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Independent Music Teacher Forum This forum provides opportunities for communication and collaboration affecting the independent music teacher.
Possible
Sessions for Convention 2008: College
Faculty Forum/ IMTF Panel Session Some ideas from other associations: 1.
By always
having a report or an IMTF “minute” at every meeting, which calls attention to
maintaining a professional image, some include book reviews with various topics
pertaining to our profession.
Marti
Dudgeon Promoting Your Studio on TV by Kenneth Thompson Recently I was invited to be interviewed on a local TV morning show in San Antonio. The show is called “Great Day SA” and is broadcast on KENS 5 TV from 9:00 to 10:00 AM each weekday. The show is a local version of national shows such as the “Today Show” that do light news, cooking demonstrations, and the weather forecast. Our show was the “Back to School” episode and was shot live. When working with mass media such as TV or radio keep your topic broad and focused. Keep the topic broad by speaking about something that can be quickly understood by an audience who may have little knowledge of music or music teachers. Keep the topic focused by speaking about three or four aspects of your topic and resist the urge to give too much information. You can always refer the audience to your website or phone number for more details. In my TV interview I chose to emphasize the importance of finding a great first teacher. I did this first of all because it is true and something that I strongly believe in. I also knew that people who would be watching the show and had never heard of Musical Arts Centers of San Antonio, Inc. (the music school which I was promoting) were probably the parents of younger children or were new to San Antonio. As part of the show we had Thomas Steigerwald (1st place winner of the 7-8th Grade Division of the TMTA Performance Contest in June) performing a flashy advanced piano solo. I wanted to balance the impact of Thomas’ advanced performance with our school’s many offerings for the beginning pianist. In addition to my focus on finding a great first teacher we had the show shoot video of one of our pre-school specialists, Brenda Boyd, teaching a four year old student. This video was shown as I was speaking and further emphasized the first teacher message I wanted to convey. To get on the show I emailed a press release to the producers. If you will be sending a press release come up with some newsworthy event or important message that you want to discuss on the show. Originally we were set to be on the show in January when we were promoting the grand opening celebration for our second school. Unfortunately the show was cancelled the day before because of the ice storm that gripped South Texas at that time. As they were putting together their “Back to School” show I was contacted by the producers again. We did the show in early August. No ice storm trouble this time! You can view our segment by going to MusicalArtsCenter.com.
Kenneth Thompson For more information, contact independentmusicteacher@tmta.org. |
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