Unemployment State by State
Behind the Scenes: Free Online Behavioral Health Screening Program
Behind the Scenes: Resources
Therapy for Every Budget: How to Access It
SoundGirls Self Care for Trauma
Anxiety Challenge and an Ultimate Anxiety Guide
What is anxiety? “Anxiety is a normal and often healthy emotion. However, when a person regularly feels disproportionate levels of anxiety, it might become a medical disorder. Anxiety disorders form a category of mental health diagnoses that lead to excessive nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worry.” 1
Working in the Entertainment Industry can be stressful at times. During the past few weeks alone due to COVID-19, festivals, concerts, tours, and corporate gigs were canceled. This aftermath created a lot of fear and anxiety not only in our work industry but many others as well.
As someone who deals with anxiety and mental health, I think it is very important for Mental Health Awareness to be brought into light during this difficult time for many. In this article, I will discuss coping skills for anxiety that are worth sharing.
With everything going on in the news it’s a good time to take time out and learn Mindfulness.
Mindfulness is “ the process of purposely bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment without judgment, which one develops through the practice of meditation and through other training” Turn off your phone. Go for a walk. Listen to music. Practice Yoga. 2
Exercise your Mindfulness skills.
Anxiety mostly stems from worrying about things we cannot control. We are powerless over things we cannot control. What we are in control of though, are our emotions and reactions. This is a great time to learn how to channel negative emotions and problems into positive thoughts and solutions.
Whenever we are feeling down and out, it is best to reach out. Talking about your feelings with others is a great way to express yourself. I am thankful for the SoundGirls Facebook Group!
There are so many people sharing resources and being an outlet for one another during this hard time.
Anxiety is a normal emotion, but it cannot define us and take over our lives. We must learn how to cope with negative emotions and thoughts. This isn’t a process that can happen overnight, but with hard work, discipline, and coping skills we can all overcome our fears and anxiety.
1 Felman, A. (2020, January 11). Anxiety: Overview, symptoms, causes, and treatments. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323454 2 Felman, A. (2020, January 11). Anxiety: Overview, symptoms, causes, and treatments. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323454
As COVID-19 continues to spread and spark growing concerns globally, the music and film industries are taking preventive actions by postponing or canceling tours, concerts, major festivals, and sporting events to limit the spread of potential infections. This has severely impacted roadies, who are highly skilled professionals, who work on live event productions. While productions are postponed or cancelled, the techs are out of work and will be for the foreseeable future. Many of these people are freelance and do not qualify for unemployment benefits.
SoundGirls has teamed up with Loanne Wullaert of The Ventura Theatre and The Phoenix Collective and Daniella Peters of Rat Sound Systems to help ease the stress, even if in a small way.
The SoundGirls CoronaVirus Relief Fund helps production techs across the globe that are now unemployed due to the CoronaVirus Pandemic by providing a small amount of aid to purchase necessities and slightly ease the stress.
If you are in a position to assist your fellow techs please consider making a tax-deductible donation.
Online
SoundGirls CoronaVirus Relief Fund
Make checks payable to
California Women’s Music Festival (SoundGirls is under the fiscal sponsorship CWMF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit #47-1361148)
Mail Checks and Gift Cards to:
SoundGirls- Attention Loanne Wullaert
48 South Chestnut St.
Ventura, CA 93001
We are currently providing $100 gift cards (Visa, Target, Gas, Grocery, etc) to qualified techs. We hope to expand the amount in the coming weeks. We will begin sending the gift cards via email on March 20, 2020, and will fill all requests until we run out.
Make sure you are eligible.
The concert industry alone is expected to lose one billion dollars during the Coronavirus. As this continues to shut down live events and filming most of our members that work in Live Events and Film are being severely impacted. They face the loss of income until at least May (being optimistic) and as in the past recessions (2008, 911, etc.), they can’t just get another gig. There are none.
The industry will recover but there will be casualties and when is unknown. When it does recover it will still not be business as normal, as companies will face an influx of work that they will not have the equipment or crew for, lack of venues, and more.
While many of us are in the middle of panicking and are dealing with shock and denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally (hopefully) reaching a place to be proactive. It is critically important to understand that you are not alone and make sure you reach out for support from friends and family, a counselor or therapist, or a support group. If this is not affecting you reach out to friends that are.
SoundGirls is compiling a list of resources to utilize during this forced downtime and unemployment. From best business practices, career development, continuing education, and side hustles to get us through this. If you have ideas and advice and wish to share with our community please email us soundgirls@soundgirls.org
This resource will be continually updated.
We will get through this together,
The SoundGirls Team
For those whose work has been cut off in the meantime, something needs to be done to fill the time. Things you can do when you’re out of work unexpectedly.
California Workers
If your employer has reduced your hours or shut down operations due to COVID-19, you can file an Unemployment Insurance (UI) claim. UI provides partial wage replacement benefit payments to workers who lose their job or have their hours reduced, through no fault of their own. Workers who are temporarily unemployed due to COVID-19 and expected to return to work with their employer within a few weeks are not required to actively seek work each week. However, they must remain able and available and ready to work during their unemployment for each week of benefits claimed and meet all other eligibility criteria. Eligible individuals can receive benefits that range from $40-$450 per week.
For more information: https://edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019.htm
WEST COAST: GoFundMe Supporting Performing Artists
San Francisco
Sign a Letter to stop Evictions
Los Angeles
Where To Get Financial Assistance, Food And More During The Coronavirus
California
Emergency Funds for Freelancers, Creatives Losing Income During Coronavirus
Governor Gavin Newsom: Suspend Rent, Mortgage, & Utility Payments During the Coronavirus Crisis
Seattle – Washington
Texas
Texas since a disaster has been declared, 1099/contract workers can now apply for unemployment.
Austin
Boston
New York
Minnesota
Canada
U.K.
International
Amazon, Walmart, Lowe’s and others are hiring to fill 434,000 job openings amid coronavirus demand
FlexJobs has over 50 remote jobs categories, with positions ranging from freelance gigs, to part-time work, to full-time jobs, with remote careers varying from entry-level to executive.
Remote.co hand-curates their list of remote jobs. These listings include customer service positions, design opportunities, developer jobs, recruiter and HR roles, sales jobs, and other remote work (including writers, managers, and marketers).
JustRemote is dedicated to building a better remote job platform, allowing job seekers to find their perfect role quickly and easily. JustRemote covers many job verticals including Development, Marketing and Design, HR, and Customer Success positions.
Virtual Vocations’ jobs board features telecommuting positions in job fields like technical writing and paralegal.
Pangian is on a mission to unite all five continents by connecting remote-minded companies with remote employees. Their virtual job board provides a robust list of open, remote positions including web development, UX design, content creation, and digital marketing.
WE WORK REMOTELY With a simple, straightforward layout, this virtual job board is a catch-all of remote work from home jobs from customer service, to web design, to programming.
Remotive is a bi-monthly newsletter for job seekers interested in working remotely. In addition to news about how to get hired at remote jobs and tips on life as a digital nomad, the newsletter also has a robust listing of remote positions.
Skip the Drive a handy resources tab that lists authors to follow and sites to check for advice in the world of working remotely, and a reliable list of remote jobs.
Remote OK is a remote job site that tags all of their job listings, making it simple and easy to set filters for the specific listings you want. You can choose to filter jobs posted by recruiters, by experience level (junior, senior, etc.), by job type (sales, marketing, design, dev, and more), and even whether they’re tech or non-tech related jobs (of course even the “non-tech” jobs—things like analysts and marketers—will benefit from some basic tech skills).
Working Nomads When you sign up for the service, Working Nomads will deliver a curated list of remote jobs directly to your inbox. You can choose daily or weekly emails, then keep moving to the next city while the telecommuting job search comes to you.
Jobspresso features a wide range of curated jobs in tech, marketing, customer support, and more. You can search their virtual job board for openings and post your resume to be searched and seen by potential employers.
EuropeRemotely. This virtual job board is full of job listings from companies that are happy to work with at-home and remote employees who are interesting in doing work based on European time zones.
Jobscribe is a site that sends out daily emails to job seekers with remote job listings at tech startups. Web designers, web developers, mobile app designers, and digital marketers can specify their focus and receive listings for corresponding remote and work-from-home positions.
Wfh.io focuses exclusively on remote digital and tech jobs. They include remote jobs in product management, software engineering, web engineering, customer support, marketing, and more.
Outsourcely pairs up remote workers with employers seeking both full and part-time employees. You can browse for jobs by category: design & multimedia, web development, writing & content, customer service, sales & marketing, and more.
PowerToFly is a dream come true for women job seekers interested in working remotely. PowerToFly focuses on matching women in tech with remote and work-from-home jobs.
Landing Jobs doesn’t have a huge section of their tech job opportunities dedicated to working remotely, they do carefully curate their listings. As a bonus perk—unlike many job boards—their site allows you to filter your search for jobs that are either fully remote, partially remote, or even remote within physical commuting distance.
Authentic Jobs bills itself as “the job board for web professionals.
Dribbble is most often known as a pillar site for freelance web designers to share their portfolios and find their next gig.
AngelList—a top source for startup job listings—you can enter a for a job search and click “Remote OK” when you’re prompted for your search type. Then—tech hub or not—you can find a startup that’s right for you.
Stack Overflow is a go-to source for web development Q&A, but it also has a jobs board with listings for tech positions (especially web developers).
GitHub —web developers use GitHub as a repository from projects they’re working on where they can share code, questions, and discover with other programmers. But, like Stack Overflow, it also has a job’s board, including an entire category devoted to remote jobs. Because it’s GitHub, the jobs are web development-focused, with remote listings from all over the world. GitHub even posts their own job openings on this board
Toptal Business focuses on connecting business consultants with freelance corporate engagements.
Fiverr is a handy site for finding your first freelance gigs and building up a portfolio fast. The Fiverr site focuses on “gigs” or “micro-jobs,” like editing an image in Photoshop, designing a Facebook ad, or brainstorming SEO-rank-worthy article titles.
Upwork features freelance remote job listings in a suite of categories: things like virtual assistants, mobile app developers, and copywriters. Companies like Zendesk, Dropbox, and Airbnb use the site to hire remote freelancers, so if you’re ready to start doing freelance work for some major clients without having to set foot in an office, create your Upwork profile ASAP.
Freelancer.com claims to be “The World’s Largest Outsourcing Marketplace,” and it’s chock full of remote freelancing gigs.
FreelancerMap allows users to search thousands of active IT projects looking for remote, freelance team members. The site has a global reach, with projects currently listed on their front page from companies in the US, Australia, and the Czech Republic.
Coworks is a freelance work platform for creative job seekers (graphic designers, illustrators, web designers, etc). The site has connected over 2,000 clients with freelance work, catering to brands like Decathlon, Starcom, and BBH.
Gun.io is a freelance platform designed specifically for freelance web developers. You can sign up through GitHub (so make sure your GitHub profile is up to date and active), and they’ll help match you up with companies that need your services.
The Muse makes remote job searching feel easy. In addition to being able to search the best remote job opportunities listed on the site, you can avail yourself of The Muse’s top-notch content highlighting remote work opportunities and tips to get started.
Indeed pulls job data from across the internet and around the world, making it one of the most robust jobs search engines going.
Career Builder jobs site claims to be the largest online employment website in the United States. Simply type in “telecommute” or “remote” as a keyword, and you’ll find more than 9,000 part-time, contract, and full-time jobs from brands like Forever 21 Inc, Xerox, and Univision.
Idealist isn’t an exclusively remote job board, but it still has hundreds of remote job listings worldwide (just click on “Remote” under locations). The catch here is that all of these jobs are with organizations and nonprofits that are committed to making a positive difference in the world.
COVID19 updates on live music events WBM Expertise put up a comprehensive mapping of all measures taken against coronavirus in Europe together with EMEE. The info is regularly updated.
Take a break from social media. Social media is full of misinformation, negativity, frustration, and fear. Spending your time scrolling through the woes of this disease and the effects it has on our workforce and economy will not help your mental state.
Stay in touch with your peers, tour families, and industry leadership.
Take care of your mental health: If it all starts to weigh you down, remember that there online counseling services. You can find help on a sliding scale here
Behind the Scenes: Free Online Behavioral Health Screening Program
Behind the Scenes: Resources
Therapy for Every Budget: How to Access It
SoundGirls Self Care for Trauma
Anxiety Challenge and an Ultimate Anxiety Guide
Coronavirus and your wellbeing
How to design an effective schedule during stressful times
Budget. When is the last time you sat down and did a personal budget? Use this time to evaluate where your money has been going each week/month and create a spreadsheet on how you can make financial adjustments moving forward.
Read: Reading is a great way to keep the mind fresh, focused, and occupied. You can check out books on audio and music for free from The SoundGirls Lending Library.
Journal/Reflect. Write down what is going on inside you. Inventory your thoughts and emotions the good and the bad.
Find your happy spiritual/mental place – Prayer, meditation, yoga, etc. Spend time in thanks and reflection for what you DO have.
This is a list of free and paid training for sound engineers online, including webinars, courses, and certifications. This list will be updated as we become aware of new resources.
Manufacturer-specific courses for consoles and PAs are listed in a separate section below.
In order to give you access to our wonderful community and resources, we are making a 3-month membership available for just $25 if you join between now and the end of March. Or you can opt to receive 15 months for the price of 12 ($125).
If you are a student enrolled in an audio program, the 3-month membership is $10 or 15 months for the price of 12 ($50).
The Event Safety Guide is now available as a free PDF, which may be downloaded at the following link: https://www.eventsafetyalliance.org/the-event-safety-guide
Registration for our online Event Safety Access core safety training has been reduced to $9.95 through July 1, 2020. Those wishing to sign up may do so at http://eventsafetyaccess.com . Please use the promo code SUPPORT20 at checkout to receive this discounted rate.
Annual dues for individual members have been reduced to $25.00 through December 31, 2020. This rate applies to both new and renewing members. Membership registration can be found at https://www.eventsafetyalliance.org/becomeamember (Note: Discount will be applied automatically at checkout).
Free Event Technology Training Guide
Below you will find links to The Business Basics Workshop we hosted with 4-Wall Entertainment. The event included information on social media, resumes, AB5 for those in California, Networking, and Negotiations.
Sound Girls Presentation -1-28-2020
Spring is almost here! With the Earth gradually awakening, I can feel my own mind coming out of its hibernation. I find myself reading more articles, keeping up with current events, and listening to new podcasts.
Speaking of podcasts, the podcast industry has been receiving attention for some time now. I recently had the pleasure of talking with Fela Davis about podcast audio and what it means for the audio industry. Fela has nearly twenty years of experience in the audio engineering industry. Her list of credentials is very impressive. She also produces and hosts a podcast called The Art of Music Tech Podcast with her business partner Denis Orynbekov.
I became aware of the increasing interest in podcast audio after attending the 2019 Audio Engineering Society’s national convention in New York City. I had listened to a few lectures where Fela and a panel of other professionals talked about their experiences. I had many questions and fortunately, Fela was able to answer all of them.
In the past few years, producing a podcast has become increasingly more affordable. Fela mentioned that most students have the bare minimum needed to put together a podcast. Some kind of DAW to record onto, an interface, and a microphone. Even with the accessibility, how does someone make this kind of work profitable? Fela explained that not only does she work on her own podcast, but many others too. Through 23dB Productions audio services, Fela is able to work with clients who need audio and video services. We both agreed, most people have something they want to say and there will at least be one person willing to listen to it. These can be large-scale companies or organizations or smaller groups or single individuals.
Being mobile and having your own equipment is important, but with the surge of companies, organizations, and individuals looking to use this form of media, being open to its opportunities is key. As a woman in the audio industry, what really intrigued me was, it’s kind of brand new. Fela and I both laughed, but it’s true. This is a part of the industry where women and minorities have the opportunity to flourish. There are no jerks named bob hiring their best friend over you. The pressure to prove yourself is significantly lessened.
In the beginning, most individuals will be playing the role of producer, host, engineer, and editor. Drew Stockero, a student at Michigan Technological University, does just that with his podcast If It Matters Podcast. Stockero said the podcast is about, “ordinary people having ordinary conversations about the things they find extraordinary.” He takes the time to curate each episode and interviewee, he is the producer and hosts every episode, all while recording, mixing, and mastering. After chatting for a bit about his workflow, he did admit that fulfilling every role for the podcast is a lot of work. Typically, indie podcasts are much smaller and only run by one or two people. But, as Fela stated, the option to use remote engineers is there once you start gaining clients or attention.
Radio was brought up in both of my interviews. Stockero mentioned podcasts being an extension of talk radio. Growing up, my father would listen to a lot of NPR on long family road trips. With the shift from cable television to streaming services, it is no surprise we are seeing a move from radio to podcasts. It was also mentioned that podcasting is making more money than radio broadcasts. It is undeniable that there has been a boom in revenue for the podcast industry, but all of this did surprise me. I was starting to have more questions than I started with, and definitely more interest.
I received many great words of wisdom when I asked for advice regarding this topic and its industry. You will want to immerse yourself in the business, or your local chamber of commerce. Networking is always important, but also being someone that has a positive personality and is easy to communicate with is just as important. From an artistic standpoint, being passionate about the topics you are addressing through your podcast is essential. It helps keep the information fresh, the motivation constant, and ultimately something others will want to listen to.
This form of entertainment intrigues me. It is a service where, we as engineers, can have a voice or help others have a voice and be heard. I do agree, I think it is a place that women can flourish in the industry. Not only is there a supply of work where women and minorities can be at the top, but we can also have a voice. Having the ability to not only strengthen myself, but the ones around me is an opportunity that I value. More of these conversations, podcasts, and articles need to exist for our current community and the future community. It is conversations and the spread of information such as this, that makes me feel awake and ready to take on the industry.
I hope you all have a wonderful spring and do not forget to check out the wonderful people that I got to chat with for this article. Fela Davis can be found on LinkedIn and her website felaaudio.com. The Art of Music Tech Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, IHeart Radio, and Youtube. Drew Stockero’s podcast If It Matters is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google, iHeart Radio, listennotes, and player.fm.
The Power of Podcasting Roadie Free Radio, and panelists Fela Davis (The Art Of Music Tech Podcast), Lij Shaw (Recording Studio Rockstars), Chris Graham (The Six Figure Home Studio Podcast) and Matt Boudreau (Working Class Audio).