{"id":799,"date":"2013-03-04T22:12:57","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T04:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=799"},"modified":"2013-03-04T22:12:57","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T04:12:57","slug":"amanda-palmer-and-the-art-of-asking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2013\/03\/amanda-palmer-and-the-art-of-asking.html","title":{"rendered":"Amanda Palmer and the Art of Asking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cPunk cabaret\u201d singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer<\/a> has a TED talk<\/a> that was released last week titled \u201cThe Art of Asking\u201d where she challenges the music business to stop worrying about making<\/em> people pay for music and instead find innovative ways to let<\/em> them pay for it. Like most TED talks it\u2019s quite interesting and I encourage you to watch it yourself.<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\nI like TED talks, though I\u2019m not a regular viewer. I\u2019ve seen quite a bit of criticism of them lately: they don\u2019t allow rebuttal and dialogue, they oversimplify complex problems and make solutions seem easier than they are, they don\u2019t challenge a system many of us find unethical. These criticisms are valid, but that doesn\u2019t mean the format is fatally flawed and it certainly doesn\u2019t invalidate the \u201cideas worth spreading\u201d that are communicated through this channel.<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re cynical about TED talks, just take them for what they are: secular sermons. If you go to church you don\u2019t expect to hear a doctoral dissertation or a fully developed project plan. You expect (or at least, hope) to hear a short engaging talk that informs and inspires and gives you one or two things to contemplate in the coming week. If a topic or a point really grabs you then you can do more research on it and that can turn into something more substantial.<\/p>\nThe first thing that struck me in this talk was the Eight Foot Bride. Amanda Palmer was a living statue for five years to support herself while she made music. I imagine her story is not exactly unique \u2013 aspiring artists, actors and musicians have a long history of taking odd and at times unpleasant jobs. But still \u2013 the idea of living as a busking street performer for five years amazes me. You can\u2019t do that \u2013 you won\u2019t<\/em> do that \u2013 unless you\u2019re passionate about your art. You can\u2019t do it \u201cwaiting for the big break\u201d because unless you\u2019re delusional you have to realize there\u2019s a very good chance the big break will never come. You have to love what you\u2019re doing so much you\u2019ll do anything to keep doing it.<\/p>\nI admire that kind of single-minded passion. It\u2019s not how you build a healthy, balanced life, but it is how you accomplish Great Things.<\/p>\nWhether or not Amanda Palmer has accomplished Great Things is a question I\u2019ll leave unexamined for now. I like her music and I\u2019ve listen to \/ watched a good bit of it on YouTube, but I\u2019ve never bought any. Haven\u2019t pirated any either. But it\u2019s clear she passionately wanted to be a rock star and she\u2019s become one \u2013 I admire that.<\/p>\nWhen it comes to the core of the talk, I think Amanda Palmer is right that there is an art to asking: asking for help and asking for support, not being too proud or afraid to ask, and asking in a way that makes people want to give. But behind the art of asking is a concept very familiar to modern Pagans \u2013 reciprocity.<\/p>\nThe world runs on reciprocity: I give to you, you give to me. The gods give to us, we give to the gods. I give you some of my apples, you give me some of your corn. In our modern world, though, most reciprocity involves money, and we tend to get suspicious if it doesn\u2019t. Amanda describes several exchanges and asks \u201cis it fair?\u201d<\/p>\nThe Eight Foot Bride asked for money and gave flowers and smiles in return. Is that a fair exchange? Given that there was no compulsion and no exploitation on either side, how could it not be fair? Is a smoothie and a conversation a fair trade for a hand-delivered neti pot? I wouldn\u2019t do it, but someone was happy to.<\/p>\nAmanda Palmer was invited to give this TED talk because she ran the most successful crowdfunding music project in history. She asked for $100,000 to record and produce her new CD and got almost $1.2 million. But it\u2019s important to remember that this wasn\u2019t charity \u2013 all those donors got something for their contribution. At the low end ($1) it was an early download of the new CD; at the high end ($10,000) it was a private dinner with Amanda, who also would paint your portrait.<\/p>\nWhy would someone pay $10,000 for a portrait of themselves by Amanda Palmer? Is that fair? Two people thought so.<\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/wildhunt.org\/2013\/03\/pagan-fundraising-initiatives-the-ancient-egyptian-daybook-doreens-blue-plaque-and-more.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">On Saturday\u2019s Wild Hunt<\/a>, Jason Pitlz-Waters discussed several successful Pagan crowdfunding projects and listed several more that are in process. Based in part on his own success, Jason is an active promoter of crowdfunding to help fund the things the Pagan community needs, and to dispel the attitude that Pagans are all either broke or cheap.<\/p>\nI contributed to The Wild Hunt\u2019s \u201cFall Funders\u201d program. I got my name listed on the front page and a link to this blog. Is that worth the $50 I gave The Wild Hunt? In strict economic terms, no. But I appreciate the work Jason does with The Wild Hunt and I think it\u2019s an important resource for the Pagan community. That\u2019s important to me \u2013 I want to support it and I want to be associated with it. I like having my name and my blog listed on what I consider to be the top site on the Pagan internet.<\/p>\nI contributed to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.orpheuspcc.org\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Orpheus Pagan Chamber Choir\u2019s<\/a> Inception<\/em> CD. This project took the standard OBOD liturgy and set it to choral music \u2013 it\u2019s called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdbaby.com\/cd\/orpheuspaganchamberchoir\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Missa Druidica<\/em><\/a>, the Druid Mass. I heard an early cut of this at last year\u2019s OBOD East Coast Gathering and was blown away. I wanted to be a part of it. I got an early CD and a listing as a contributor, which is nice, but mainly this was something I wanted to help manifest.<\/p>\nWhen <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sharonknight.net\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Sharon Knight<\/a> and Winter went on their \u201cHunger Games Tour\u201d last year, I worked with Sharon to arrange <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/sharon-knight-in-denton-november-10.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">a concert in Denton<\/a>. I personally guaranteed their minimum and put them up in our house for the night. My experiment as a concert promoter ended with me out about $100. It was worth it to support Sharon\u2019s music and to bring something that\u2019s been meaningful to me to my home town. And the breakfast conversation the next morning was great.<\/p>\nOn the other hand, there have been many more crowdfunding requests I\u2019ve declined. There\u2019s no formula, no standard for what I\u2019ll support and what I won\u2019t. It\u2019s highly subjective \u2013 some of them just didn\u2019t grab me and some came when I was low on cash. And a few I didn\u2019t want to support.<\/p>\nI\u2019m not a social scientist \u2013 I just play one on the internet. But it seems to me that behind the art of asking is the process of making a connection. Not charity and not quid pro quo<\/em>, but giving people the opportunity to support something they believe in, or just something that strikes them as oddly beautiful \u2013 like a living statue. And even more importantly, giving people the opportunity to be a part of it.<\/p>\nIf you attempt to crowdfund your project, what do you offer in return? What perks can you give? What will people be able to point to (in their minds if not to their friends) and say \u201cI had a part in making that happen\u201d? What connections have you already made that you can draw on?<\/p>\nAmanda Palmer is right \u2013 there is an art to asking. But if you want big help for your project, you also need passion, reciprocity and connection.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer has a TED talk describing her hyper-successful crowdfunding project. It\u2019s titled \u201cThe Art of Asking.\u201d She\u2019s right \u2013 the art of asking is important. 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