                |
 |
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mr. Jeon Francis, Founder and President (216) 281-7451 (Home Office) or jeon@artistschair.com
ONLINE DIRECTORY TO FEATURE SERVICES OF
MULTI–DISCIPLINED ENTERTAINERS AND TECHNICAL ARTISTS THROUGHOUT NORTHEAST OHIO Website will serve local artists offering creative services and those in search of them CLEVELAND (March 4, 2005) – Local freelance publicist, marketer, events planner and supporter of the local arts community, Jeon Francis is proud to announce the launch of artistschair.com, an online artists directory committed to promoting and raising awareness of local artists, arts-related institutions and issues and the Northeast Ohio region as well as serving the needs of those in search of creative talent and resources. Artists may begin to post profiles at artistschair.com at the end of this month (March 2005), and users may search the directory for talent beginning on April 15. The website will serve as a centralized directory, providing individuals from any geographical location in search of creative talent and resources with a pool of candidates and information in a free and easy-to-use manner. With support and input from multi-disciplined artists throughout Northeast Ohio and those who often seek talent as well as the assistance of an assembled team of commissioned consultants from both the business end and creative end, Francis, who has spent more than four years developing artistschair.com, will soon launch the first phase of what he anticipates will positively impact, further unite and better promote some of the various disciplines and resources (i.e., theatre, dance, film, technicians) within the artistic community of Northeast Ohio. He also hopes the site will serve to strengthen relationships and partnerships between the artistic and business communities. Francis stated, "Many of my creative friends have left and continue to leave Cleveland to live and create in cities offering an environment more amenable to the arts. I believe that artistschair.com will raise community awareness of the many talented artists and resources we have readily available in our region and will secure the place of Northeast Ohio as a practicable location to produce creative projects." Following several focus groups and one-on-one meetings with potential users who seek talent and similar meetings with local artists who would like to better promote their services, Francis presented his ideas, listened and gathered feedback, customizing artistschair.com and its services as well as the site's short- and long-term goals to the necessities and requests of the very communities and audiences it will serve. "The unique aspect of artistschair.com is its potential to reach, unify and network people and artists of all artistic disciplines, levels of experience, ages, genders, classes and cultural backgrounds," said Francis. And many other artists in the community like actor, vocalist and educator Scott Plate agree: "If we create a hospitable environment, we can attract the kind of work that could boost our economy considerably. It would also positively impact the arts community here simply by creating more work opportunities for artists, making it easier to choose Northeast Ohio as a viable milieu in which to create art." Christopher Johnston adds, "As a playwright and director, I often find myself spending an inordinate amount of time trying to track down theatre artists—actors, designers, technicians—and having to call a number of people to find the correct contact information. So being able to visit a website that contains all of the information in one place would certainly simplify matters and allow me to focus more on the creative process." In September 2003 COSE, a division of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, invited qualified residents from Northeast Ohio to submit proposals under the COSE Business Plan Challenge and win $50,000 as the top prize. With the help of Business Plan Counselor John Renner of the Small Business Administration and many others, Francis outlined a business plan that earned him a place among the top ten finalists in his category; however, he did not qualify for a cash prize. "Failing to place in the top three was a tremendous emotional disappointment for me. That disappointment would later become a test of how confident I felt about the project and how willing I was to back it up with my own money and see artistschair.com through," said Francis. With the downturn in the economy and the lack of jobs in the local arts community, September 2003 also brought Francis into a completely new field of work—social service. He was fortunate to have been offered a fulltime position with the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center (CRCC) as communications coordinator and soon moved into the position of office manager. (Prior to accepting a position with the CRCC, he held the position of public relations coordinator for the entire run of Playhouse Square Center and Hey City Theater's production of Tony n' Tina's Wedding until its close in December 2002.). The time and energy needed in his new position as well as his lack of success in garnering a cash prize from COSE's Business Plan Challenge and other stalled attempts to gain financial support from numerous resources forced him to temporarily shelve the project. Six months later in February 2004 Francis issued himself an ultimatum: to regroup and personally finance artistschair.com and see it come to fruition or leave it shelved and put it out of his mind for good. Needless to say, passion prevailed, and with some personal sacrifices Francis accumulated enough money to hire local Web designer Dan Means to build an abbreviated version of the original database and website outline. Francis also commissioned Kaleidoscope Animations, Inc., a local digital design consultancy firm, whose clientele includes Target, Cleveland Institute of Art, American Greetings and Case Western Reserve University, to create the face and design of artistschair.com. "More than four years after the idea first came to mind and following countless emotional and financial struggles, hours of late-night and early-morning meetings, research, concepts, set backs, revisions, Kit Kat bars, and frankly more money than I've ever spent to buy a vehicle, Phase I of artistschair.com will soon be launched," said Francis. Phase I will be only the beginning. We will continue to collaborate with members (the artists) and users (those that search for talent) to fine-tune our current services and set plans to introduce additional features that will empower our local artists and arts-related institutions to remain and flourish in our region. We will listen to the voices of our members and users, and they will be the force that will help polish artistchair.com and help pave its future and growth." Phase I of artistschair.com presents the Entertainers and Technicians database, which contains 17 main talent fields and 108 subcategories. Artists from all over Northeast Ohio (i.e., Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Mansfield and Youngstown) looking to promote their talent and services may post profiles, and users seeking talent may browse (see example below). For a complete listing of main talent fields and subcategories, please see the attached sheet: About artistschair.com. Example: Main Talent Field – Actors Subcategories
When users searching for an artist select a main talent field and subcategory, a listing of candidates and an abbreviated version of each artist's profile will appear. Visitors like Marc Goodman, president of Larchmere Merchants' Association, can then opt to choose a candidate and view additional photos as well as the artist's profile in full. "Artistschair.com will be a wonderful and valuable resource for us," said Goodman. "In the past finding artists and singers for events such as our annual Holiday Stroll (every Thanksgiving weekend) usually takes a very long time and often without results." Larger establishments will also have the opportunity to reap the rewards from such a centralized directory. Julien Debarle, hotel manager for the Intercontinental Hotel & Conference Center Cleveland, located on the Cleveland Clinic Campus, faces the constant challenge of securing entertainers and other creative services for his clients. "Services for our clients include hosting a range of events that vary widely in budget, style and sometimes cultural traditions. Our facilities can accommodate anywhere from 6 to 2000, and we set our standards very high to please both our clients and their guests. Artistschair.com will be an excellent resource to help us expand our current network of creative talent and allow us to provide more choices to our clients." As site membership grows, a searchable feature will be added, allowing users to enter specific criteria they are searching for in an artist. Designed as an automated system, the database will allow members to edit their profile information and photos (up to six photos per profile) as often as they like from the convenience of their own computer. Based on the necessities and requests of the site's members and users, Francis plans to invite both parties to propose suggestions for new talent fields, services and features that will help promote the growth of artistschair.com as well as raise awareness of the impact the arts community has on the Northeast Ohio region. Members will have the final say on which suggestions get introduced into the site by voting on them. "New artistschair.com talent fields, services and features will be determined and based on popular vote by our members," said Francis. "Each member will have the opportunity to have their vote count towards the services, arts-related issues and goals they would like to see the site explore and embrace." Soon after the site is launched, Francis plans on having members vote to help choose an advisory board. Eventually Francis plans to propose other ideas to members, including
All services on artistschair.com will be free of charge to artists interested in becoming members and to users interested in browsing for talent. "Artistschair.com was created to empower our local artists and region. The company was formed as a small business; however, we intend to keep the services offered on the site free to artists and our users for as long as possible," said Francis. I call upon the support of our local foundations, corporate businesses and private donors to recognize our vision, regardless of status, and help the members of artistschair.com and its team of collaborators achieve the short- and long-term goals we set out to do." In addition to gaining financial support through gifts, artistschair.com will provide opportunities for companies, businesses and other entities to lend their support by promoting their products and services through ad placement on the site as well as sponsorship packages. The site has been designed to accommodate one unobtrusive ad per page. In keeping with the artistschair.com philosophy of empowering the artist, special deeply discounted rates for artistschair.com members and arts-related organizations will be available. Marketing the site will be a significant factor in attracting to the directory both artists wanting to promote their talent and users searching for talent, such as the ones previously mentioned, (e.g., Larchmere Merchant's Association and the Intercontinental Hotel and Conference Center Cleveland). Short-term marketing strategies include focusing in on (through direct mail campaigns and other forms of communication) corporate business departments that organize employee holiday and other year-round events, new employee training videos, the design of promotional materials, etc., and making them aware that artistschair.com exists. Other plans include targeting wedding fairs, malls and shopping villages (e.g., Crocker Park, Legacy Village, ETON Chagrin Boulevard), churches, event coordinators and event and banquet facilities (e.g., Landerhaven, Myers University Club, Windows on the River, Shoreby Club). Strategies also include cross-promotional ad placement, free press and artistschair.com advertisement displays in vacant storefront window spaces throughout the region. Francis and his team are also in the process of outlining a long-term marketing strategy, which will include branding artistschair.com with a mascot that will represent the site at parades, theatre openings and other cultural events. During 2005 and 2006 many exciting new features will be added to artistschair.com with the implementation of Phases II and III. Phase II will introduce two more databases to the site. The first will feature Entertainment Ensembles (e.g., dance companies, musical groups, comedy troupes, traveling shows), and the second will highlight Arts-related Institutions> (e.g., theaters, concert halls, rehearsal spaces, cultural centers, recording studios), serving those interested in choosing venues in our region to produce or develop projects. Phase II especially appeals to Sarah Morrison, artistic director of Morrisondance, a dance company that has evolved from grassroots efforts since its inception in 1997. Morrison says, "Artistschair.com will allow us to get more of our information out to those who are looking for companies such as Morrisondance. It has been a continuous challenge to identify presenters and producers who have formal application processes, and we have learned that most of our performance and education opportunities come from contacting the right person at the right time. Artistschair.com will save us valuable time and allow us to find better matches with other organizations and people." Lisa Fernandez, Program and Volunteer Coordinator for Art House, a non-profit art center, offering art classes, arts-in-education programs and special events for artists and people of all ages adds, "As a young organization we are constantly looking for new ways of disseminating information about the services we provide. We are always looking to make contact with artists of different mediums to teach classes. Artistschair.com will be a great help in allowing us access to these individuals." Phase III will provide for research and exploration of talent fields and resources associated with the visual arts community (e.g., sculptors, muralists, graffiti artists, ceramic artists) and also the creation of a plan to form partnerships with other artistic communities in cities within driving distance of Northeast Ohio (e.g., Pittsburgh, Detroit, Columbus, Dayton), allowing artists from our region to expand their network of contacts and resources. To celebrity impersonator and vocalist Debbie Sickle the opportunity to expand her existing client base to others within Northeast Ohio and beyond is music to her ears. "I find myself constantly trying to get the word out to the public about the services I offer," says Sickle. "Artistschair.com will give me a tremendous advantage in reaching a broader range of potential clients." Photographer Karen St. John Vincent is equally enthusiastic about the positive effects the short- and long-term goals of artistschair.com could have on the artistic community and on her own creative endeavors. "I have been an artist all my life and heavily involved with the art scene in various aspects and to various degrees," says St. John Vincent. The last time we had anything close to an artists directory in Cleveland alone (to the best of my knowledge) was back when NOVA (New Organization for the Visual Arts) was still around. Since then it has been a challenge to locate artists in the city, even if you are one. The launch of artistschair.com is an answer to a prayer." Artists and users can get a sneak peak into how artistschair.com will look and function by visiting the preview site at www.artistschair.com. Artistschair.com is a division of Jeon Francis, Inc., an Ohio-based corporation formed in September 2004. All services will be free to artists seeking to promote their talent and to users browsing for talent. Please Note: A limited number of pre-launch enrollment memberships are available to artists (see release for more details). |
|
 |
||
|
Contact Us | Make a Donation | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Report an Issue Copyright © 2004-2010 | All Rights Reserved | Currently all services on this site are FREE artistschair.com was founded and is operated by Jeon Francis with CPT serving as a fiscal agent |
||