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Stage Name

#123
Stumbo said:
Wait, wait, wait! You mean the corporation where I work controls my firearm hobby? my religious affiliation? my political cartooning? my side job? my same-sex relationship class?
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I don't know, but if you're asking me, I recommend looking into it!

I know fully what my employer expects - the code of values and ethics I signed when I started working there was pretty clear. Fortunately, the only thing from your list above that would fall under that purvue would be a side job and some political activities. Not verboten by any stretch, but can't violate the code of values and ethics. And I fully understand what those limits are. If I don't like it, I can choose not to work there anymore, right?
 
#124
I started using a stage name (just different last name) when I started jobbing. I was on a gig and at one point a female audience member decided to get in front of the band, turn toward the audience, and lift her shirt and bra. Someone I knew took a pic...and I was in the shot. Fortunately the person deleted the pic without sharing. But I started using a stage name to avoid being tagged by my real name in awkward shots.
 
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#125
Joe Nerve said:
I played in a band named Cortez the Killer. Lead Singer had a really high paying job at an architectural firm. BMW company car, expense account, the works. He used his real name. He did an interview where he said music was his life, his day job was just a paycheck. The next day they fired him.

His name is now Gambit.
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I've always been of the opinion that outside of certain political and public service jobs, what you do, say, and think outside of work is unequivocally none of your employers business. Unfortunately with the proliferation of social media, and the corporate world's obsession with avoiding the appearance of associating with anything that might be considered unsavory or that might create a "social media backlash/outrage ; we're left having to be very careful what we do and say that might end up posted on the Internet in regards to ones employer viewing it. I think this definitely opens up broader questions of civil liberties and just whether or not an employee should not have some legal protections from an employer firing them because of a Facebook post. I think that employers are abusing their power in this regard in many instances, and I see it as a potential growing trend as it relates to the undesirable spread of corporate power over the lives of individual citizens. I think workers need some kind of enhanced and reasonable protections against being fired for social media posts that an employer doesn't like. It is too easy for employers to abuse and we should not be slaves to them in regards to our opinions and behaviour outside of work. Just my 2 cents....;)
 
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#126
Joe Nerve said:
I played in a band named Cortez the Killer. Lead Singer had a really high paying job at an architectural firm. BMW company car, expense account, the works. He used his real name. He did an interview where he said music was his life, his day job was just a paycheck. The next day they fired him.

His name is now Gambit.
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:facepalm:

High public profile. In which case something like, "Yes. Music has always been a big part of my life!" would have been sufficient. Oi vey.
 
#128
40Hz said:
It goes a bit further than being frowned upon in many places. I’ve seen more than a few company policies and employment contracts that specifically state that, as a condition of your employment, you are expected to devote your time and talent to your job with the firm. Most also say that any outside employment or activities that the company, at its own discretion, considers to be interfering with your performace of the duties for which you were hired may be treated as grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal.

Kinda sad how we’ve allowed our employers to intrude into our private lives so much. But that’s the way it’s gone.
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Sounds like legal-speak for "we reserve the right to fire you for whatever reason we feel like." Social media just gives them fuel to limit their liabilities even more than they can already. Ain't it great we no longer want all those eevil soshulist commy unyun laybor lawz? Sorry. Triggered. I'll shut up now. :mad:
 
#129
if i were a company with a squeaky clean image or that marketed itself as having highly professional reps, i can see where having one of my execs in a grateful dead type of band that promotes weed smoking and wild sex would go against image, and might hurt the company in the eyes of some clients. even more so if the company was a christian company or one that worked with younger people they were trying to be a conservative example to.

i've seen a number of folks at askamanager.com who were fired or had friends who were fired because of their online presence, regardless of whether they were using their real names or not, and i know a couple guys (well, one was actually a woman) who were let go due to not their presence on facebook but the way they presented themselves.

me, i don't work at places that require me to behave a certain way unless it's randomly. i can respect that companies with certain codes of conduct would be as unhappy to have me work there as i would be to be working there :D
 
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#130
Heh, how about creating a "professional name" for your job-related social media and keep your real name in your band? If companies are so paranoid about employees not having squeaky-clean social media identities, they should just create new ones for them. After all, the intent of social networking is for people to socialize with each other. If corporations want to socialize too, they should be the ones making concessions to separate their business activity from their employees' personal lives, not the other way around.
 
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#137
Joe Nerve said:
I played in a band named Cortez the Killer. Lead Singer had a really high paying job at an architectural firm. BMW company car, expense account, the works. He used his real name. He did an interview where he said music was his life, his day job was just a paycheck. The next day they fired him.

His name is now Gambit.
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It wasn’t the smartest thing to say but fired the very next day? It sounds like they already had it in for him.
 
#138
hrodbert696 said:
This kind of thing really depends on both what the day job is, and what the character of the band is. @Joe Nerve gave the example of being a schoolteacher. I teach college, and I feel I need to be careful about being too public about my band activities to students. It would be great to have a college-crowd following, but it would open cans of worms when it came to a) perception by other faculty, and b) perception that going to Prof. C's gigs could be a kind of "extra credit" that got you into his better graces.
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It's common knowledge that I play in a band and colleagues I team teach with will usually manage to work a photo of me rockin out into their lecture at some point. The students always say they want to see me play, but they never show up. No extra credit for them! ;)
 
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