Strategies for European Cultural Projects' Audience Development

1. 2015 Strategies for Audience Development and best practices in European cultural projects 23 of March, 2016. Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine Eglė Deltuvaitė, Head of Creative Europe Desk in Lithuania

2. 2015 CONGRATULATIONS

3. 2015 Why are we talking about the audience development? • Descending and aging audience • More and more difficult to attract people who are 25-55 years old • Weakening artistic and cultural education in schools • Competition with other sectors

4. 2015 Why are we talking about the audience development ? • Impact of new technologies • Responsibility for taxpayers. • Etc. • Entertainment sector (escape from reality) • versus • cultural sector (to analyze reality)

5. 2015 Holistic approach to Audience Development • Audience development – EC priority which helps European artists/cultural professionals and their works: • reach as many people as possible across Europe; • extend access to cultural works to under-represented groups. • It also seeks to help cultural organisations adapt to the need to engage in new and innovative ways with audiences.

6. 2015 Concept of Audience Development Audience development includes cultural, educational, social and economic aspects. OrganisationAudience

7. 2015 What are the aims of audience development? • Keep existing audiences • widen audience • diversify audience • reach unrepresented groups • deepen the relationship with your the current audience • improve the experience for both existing and future audiences

8. 2015 Strategies for audience development • Outreach and accessibility • Education • Partnerships • User engagement • Audience segmentation • Pricing • Geography

9. 2015 Outreach and Accessibility • Just a first step… • Europe upholds strong principles of equal opportunity for everyone in society, including people with special needs. The arts sector and the broader community are very supportive but in practice there are still barriers to full participation. • Homeless, periphery, children, youth, prisoners, outskirts, disabled and etc. • Digital opera/theatre in cinemas

10. 2015 Education • More education in culture organisation, more culture in education system • Partnerships with universities, schools, kindergartens… • Thematic sessions • Lectures, meetings, workshops, camps ant etc. • Example. Young critics – one of the most successful strategies.

11. 2015 Partnerships • Cooperation with different sectors and groups (science, new technologies, business, tourism, ecology and etc....) • Example: Nature Music Hall, Latvia - https://vimeo.com/22999666 • Example LudwigMuseum inHungary – partnership with a restaurant during the exhibition of photographer MartinMunkácsy.

12. 2015 Partnerships(II) • Culture organisations of a certain city create a common proposal for the audience. Possibility of including tourism agencies. • Schools – cooperation for activities for the youth, f.e. night at the museum, gallery, theatre.. • Organisations taking care of disadvantaged groups and/or at risk of exclusion, including people with disabilities and their families, homeless people, elderly people, migrants, women who have suffered violence, prison inmates, etc.

13. 2015 Audience engagement • Stages for engagement: creation, presentation, reflection • Engagement of audience into the process of creation - TorinoFilmLab, script writing via facebook. • The ZuidpleinTheatre inRoterdam – client is always right in social sense, theatre adapting to social environment.

14. 2015 Audience engagement (II) • „Opera Europa“ – club of opera ambassadors using snow ball method for enlarging existing audience. • HamburgThaliatheatre invited public to express their opinion about the plays it would like to see next season.

15. 2015 Audience engagement (III) • Latvian national opera created programme for children – “Opera Fairytales”, where children can create operas. • V & A museum, London. Hands-on tasks in the museum. • Big pit, Wels – excursions by ex-miners.

16. 2015 Audience engagement (IV) • PI “Wolf Will”project „To be Jewish“. • Antony Gormley’s, One & Other. • Trafalgar square, 4 columns, 25 000 volunteers. 2400 people standing on them for one hour doing whatever they want. 55 000 comments, 1 million visitors.

17. 2015 Audience engagement (V)HungarianNationalPhilharmonicOrchestra, ChoirandLibrary • having an insight into the life of the philharmonic • getting presents when entering new members • perform 35-40 concerts outside Budapest • public rehearsals before first nights are open for the public for free • Concert with a discussion

18. 2014 Audience engagement (VI)HungarianNationalPhilharmonicOrchestra, ChoirandLibrary • Saturday afternoon chamber concerts for families • Pre-concert talks that are an open discussion about an art piece before performing it. • Concerts just for youth. • Online concerts for symbolic price. • Sharing the space.

19. 2015 Segmentation • Process during which audience is divided into groups, considering the specific event, demographics, psichogeography, communication and use of media skills. • Challenge to adapt for culture sector • Independent versus talkative person

20. 2015 Pricing • How much does it cost? • Special attention for youth and families (UK – for free, Austria – free up to 19 years.) • Discounts for groups • HungryforArtsandCulture – Caritasspecial program by which private donors compensate expenses for organisations which deal with unrepresented groups.

21. 2015 Geography • to bringarts to the peopleandnot vice versa? • Transport as a challenge • Disabled persons • Opportunities: • mobile events, tours • Create together with audience, in their working space • Free transport

22. 2015 Types of intervention for audience development • Communication and media • Research and statistical data • Capacity building • Human resources and funding • Organisation’s structure and responsibilities

23. 2015 Impact of social media for culture organisations

24. 2015 Communication (I) • Data shows that it is hard to find information • Social networks; • Mobiles(sms, apps) • websites(V and A, 2 mln. muziejaus lankytojų, 20 mln. – svetainės). • newsletters • E-advertising • Youtube • Flickr • Twitter • Blogs

25. 2015 Communication (II) • Online talks • RSS • Traditional media; • Online TV • Mouth-to mouth (ambassadors networks) • Invitations for potential sponsors – using unsold tickets

26. 2015 Research and data • There is a shortage of reliable and comprehensive audience data for meaningful analysis on audiences on EU level • It is important to know not only who is coming to your events, but also who is not and why. • Cooperate with universities or colleges in research field • Special agency in UK • V & A museum uses direct interviewing method „what, whyandhow“.

27. 2015 Capacity building • More capacity building for artists and arts organizations is required in the areas of audience research, marketing, customer relationship management and technology application. It is not only because of lack of know-how, but also lack of strategy, funding and human recourses. • Mots of staff members are recruited considering their management skills and not competencies in audience development.

28. 2015 Human resource and funding • In most cases, it is difficult to count how much is spent on audience development and how many people are working with a/d. • Organisations are not encouraged and supported to implement research, marketing and management of relationships with audience. • Lack of funding and competition are challenges for audience development as well.

29. 2015 Structuresandresponsibilities • There is agreement that structures should change and more efforts given to audience development, but: • who should be responsible? • Who should provide the leadership and adequate and effective resources allocation? • Are there adequate/complementary government regulations regarding audience development? • Should there be more ‘joined-up’ efforts in Europe around audience development?

30. 2015 Tactics (II) • Do not change everything at once! It is necessary to take a risk, but in small steps and to accept unsuccessful ones. • If you look for cooperation with mass media, at first, go to the ones which already love you. • People, which practice (or used to) arts and culture are more likely to attend culture events and be participative.

31. 2015 Tactics • If organisation wants to change its relations with audience, it must to change itself first. • Three factors for change: possibility, competencies and motivation. • To include creative/culture staff in AD process - usually they have ideas which are not in the heads of managers.

32. 2015 Tactics (III) • Try to look at your programme trough the eyes of audience • Connect with your audience emotionally • People do not want art, they want art experience. They expect to be able to make decisions. Conditions must be created that they could identity themselves with the organisation and say, “oh, this is really about me”.

33. 2015 Tactics (V) • To pay attention, not only seek for it • Nontraditional events in nontraditional spaces with nontraditional public using nontraditional communication tools…. • To raise questions, not give answers. • Surprise: Santa Klaus asking for money, give fee for attendance…

34. 2015 Tactics (IV) • Neighborhood. Audience should feel that organisation is a good neighbor which cares about environment. • Routine is enemy… • Lecture about opera for children in singing opera • Text on the window„weneedcustomers – noexperience is needed“

35. 2015 Tactics (VI) • Do not offer the same experience in a new package • To share stories, to listen • Dinner together with artists • People do not treat themselves as audience

36. 2015 Tactics (VII) • To make staff members (f.e. supervisors) part of the programme. • AD strategies in every segment of organisationand in every activity • What we “know” what audience feel is not necessarily truth. • To reach non-audiences, we should leave our territory not only physically, but also psychologically. • ArtichokeTrust– light performances on crowds.

37. 2015 Tactics (VIII) • Literature project http://www.openingthebook.com • We do not want people feel guilty that they do not read. • To mix books in the shelves • Create thematic stands, f.e. according to experiences. • Change furniture • People’s recomendations– I want a bookaboutsomebodymoremiserablethan me (whichbook.net)

38. Common Routes of Euro-Mediterranean Music

39. Red noses – doctors clouns

40. Versopolis – EU poetry platform

41. Travelling Youth Orchestra • https://vimeo.com/47501493

42. 2015 Best EU funded practices http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/projects/

43. 2015 Some things to have in mind all the time

44. 2015 • Europe 2020 - European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth • European agenda for culture in a globalizing world (EC) • Call of proposals, guidelines, • Researches, reports, methodologies • ... Read, read and read...

45. 2015 Think European – European dimension

46. 2015 Understand how programme works

47. 2015 Have legally existing organisation

48. 2015 Interesting, innovative idea

49. 2015 It is not just great idea… Does your project correspond with the priorities of the programme and strand?

50. 2015 Not sum of national projects – European added value