Marketing Network Meeting

WAP's Marketing Network is meeting again tomorrow (Tuesday 15th) to talk more about the plan that came out of meeting one!!! Wiltshire Loves Arts!! We'll also see how everyone's coping with the Christmas rush! We'll be in the cafe at Salisbury Playhouse from 3pm, all marketeers welcome!

Marketing network

Following our great first Marketing Network session we are planning our second. We will be feeding back on a potential partnership project with VisitWiltshire, a County Wide profile raising campaign 'Wiltshire Loves Arts', an arts loyalty card ap and more.

If you are an arts marketeer and would like to be part of this work do come and join us. We will be meeting in Salisbury, please add your availability to this doodle diary.

http://www.doodle.com/eqapx3bc8n6nfgmd

Thanks all

Marketing Network

This is an evaluation star we each completed yesterday to see if we felt we had gained from the session,(the central circle is how we felt at the beginning of the mtg and the outer one at the end) well it's a bit more interesting than just answering questions!

Thank you to the marketeers who came along to our first network session. You never know how well these sessions will go but I think everyone felt this was a really useful time out from what often feel like an overwhelming workload. We have also come up with a plan to help us all play an active part in celebrating the amazing artists, and arts activity that goes on in Wiltshire. We are looking at WAP producing a brochure celebrating all things arty and cultural that Wiltshire has to offer to its residence and tourists. We will then all be able to raise each others profiles as well as our own at our venues and events. We also plan to attend tourist fayres, and large regional events such as Race days and agriculture shows, have a stand and shout about how fab Wiltshire is as a Cultural County! What do you think?

Don't forget we have a session for those of you tasked with fundraising at The Pound on Thursday at 6 (If anyone has trouble getting to this because they rely on public transport let me know), and a session for those of you working as individual artists or practitioners on October 12 at 11am (formally 2pm) in Bradford On Avon. Let me know if you would like to join us for either of these.

Support networks for anyone involved in arts marketing, fundraising, programming, working as an individual practitioners...

As it is so often the same faces, generally organisation Directors who sit around the networking tables, we thought it was about time we helped all of the other essential people who make the arts happen in Wiltshire, meet each other.

I am hoping to organise informal networking sessions for those involved in marketing, fundraising, programming, producing, venue managing, working as an individual practitioner or technician. Are there any others that you think might be useful?

I am aware that many of you wear more than one hat for your organisations so please feel free to be involved with as many of these networks as you feel is useful.

My suggestion for a loose agenda would be:

1. Introductions and sharing of areas of work (Under relevant heading, eg: marketing) that each person feels they/ their org is particular strong at and one that is more challenging
2. Informal response, advice, offers of support identified from sharing
2. Identify areas where there may be benefits in working together
3. Actions: Long and short term

An opportunity to continue more informal conversations, sharing thoughts, ideas and support over a glass of wine or soft drink will be facilitated following the main agenda.

These sessions will be confidential (with only actions minuted) so that all those who attend feel able to talk openly about their work in order that the groups can most effectively support each other.

These events will be FREE to WAP members and £5 for non members (remember it only cost £10 to become a WAP member for individuals and £30 for small organisations).

I have made a start by booking the following sessions:

Marketing network: Wednesday 28 September 4 - 6pm Salisbury Arts Centre
Fundraising network: Thursday 6 October 4 - 6pm Pound Arts Centre, Corsham
Individual Practitioners: Wednesday 12 October 2 - 4pm Fat Fowl, Bradford On Avon

Please do let any colleagues who don't receive WAP emails know about these sessions. It would also be useful for you to let me know which of the other networks suggested you might be interested in attending. Feel free to leave a comment on the blog or email me wiltshireartspromoters@gmail.com. Please let me know if you would like to attend either of these sessions by email also.

Training opps in Fundraising using Social Media

Grow have a half or full day training session delivered by Ask and Company Solutions! It's on September 22 from 9.30 in Trowbridge and costs £30 for the morning session and £50 for both (The afternoon session focuses on the use of Twitter)

Here's a link to more information: http://developecs.ning.com/events/ask-company-solutions-present-fundraising-using-social-networks-9

Highlights from the opening speaker at AMA

I've just watched the first key note speech made at this years Arts Marketing Associations conference, there were some great ideas. Here's a potted version:

All about mitigating the risk for our audience:

1. Think about where the event is, may get more engagement if an AGM or the like is held in a pub over a pint!
2. Offer a money back guarantee: 'If you don't like the event or leave at the interval we will give you your money back' A venue in the states did this and in 3 years had not refund requests (alternatively you can offer a 'credit back' guarantee giving the audience member credit to see/ take part in another event).

Research in the states shows that 56% say they are going to/ taking part in the arts because of time and only 16% because of money!

Ideas to tackle people's time poverty:
1. Sell an event in two halves where appropriate, if Orchestra playing different pieces before and after an interval give people to opportunity to see the first half, they may then want to go to dinner, or see the second half, might need to get the children to bed first!
2. Programme/ create shorter pieces, eg 1 hour, have two performance per night say 7 and 9. Less rehearsal, cheaper programming, more people, more money.
3. Have an opening party not reception, (reception sounds dry) go on until 11pm, more attractive to younger people to begin night later then go on to clubs etc.
4. plan an evening event to begin with drinks, 70 min show done by 9 then people able to have late dinner etc.

We are challenged to look at the experience our audience has coming to our event/ venue. should be so exciting that people would go even without an event happening!

People need to have a clear perception of what the benefits of attending an event are! Free tickets is not enough. This is most effectively shared from person to person, is not only a job for marketers.

1. Communicate with your ticket buyers 3 weeks, 1 week and 2 days before they attend an event, this is about creating a 'readiness to receive' to make the whole experience better resulting in them encouraging other to attend and to attend other events themselves.
2. In The Washington Post they put out a call for amateur musicians to perform with the national orchestra. They downloaded the music, self certified that they were able to play it, then 100 amateur musicians performed with 25 professional musicians. Result was people paid to take part and friends and family came so events sold out!
3. Use testimonies on websites and other marketing, quote and picture of someone talking about what the get from your event or venue will give people confidence to buy tickets and encourage donations.
4. Get your audience to vote for a piece to be performed, having engaged at that stage more likely to attend and encourage other to also.
5. Don't save best parking for VIP's, Easy parking for new comers, give a parking pass and pack with first tickets, more important that they are able to find their way.
6. Look at your exchange policy, States research showed that Orchestra's with most liberal exchange policy did the best. People won't bother booking if they fear they'll be penalised if something prevents them from making it.

I think there are some fantastic ideas there. Please do share these with your marketing teams, If you're lucky enough to have them, or better still encourage them to watch the AMA webcasts (Link is on earlier post).