CONFERENCE REPORT:
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Breakout sessions
To enable you to create a conference programme that's relevant to you, the keynote presentations are complimented by a range of breakout sessions to allow you to look at the areas that interest you in more detail.

There will be a range of sessions at different levels from introductory, to strategy, to conceptual level discussion and debate.

Seminar information

• Marketing workshops – for those interested in the practical application of marketing and audience development,
• Strategic workshops – for those with responsibility for marketing and audience development planning,
• Conceptual seminars – for those wanting to contribute to industry-wide debate,
• Keynotes in conversation – for those wanting to contribute to the discussion on the ideas, arguments and issues presented in the keynote sessions.

The AMA will make every effort to deliver the programme as described but reserves the right to make any necessary changes to the programme.

Click on the image at the start of each description for the speaker's biographies.


Breakout sessions update
The following sessions are now SOLD OUT:

• Martin Reynolds, Strength in numbers


• Keynotes in conversation with Dan Germain, Ed Sanders and Karen Cardy

• Kim Gowland, Maximising the impact of your brand and design

DEVELOPING BELIEVABLE COPY
Heather Maitland, Arts Consultant

Most arts marketers have been to college but the average reading age of the UK population is nine years old. Most of our potential attenders simply don't know what we're on about, so how can we engage with them? This session will offer practical advice on how to really engage with the public, peeling away our assumptions and heightening our awareness in order to develop copy which communicates with people on their terms. Through examples and practical exercises, reinvent your style to suit the people you are trying to reach.

Who is it for?
Those from all art forms wishing to develop their copywriting skills.

What will I learn?

• How you communicate effectively with people who don’t already know and love you.
• Practical skills that will help you write authentic and believable copy.
• Rediscover your own innate ability to communicate with the outside world.

CREATING CAMPAIGNS WITH YOUR AUDIENCE / VISITORS
Colin Beesting, Freelance Consultant

How do we reach 'difficult to reach' audiences? How do we use our audiences in building campaigns? How do we turn our visitors into advocates? We cannot engage deeply with our communities, supporters and attenders if we are not working with them. Colin will bring his considerable experience in marketing and audience development to a practical hands-on workshop that will provide delegates with a toolkit for devising, creating, delivering and successfully managing integrated marketing campaigns (using targeted print, viral marketing, social networking sites and research) in order to develop awareness, interest and engagement from different audiences. Drawing on his own range of experience, Colin will also be sharing practical hints and tips on achieving this within budget and on a budget, suitable for every size of organisation.

Who is it for?
Delegates who are at the early stages of their marketing careers will find this practically useful, with plenty to adapt and implement in their own marketing activities. In this hands-on workshop there will be opportunities to share ideas, ask questions and learn from colleagues.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• A toolkit of successful, tried and tested techniques, illustrated by relevant and up to date case studies from across artforms and types of organisation/audience.
• An introduction to the theory behind the techniques and discussions on how you might apply this approach to develop your own hard to reach audiences or visitors.
• Understanding how the connection between programming and marketing can support integrated and successful audience building.

MAXIMISING THE IMPACT OF YOUR BRAND AND DESIGN
Kim Gowland, Audience Development Manager, Manchester City Galleries

How do you combine what you know about your visitors / audiences with your understanding of your organisation’s brand and vision to design communications that really work? This session will demonstrate how to use your brand and design to maximum effect across different media and across different campaigns. Kim will show you how to adapt your design communications to appeal to different audience / visitor groups without diluting your brand or confusing your message.

Who is it for?
Those from all art forms wishing to get creative with their brand and design to achieve more effective communications with their audiences / visitors.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• How to build meaningful relationships with your audience / visitors through your brand and design
• How to generate audience / visitor interest and loyalty by infusing your marketing campaigns with brand values that they can relate to
• Practical skills that will help you keep your message strong and clear when working on different campaigns, with different groups and across different media

INVOLVING AND INSPIRING THE PUBLIC USING SOCIAL MEDIA
Hans de Kretser, Freelance consultant

How do you embrace new developments in digital media and make them work for your organisation and your audiences? Starting with research, Hans will lead you through the steps you need to take to build a relevant and effective social media campaign that reflects your organisation's vision, fulfils your marketing goals and reaches your target groups in the places they are likely to be online. You will gain an understanding of the time and resources you need to achieve tangible results and an insight into how this will impact on your day-to-day marketing activity. The session will include case studies from organisations from across the arts sector and top tips on how to make the most of the latest advances in new media.

Who is it for?
Those from all art forms wishing to understand how to use social media as an effective part of their marketing campaigns.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• Understanding of how to integrate relevant social media into your marketing activity
• Awareness of what it takes to use social media efficiently and effectively
• Practical skills that will help you research your options, develop your online profile and ensure that you are talking to the right groups in the right places

USING RESEARCH TO ENSURE YOU OFFER VALUE TO YOUR PUBLIC
Rachael Easton, Head of Audience Development and Leo Sharrock, Market Intelligence Manager, Audiences South

In the current economic climate, there is great deal of competition for consumers' leisure spend. Arts organisations, now more than ever, need to become customer-focused, putting our audiences and visitors at the heart of everything we do. But how can we do this if we don’t understand how our customers think and behave? Marketing research can offer true insight, allowing your business planning to be based on solid evidence, your marketing to be more strategic, and your communications more effective. This seminar will offer an overview of different research tools, so you can devise methodologies that will equip your organisation to better engage with its publics, and become more successful as a result!

Who is it for?
This session will be of value to those who have been working in arts marketing and audience development for some time, but wish to have a more in-depth understanding of how research can inform strategic marketing planning and approaches.

What will I learn?

• An insight into the crucial role of research in customer-focused organisations.
• Practical skills that will help you use research appropriately.
• An overview of the online resources that are available to help you.

CUSTOMER CREATIONS
Mel Larsen, Consultant

Mel has over 20 years' experience of engaging people in the arts and cultural activities. She will share her experiences of supporting arts organisations across the UK and Europe in working with attenders to develop new audiences. Her insights and practical tips will help anyone wanting to build an inspiring, relevant programme and long-term relationships with their public and audiences. This workshop is about ways of working with audiences to develop new marketing ideas and solutions. Using the examples of arts ambassadors, ideation groups and co-creation, Mel will lead an exploration of how these methods can help marketers think about things in a fresh way and bring the audience on to the team to help enhance audience development activities.

To link to Mel's arts ambassadors blog click HERE

Who is it for?
This workshop offers ideas, exploration plus practical examples. It is suitable for hands-on marketers and curious strategists.

What will I learn?

• How your audiences could help you develop your programme, marketing and services
• How to work with your existing fans to attract more attenders
• How this way of working can make your job easier (and sometimes harder)

HOW TO BE FRIENDS WITH YOUR AUDIENCE AND YOUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Jo Taylor, Head of Marketing and Louise Miles-Crust, Artistic Programme Manager, Wales Millenium Centre

A restructure at Wales Millennium Centre in 2008 was designed to bring about a closer relationship between the audiences and the art – by placing programming and marketing in the same department. Jo and Louise will share their own stories about how this is working and provide insight for those working in separate departments (ie marketing, programming, education etc). They will explore ways to harness the synergy between the audiences and the art, creating positive working partnerships and shared responsibilities across these divides. Delegates will work together to explore these ideas and begin to plan how they might respond working within their organisational structure.

Who is it for?
This workshop is aimed at those with 5-10 years experience, and in a role that could explore or develop these ideas internally and at a strategic, management level.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• Practical examples which demonstrate what can happen when the artistic vision and public expectation become perfectly matched.
• Ideas that can help within their scenarios, by learning from WMC's experience
• Understanding the differences and opportunities within their own organisations, and thus identify things to try, using these ideas

CONNECTING WITH THE PRESS
Roberta Doyle, Director of External Affairs, National Theatre Scotland with Andrew Lockyer, Series Producer, BBC Scotland

Good press relations are not just about the press release, nor is it about making friends or getting nice reviews all the time. Roberta Doyle, Director of External Affairs for National Theatre of Scotland, will lead an interactive session to explore the facets of the different relationships we need to develop with the media. Looking at the personal, organisational and corporate relationships that are necessary in order to understand how best to obtain editorial content (online and offline), and have constructive media relationships.

Who is it for?
This session will offer insights and tips on how to foster good relations with the press, as well as encourage debate and discussion of challenges and opportunities. It is suitable for anyone who has responsibility for media relations, particularly those with a management or strategic role.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• What journalists really need from us to be able to talk about our organisations and activities
An understanding of how to anticipate the media's needs in order to make the relationship mature

USING RESEARCH TO EFFECT ATTITUDINAL CHANGE AND INCREASE ENGAGEMENT
Claire Hyde, Head of Communications, National Maritime Museums

Claire will lead this conversation and debate, which uses a case study from the National Maritime Museum, to illustrate how buy-in from senior managers and other team members can be achieved through using visitor research. This case study will also demonstrate that sharing research and customer information across an organisation can support change across departments and break down silo working.

In 2007, the museum commissioned research into potential visitors and non-attenders. The project was completed at a time of significant change for the museum as it was joined by a new Director. This appointment was quickly followed by the appointment of several other senior management posts, notably a new Director of Exhibitions and Public Programmes and a Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The research became a catalyst for change as the organisation embarked on a period of fresh thinking and a new strategic planning process.

The result is a stronger shared understanding of how the museum's visitors see it and how they might interact with it in the future. Across the museum, there is a stronger sense of purpose and clarity as it embarks on a £35m capital project. This is an interesting example of an opportunity arising through good timing, and how solid, well-presented research can not only influence conversations and thinking, but impact positively on all areas of operation in practical ways. Claire will discuss how this was achieved and which lessons we can take away into our own organisations.

Who is it for?
This conversation will describe the process and outcomes, with the challenges and pitfalls identified, in order to demonstrate different ways of building support to create drivers for change. It will be of relevance and interest to those with ten years plus experience, in a role that can influence and affect policy and strategy at an organisational level.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• When research can be used as a catalyst for change
• Insights into the actual delivery of a programme of change
• How research could be used in your organisation to implement and manage change

BUILDING A VALUE FRAMEWORK
Chris Denton, Director of Marketing, Barbican

Chris has been working alongside his Artistic Director and Financial Director in creating a Value Framework model for the Barbican. This model is designed to assess artistic projects across a variety of measures, some financial, some relating to audience development, some relating to things like environmental issues, which enables the Barbican to attach a real value to artistic projects over and above a simple per seat subsidy model. Chris will present this work as a case study and will then lead delegates in a discussion about how this sort of model could be applied across other arts organisations in order to demonstrate the value of the arts to the public. The Barbican case study will inform a discussion about managing this kind of process, and the impact of developing a value framework at an organisational and departmental level.

Who is it for?
This session will be of relevance and interest to those with ten years plus experience, in a role that can influence and affect policy and strategy at an organisational level.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• How to talk about what value for money actually means in your organisation
• An understanding of how these principles can be applied for different situations
• Potential pitfalls and challenges; what a value framework cannot do

COMPREHENDING, CREATING AND COMMUNICATING VALUE
John Holden, Associate, Demos and Tim Baker, Director, Baker Richards Consulting

This session will raise the question, how do we see our business models developing in response to the changing roles of the expert, the market and the public in the current cultural landscape? John and Tim will provide two viewpoints on the role that arts professionals have in comprehending and delivering public value. John will present ideas from his latest publication, Democratic Culture, in which he explores the need to understand value from a range of different perspectives in order to start to square artistic vision with engaging audiences. He will share his definition of the terms 'culture' and 'value' for today's society and argue the need for a relationship based on mutual respect between the professionals and the public. Tim will explore how arts organisations can create and package relevant value in order to engage a diverse range of people with the arts. He will demonstrate the importance of understanding what customers want and the 'value' they are seeking, how to translate this knowledge into the 'value' we offer, and how to communicate this more effectively.

Who is it for?
Those who wish to join the debate about the challenges and changes that the sector faces

What will delegates gain from this session?

• Ideas about how arts organisations comprehend, create and communicate value
• Debate about how to honour artistic vision and deliver the value that the public wants
• The opportunity to discuss these ideas at a strategic level

USING DIGITAL MEDIA TO DEVELOP ARTISTIC CONTENT AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Rohan Gunatillake, Mission Models Money in conversation with Marcus Romer, Artistic Director, Pilot Theatre

Marcus Romer of Pilot Theatre Company and Rohan Gunatillake a Director of Mission Models Money will lead this interactive break-out session, talking about how new technology, and in particular social media, might be used throughout the sector in the development, production and marketing of the arts. The debate will consider how digital media might help us to continuously innovate with regard to both artistic content and audience or visitor engagement. They will use their own experience and practice to show how they are exploring and creating parallels between the creative process of developing theatre for performance and experimenting with digital technology to find new ways of doing things.

Who is it for?
This workshop offers ideas and discussion at a strategic level and is likely to be of interest and relevance to those with influence extending to SMT.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• Insights about the ways in which digital technology can support and develop the artistic practice and opportunities
• The implications of developing similar strategies – or not
• High level discussion with colleagues around the issues and possible learning to take back into your own scenario

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Martin Reynolds, Head of Marketing, Festivals Edinburgh

Please note that this session is now sold out.

How can we work in a collaborative way to build audiences, visitors and participants for the arts? Or, to put it another way, how can we turn those well-meaning but often-tactical groups and committees into successful, strategic platforms to collectively deliver in ways that were previously, or individually, unimaginable? Martin is tasked with creating the first joint marketing strategy and plan for Edinburgh's twelve major festivals. In this seminar, Martin will explore new ideas for joint working, planning and cross-promoting and will challenge delegates to consider the opportunities and needs for their own collaborations.

Who is it for?
This session offers ideas and lessons for discussion at a strategic level and is likely to be of interest and relevance to those with influence extending to senior management teams.

What will delegates gain from this session?

• Lessons learned by Festivals Edinburgh about how to successfully establish a coherent strategy for delivery with buy-in and clear commitment
• The implications of this business model and benefits of adopting / adapting it to different situations
• High level discussion with colleagues around the issues and ideas that can be taken back to delegates' own work scenarios and developed within other organisations

Run once each ...

1. Diane Ragsdale

2. Andy Ryans, Hallé with Dave Moutrey and Sarah Perks, Cornerhouse

3. Dan Germain, Innocent and Ed Sanders, YouTube / Google with Karen Cardy, Marketing Director, London Symphony Orchestra - This session is now sold out

For a reminder of the keynote sessions click HERE