Working together
Issue 45 / January 2012
The current rapid pace of change is not only happening with regard to technology but includes audience and visitor behaviour, patterns of demand and visitor profiles. The increasing diversity of artistic practice, and the extent to which people now expect experiences to be participatory or customised, have introduced a whole new approach to working with the public.
New ways of generating data and insights have arisen, improving our ability to understand audiences, but also adding to our workload and to the list of things we need to share with others in the organisation.
The impact of changing politics and the current depressing economic situation has also led to many arts organisations changing core elements such as business models, income streams, staffing structures and budgets. And many have revisited the company culture and the way in which they innovate and experiment. These changes have proved incredibly positive for some arts organisations while for others the pace of change has proved to be pretty exhausting! Now, more than ever, we need to work together for support and success.
In this issue’s Research Round-up, Heather Maitland asks, ‘Are marketers having an identity crisis?’, ‘Should we be artists or scientists?’ Turn to page 4 for some thoughts and conclusions.
Kingsley Jayasekera reveals how Sadler’s Wells has embraced the dawn of digital technology (page 6) and Baba Israel describes Contact’s Re:Con project for developing young people (page 8).
Tom Hunter brings us seven insanely great ideas for managing internal innovation on page 10, while Alasdair Cant gives some top tips for boosting morale in the workplace on page 14.
Matthew Austin considers the rise of producer as marketer and how we can work together for shared success (page 16), while Mark Wright wonders if the phrase of the moment, keep calm and carry on, is really the best idea (page 18) and Lisa Baxter (page 20) offers some practical team-building ideas.
Dancing her way into the spotlight (below) and the AMA office is Jacqueline Haxton, our recently appointed new Events and Membership Administrator, and in this issue’s Just a Minute (page 22) we get to know Jane Richardson, Marketing Manager at the British Library.
Any thoughts, comments or suggestions for JAM? Please email the Editor.