

 Guess what happened ?
 
I am going to ramble here for a minute...excuse me...

I didn't want to write reviews.

I thought I don't want to review anyone because People give too much credence to a reviews... accepting them as the last word or how the show REALLY  was...instead of as an informed point of view...or maybe even not so informed , but one person's point of view of  what the show said to them. 

Reviews are treated as gospel and judgement.

Some Reviewers are seen as arbiters of "taste". 

oh yuckk...( and that is my technical term )

I talked to Will about it...he said...why don't you get other people to write reviews ( unpaid reviews)...
Gee, the only person silly enough to do that for my website would be me...and besides I don't want to read through alot of other peoples reviews...and fact check them and edit them... ya da ya da ya da... and
I want this site to be about people talking about their work..

So we came up with the bright idea to have our readers contribute reviews
but instead of just writing on and on and on....or having to face the terror of a blank page and where to start....
we decided
 why not  specific questions about impressions of a show... fun questions... pointed questions...even some silly questions..questions . that make the process of writing  about dance more  fun with questions that can trigger other thoughts or really jog your memory. 

Maybe if every dance goer had to write a little bit about what they saw it would get them to think about dance in a new way... i find the process  writing informative...it helps my thought process...

We have had some participation...but how can we get more...???? 

I always hear dancers saying they like to discuss their work after the show is over, after they worked so hard...they want to hear audiences talk, colleagues talk 

But do they REALLY ?

How many people are really willing to contribute ? 

Will and I are wondering??? Should we change the review section to an impression section? is the word review just intimidating as hell? or should we just call a review a review and deal with it...

I love the interactive idea for commenting on a show , but then again, I am biased.

Posted by: willarnold
Mar 21, 2008 7:11am
I've talked to countless choreographers who can't seem to get enough quality feedback.  It usually comes from people they know and trust with an understanding that the choreographer is looking for insight to help their process, but not too much insight.  Too much insight can cause you to rethink your convictions. 

My hope for the Reviews section is that it can be a useful forum for constructive criticism much like that you would get from a trusted friend. 

I think that choreographers who would want quality feedback should take it upon themselves to give in kind.

What do you think?

Posted by: gottadance
Mar 21, 2008 12:15pm
I was reminded just now by a choreographer that " Review" simply means to see again , in the minds eye.
rnand that criticism doesn't necessarily play a part in it. 
rn
rn

Posted by: willarnold
Mar 21, 2008 12:50pm
That's an interesting point. So how do we seperate the stigma from the word?

Posted by: gottadance
Mar 30, 2008 6:43pm
 I don't think it is the word.

I think people don't have a lot of time to write  and are worried that any words that they have to offer about a performance might possibly be misunderstood by the artists involved  or others.

Dance is a risky business, artists  put their hearts and blood in it . Words are powerful and can be damning. No one wants to be unintentionally careless with their words, and misunderstood in a public discussion about their peers.

What to do?

I think we need to try to get numbers of people. Volumes of comments will take the weight away from one persons review.  Also, to remind people that our intentions are to be supportive or artists work and clear about what we see.

It is early days Will.

Any suggestions for getting those volumes of people to write??? 


 

Posted by: willarnold
Apr 20, 2008 9:59am
Any suggestions for getting those volumes of people to write???

Well, I think that is a very simple question with a complicated answer.  First of all, we need to attract larger volumes of people to the site (advertizing, word-of-mouth, having worthwhile functionality and content).  The more visitors we have, the better the chances that people will contribute.  Second, I think our site needs to be as easy to use and intuitive as possible.  Finally, we need to offer more ways for members to communicate.  Conversations is good, but it may be a good idea to have a private conversation feature or a message board for each member. 

Also, a key component in the communication aspect of things is informing people when something they are interested in has been updated or changed.  So, I've just added a feature to inform all contributers of a conversation when it has been updated.  I think this will help the conversations happen more quickly. 

This idea might also take the form of optional email notices when a new article is published.  The same could be done for member events, reviews, and any new features we add.  I know this is already available in our features RSS feed, but I feel that a good number of people either don't know what that is, or don't bother having an aggregator.

Anyway, reply to this conv. to let me know if you get the email notification.

Posted by: gottadance
Apr 20, 2008 4:27pm
 I did get the notification Will...
wonder if the notification could be simplified though... how about just one sentence saying a member replied to your conversation...
so that people would log on instead of reading the whole response on their email...
I don't think people like to get too many email notifications ... I like getting them ,but short ones with links...
does that make sense?  
.I am not  computer savvy what do you mean when you say some people" don't bother having an aggregator?"

rn

Posted by: willarnold
Apr 21, 2008 7:18am
I had a simple version with a link at first, but it seemed like one would want to know what they were looking at. For example, I hate when I get a comment on youTube, then go through the trouble of opening a browser and logging in just to see that someone gave a one word response... On the other hand, if someone wrote a book, I don't think I would want to read that in an email. Maybe we can list just the first line or so. Then people can get interested enough to go to the site without getting a huge email.

As far as people who aren't interested in email notifications, the control is entirely up to them in their My Account page. Only people who have contributed to a conversation would receive notice.

An aggregator is a program that pulls in content from various RSS feeds. So, assuming you can find a few quality RSS feeds you enjoy, you could have them automatically deliver content as soon as it becomes available. It has the advantage of being up-to-the-minute, so it is commonly used for news.

Posted by: gottadance
Apr 21, 2008 7:39am
 I like receiving one line...
So, is this service available for conversations only ?
I think it is great.

How about being able to put you tube video on our individual member pages...not a link but the actual video?

Posted by: willarnold
Apr 21, 2008 7:41am
Today is pretty busy, but if I get a chance I'll add that feature to the members pages.  It's relatively simple to do.

Posted by: jillybjolly
May 8, 2008 10:49am
 So, I want to comment on the very first post about whether to review or not.  

Dance is especially tricky because no two performances are ever the same, and no really reliable way exists to really record dance to capture the live performance experience.  In that sense, video, reviews, and the memory of the audience are the only things that we have to capture the live act, and none of them are infallible.

I agree that reviewers are the arbiters of taste... not just for the present, but for the future because reviewing is one of the only sources posterity has to get an impression of a performance that happened in the past.  I think that what the dance-enthusiast is right on track with is that we need more, and better,  reviewers!  

We need reviewers who disagree with each other so that we can choose from a smorgasborg of opinions instead of having to take just one as gospel.

And, most importantly, I think we need reviewers who can place a piece in its historical, social, and cultural context.  I would love it if the "Review" section of this site could have a question relating to this!

Posted by: gottadance
May 8, 2008 2:57pm
 Hi Jilly b Jolly,
love that name...
so in response to you saying
" we need reviewers who can place a piece in its historical, social, and cultural context"

I think you are right. I don't know if it is always possible to do this in an individual review. What question should we ask in the "Review" section of this site that could elicit responses  about the historical , social and cultural context of a work. 

This is an interesting problem.

Let me know what you think.