Day: January 20, 2021

Democratising Education: Revenge on the Nerds

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has spent time learning during the pandemic. Even if you didn’t attempt to fit all of humankind’s knowledge into your brain just because you had a few months of downtime, you’ve probably attended at least a couple of the seemingly never-ending webinars that audio manufacturers and groups have kindly made available to us. I chose to learn how to code and found there are so many parallels with audio, both in the nature of the subject and how it’s taught. It keeps reminding me of the tiresome debates about why our workplace isn’t more diverse: for whatever underrepresented group is being discussed, it gets suggested that they just aren’t interested, they aren’t cut out for it, or the people who do well in the industry are there because they’re naturally suited to the role. The solution, if it’s seen as a problem at all, is to encourage more of that underrepresented group to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects at school. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief that it’s the next generation’s problem and they’ve narrowly avoided having to examine or change their own behaviour or the processes they participate in, and they go back to the status quo.

The Stage Manager Tag: Collette Berg

We are asking stage managers around the world, in a stage manager tag, some key questions about their job. Here is Collette Berg based in Vancouver, Canada.

Boosting Your Career: Cognitive Distortions & Creating A Growth Mindset

Cognitive distortions are habitual ways of thinking that are often inaccurate and negatively biased. In other words, they are stories we tell ourselves that are often inaccurate. As performers, we face pressure from teachers, peers and the industry to perform at high levels while maintaining a certain image, and flawless technique. Over time, these demands often leave us with unhealthy thought patterns that end up hurting our careers in the long run.