Face to Face - why?
I'm a writer with a book on a WJEC Eng Lit AS-Level syllabus. When I lived on the mainland, therefore, I used to get asked to do a lot of school visits, and did, when I could, ie when the place concerned was accessible by train from Cardiff, where I lived (I don't have good enough eyesight to drive).
Even then, I did sometimes wonder if we weren't making a lot of unnecessary trouble for ourselves, the writers and schools alike, by not using modern technology. Within Wales, the Wales Arts Council would help with funding school visits; outside it, the school had to find fees and expenses. But Skype didn't really happen much then, and of course there was always the faint chance of selling a book or two, so I kept at it.
Now, though, I live in the Shetland Islands, which means (a) that travel is more of an effort, and sometimes unreliable due to weather conditions, and (b) that expenses are a damn sight higher. This doesn't deter some schools from still wanting visits, even when they realise the exes would be in 3 figures. It deters me though; there's a limit to the amount of time I want to spend on the road. So I always suggest doing a "visit" via Skype. I've got the facility at home; it works well and I could both read and do Q & A sessions with it.
At this point the teacher at the other end of the email generally says s/he'll look into it and that's the last I ever hear. They run a mile at the idea. I can credit that maybe some English teachers are uneasy with even this simplest of technology, but they've got a classful of teenagers who could sort it for them! It would be cheaper for them, less hassle for the writer and just the same as being there (easy enough to use a projector so that everyone can see the computer screen), but they won't have it. So the visit doesn't happen, either in person or electronically.
At least, being a poet, I don't have an agent. I gather life is even more complicated for those who do. A playwright who has just had a play produced is told she should be promoting herself by turning up on theatre doorsteps in London, where she doesn't live and can't afford to travel, to push her work. Theatres and agents, all of course London-based, invite writers to come for meetings in London. When the impoverished writers shell out for the enormous train fare and take time off any work they're lucky enough to have, it turns out that what is being discussed at the meeting could equally well have been done via email. The excuse, on the other side, is always "but I want to meet face to face". The playwright has offered Skype meetings, but gets the same "it's better face to face" line. What do they think Skype is? IT'S TWO PEOPLE FACE TO FACE, folks!
Seriously, this attitude on the part of agents, publishers, facilitators in general discriminates against any writer who lives outside London, who's on a low income, who's working and can't readily take time off (and most young writers need a proper job to live) and against any writer who's disabled and for whom travel is thus more onerous. Do you really want to be doing that? And in an age when we actually have perfectly good alternatives? When I worked in the civil service, and in higher education, it soon became clear that meetings, by and large, were not a way of working; they were a way of interrupting work and inconveniencing the maximum number of people for small return. I've no reason to believe they are any more productive in the arts. Get over this face to face fetish and find out how Skype, email and videoconferencing work, for heaven's sake.
Even then, I did sometimes wonder if we weren't making a lot of unnecessary trouble for ourselves, the writers and schools alike, by not using modern technology. Within Wales, the Wales Arts Council would help with funding school visits; outside it, the school had to find fees and expenses. But Skype didn't really happen much then, and of course there was always the faint chance of selling a book or two, so I kept at it.
Now, though, I live in the Shetland Islands, which means (a) that travel is more of an effort, and sometimes unreliable due to weather conditions, and (b) that expenses are a damn sight higher. This doesn't deter some schools from still wanting visits, even when they realise the exes would be in 3 figures. It deters me though; there's a limit to the amount of time I want to spend on the road. So I always suggest doing a "visit" via Skype. I've got the facility at home; it works well and I could both read and do Q & A sessions with it.
At this point the teacher at the other end of the email generally says s/he'll look into it and that's the last I ever hear. They run a mile at the idea. I can credit that maybe some English teachers are uneasy with even this simplest of technology, but they've got a classful of teenagers who could sort it for them! It would be cheaper for them, less hassle for the writer and just the same as being there (easy enough to use a projector so that everyone can see the computer screen), but they won't have it. So the visit doesn't happen, either in person or electronically.
At least, being a poet, I don't have an agent. I gather life is even more complicated for those who do. A playwright who has just had a play produced is told she should be promoting herself by turning up on theatre doorsteps in London, where she doesn't live and can't afford to travel, to push her work. Theatres and agents, all of course London-based, invite writers to come for meetings in London. When the impoverished writers shell out for the enormous train fare and take time off any work they're lucky enough to have, it turns out that what is being discussed at the meeting could equally well have been done via email. The excuse, on the other side, is always "but I want to meet face to face". The playwright has offered Skype meetings, but gets the same "it's better face to face" line. What do they think Skype is? IT'S TWO PEOPLE FACE TO FACE, folks!
Seriously, this attitude on the part of agents, publishers, facilitators in general discriminates against any writer who lives outside London, who's on a low income, who's working and can't readily take time off (and most young writers need a proper job to live) and against any writer who's disabled and for whom travel is thus more onerous. Do you really want to be doing that? And in an age when we actually have perfectly good alternatives? When I worked in the civil service, and in higher education, it soon became clear that meetings, by and large, were not a way of working; they were a way of interrupting work and inconveniencing the maximum number of people for small return. I've no reason to believe they are any more productive in the arts. Get over this face to face fetish and find out how Skype, email and videoconferencing work, for heaven's sake.
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