P.R.

Two things for me to remember today:

1. Never take what you see in the media at face value.

I’ve done a few interviews over the years and what really struck me after my first big interview was how even the simplest things I said could be related out of context, conveying true things in somewhat fictional ways and generally telling the story the reporter or director wanted to tell.
It had true facts in it but wasn’t necessarily the actual story.

To be fair, I think everyone I have worked with was ethical and in good faith attempting to convey facts accurately…but then they also hear the story through their own filters…and perhaps they were also constrained by other parameters that have to do with what their audiences want and expect…and the constraints of editing, generally…because it’s true…not all of it fits in the allotted time slots or columns.

I can remember hearing about artists refusing to grant interviews when I was grwoing up. I used to think it was dumb to not want to tell one’s own story in one’s own words. The thing is, it’s some times not quite one’s own story that gets told…unless one is doing a live interview or one is telling one’s own story…like in a blog.
Yay, blogs!
There’s a digression somewhere in there about self-image and self-editing and personal bias producing something a little bit different than what the reality of a story is…but that’s just my devil’s advocate which I am trying to ignore.

It’s actually a little bit terrifying how things can be…biased…even for someone like me.
What I mean is, I don’t consider myself as someone particularly important or famous and I still managed to garner enough interest to be intrerviewed and then felt the effects of things gone slightly awry with people close to me feeling or even getting hurt because of the way things were portrayed.
I can’t even begin to imagine what a superstar must go through.
It’s also a bit odd to think that these little snippets, often taken out of context, are what people use in turn to make value judgements about what kind of person I am or what I believe in.
It’s disconcerting to look at a thing that potentially hundreds or thousands of other people might read when I see that something and think, “Boy I sure sound like a real jerk.”
A savvy person can occasionally shift things to their own advantage by learning to parse their own message into usable sound bites. I’m only savvy enough to know that people do it.
It would maybe make me a little less prone to being misquoted.
It would also feel less genuine to me, given that I like to at least try to be authentic when relating a story or an opinion.
It amazes me to think that some people see that stuff and think, “Wow. Tiffany is famous!”

All I did was sit down and talk to someone for a while and it didn’t change much in my life except maybe I managed to get some people interested enough to buy a ticket to see a concert or maybe I actually got some people interested in things I also think are really cool.

But…famous!? I have some natural ability when it comes to drumming and I am a relatively good instructor. I would even go so far as to say I have a strong foundation in the history, culture and techniques of the art form I am teaching on a very practical level, and I am constantly working on my equivalent of CEUs…meaning I, like everyone else, scrape together resources to keep training as best I can.
That version doesn’t sell tickets or get students to walk through the door.

The version that sells tickets talks about my boundless spirit and powerful (stage) presence…my skillful mastery and all the unique things about what it is I can do that sets me apart from other people.
yeesh.
The story becomes this thing that is me but also not me.
It’s bigger than me.

2. Never believe your own P.R.

…not at face value, anyway. It’s like a resume! All the things you do and all the things you’ve done portrayed in the best possible way…over and over and over again…and it’s all factually true, at least ideally.
In the midst of all of this, it requires some due diligence to stay authentic…to transcend both those things that are overly doubtful or confident…to stay focused on improving skills and learning more and going about your own business.
It requires diligence keep a healthy ego and still do the job!

Performers, leaders and teachers in a sense are required to be bigger than life in some ways, and some of those ways are not inherently bad.
Some of those ways can move or inspire people. Some of those ways can effect a positive change on a grand scale. Some of those ways are exactly the means to communicate the messages or ideas in what it is that’s being created.

Sometimes it means you are merely the one willing to take a stand or make the final decision when it’s a hard decision and there are no great options but only the lesser of a few evils…when no one else will or wants to…being willing to take the heat, even when every indication is you’re gonna be fried to a crisp.

Sometimes it means you are the one willing to take a chance and have enough faith…faith enough to risk…faith enough to try to pull people together in the face of adversity…the willingness to risk failure and to stay on target even when the walls are crumbling down all around.
Yep. Sometimes you have to be just a little bit bigger than life…or at least totally nuts…to do it…some of it…any of it.
In the end I have to say I am actually grateful for all of the P.R. I’ve gotten so far. There is some authenticity in it. I have managed to sell more tickets to things that I really believed people would enjoy experiencing. I have also managed to get a chance to work with people and have them walk away from the experience with something positive