Now that I’m coming up for a little air from the AMTA conference in Atlanta, I’d like to share with you a few bold statements:
1. Twitter is more powerful than your rolled eyes can handle. The only reason Ben Folds learned about music therapy and attended our conference is because of Twitter. The gate-keepers have come down, people. The ivory towers are burning down to the ground, at the same time that you are reading this post right now.
That crazy Ben, giving me the bunny ears again.
If you would like to reach out to a famous person, or the CEO of a large corporation, or big-time decision makers, or a big grant-funder then Twitter is one of your answers. If that high profiler is not on Twitter, then you probably don’t need to waste your time getting in touch anyway, because they are not as hip and progressive-minded as you.
Instead of 3-page long fan mail, high profilers can skim through extremely short fan blurbs from massive amounts of people. When they see something that strikes their fancy, they respond and take action.
Ben saw “#musictherapy” tweeted by Meryl Brown and Rachel See Smith, and was intrigued.
I would add that Twitter is not just for fun, goofy, time-sucking social time. Twitter is for serious business exchange. Try following @CNNHeroes to find a local healthcare professional with clout who just might love music therapy. Follow the hashtag #SLPeeps to find a rich, incredible community of speech therapists all coming together to swap info and collaborate with music therapists. But that’s only the beginning.
"Music Therapy Ben Folds Fans"@CIMResearch @RachelSeeSmith @KatFulton @DevelopMelodies @KeyChangesMT
Participate in live, online chats with older adult care providers with this hashtag #ElderCareChat every other Wednesday. The list goes on.
I get all my news from Twitter. Twitter allows for you to CHOOSE what you follow and what you don’t. Say goodbye to the old days of fighting to get a spot on big networks, paying big bucks to get your ad on TV, and getting interrupted by obnoxious commercials.
I’ve also been tweeting with Mickey Hart, in anticipation of his San Diego concert.
Ok, I’m coming down from my Twitter soapbox. Join us =) Here’s my list of music therapists on Twitter. Come see what we’re all talking about over there. Once you spend a little time exploring and getting past the learning curve, I promise you can do Twitter in 5-15 per day with ease and efficiency. It enhances your life, relationships, AND business. Ok, now I’m off the soapbox.
2. The producers are getting ahead while the non-producers are left behind. This brings me to my last post about producing as much as you consume, online and offline. I noticed that everyone in our social media panel at the conference contributes VALUE to the world. Watch my video about it.
3. Music therapists have brilliant minds and ideas, far more than are realized. A student sitting in a 200+ audience presentation at the conference had an iPad out and open. I would assume this student was probably googling terms she didn’t understand, taking notes, tweeting about the presentation content, etc. Everyone else had pens and pads out, taking notes, so why not use the iPad and spare a few sheets of paper. An older music therapist came by to whisper “Are you getting anything at all out of this presentation?” and looked down at her iPad suspiciously.
Let’s get real, the scolding music therapist is part of the ivory towers that are crumbling to the ground. I think everyone should have iPads open in every presentation, taking notes, Googling unknown terms, marking events on the calendar, and interacting with other presentation attendees on Twitter – BRILLIANT!
In fact, if you come to any of my presentations, I invite you to please turn on the flame app and wave it around like you’re at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert.
I guarantee you that the scolding music therapist is not on Twitter…
Seriously though, some people will never “approve of” or “understand” the technological explosion going on around them. The power of Twitter, blogging, webinars, sharing, taking notes on your iPad, etc. That’s ok. We’ll keep on keepin on, sharing our brilliant ideas online. 
Some day soon, we will have Twitter streams displayed on the big screen at our music therapy conferences. The ivory towers will be very afraid, but we will demand it, and it will happen.
And some day soon, the keynote speaker will invite the crowd to tweet #AMTA12 for #CHICAGO so we can make the conference TREND on Twitter! Ah yes. That’s a fun dream. Let’s make it happen next year.
4. Music therapists who come from different therapeutic approaches can get along. We can offer an eclectic approach in our practice. Thank you, Ken Bruscia.
5. Membership in AMTA rocks, and I invite you to be a member every year. You know all that press music therapy has gotten recently? The best-selling authors’ books, the award-winning films, the ABC, CNN, and CBS coverage? How about the legislature that has passed in N Dakota and Nevada, ensuring access to our services? AMTA has been involved in all of these projects, making sure our field is represented accurately the whole way through. They need us as much as we need them. Make sure to renew your AMTA dues here, then we’ll bug them about the live Twitter feeds for next year’s conference!
And finally, a note from the Ben Folds catalyst, Rachel See Smith:
Thanks for checking out this post, and stay tuned for some older adults + drumming posts soon!
By the way, are you on Twitter? Did I include you in my list?
Hey Kat,
Great post! I am learning so much about social media my head is spinning! But I will be updating my personal technology and skills very soon. I am glad you had a great time at conference.
I got to read posts, listen to podcasts and see status updates about the wonderful time everyone had at conference and it helped me to be even more motivated to network locally for more work and I am getting new ideas every time I read someones blog or post.
I am so excited about the upcoming year and the many opportunities to share music therapy not only with the clients I serve directly, but also with other music therapists and related professions through the internet and social media.
Thanks again for all of you MT advocacy!
Debi
So glad that our posts and updates inspired you Debi! Cheers~
Amen! It is amazing how much control and contact the internet can provide!
Preach it sister!
Fabulous post Kat! Even though I couldn’t attend conference this year it is SOOOO amazing to FEEL like I did through TWITTER! Thanks to you and Rachel (–ummm, holy cow girl! That video was Ah-mazing!) and well, every MT that tweeted #AMTA11. So excited to see where Twitter takes us in #CHICAGO! YEEEHAH!!
Is Rachel’s video incredible or what?! Thanks for reading this, Bon. Awesome you were able to keep up via Twitter~
Aww, shucks — thanks so much!!!!
Point number three is HUGE! MT’s who are hip to all the technological advances will do so much good for the clients they reach. Not only have they mastered technology, but also music skills and therapeutic skills. That, my friends, is an incredible combination that results in abilities to reach and help people like nothing has before. I love the boldness of this post.
Sing it brother! Hallelujah!
All 5 statements were indeed BOLD and true.
Thank you for voicing these truths in such a clear way, Kat!
AMTA 11 was my first national conference experience. Twitter was such a wonderful way for me to get to know other MTs and see their passions through Tweets, blogs, videos, songs, etc. After over a year of Tweeting, I was finally able to meet the friendly faces behind those snippets. It was definitely a bond that enriched my conference experience.
And… that’s all I have to say.
Thanks, Kat.
Great to hear of your first conference experience! Very cool that twitter was a connector for you too, Elise.
All of what you said is so true, Kat. Yay for the 21st century! I can’t believe how much more power we have now to advocate for music therapy to the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!
Sing it lady!
Interesting take on Twitter, Kat. I appreciated reading your perspective as I’ve been slow to go on the Twitter front.
However, I just wanted to add a little more Bruscia love. That was a most excellent keynote presentation! It was so validating for me to hear someone so well regarded in the field say things that I’ve been thinking all along.
Oh, and I may have to look Mickey Hart up on Twitter. I plan on going to his show in Boulder on the 9th…
Thanks for your comment Faith. I think my primary point is that tweeting and taking notes on your iPad during presentations is nothing to scold or look down upon =)
And yes! I need to write an entire post about Bruscia. He was really good about bringing our attention back to the needs of the clients.
Bring your AMTA badge to Boulder – You get FREE admission!
Kat, I am a public school music education specialist with a heavy focus on music therapy practices to accommodate our large special needs population. I wanted to pursue music therapy when I was coming through school but was unable to do so since there were very few schools offering it within my geographic scope. Even now, many, many years later
, I live too far away from a school that does offer the degree for it to be doable with my work and family obligations. Anyway, I have been a diligent follower of your columns for quite a while and avidly implement many of the practices I read about from you and your fellow MT colleagues. As a veteran music educator I would encourage ALL music educators and music therapists to jump into the technology pool with both feet! I am a passionate devotee and am loving its myriad applications to our field. Though I do not have my website off the ground just yet I anticipate its arrival early in 2012. Thanks for all you do to encourage and enlighten ALL of us who teach our children!
Great! Wow – Thanks for sharing all this with me, Beth. I’m looking forward to your new site in 2012!! Best wishes for a wonderful 2012 =)