For the past 20 years I have been working with a range of individuals and organisations, from small / mid to large scale, giving venues and companies a clearer picture of who their audiences are, devising audience development strategies and increasing audience numbers.

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Clients include BEAF 2019, an independent arts festival in Bournemouth with both indoor and outdoor elements, for which I created a strategic audience analysis and marketing / communications plan. As a result, media coverage for the festival increased considerably, and BEAF 2019 was visited by over 20,000  people, doubling the figures from the 2018 festival (e.g. Dorset Magazine, Impact Report).

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From 2019 I have also been working with New English Ballet Theatre on their audience development, campaign planning and social media strategy; in 2020 especially with their anniversary campaign, #NEBTTurnsTen, as well as a move to presenting digital work due to the effects of COVID-19. As a result, NEBT's digital audience engagement is increasing, and relations with presenting venues are becoming  more audience focused.

It is important to be recognisable, to have a style, tone of voice and features that clearly represent you or your organisation.

 

I have been involved with rebranding projects at a number of arts organisations, most recently as project manager for Pavilion Dance South West’s rebranding, which merged  two different public identities into one. The outcome was a strong, recognisable brand that I embedded successfully into all  areas of the organisation. See examples in the gallery. (Brand designed by Revolting / further developed by CuCo).

When the Corona crisis hit we all had to upskill quickly for a world that suddenly relied on digital communication in an unprecedented way. But whilst we are all learning a great deal at the moment, we still need long-term strategies. “Doing digital” well takes time, consideration and careful planning, but digital channels are creative audience engagement tools that are worth investing in.

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Digital has long been an essential part of what I do and I am happy to work with you to develop your ideal digital portfolio.

 

I have developed websites for various organisations and individuals, and was project manager for the relaunch of  Pavilion Dance South West's site in 2013. It merged two websites into one and created a digital hub with strong branding and functionality (see gallery).

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I also lead on developing PDSW’s digital marketing strategy. As a result PDSW's social media became a more proactive, content-led audience engagement tool.

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Photo: @felipepelaquim on Unsplash

Artists and arts organisations have fascinating stories to tell, about the communities they serve, about their creative process, about the artists involved in their productions or the people behind their exhibitions.

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What are the stories you'd like to tell? I have led post-show and pre-production talks and learning events for adults, children and young people, from dance to archaeology.

Plus, I'm always happy to don a costume if a project requires it.

 

In whatever way you want to talk to your audiences - let's tell your stories together.

As Heritage Manager at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds I devised and produced a series of learning and public engagement projects and events that helped to diversify and increase audiences for the theatre's heritage offers.

 

These included curating a set of permanent interpretation panels and displays (Design by Kersey and Balme).

 

I also developed a series of guided tours and public lectures and devised and project-managed other public engagement events such as open days and on-stage demonstrations of Georgian stage craft.

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At Ballet Kiel, a mid-scale modern ballet company resident at the local opera house, I produced the annual ballet gala with national and international guests, sponsored by the company's Friends' organisation.

Are you looking for someone to write engaging copy for different formats and audiences?

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I have extensive experience in writing across a range of subjects and media, including publications on archaeology, gender, dance, drama and historic theatres, in formats ranging from academic books to exhibition catalogues and theatre programs, and from live interpretation scripts to blogs, marketing copy, press releases, funding applications and strategic documents.

Download list of selected publications

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As a certified proofreader and copy-editor I will make sure that what you have to say is error-free and hits the right note, and if you also require design services, I am happy to produce print-ready artwork in various formats.