Victoria Plettner-Saunders

In celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month and the annual Americans for the Arts tradition of Creative Conversations, my colleague Ally Yusuf (Founder & Moderator of #ArtsMgtChat) and I are co-hosting the first national Creative Conversation on Twitter!

The Creative Workforce in the Post-Recession Economy is open to everyone and takes place today (October 17) for one hour starting at 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT using #NatCC12 as the hashtag.

Come share in 140 characters or less, your thoughts, resources and stories about your view on this fascinating topic. We all either know someone or are someone who has been professionally affected by the recession. Whether you are a staffer, freelancer, consultant, employer or recruiter—you probably have something to add to the dialogue.

(Editor's Note: For a quick primer on how Twitter chats work, check out this ARTSblog post by Kristen Engebretsen.)

As an arts leadership and professional development researcher and advocate, I’ve been profoundly concerned about the effects of the recession on our nonprofit arts workforce. In response, I established the Art Career Cafe which has both a website with job listings and resources as well as a Facebook page to provide an interactive community.

Since its launch in late July, we have over 200 Facebook group members. Many members are young arts professionals with degrees in arts management looking for full time work; others are freelancers who have chosen a less traditional but equally viable path to a creative career.

Several have thanked me for providing a forum for them and a place to find community during a difficult time and some just enjoy having a place to share with others who share their values.

Our National Twitter Chat is an opportunity to extend the conversation and draw on the larger community to hear how you have navigated your creative career in a new economy. We’ll be asking a few questions to get us going such as:

1. What career or work place changes have occurred for you in the last 3-4 years as a result of the recession?
2. What changes have you seen in the field of arts management as a result of the recession?
3. Has anyone moved from traditional employment (full time salaried) to something else like self-employment?
4. How does one go about a job search in a tough economy?
5. What job search tactics can you share with us today?

Spread the word and "see" you later on Twitter!