Like the Spice at the Roger Smith Hotel
March 19th, 2010 – April 18th, 2010
featuring the work of Jason Bryant, Allison Edge, and Ross Racine Opening Night Reception: March 19th, 7pm – 10pm
Like the Spice is very pleased to be involved with a very special exhibition at the Roger Smith Hotel. Located at 501 Lexington Avenue, the art-friendly Roger Smith Hotel has been committed to providing guests and visitors with a creative and entertaining experience that stimulates thought and conversation. That’s why we were so pleased to be invited, and why we think our artists will fit their style perfectly.
Starting out as a kid in rural North Carolina,Jason Bryant turned a fascination with drawing into a love for painting. Previously working as an assistant for Kehinde Wiley, Jason’s work often explores the person we are, as well as the people we pretend to be. His newest pieces, featured in this exhibition, are challengingly familiar, in a way that can often be difficult to place. Maybe you’re certain who they’re meant to be… until you suddenly realize that you don’t know them at all!
Allison Edge carries a sense of nostalgia in her work. With her command of light, she creates a mood that feels like a memory, like a happy fiction now become fact. Previously working as an assistant for Jeff Koons and McDermott & McGough, Allison carries a great love for her craft, and fans of her solo show Crystal Days will certainly want to revisit her work here.
Quebec-bornRoss Racinehas shown extensively across the United States and Canada. His “digital drawings” are hand-drawn directly by computer, creating communities that could be taken from some otherworldly Mapquest. They are in no way photographs, yet still carry a convincing feel, leaving you with the assumption that someone, somewhere, has been to see these communities in person.
This is intended for the greater Roger Smith Community and is an open invitation to participate in our Culture. It is a training syllabus aimed to improve our community’s online awareness and impact.
To start we need to assess the platforms that we are building. We have active engagement on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr and a couple of other Social Media platforms. To engage in a blog marketing strategy is the method that we gravitate to in an effort to reach larger audiences. Here are my notes on the path towards full community engagement in the Roger Smith Social Media program.
1. Get people on the same platforms. Everyone should have their own accounts and be advised on best practices.
Facebook
Youtube
Tumblr
Twitter
Other
2. Establish Best Practices
Commenting on youtube videos, facebook posts and blog posts are great ways to engage with people. It demonstrates to the community that you are reading, listening and looking to further engage. It is said that to increase the amount of comments on your blog you should post 10 comments on others.
Sharing is one of the most essential elements of a social media program. We aim to build a culture that actively shares content internally and to larger communities. To use blog platforms to format relevant media is a good way to organize content that can be shared effectively. We have our Social Media hub Roger Smith Life which is a great blog to share content from and a series of Tumblr blogs that are set up to be individualized sharing platforms. I like to describe tumblr accounts as bulletin boards.
Follow and Subscribe to the social media accounts that you like.
“If you like it, share it!” Make sure to share other people’s media more than your own. What goes around, comes around. If you share others’ work, they will share yours.
3. Keep it local, in abundance and be sure to engage offline! Being Social in person is the key to success. Face to face interactions are probably the most important ingredient in an effective Social Media Strategy. If you localize the objective so that the people you interact with online are the people that you see every day, know or are personally attached to, you will find yourself immersed in a well rounded social media experience. Start small, start local and understand that your network will grow organically over time.
Assignment for those who look to be more engaged.
Subscribe to and post 10 Youtube video comments on any of the accounts below.
2. Share 3 of the videos that you commented on to your Tumblr account. If you don’t have a tumblr account yet, you should sign up for one.
3. On tumblr, reblog a post from someone that you know.
I plan to be persistent in my goal to increase and improve community engagement. I look to instigate activity internally so that we can be well versed in our future online engagements. Don’t be afraid to post questions on the blog.
