A Newsletter with a Difference

A few weeks from now, the student committee of the Guild Musical Theatre Group, at the University of Birmingham (England), should be creating a newsletter with a difference.

This newsletter is for both the students and Alumni of this, my old student society. It will connect a group of very talented students, with a group of well connected Alumni. Needless to say, it is a chance to make a few people's careers and connect a great many more.

While there are plenty of drama colleges whose students need these connections, the role of student societies should not be underestimated. As I have said before, the Guild Musical Theatre Group is far more than just another society. In business terms, it would be a strategist's dream come true. Because, after 30 years in existence, its Alumni now occupy key positions in the performing arts industry. Its students have now build their operation to a very professional level. There is a brilliant potential here, for a great many opportunities to be made.

I realize that drama students should be first in line for this kind of opportunity, but I think that this project is a way, to encourage students of other disciplines, to come forward and engage with the performing arts. Besides which, the drama students of my university and others will benefit indirectly, from the exposure and connections, that this newsletter will create.

And there is an important reason why this particular project matters so much. The performing arts as a profession is often misunderstood by outsiders (while I am not an insider myself, I have been fortunate enough to gain a musical theatre qualification, and to work with artists.) I have heard it dismissed time and again, as something to do for a hobby: but not as a way to make a living. So there is not the respect that there would be for other professions. Again and again, young hopefuls are told that there 'aren't the opportunities' to pursue a career in the arts.

But how many future students have been discouraged this way? And how much talent has been wasted? I say that if young people have passion, and talent then it should be used: whether for sport, the arts, or indeed anything they want to pursue. This is surely the purpose of every university, college or school that has ever been founded.

One crucial factor in today's world, however, is that there need to be networks, in place to make this happen. As Linkedin founder, Reid Hoffman writes, it is about 'network building'. This is very true. If there is one thing I've learned for certain, from the world of business, it is that opportunities do not just happen: they are made. Name the company, the institution or the legacy, and in every case, it is there because one individual, or a group of people made a conscious decision, to start something up. Story after story tells of the same humble origins behind a great success. And this newsletter is an opportunity to start something up, that will lead to even bigger things, for a great many talented people.

All members and Alumni of the Guild Musical Theatre Group (or GMTG) are educated, successful and organised people, with a genuine passion for the performing arts. They are quite capable of building a very good network together, and the newsletter would be the perfect way to begin. And if this succeeds, it will be proof that you really can do what you love, for a career. What's more, I know that this could be an inspiration to a great many other students: not only to performing arts students, but students of other professions too.

This is an opportunity that has been waiting to happen. And with the right kind of planning, it will. The newsletter format is a very good way to connect students and Alumni of a profession. To all students who are reading this: I strongly recommend that you set up a newsletter between yourselves and Alumni of your chosen profession, if you haven't already done this.

So for the next few weeks I am really looking forward to the first edition of this newsletter. And I have a feeling that this will be the start of an important opportunity, for a great many people,