How important is a relationship?

"Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)" – Who are you, The Who.

It's time to get chatty! Week four's task was to get in contact with writers and other people in the music industry who contribute to the magazine. The point of this was to start building relationships and it was a good way for me to get to know them on a more personal level. This was done through email, phone calls and text messages. Communicating with them allowed me to update the 'writer’s information' database with their interests, preferences for assignments, hobbies and how the magazine could help them. Having this knowledge will help when it comes to allocating interviews and assignments. Forming good relationships is important to ensure the writers are kept happy and interested in contributing for the magazine. After all, without the writers and research workers, the magazine would not exist. It also makes my job easier in the future too, by being able to refer to the database and be able to assign a writer to a job that they are keen to do. If the writers are content, then it's shiny happy people all 'round!

My other task for the week was to distribute CD's to writers to be reviewed. This involved me recording the CD's on the database and then finding the appropriate writers (by referring to the recently updated database) to review them. I then prepared them for the post. There were about 30 CD's that had to be recorded and mailed out, but once I got myself into a working rhythm, they were completed in no time!

Paul (former editor) visited this week to check up on how I was going and how I was settling into the role of editor. He helped me out with the CD’s and was able to give me his two cents worth on why building relationships and maintaining them is a good for my future career. Sometimes it's all about who you know, rather than what you know. Paul said getting my name out there and recognised by music industry companies is what will give me the upper hand. It will open up a window of opportunities for a possible career in the music industry. Mushroom Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Group...it all sounds good to me! So, let the relationship building begin!

=-P