November 30, 2011
As technology shifts, so do the marketing and media services VANS provides to its members, what has stayed consistent, since 1976 however is VANS continuing mandate to work for the advancement and rights of the visual arts and artists of Nova Scotia.
For the last 35 years, VANS has provided many services and opportunities to its members. VANS’ ability to reach a much larger audience has significantly increased, and now more than ever, with the launch of VANS’ new website earlier this spring.
One such service is the VANS e-studio directory (artist web page) which is accessed by a wide range of users, including artists, educators, critics, curators, gallery directors, designers, publishers, filmmakers, corporate buyers, researchers and private collectors.
Similar to its originator, the VANS slide registry, the VANS E-Studio directory, created in 1998, is an online artist database, whereby information on the artist can be located, including up to 6 images of their individual work. With an average of 58,000 website visits per month and a third of VANS’ membership with a registered e-studio page, the e-studio directory is an essential professional and marketing tool for visual artists in Nova Scotia.
Since 1998, the VANS staff has overseen the annual updates made to each individual E-Studio directory page, creating a number of challenges administratively, particularly due to a lack of sufficient human resources. Now, with the organizations new WordPress website, VANS is excited about being able to offer VANS members the opportunity to update their own personal e-studio page at their own leisure, by following VANS’ E-Studio Tutorial, accessible only with a e-studio username and password, distributed by VANS staff.
With the VANS 2011 memberships expiring on December 31st, 2012 renewing members and E-Studio artists will receive an email with their username and password when they renew their VANS membership and e-studio page. New users of the VANS E-Studio directory will also receive a username and temporary password, through email, when they pay the administration fee.
Any and all changes made to individuals e-studio pages will be approved by VANS personnel, before being published on the website.
As was the case in the past, each member will still be held accountable for following the Submission Guidelines for the VANS E-Studio Directory upon creating or making updates to their E-Studio page. If the submission guidelines are not followed, hence the image documentation is not of professional quality or if the word count is not respected, the e-studio update will not be approved by VANS staff, making e-studio updates much slower and time-consuming; when guidelines are followed and achieved, e-studio updates will be made quicker and the public can learn about your professional practice and contact you faster.
Given these administrative requests, approval of changes may take anywhere from 2-3 weeks, depending on demand and if guidelines are not followed.
VANS staff encourages members to consult and read the submission guidelines, in detail, before updating their directories. VANS staff will still continue to assist in updates with the hopes that members will eventually be able to update their own pages as they get more comfortable with using the WordPress template and technology.
Renew your VANS Membership or register for the E-Studio directory today!
For more information about your membership, visit www.visualarts.ns.ca or contact:
Becky Welter-Nolan
Programming Coordinator
Visual Arts Nova Scotia
1113 Marginal Road
Halifax, NS B3H 4P7
902.423-4694, 1.866.225.8267
communicate@visualarts.ns.ca
