Artist Resource Staff Jobs

Benefits |  Requirements  |  Application |  Guidelines |  Portfolios
Job Descriptions: Publication | Job Listings | Page Managers
Publicity-Online | Publicity-Media 
Website Assistants | Website Managers

Artist Resource welcomes artists, designers, writers and other interested volunteers to join our staff . We are especially interested in people who have worked on a Web site before.

BENEFITS   
Your portfolio and resume pages will be hosted on the site. You will have access to valuable information and resources.
    You will work with a network of great people. We will welcome your ideas about design, function, services and the overall goals of Artist Resource. You will make a real contribution to the Bay Area art and literary communities.
    You will be credited on the site, and get letters of recommendation and job references, depending on your participation. Staffing will add a solid line to your resume, give you exposure and experience.
    If you live in the Bay Area you will attend Staff lunches and other Artist Resource events.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS     

You will commit to a six-month period of participation.

You will work on the site a few hours each week, respond to our members, communicate with Staff and report to the Webmistress
   You must have your own access to the Internet, and be able to perform your job from your location. Helpful prior experience for different jobs includes work on a Web site, emailing multiple recipients, moderating forums, word processing, writing, copy editing, visual design, publicity, promotion, data entry, database management, intermediate or advanced programming.

You must be self-directed and responsible. You must take pride in quality control. You will honor the privacy and copyrights of our members.
    If you live in the Bay Area, you will meet with the Webmistress and the rest of the staff in the 'real' world once every couple of months. Otherwise, we'll correspond by email.

   As we move through the process of becoming a non-profit, you may be invited to participate further, by becoming an Advisory Board Member, or a Director.

TO APPLY:      
      Carefully read the following Guidelines and the Job Descriptions.
If interested, send your name, phone number and address, and indicate your first and second job preference, to: Li Gardiner, founder and Webmistress.

STAFF GUIDELINES      

• You will sign our Staffing Agreement, which protects our members, mailing list and copyrighted content.
• You will commit to a six-month period of participation.
• When you move on to other endeavors, you will explain your job to your replacement and preserve a sense of continuity.
• You will actively support other Staff members, asking for assistance when you need it, offering it when you can.
• You will send a brief weekly report to the Staff Director.
• You will not sell or otherwise distribute the subscriber mailing list or any copyrighted artwork or information.
• If you have password access to the site, you will never reveal the password to anyone for any reason.
• You will sign all job-related email with your title, Artist Resource, and the Artist Resource URL

Your Online Portfolio:      
Please check out the portfolio submission guidelines before submitting your creative work.

JOBS       

BEGINNER  jobs

  PUBLICATION MANAGER: (beginner)

You will copy and edit, and then email our Art Events and Classes digests to subscribers once a week.

TASK #1:  Send Events Digest to subscribers.
Each week, copy ten days worth of upcoming events from the Events page, edit out old dates if necessary, and extra paragraph returns. Email the digest to our subscribers.  

TASK #2:  Send Classes Digest to subscribers.
Each week, copy fifteen days of upcoming classes from the Classes page, edit out old dates if necessary, and extra paragraph returns. Email the digest to our subscribers.

TASK #3: Respond to queries from subscribers.
Like. . . How do I submit my event or class? Or. . .how do I subscribe or unsubscribe? (This info will be at the bottom of the digest, but sometimes people don't read that far!)
Or. . . How do I contact the Webmistress? (Give them my email address, or forward their query to me.)

TASK #4:   Forward new subscribers or un-subscribers to Webmistress.

COMMITMENT: About 1.5 hours per week
REQUIREMENTS:
= Required experience and skills: Writing or editing; basic Web-surfing and email skills. Understanding of how to send BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) email. Attention to grammar, typos and quality control. Ability to be self-directed and responsible. Some word processing experience helpful.
= Required Tools: You will need a Web browser and email software, and at least a 28.8 modem. Prefer 56.6.
PAGES ON SITE: 6 portfolio pages on the site.

INTERMEDIATE  jobs

 JOBS LISTING SECTION MANAGER (intermediate)      

TASK #1:  Email temp agencies, design firms, art organizations, galleries, museums and art supply stores to promote Artist Resource as a good place to list art-related jobs -- paid or volunteer. The organization must have email to submit job postings, so get their email addresses. Make a monthly report.

TASK #2:  Research job listing sites. Focus especially on any sites or search engines that list art-related jobs, and/or Bay Area jobs (from Santa Cruze to Sacramento.) Start with all the Bay Area art organizations, galleries and museums on Artist Resource, and locate their Human Resources and Internships pages. Submit 5 URLs each month, with the title of the site, a short description and the URL correctly spelled out.

COMMITMENT: About 2 hours per week
REQUIREMENTS: Browser and email software. At least a 28.8 modem. Prefer 56.6 or faster modem.
EXPERIENCE: Basic surf-the-web and email experience.
PAGES ON SITE:   7 portfolio pages on the site.

 PAGE MANAGER/s (intermediate)     

TASK #1    Make a page or section your personal project. Adopt a page whose information you find interesting, and where you could see adding more and editing the information we have already. Pick a subject whose research interests you anyway, in your creative life or work  Simple pages have static listings (like galleries or portfolio links) that need to be checked, and new ones added. Complex pages have dated calendar information (like events, classes and jobs). These need weekly editing, posting and general maintenance.
Do online research to locate really helpful or interesting sites for the page you adopt. Check out the URLs yourself! Find ten URLs each month Post them on the page, with the title of the site, a short description and the URL correctly spelled out, plus the email address of the contact person, if any.

TASK #2  Edit and update the dated listings on the page/s. These are submitted to you as emails, and can be edited in any text editor. Posting the listings requires access to the site.      

COMMITMENT: 1-2 hours per week per page.
REQUIREMENTS:
= Experience and skills: Ability to be self-directed and responsible. Basic HTML and intermediate Web page editing. Attention to detail and quality control. Basic word processing or design experience helpful.
= Tools: Web editor (like DreamWeaver, GoLive, PageMill, AOLPress, Netscape Composer, etc.) or BBEdit, Simpletext, etc. You will also need FTP software like Fetch or WSFTP. You will need at least a 28.8 modem. 56k preferred.
PAGES ON SITE:  5 portfolio pages on the site for each page you adopt

WRITERS' SECTION MANAGER (intermediate)
Manage the Writers' Events, Classes and Links pages. This involves posting our current, emailed submissions to the page. This also involves occasionally emailing Bay Area writers' organizations, schools, bookstores, and libraries, to promote submitting upcoming readings and classes. We also would like you to gradually accumulate and edit good links to writers' resources.

WRITERS' PAGE MANAGER -- COMPETITIONS (intermediate)
Post our current, emailed submissions to the page. But more importantly, research good links to, and listings of, writer's competitions, calls for writing and grant opportunies to post on this page.

ART CLASSES SECTION MANAGER (intermediate)
Manage the Artists Classes, Schools and Links pages. This involves posting our current, emailed submissions to the page. This also involves occasionally emailing Bay Area schools, organizations, etc, to promote submission of lectures, demos and classes (with an emphasis on 'affordable'). We also would like a gradual accumulation and editing of good links to other class listings and schools.

ART EVENTS PAGE MANAGER (intermediate)
See above descriptions.

Some other pages and sections that need nurturing: Classes, Events, Art Links, Marketplace, Studio Space, Writer's Links, Calls for Art, etc.

  ONLINE PUBLICITY MANAGER   (intermediate )     

TASK #1:   Email press releases and respond to Website Award-giving sites, local media, and magazines online.

TASK #2:   Submit Artist Resource to search engines. Go to the popular search engines and check on the site status monthly, and re-submit if necessary. A list of search engines will be provided, with links to their submission pages, as well as a short 'blurb' about the site, and a great book about search engines (Getting Hits, Peachpit Press).

TASK #3:   Exchange Links with art sites, art supply retailers, galleries, art organizations and schools.

Make about twenty contacts per month , which means, send out the information. If you get an interview or have extended correspondence, let us know. Submit a monthly report or list of contacts to the Webmistress.

COMMITMENT:  About 4 hours per month
REQUIREMENTS:  
= Experience and skills:  Intermediate surf-the-web and email experience.
Experience with art organizations, media, publicity, marketing and/or public relations.
= Tools: Browser and email software. At least a 28.8 modem. . Prefer 56.6.
PAGES ON SITE:  5 portfolio pages

TASK #1:   Send press releases to Bay Area art, media and news publications, via email and snailmail. You will be provided with press releases, and a database of names and addresses. Postage will be handled through Artist Resource or reimbursed. You will be provided with People Behind the News, resource book and database, published by Media Alliance.

TASK #2:  Respond to simple inquires by referring to the site, or quoting from press release. Forward requests for art or interviews to the webmistress promptly.

You will make a monthly report, or list, of contacts made.

COMMITMENT:  About 4 hours per month
REQUIREMENTS:  
= Experience and skills:  Basic surf-the-web and email experience.
Writing or editing. Experience with art organizations, publicity, advertising, media or public relations.
= Tools: Browser and email software. At least a 28.8 modem. . Prefer 56.6.
PAGES ON SITE:  5 portfolio pages.

  WEBSITE ASSISTANT (intermediate)      

TASK #1   Check links and forms throughout the site - make sure they are current and functioning. Fix any broken or missing links and report their page location. Check for consistency throughout the site, in page layout, sub-navigation, color, etc.

COMMITMENT:  About 2 hours per week  (4 hours per month)
REQUIREMENTS:  
= Experience and skills:  You need to know intermediate HTML and Web editing. Editing, proof-reading or design experience very helpful.
Tools: Browser and email software. At least a 28.8 modem. Prefer that you have 56.6 or faster modem. Web editor like DreamWeaver, PageMill, AOLPress, Netscape Composer. Or a simple HTML editor like BBEdit, if you're comfortable with that.
PAGES ON SITE: 7 portfolio pages.

ADVANCED  jobs  

Requires web-publishing experience. Will require password access.

 WEBSITE MANAGER -- EVENT SCRIPTS (advanced level)

Task #1    Help research and construct interactive event listing pages and other ways of automating the responses and submissions to the site.

EXAMPLES: see the Pleiades Forum site at:
http://www.pleiades-net.com/voices/art/art.html

or the Craig's List at:
http://www.craigslist.org/

COMMITMENT: negotiable, depending on experience  Could be limited hours per month, or many hours all at once to complete the project.
REQUIREMENTS:
= Experience and skills:  PERL and CGI. Web site construction or maintenance. Forms creation. (I have scripts already donated by staff.) Organized, detail-oriented thinker.
Tools: Web editor like DreamWeaver, PageMill, Netscape Composer. Or a simple HTML editor like BBEdit. Editing, proofreading or design experience very helpful. BBS experience might be helpful. FTP software like Fetch or WSFTP. Browser and email software. At least a 56.6 modem.
PAGES ON SITE: Though you probably have your own, you can certainly get 5 pages on the site, or give them as a gift.

Requires web-publishing experience. Will require password access.

 WEBSITE MANAGER -- SEARCH ENGINE (advanced)   

Task #1:   Help research and construct an interactive search engine or online database, which will let people search for artists, art organizations or topics by name, location, media, services, subject, etc. May include redesigning the Site Map.

EXAMPLES: For a simple index see: http://www.ezon.com/list.html
Big search engines -- AOL's Art Search Engine:
http://netfind.aol.com/aol/Reviews/Arts/Fine_Arts/Artist_Pages/index.netfind.html
and Art Quest:   http://www.artquest.com/

COMMITMENT: negotiable, depending on experience. Could be limited hours per month, or many hours all at once to complete the project.
REQUIREMENTS:
= Experience and skills:  Orderly, detail-oriented thinker. Attention to quality control. Website construction or management. Database experience essential, especially FileMaker Pro. Forms creation. BBS experience might be helpful. Search engine experience helpful.
= Tools: Browser and email software. FTP software. At least a 56.6 modem.
PAGES ON SITE: Though you probably have your own, you get 5 pages on the site, or give them as a gift.

 WEBSITE MANAGER -- Membership Database. (advanced)
You would do data entry in FileMaker Pro v. 4.0, here in my studio or at your location if you have a PC, or FileMaker Pro for the Mac. You would help design the database which will be used in future as the basis for an online search engine.

REQUIREMENTS:
= Experience and skills:  Orderly, detail-oriented thinker. Attention to quality control. Database experience essential, especially FileMaker Pro. Forms creation helpful. Experience using or maintaining search engines helpful. 
= Tools: Browser and email software. FTP software. At least a 56.6 modem.
PAGES ON SITE: Though you probably have your own, you get 5 pages on the site, or give them as a gift.

  WEBMISTRESS  -- Job is filled     

I'm working with the Website Managers on the new interactive Forums, Forms and Search Engine/Database. Plus, I'll do some re-design. But the big task is applying for non-profit status, and putting together an Advisory Board. We're going to have fun!  
Sincerely, Li Gardiner