Line of inquiry into defining my professional practice and subsequently picking my awards title.

I have spent time researching terminology associated with my professional practice in the hope that I will be able to determine an exact title for my role in the industry. Here is an account of my findings and the thoughts that influenced the direction my research went.

I started with the words MANAGER and DIRECTOR as I have my own company and along with my business partner I am the manager / director of Manic Stage Productions. I wanted to discover which term encompassed my role with in the business best.

Manager - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manager 

Manager may refer to:

Anyone who uses management skills or holds the organizational title of "manager"

A manager of a department in an organization

A manager of a division (business)

Director  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director 

Creative director, a person usually responsible for creative development of Interactive Entertainment, and is generally regarded as the prime design authority across the company's product range.

Director (business) may also be the title of a mid-level management position

Both definitions rang true with my position as the founder of the company but I was drawn to Manager over Director as although I am indeed the creative director of Manic Stage Productions I felt this was just one of my roles as a manager. The reference Director (business) may also be the title of a mid-level management position clarified my decision. But now to make sure I had made the right choice I looked further into the role of a manager and researched the word MANAGEMENT.

Management - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management 

Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.

Because organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action, including design, to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a system. This view opens the opportunity to 'manage' oneself, a pre-requisite in attempting to manage others.

Management can also refer to the person or people who perform the act(s) of management.

I felt the key skills this description mentioned reflected my day to day role within Manic Stage Productions busy office and was keen to discover other skills people thought were required to become a successful manager.  I came across this website and definition.

Skills - http://management.about.com/od/managementskills/a/ManagementSkillsPyramid.htm 

To be successful, there are many skills a manager needs to master. I adapted Kammy Hatnes' pyramid structure to show the increasingly difficult management skills you must master at each level and to also display how these management skills build on each other to help you achieve success in your management career. The result is the Management Skills Pyramid shown here. Each level of the Management Skills Pyramid is listed below and is discussed in more detail on the linked pages.

I related well to all the skills in the triangle and certainly felt my role to be  in management. Yet I still felt that MANAGER / MANAGEMENT was not specific enough and didn’t capture the essence of my managerial role. I started to think about the areas my company was involved in.  DANCE is how the company evolved through Matt (my business partner) and our professional careers as dancers.

Dance - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance 

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music,[1] used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting.

Yet 5 years down the line the company had grown and we were now involved with all aspects of  the arts. With this in mind did I need to broaden my definition of our work to THE ARTS?  

Arts - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_arts 

The arts are a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors and disciplines. It is a broader term than "art," which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts.[1] The arts encompasses visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts - music, theatre, dance and film, among others.[2] This list is by no means comprehensive, but only meant to introduce the concept of the arts.

My findings when researching THE ARTS highlighted that infact this was to broader term to use in association with Manic Stage Productions as we are not working within   any other aspect than PERFORMING ARTS.  I suddenly felt that I had been possibly searching for a title that should have been obvious to me right from the start. Taking into consideration my previous training at a ‘Performing Arts College’ and subsequently pursuing a successful career as a ‘Performer’ I excitedly looked to the definition of  PERFORMING ARTS

Performing Arts - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performing_arts 

The performing arts are those forms of art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object. The term "performing arts" first appeared in the English language in the year 1711.

The Performing Arts - http://www.barlowandassociates.com/INTRODUCTION%20TO%20PERFORMING%20ARTS%20TERMINOLOGY.htm  Music, dance, theatre and/or opera in a relationship between performers and an audience, conceived by an artist and performed in a venue.

I was certain that I had narrowed it down to the words that captured my professional practice exactly PERFORMING ARTS MANAGEMENT and when placing these words in to Goggle was excited at my findings. This is in fact a well used and recognized title that is highly sort after and respected.

Performing Arts Management - http://www.ukperformingarts.co.uk/management/ 

Your love of the performing arts may not necessarily mean you want to be in front of an audience or camera, or behind the scenes working in a technical capacity. Successful performances don't ever 'just happen', they are the result of a person or a group of people who are superb communicators, have the ability to motivate people and work extremely efficiently under pressure. Welcome to the World of Management.

The role of a performing arts manager - http://www.ukperformingarts.co.uk/management/manacourses.asp

What do performing arts managers do? Managers use their knowledge, skills and experience to present arts and cultural events to the public. They act as bridges, bringing together artists and audiences. Their work is usually carried out behind the scenes, ensuring that artists, venues and projects get recognition, funding and are able to operate in a sustainable way. They also make certain that the public experience arts and cultural events in the most appropriate and therefore enjoyable ways.

By allowing myself to be open to different terminology and wanting to define my professional practice accurately I am happy to say that I have found a title that fits perfectly with the position I am currently in with my company Manic Stage Productions and also will carry me in good steed when developing my future career.

BA (HONS) Professional Practice (Performing Arts Management)