positive attitudes

[Misty Harrison]

how do you keep a positive attitude if you have one of those horrible jobs that seems to get worse as the time passes? you know like if you get there and find parking is terrible even though they told you it would be fine and then the place is hard to move the harp around or you have to move the harp more than once in a hurry to the places where the ceremony and reception are? sometimes I get jobs I need for the money and I want to enjoy playing them but it’s hard to not be stressed out when there’s a lot of pressure to be in the right place at the right time but I have to move the harp across a bumpy field to the reception, etc. and especially when I’m not told about the bumpy field ahead of time because the agent knows I would tell them that it’s not okay for the harp or that it would be a bad idea since I would have to hurry to move the harp in time for the reception. I want advice for not looking calm but actually feeling calm and okay when something like that happens.

[kay-lister]

Misty, I always check out a place ahead of time just so I’ll know what I’m in for.

[brian-noel]

You may not be able to control the behavior of others, but the choice is always yours in how you choose to react to a situation.

[Misty Harrison]

Kay,

sorry I should have made it clear that I always check these things ahead of time so I’m not looking for advice on how to handle that. I’m asking how to handle what happens when you have been on top of everything but you arrive to find out that things are different than your contract states and different than the people claimed but you need the money enough to not just turn around and leave or build up a “difficult to work with” relationship.

Thanks Brian, that’s really helpful.

[Philippa mcauliffe]

Misty,

I am in a different profession but my answer to the above for any profession would be that I am paid in advance, my contract is in with my music and that if

[Misty Harrison]

Georgina,

[barbara-brundage]

Just remember that in a couple of hours you will get to go home and never have to deal with these people again. You could have an office job or be in the paint department at Home Depot or something like that where you have to deal with the same intensely irritating people/situations every day for 8 or 10 hours at a stretch.

At least we get new and different annoyances every time!

No matter how outrageous the parking fee, it’s not worth making yourself sick over it. And it’s not worth arguing with agents either. The good ones don’t need arguments; the others aren’t worth working for again.

[barbara-brundage]

Also, remember that the people who work at the venue can be powerful allies, if you are nice to them. Look for the folks who are on your side. They’re around.

[jessica-wolff]

I don’t think it’s too cool of the agent not to mention the bumpy field because he/she knows you would turn down the job if you knew. Any possibility of dumping him/her in favor of another agent? And letting the first agent know why you’re making the change? You would be striking a blow for all harpists employed by this agent.

Chin up, girl.

[barbara-brundage]

Jessica, agents for jobs are contractors, not personal agents. You can’t “dump an agent” for another one, because Agent A has the contract for that particular function. You can say no to the agent, but the client isn’t going to ditch the agent because he sends Mary Sue instead of Misty. The clients have no idea of who we are, 99.9% of the time.

This isn’t like talent management, not that sort of an agent.

[barbara-brundage]

As a matter of fact, I’ve known it to happen where a client specifically requested me, the agent didn’t want to pay my price and hired someone else and told her to say she was me.

[Misty Harrison]

oh heavens I can’t believe that

[Sylvia Clark]

I write it all down when I get home, send a copy to a friend, and we laugh about it.

[barbara-brundage]

Oh yeah. I only found out because the other harpist (who was quite offended, since she preferred to go out under her own name, and refused to do it) told me about it.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Being positive is highly overrated. Especially after a bad experience, there is nothing like a well-placed barb. We all need

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