Patternmakers 30/9/22 Patternmakers 30/9/22

Privacy Collection Statement for NORPA research participants

This page lets you know about the NORPA audience survey and what information of yours we hold, what we do with it, who we will disclose it to and how you can access the personal information we hold about you.

About the study

Northern Rivers Performing Arts (“NORPA”) is undertaking audience research to understand its audiences and identify opportunities for reaching more people in the future.

This survey is for past attendees of NORPA, including those who haven’t attended an event there recently. We want to hear from people from all backgrounds.

This survey is being delivered by NORPA’s research partner for this study, Patternmakers Pty Ltd (Australia, ABN 97 627 469 649). Patternmakers is a research agency based in Sydney, Australia. It specialises in research related to culture, creativity and community. You can read more about its work here.

Participating is completely optional. Your survey responses will be anonymous and confidential.

Below, you can read the privacy collection statement for the study.

Privacy collection statement

Introduction

Patternmakers respects and upholds your rights under the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ("Privacy Act"). As an Australian research organisation, Patternmakers also adheres to the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2014 (“Code”). For more information about the Privacy Act, the Australian Privacy Principles and the Code click here.

On the first page of the survey, you will be presented with a privacy statement. By clicking ‘Next’ to Start the survey, you are indicating that you acknowledge the statement and consent to this Privacy Collection Statement.

The survey will ask about your views on attending NORPA shows and the organisation in general, as well as your level of interest in attending arts and culture events in future. To help interpret responses, the survey will also as you some questions about your demographic and health information, however it will not as for any personally-identifiable information like your name or email address.

Your survey responses will be anonymous.

This anonymous data will be collected and stored offshore via Alchemer (formerly SurveyGizmo) at www.alchemer.com, a well-known survey software platform based in the USA. Alchemer LLC is committed to complying with international regulations including GDPR. You can read more about Alchemers’ Privacy Policy here www.alchemer.com/privacy.

At no point, will Alchemer ask for your name, phone number or email address or any personally identifiable information. Please take care in your written answers that you don’t provide personalised information.

The survey is set up to stop the storage of any type of identifying information like Geodata, IP address, and email invite data.

If the survey is anonymous, how will I enter the prize draw?

At the end of the survey, you will be given the option to go in the draw to win a prize. Running a prize helps us motivate participation and hear from a range of people.

If you click next, you will be taken to a separate, and secure platform Checkbox Survey at www.checkbox.com, where you will have the option to enter the draw by providing your email address. Your email address will be stored separately from your survey response, so your responses will remain anonymous and confidential. This is being administered via Checkbox Survey (Australia), which complies with the Australian Privacy Act.

Checkbox Survey data is stored securely on servers hosted in Australia. You can read more about Checkbox Privacy Policy here: www.checkbox.com/privacy_policy/ and their data hosting in AWS centres here.

You may also be asked if you are open to participating in further research on this topic, as the researchers, Patternmakers, maintain a Research Participant Database, which you can join to participate in future audience research projects. Communications will be sent to your email via Sendinblue (EU) or MailChimp (US) who uphold your privacy rights and comply with international privacy regulations including GDPR. You can read more about the privacy policies here; Checkbox Survey (Australia), Sendinblue (EU) and MailChimp (US). Your email address will only ever be used for research, and will never be used, or sold, for any other purpose.

What are the purposes for which Patternmakers use, handle and disclose your personal information?

We will only use and disclose your personal information for the purpose of conducting our research and in accordance with our company’s overall Privacy Policy. We will not use or disclose your personally identifiable information provided for research for the purpose of advertising, promotions or direct marketing activities.

If you have participated in our research, we will only re-contact you if you were informed of this, opt-ed in, or we have valid reasons to believe a genuine research concern warrants such re-contact. You can opt-out or unsubscribe at any time.

Questions

If you have any questions about this Privacy Collection Statement or our Privacy Policy then we ask that you contact us immediately using the following email: info@thepatternmakers.com.au

Patternmakers 19/8/22 Patternmakers 19/8/22

Privacy Collection Statement for Centre for Creativity Survey Respondents

This page lets you know about the Centre for Creativity Feedback Survey and what information of yours we hold, what we do with it, who we will disclose it to and how you can access the personal information we hold about you.

About the survey

Sydney Opera House’s Centre for Creativity (“Centre for Creativity”) is surveying past attendees for feedback on your experiences. As we begin a new year, the Centre for Creativity is reflecting on the impact of their work, and they'd love to know what you took away.

This survey is being delivered by the Centre for Creativity’s research partner for this study, Patternmakers Pty Ltd (Australia, ABN 97 627 469 649). Patternmakers is a research agency based in Sydney, Australia. It specialises in research related to culture, creativity and community. You can read more about its work here.

Participating is completely optional. Your survey responses will be anonymous and confidential.

Below, you can read the privacy collection statement for the study.

Privacy collection statement

Introduction

The survey will ask about you about your experiences at the Centre for Creativity and any ideas you might have for the venues’s future. To help interpret responses, the survey will also as you some questions about your demographic information, however it will not as for any personally-identifiable information like your name or email address.

Your survey responses will be anonymous.

The survey is set up to stop the storage of any type of identifying information like Geodata, IP address, and email invite data.

If the survey is anonymous, how will I enter the prize draw?

At the end of the survey, you will be given the option to go in the draw to win a prize. Running a prize helps us motivate participation and hear from a range of people.

If you choose to enter the draw, and click next, you will be taken to a separate, secure platform called Checkbox Survey at www.checkbox.com, where you will have the option to enter the draw by providing your email address.

Your email address will be stored separately from your survey response, so your survey responses will remain anonymous.

What are the purposes for which Patternmakers use, handle and disclose your personal information?

We will only use and disclose your personal information for the purpose of conducting our research and in accordance with our company’s overall Privacy Policy.

Questions

If you have any questions about this Privacy Collection Statement or our Privacy Policy then we ask that you contact us immediately using the following contact details:

Jodie Bombardier, Operations Manager: info@thepatternmakers.com.au

Patternmakers 22/11/21 Patternmakers 22/11/21

Privacy Collection Statement for Dementia Australia Survey Participants

This page lets you know about the Dementia Australia survey and what information of yours we hold, what we do with it, who we will disclose it to and how you can access the personal information we hold about you.

About the study

Dementia Australia is working on improving its websites. They have a number of different websites for different purposes and this research is designed to find out how they could work better in future.

This survey is for people living with dementia, their families and friends, healthcare workers and members of the community. We want to hear from people from all backgrounds.

This survey is being delivered by Dementia Australia’s research partner for this study, Patternmakers Pty Ltd (Australia, ABN 97 627 469 649). Patternmakers is a research agency based in Sydney, Australia. It specialises in research related to culture, creativity and community. You can read more about its work here.

Participating is completely optional. Your survey responses will be anonymous and confidential.

Below, you can read the privacy collection statement for the study.

Privacy collection statement

Introduction

The survey will ask about your views on Dementia Australia’s websites. To help interpret responses, the survey will also as you some questions about your demographic and health information, however it will not as for any personally-identifiable information like your name or email address.

Your survey responses will be anonymous.

The survey is set up to stop the storage of any type of identifying information like Geodata, IP address, and email invite data.

If the survey is anonymous, how will I enter the prize draw?

At the end of the survey, you will be given the option to go in the draw to win a prize. Running a prize helps us motivate participation and hear from a range of people.

Your email address will be stored separately from your survey response, so your survey responses will remain anonymous.

What are the purposes for which Patternmakers use, handle and disclose your personal information?

We will only use and disclose your personal information for the purpose of conducting our research and in accordance with our company’s overall Privacy Policy.

Questions

If you have any questions about this Privacy Collection Statement or our Privacy Policy then we ask that you contact us immediately using the following contact details:

Jodie Bombardier, Operations Manager: info@thepatternmakers.com.au

Patternmakers 15/9/21 Patternmakers 15/9/21

Privacy Collection Statement and Information for Participants

The Audience Outlook Monitor is being delivered in Australia as a collaboration between arts and culture organisations, and two research organisations, Wolf Brown (USA) and Patternmakers (Aus).

This page lets you know what personal information of yours we hold, what we do with it, who we will disclose it to and how you can access the personal information we hold about you. You can also find out here how to change inaccurate personal information and how to opt out of receiving communications from us.

About the study

The Audience Outlook Monitor is designed to help artists and cultural organisations adapt to the needs of audiences, in the context of changing conditions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is being delivered in Australia as a collaboration between arts and culture organisations, and two research organisations, WolfBrown (USA) and Patternmakers Pty Ltd (Australia, ABN 97 627 469 649).

Patternmakers is a research agency based in Sydney, Australia. It specialises in research related to culture, creativity and community. You can read more about its work here. WolfBrown is an agency based in the USA, which provides market research and consulting support for arts and culture organisations. You can read more about its work here.

The Audience Outlook Monitor is being delivered with support from the Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Victoria, Create NSW, Department of the Premier and Cabinet (Arts SA) and DLGSC (WA). It is being delivered in collaboration with arts and culture organisations across Australia, who are deploying the survey with a sample of their audience. The results are then being aggregated to provide a national picture of audiences.

If you have received an invitation to complete the survey, it is because an arts/culture organisation values your perspective and the sector is relying on insight from audiences about attending arts and cultural events.

Participating is completely optional, and results will only be viewed in aggregate. Your survey responses will be treated as anonymous and confidential. Below, you can read the privacy collection statement for the study.

Privacy collection statement

Introduction

Both WolfBrown and Patternmakers respect and uphold your rights under the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ("Privacy Act"). As an Australian research organisation, Patternmakers also adheres to the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2014 (“Code”). For more information about the Privacy Act, the Australian Privacy Principles and the Code click here.

What personal information about you will be collected?

The survey will ask about your views on attending arts and cultural events. To help interpret responses, the survey will also collect some demographic information. It will also ask about your perspective on restrictions related to COVID-19. All demographic and COVID-19 related questions are optional.

This data will be collected and stored offshore via Alchemer (formerly SurveyGizmo) at www.alchemer.com, a well-known survey software platform based in the USA. Alchemer LLC is committed to complying with international regulations including GDPR. You can read more about Alchemers’ Privacy Policy here www.alchemer.com/privacy.

At no point, will Alchemer ask for your name, phone number or email address. However, like many websites, the software does track your IP address.

Please note that at the end of the survey, you will be given the option to go in the draw to win a prize. If you click next, you will be taken to a separate, and secure platform Checkbox Survey at www.checkbox.com, where you will have the option to enter the draw by providing your email address. You will also be asked if you are open to participating in further research on this topic, as the researchers, Patternmakers, maintain an Audience Outlook database, which you can join to participate in future audience research projects.

Your email address will be stored separately from your survey response, so your responses will remain anonymous and confidential. This is being administered via Checkbox Survey and MailChimp (US), which comply with the Australian Privacy Act. You can read more about their privacy policies here; Checkbox Survey (Australia) and MailChimp (US). Your email address will only ever be used for research, and will never be used, or sold, for any other purpose.

What are the purposes for which Patternmakers use, handle and disclose your personal information?

We will only use and disclose your personal information for the purpose of conducting our research and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We will not use or disclose your personally identifiable information provided for research for the purpose of advertising, promotions or direct marketing activities.

Who will Patternmakers disclose your personal information to?

We will not disclose any personally identifiable research information we collect from you unless we have your express prior consent and will only report the information you provide in an aggregate form that will not personally identify you. We will not disclose any personal information or personally identifiable research information to a third party for a purpose other than conducting our research unless we have your express prior consent or are required to do so by an Australian law or court/tribunal order.

In the course of conducting our research we may rely on third party service providers to host or store the data we collect who are located overseas. The names and locations of those suppliers are:

Alchemer LLC, based in the U.S.

WolfBrown LLC, based in the U.S.

MailChimp, The Rocket Science Group LLC, based in the U.S.

Microsoft, based in the U.S.

Checkbox Survey, based in the U.S., data stored on servers hosted in Australia.

We will also take reasonable steps to ensure any service providers (and their employees and contractors) comply with relevant privacy regulations in their jurisdiction, as well as this Privacy Policy.

Openness

You have the right to request access to any personal information we hold about you. You can request this information by contacting the Privacy Officer at the details listed below. Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will respond to your request in a reasonable time and endeavour to provide you with a suitable range of choices as to how access is provided (e.g, emailing or mailing it to you). A fee may be charged to cover the cost of retrieval. However this fee will not be excessive and will only apply to the facilitation of your request.

If at any time you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request amendment of it and we will either amend the information or make a record of your comment, as we think appropriate.

Questions and complaints

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or believe that we have at any time failed to keep one of our commitments to you to handle your personal information in the manner required by the Privacy Act, the APPs or the Code, then we ask that you contact us immediately using the following contact details:

Jodie Bombardier, Operations Manager: info@thepatternmakers.com.au

We will respond and advise whether we agree with your complaint or not. If we do not agree, we will provide reasons. If we do agree, we will advise what (if any) action we consider it appropriate to take in response. If you are still not satisfied after having contacted us and given us a reasonable time to respond, then we suggest that you contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by:

Phone: 1300 363 992 (local call cost, but calls from mobile and pay phones may incur higher charges). If calling from overseas:+61 2 9284 9749

TTY: 1800 620 241 (this number is dedicated to the hearing impaired only, no voice calls)

TIS: Translating and Interpreting Service: 131 450 (If you don’t speak English or English is your second language and you need assistance and ask for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner)

Post: GPO Box 2999 Canberra ACT 2601

Fax: +61 2 9284 9666

Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

Collection statement for Patternmakers website

When visiting Patternmakers’ web site, the site server makes a record of the visit and logs the following information for statistical and administrative purposes:

the user’s server address – to consider the users who use the site regularly and tailor the site to their interests and requirements;
the date and time of the visit to the site – this is important for identifying the website’s busy times and ensuring maintenance on the site is conducted outside these periods;
pages accessed and documents downloaded – this indicates to Patternmakers which pages or documents are most important to users and also helps identify important information that may be difficult to find;
duration of the visit – this indicates to us how interesting and informative Patternmakers site is to candidates; the type of browser used – this is important for browser specific coding
In order to optimise Patternmakers web site and better understand it’s usage, we collect the visiting domain name or IP address, Computer Operating System, Browser Type and Screen Resolution

A cookie is a piece of information that an Internet web site sends to your browser when you access information at that site. Cookies are either stored in memory (session cookies) or placed on your hard disk (persistent cookies). The Patternmakers web site does not use persistent cookies. Upon closing your browser the session cookie set by this web site is destroyed and no Personal Information is maintained which might identify you should you visit our web site at a later date.

Terms and conditions for the Audience Outlook Monitor March 2022 Prize Draw

Eligibility

Entry is open to anyone over 18 who has completed the Phase 7 Audience Outlook Monitor survey in March 2022.

Employees, immediate family members of employees, and employees of any company associated with the Audience Outlook Monitor are ineligible to enter. This includes the research organisations, supporting partners and participating arts and culture organisations.

Entry

The Promotion commences at 01:00AM AEDT 9/3/2022 and entries close at 11:59PM AEDT 13/3/2022 (Promotion Period).

To enter, Eligible Entrants must provide their email address at the end of the survey during the Promotion Period. The prize draw is being administered via Checkbox Survey at www.checkbox.com.

Only one entry per person.

Winning and prize conditions

The total value of the prize draw is AUD$1,000. This includes 5 x $200 Mastercard e-gift cards.

The winners will be randomly selected at 12:00pm AEDT on 15/3/2022 at 223 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010.

Winners will be notified by phone/email within two (2) business days of the draw and prizes must be claimed within seven days after notification.

If there are any unclaimed or unwanted prizes within seven days, a subsequent prize draw will be conducted seven days later, at the same time and place as the original draw. Draws will be repeated as needed until a winner accepts the prize.

Patternmakers 22/6/21 Patternmakers 22/6/21

A Time for True Leadership to Shine

Earlier this week I spent two days at ADAPT: Queensland’s Performing Arts Conference, at the invitation of arTour and Stage Queensland, to share insights about audience trends since the onset of the pandemic.

Earlier this week I spent two days at ADAPT: Queensland’s Performing Arts Conference. It was great to be in a room full of performing arts colleagues after so long.

I was there at the invitation of arTour and Stage Queensland to share insights about audience trends since the onset of the pandemic.

It was also a chance for me to connect with colleagues: artists and producers readying new works for touring and presenters planning artistic programs to bring audiences back to arts centres and festivals.

What struck me the most, as I listened to other speakers share their learnings, was that the pandemic has forced us to become more responsive, more innovative and collaborative—and that these attributes could actually be the keys to tackling some of our sector's long-standing challenges.

The session that made this most clear was 'Lessons from 2020,' a discussion among leaders from our country’s three largest arts centres. The speakers were unanimous in observing a need to focus on people and relationships. They suggested that collaboration across departments and externally with the independent sector might enable us to not just recover the old ways, but build a more vibrant, equitable and sustainable culture sector in future.

Sydney Opera House

Fiona Winning at Sydney Opera House reflected on the heightened communication and innovation in response to the uncertainty and anxiety brought about by the pandemic.

Already poised to invest in their role as a digital broadcaster pre-pandemic (and with the excellent Stuart Buchanan newly appointed to the role of Head of Digital), SOH ultimately streamed 50 events and performances during the pandemic period. Fiona shared that what they learned over COVID equalled what they expected to learn and achieve over two years of their digital strategy.

Interestingly, construction in concert hall continued—since the building industry wasn’t as affected as the arts. SOH also fundraised $1.5m for a commissioning programme to invest in artists—money they wouldn’t have had if it were not for COVID.

Arts Centre Melbourne

We also heard from Melanie Smith at Arts Centre Melbourne, where the city's population was enduring another lockdown following an outbreak of the virus. She remembered back to when they first decided to close ACM on 16 March 2020. Their team was faced with cancelling 500 events—and ultimately lost $50 million in revenue (a quarter of a year’s trading) —but moving through the experience they had come together to support each other: 'There’s a lot more trust between us, we grew as a team.’

She said she has learned to focus on really looking after people and acknowledge that everyone is having a different experience.

QPAC

John Kotzas at QPAC said it has been the most challenging time of his career. He reflected that the only precedent they had to work with was an extreme weather event, which unlike the pandemic had a clear beginning and an end.

He shared that apart from having to reschedule events and communicate with audiences, there was confusion with promoters, ultimately creating extreme pressure on the team. At QPAC they went from having a board meeting every 2 months to having one every 2 days, working more closely than ever before.

He also spoke about some financial learnings. Working towards a business case for a fifth venue in QLD pre-pandemic, QPAC had reduced reliance on their base grant to 15%, relying on earning 85%—a model which proved to put the organisation under stress during Covid. Previously thinking $10m+ in reserves would put the organisation in a great place, he realised that those funds could be spent in 3 months with no other income. The organisation is now exploring new business models for digital work.

Leadership lessons

Stephen Foster from Cairns Performing Arts Centre said it was a time where true leadership would really shine—and I would suggest that this time is far from over. As we tackle the task of rebuilding, there are positive signs, with many presenters reporting strong sales (albeit with reduced capacities and fewer events). However, data from the Audience Outlook Monitor suggests that it's still early days in the recovery process, and we will need to work hard to not just bring back all segments of our past audience, but look to further grow and expand access so that more Australians have the opportunity to participate in arts and culture.

In opening the conference Minister Leeanne Enoch spoke about moving out of ‘survival’ mode and into ‘sustainability,’ and I think her words were spot on. She said she’s observed greater collaboration in the sector—and that if we work together, giving and telling stories, culture has the power to heal everything. She said ‘through the arts we see ways to deal with what’s going on around us’; it is fundamental to our recovery and helps focus on adaptation and agility.

Thank you to the organisers of Adapt QLD. It has helped many of us start to process the events of the past year and look at how we can tackle the challenges ahead through more collaboration, braver innovation and greater responsiveness than ever before.

About the Author

Tandi Palmer Williams
Managing Director

Tandi is Founder and Managing Director of Patternmakers. She’s an arts research specialist and leader of the agency’s research projects.

Past posts on this blog

Patternmakers 18/2/21 Patternmakers 18/2/21

Join Patternmakers

We are looking for a talented junior Research Analyst or Trainee to join the small but mighty Patternmakers team to support our research and consultancy projects.

Join a friendly team committed to making a positive change in the culture, creative and community sectors.

We would love to meet an outstanding student or recent graduate with a friendly approach who is keen to get their teeth into challenging projects for government agencies, cultural institutions and charities.

Research Analyst/Trainee

We are looking for a talented junior Research Analyst or Trainee to join the small but mighty Patternmakers team to support our research and consultancy projects.

Join a friendly team committed to making a positive change in the culture, creative and community sectors

Flexible contract: Work from home (approximately 3 days per week) from anywhere in Australia
Learn on the job and get trained in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies

Responsibilities and Duties

- What you will be doing -

You will be working closely with the research team to support the successful delivery of projects. Your jobs and responsibilities will include:

Undertake project-related tasks including transcribing interviews, entering & coding data and programming and testing surveys
Undertaking administrative tasks such as scheduling interviews, coordinating payments and general project administration
Assisting with business proposals and project reports, including proofing and formatting of Word documents & PowerPoint presentations, preparing graphs using Excel data and collating documents for publication
Analysing quantitative and qualitative data for client projects, and drafting reports
Supporting the research team including diary management, travel bookings, electronic filing and system management
Working with other team members and collaborating on key administration, content and communications tasks
Problem solving and troubleshooting miscellaneous issues as they arise.

The role is flexible and can be undertaken independently from your own home or workspace. The role includes regular client project meetings, research team meetings, as well as weekly Patternmakers team meetings.

Our clients are located across Australia and all meetings normally occur via videoconference. The role may occasionally involve overnight interstate travel (although this has reduced due to COVID-19 travel restrictions).

Qualifications and Skills

- What we are looking for -

Very strong analytical abilities – asking questions and identifying insights and solutions from information
Excellent communication skills and an ability to write and speak about complex topics in plain English
A friendly, positive, professional approach when dealing with clients and a can-do attitude when taking on a range of tasks
Highly organised with strong time management skills and the ability to work independently from home
Attention to detail and ability to check documents for errors and ensure accuracy and quality
An ability to multitask and work flexibly under tight timelines. This may include some work in early mornings or late nights to meet deadlines.

- Prior experience -

This is an entry level position and you do not need an extensive work history, though some experience in professional settings is desirable.
Working knowledge of the following systems is desirable; Microsoft Office (Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel), Survey Gizmo/Alchemer (or any survey software), MailChimp, Canva and Squarespace, but training will be provided.
You will have a Bachelor Degree (or soon be graduating), with a focus on either:
- Business/commerce i.e. marketing, communications, market research, business analysis, etc
- Social policy i.e. humanities, social sciences, social inquiry, etc.

You will have achieved very strong academic results in the past (either ATAR and/or University).

- Workspace and equipment -

If successful in gaining the role you would be employed on a Casual basis.

You will need your own workspace, laptop computer and internet connection.

You will also be required to maintain a quiet and safe workspace at home that complies with our OH&S working-from-home checklist.

You will be provided with an annual working-from-home allowance which can be used to cover costs of small items such as a laptop stand, ergonomic chair, headset etc.

Benefits and Perks

- What we offer -

We are offering the right candidate a six-month contract, with potential to extend or expand. The contract hours per week are negotiable, however we are anticipating from 15-25 hours per week, ideally spread across four or five days each week. Choose the hours that work for you - morning, noon or night – but availability for meetings during business hours (AEST) is important.

We offer a competitive hourly rate, plus superannuation and we provide the online software applications you require for your role.

We are a fully flexible, mobile team who work from home - and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds.

If you would like to apply for this role please upload your resume and a cover letter on au.indeed.com by 26 February 2021.

About the Author

Tandi Palmer Williams
Managing Director

Tandi is Founder and Managing Director of Patternmakers. She’s an arts research specialist and leader of the agency’s research projects.

Past posts on this blog

Patternmakers 18/2/21 Patternmakers 18/2/21

Tracking audience sentiment in 2021: a brave new era in arts & culture

As the culture sector stares down a challenging year, we are pleased we can announce a further three phases of the Audience Outlook Monitor in Australia. We're keen to track how vaccination affects demand for live events and dig more into the factors influencing donations and spending on tickets. It's going to be a big year!

As the culture sector stares down a challenging year (as one colleague said, likely the second worst year ever!), we're pleased to announce an extension of the Audience Outlook Monitor in Australia. Three more phases of data collection are planned in 2021 to help shine a light on audiences in a time of enormous uncertainty.

In March, July and November, we'll be working with our international research partner WolfBrown and local partners across the country to gather data about audience attitudes and behaviours, and how they're changing over time. The research tracks indicators like attendance, ticket buying and spending, and measures things like comfort at different types of venues and confidence in different safety measures.

It's thanks to ongoing support from the Australia Council for the Arts and state governments around Australia that we're able to do this in a cost-effective and coordinated way. Instead of working with a handful of clients who can afford consultants, this work is enabling 150+ arts organisations to adopt a consistent approach to surveying their audiences. This means audiences are spared from multiple surveys about the same thing, and that we can compare and contrast sentiment in different artforms, audience segments and jurisdictions.

And perhaps most importantly, that the results can be shared publicly for everyone and anyone to use. From independent artists to the Ministers for the Arts, our goal is to ensure that everyone working on our recovery has consistent, accurate and timely insight about audience demand, barriers to attendance and projected behaviour.

Why extend the study?

When we first set up the Audience Outlook Monitor, we thought the pandemic would last six months, if that. We now know better.

While creative activity has resumed in many venues across Australia, we are dealing with sporadic outbreaks and regular changes in restrictions. International travel is unlikely until later this year, at the earliest. Not all local audiences have returned to events, with some saying they are waiting for a vaccine and others opting to simply 'wait and see' before they invest in tickets or plan social outings.

Australia's vaccine roll-out is due to commence in late February, with an aim to vaccinate the adult population by October. However research from UNSW (covered in The Conversation) has cast doubts on that timeframe, and indicated it could push out into 2022.

The economic outlook is also uncertain and if past history of economic shocks is anything to go by, it will take time to rebuild the market.

Colleagues in the sector have described challenges such as 'Managing consistently changing circumstances and ongoing rescheduling of shows.' and 'Ensuring appropriate patron behaviour in venues without impeding on the customer experience.' Another said they are facing 'Increased costs of ensuring audience safety, impacts on our team, decreased audiences and increased output for both digital and physical.'

With decision-makers continuing to face tough decisions about investment, programming and operations, it's important that we never lack accurate and timely information from audiences. We've planned to produce regular updates and snapshots throughout the remainder of 2021 - and we're looking at ways we can do this longer-term, if needed.

We believe ongoing data-informed decision making and strategic support will play an important role in the sector’s recovery from the pandemic and ultimately will help rebuild arts participation in Australia.

How will the study change in 2021?

We'll continue to track key measures like the % of audiences who have attended a cultural venue or event in the past fortnight - and how much audiences are spending on tickets. But we'll also be probing new areas, so that we can provide insights on:

Proportion of audiences that are likely to be vaccinated and when
Top three things preventing audiences from attending more events
What digital experiences are attracting ongoing engagement
Willingness of audiences to travel to regional areas or interstate to attend a cultural venue or event.

When will the results be available?

The next national snapshot of data will be released in mid-March 2021, and state/territory reporting soon thereafter. We'll also be releasing fact sheets monthly on topics like digital inclusion and First Nations culture.

In March, we'll be taking a closer look at audience donations and support for arts causes, as the sector builds up to end-of-financial-year campaign season. In July, we're aiming to capture insight at the start of the cold & flu season, when cases could potentially spike once more. And in November, we'll provide a read on audience sentiment for the summer festival season.

How can I use the data?

Through engagement points like regular webinars, snapshot reports and fact sheets, we're aiming to turn the data into practical insights and highlight how they can be applied.

You can use this data for decisions like what events to program where and when, and what safety measures to put in place. You can use it to kick-off strategic planning meetings, brief front-of-house staff and prepare board reports. And it's proven to be really powerful in communicating with audiences and allaying concerns about venue safety: crafting copy for social media posts, EDMs and ticketing pages.

One colleague described the study as their 'anchor for audience sentiment' in 2020 and we hope that it will continue to be a useful resource in 2021.

To receive updates directly to your inbox, as soon as they are available, you can head to the study's Australian homepage and subscribe. And if you have any suggestions about how we can continue making this work stronger and more useful - I'd love to hear from you in the comments or by email at info@thepatternmakers.com.au.

Let's do this!

Image: Mika Baumeister via Unsplash

About the Author

Tandi Palmer Williams
Managing Director

Tandi is Founder and Managing Director of Patternmakers. She’s an arts research specialist and leader of the agency’s research projects.

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