In the class forum and here on the blog, I’ve been critical of social media all term.  I’ve expressed a wariness of adopting each new shiny thing, and a hesitance to stray from my tried-and-true paths.  I’d just like to say clearly that I am not a Luddite.  I do not fear new technology.  I think my issue is more that it seems like I could spend all my time learning new systems and never really using them.

Anyways, today I’d like to tell a happy story about social media.  I promise it’ll get to LIS work eventually, so bear with me.

Last summer, I noticed a tweet from a choir I follow.  Chanticleer is considered one of the world’s leading male choruses, and they happen to be based in San Francisco, only an hour’s drive from where I grew up.  My parents and I go to their annual Christmas concert at Stanford every year.

The tweet said that the next twenty people to email the Chanticleer organization would win a pair of tickets to one of the “Mission Road” performances (music from the Mexican Baroque period and the California Missions).  I emailed, and I won a pair of tickets to the performance at Santa Clara Mission.

Because the tickets were held at will call, I had to arrive half an hour early, and so I went into the mission to look around. Santa Clara Mission is lovely – it’s attached to a university, so it’s one of the better-preserved missions in California.  As I was looking around, a woman came up and introduced herself as Liv, the new Director of Development for Chanticleer.  She didn’t know I’d won a pair of tickets, she just noticed that I was a good 20 years younger than anyone else in the room!

In the course of conversation, I asked (as a joke) if Chanticleer needed a music archivist.

About two weeks later, I got an email from Chanticleer asking if I was the “student archivist Liv met at Santa Clara” and if so, would I be interested in working on a project for the choir.

Though the networking was in person, I credit Twitter with getting the ball rolling on what is a remarkable opportunity for me.  Next week I’m flying back to California for the culmination of this project: Chanticleer’s 35th anniversary gala.  I did archival research, outreach to alumni, and created designs for the Memory Lane exhibit about the group’s history. It’s been challenging to work on this from 1000 miles away, but the chance to be both project archivist and exhibit designer for a Grammy-winning choir to which I listen at least once a week…

Well, how could I say no?

The moral of the story is that networking via social media can take atypical forms.  While sometimes it looks relatively normal, like my recent exchange with the Getty museum on Twitter that resulted in my applying for a job, it can also be the first domino in a long chain.

Opportunities are everywhere, and social media is a rich place to find them.

Chanticleer – Mission Road (youtube video. totally worth watching/listening. TRUST ME.)