Last month I attended the Extending The Margins: New Technologies for New Audiences conference in Ghent at the amazing Vooruit. To view resources from the event you can head over to the Audiences Europe Network for videos, presentations, audio and more.

The branding for the event centred on an audience decked out in 3D spectacles, we even got a pair of our very own – I must admit I was a little disappointed nobody wowed us with a presentation in three dimensions… will that be a future development of death by PowerPoint?

The 3D theme got me thinking about my three D’s for developing new audiences through new technologies, they go something like this:

1) Delight - Aim to delight the audience when implementing new technologies to engage with them. The Royal Opera House have achieved this with their extremely cute iPhone application The Show Must Go On. Their aim with app is to extend their content, reputation and talent to new audiences and surely this one is going to appeal with little and big kids.

2) Data – Not wanting to get all big brother but new technologies do provide us a wealth of opportunities to access more data and insights into audiences. This enables us to target attenders more effectively and identify gaps or areas for growth. The work of CultuurNet.be with their UiTid application and work with smart cards are excellent demonstrations of this. For example UiTid assists folks with an interest in art and culture choose the events best suited to them, by analysing their web behaviour to provide custom recommendations.

3) Do it – Get stuck in and start experimenting. Using new technologies does’t have to cost the earth as there are a multitude of free tools available and don’t be afraid of failing forward.

I recently tweeted my New Year’s Eve pud, Jaffa Cake Trifle, and was asked to share the recipe… believe me very little culinary skill in required for this so anyone should be able to give this a try.

Ingredients 

• 1x small bottle of Cointreau
• 2x boxes of 12 Jaffa Cakes
• 1x tin of mandarin segments in juice
• 2x packets of orange jelly
• 6x 150g pots of Ambrosia chocolate custard
• 3x 200g tubs of whipped cream
• 1x Terry’s Chocolate Orange
• Chocolate sprinkles
• Orange and Lemon slices

1) Soak the sponge of 12 Jaffa Cakes in Cointreau then use them to line the base of a large bowl

2) Open and drain the tin of mandarin segments, use the fruit to create a layer on top of the Jaffa Cakes at the bottom of the bowl

3) Mix up the first packet of jelly as per the instructions decant over the layer of mandarin segments. Refrigerate the bowl and leave the jelly to set

4) Once the jelly has solidified make up the second packet and pour on top of the first layer, refrigerate again and leave to set

5) When all the jelly has fully cooled take the second box of Jaffa Cakes and equally space these around the edge of the bowl with the chocolate side facing the side of the bowl

6) Open the pots of chocolate custard and spoon the contents over the jelly then pop back in the fridge

7) After the custard has been left to chill then remove the bowl from the fridge and dollop the whipped cream on top

8) Use the Terry’s Chocolate Orange, chocolate sprinkles and the orange (and lemon) slices to decorate

9) Finally grab a big spoon, serve and eat

T’other week I attended the Manchester (just one of many taking place across the region) Arts Marketing Association Tweet Meet at the Royal Exchange Theatre. As well as being a good opportunity to catch-up with colleagues from across the region it was a chance for attendees learnt about the Exchange’s Twitic campaign.

The focus of the Twitic project was the theatre’s production of Edward II, that was staged earlier this year. It involved:

• Posting requests for folks to get involved onto Twitter via the @rxtheatre account – asking wannabe ‘theatre critics’ to tweet back to the Royal Exchange about why they should be picked
• Seeking out key influential tweeters and targeting them directly with tweets to participate
• The offer for the Twitics: free hospitality at the venue pre-show and a ticket to see the production on a set night
• In return: get them to tweet about the show – before, after and during the interval – no tweeting seats in this house > “More theaters reserve seats for Tweeters”

The campaign resulted in some interesting outputs which included the influential local tweeters being less receptive to initiative than Followers or people who came across the messages via their own networks. Also on the night of the event it was noted how much people engaged with it as a social event with attendees meeting for the first and chatting like old friends.

Following on from learning about the Twitic campaign the group discussed a number of other pressing topics/concerns for arts organistions surrounding Twitter, such as crisis management, evaluation and measuring ROI, organisational development and customer service. The AMA also directed us to this video featuring Vicki Allpress Hill from The Audience Connection, who provide strategic marketing services for the arts sector. Vicki presents a matrix outlining the ways in which Twitter can be used in the arts. However I do question whether an arts organisation can be on Twitter, or any other social network site for that matter, with low organisational commitment if they want to see real impact?

Engaging Art Audiences via Twitter

Image c/o Scott Beale / Laughing Squid licensed under Creative Commons.

Click to view slideshow.

“Everyone needs a cat video on the internet”

Last week I attended my first Arts Marketing Association Digital Marketing Day hosted in the shiny surroundings of Sadler’s Wells. The day was crammed with content for start to finish – with the necessary pauses for tea, biscuits and sandwiches, and most excellent they were too! The speakers on the day, that provided the food for thought, included:

• Neil Perkin, Only Dead Fish
• Rachel Coldicutt, Caper
• Susan Halligan, Halligan Consulting formerly New York Public Library
• Allegra Burnette, Museum of Modern Art – MoMA

With so much to take in on the day it has been difficult to condense that down into a snappy blog post however here goes with my top 5 take aways from the day:

1) Marketers need to move away from creating slogans to telling stories – Audiences want experiences they can connect with not just messages pushed to them.

2) People aren’t going to come and watch adverts - Video content has huge potential for art organisations if they are willing to invest in ‘programmes’ rather than trailers and vox-pops – the opportunity of mass media brings with it the opportunity of mass appeal.

3) You need people to create good content - It’s the ‘social’ in social media that makes it work. Not everyone will take to Facebook or Twitter or making videos, play to people’s strengths.

4) Users at the centre - Whether it is producing videos, building a mobile application, establishing a presence on a new social network it is essential to keep your audience at the core of any developments.

5) You’re always in beta - As the tech changes at ever increasing speed we’re all on a steep learning curve and perhaps we’ll never have all the answers. There is no shame in failing forwards… after all is that not often how we get to the best ideas?

Oh and don’t forget your cat video… *meow!*

There’s a new meet up in town, InstaMeet Manchester, part of the third worldwide InstaMeet day - on Wednesday 26th October 2011 from 7pm. All the action will be taking place at Pin Up Bowling, Spinningfields.

Even if you can’t make it on the night there is still the opportunity to get involved. The organisers are hoping to turn the venue into a temporary gallery to showcase the best images snapped by Manchester Instagram’rs. Simply e-mail your contributions through to instameetMCR@gmail.com.

If all goes well the hope is to turn this into a regular meet-up for the local Instagram community, so keep up-to-date with the latest event news via Meetup.

Image c/o Bandolero

In my career before the arts came the MICE industry. For those of you not in the know this is the world of meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. Since moving away from the sector I have still kept an eye on it from a distance, keen to see how it adopts social media in its practice – after all the business tourism game is a social industry at its very heart.

On the buyer side, within the MICE industry, social media is increasingly being used to engage delegates and increase attendance at events. The Association sector in particularly seem to have embraced the medium to create online networks surrounding their membership and conferences, for example this can be seen in the work of the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

This social trend seems to be reflected less so over in the supplier side with it appearing that convention bureaus, venues, event management companies etc. are still struggling to get to grips with the opportunities social media presents. One convention bureau trying to realise the potential is Seoul, however the MICE industry’s caution surrounding social media is reflected in the comments of their Deputy Chief of PR and Marketing Communications, Martin Kim;

“There are many who are less than optimistic about the role of social media in the business-to-business based meetings industry.”

[Source: Conference & Incentive Travel]

This is further highlighted by the recent launch of the C&IT Social Media Survey, which is aiming to undercover the how, what and why in regards to event planners use of social networks – to uncover what might be the potential social media ROI for suppliers.

Although not immersed in the industry these days (therefore I stand to be corrected) it seems from suppliers that there is little attempt being made to reach beyond using social media as another channel by which to broadcast a marketing message. Hence here I present three areas where I believe convention bureaus, conference venues and so on are missing out when it comes to social networks;

1) Building relationships / community creation: MICE suppliers can use social channels to position themselves as experts within the sector – creating communities of interest around the key issues for conference buyers – technology, sustainability, income generation for example. In offering this insight for free it raises the awareness of the destination/venue with buyers as a leader within the field.

2) Enhancing delegate experience: Social media has proven to be an effective tool for customer service for a variety of brands including Naked Wines, KLM and Zappos. Destinations and venues have the opportunity to engage conference delegates before and during events to help them orientate with the city they are visiting – with the chance to make a real impact on their stay.

3) Evaluation & Research: Social networking sites not only provide a platform by which to ‘talk’, they also provide a mechanism by which to listen. Conference suppliers and tourism authorities can see how a destination and/or venue is received by delegates by monitoring feedback left on social sites. This intelligence can then by used to identify any areas for improvement. In addition these channels can be used to identify opportunities to attract new events to cities through locating ambassadors and discovering new events.

Image c/o anifan licensed under Creative Commons.

As the lazy approach to post-conference blogging I’ve collated my tweets from Culture24′s Let’s Get Real event on Storify. If you didn’t attend you can read the final report from their action research project looking at how to evaluate online success on the newly launched We Are Culture24 website.

As an aside Dick Penny from the Watershed took delegates for a lunchtime tour of See No Evil and I thought I’d share a few pics of the art…

Click to view slideshow.

Today I attended a Media Trust session (delivered by Ed Cox of Reason Digital) on the theme of Developing A Digital Strategy. The seminar was a useful refresher of the key components that form the framework of a digital strategy. What came across to me most during the day was the focus on the audience. Working for an audience development agency it was heartening to hear audiences being put at the core where it comes to digital.

Keeping this in mind here are four questions to ask yourself and your colleagues when looking to develop a digital strategy. In considering these questions it should help ensure you create an online presence for your organisation that meets the needs of your end users – in turn benefiting your company:

• WHO is your audience? – Age, gender, location, engagement level with your organisation, interests etc. etc. And do you have multiple audiences who you need to meet the needs of?

• HOW do your audience(s) engage online? – Are they digitally switched on? Do they participate online in a particular way for example do they only consume content? Or do they share or even produce their own content?*

• WHERE does your audience(s) ‘hangout’ online? – Take a step back and monitor which digital channels your target audience participate in/on. After all why have a presence on Facebook, for example, if the people you want to ‘talk’ to aren’t there in the first place – go to them.

• WHAT do your audience(s) want to achieve online? – Think about what your audience wants to do online, for example if you are a charity and they are on your website to donate make it as easy as possible then both you and they get the desired result.

* For more about how people engage online see Social Technographics and for arts organisations Digital audiences: engagement with arts and culture online.

Image c/o batmoo licensed under Creative Commons.