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Connecting with arts audiences online: Fact Sheet

As more artists and cultural organisations look to grow their audiences online, we’ve assembled a Fact Sheet with statistics, insights and resources for digital strategy, marketing and distribution.

Last week. I delivered a webinar entitled ‘What Audiences Want Online’ for the Australia Council for the Arts’ Creative Connections webinar series. It was fun!

I regretted the name of the session, but you’ll have to watch the webinar to find out why!

Watch the webinar here, and scroll down to see a list of resources related to the content of the webinar: digital strategy, marketing and distribution of cultural experiences.

Webinar: What audiences want online

Fact Sheet: Connecting with Audiences Online

If the content of the webinar appeals, and you want to know more about the sources and resources I referred to, you can download the below Fact Sheet: Connecting with Audiences Online.

 
 

Thank you to our Research Administrator Aurora Nowosad who helped me to publish this as a Fact Sheet.

Video: six digital professionals share their insights

In the process of preparing the content for the session, I reached out to a number of colleagues working in digital technology.

I wanted to hear about audience engagement, from the point of view of others working closely with artists and cultural organisations (not just a data geek like me!). This included with a web developer, a digital transformation professional, a digital strategist, a digital inclusion researcher and a creative entrepreneur.

Head over to my last post to watch the video and hear what they had to say. Particular thanks go to digital strategist Michael Edson, whose wisdom helped me identify a better way to come at the topic of audience engagement.

Other useful resources on digital engagement

REMIX Academy launched recently with 500+ online talks on topics like digital business models, content creation and creative entrepreneurship. The REMIX guys know their business models, so of course full access to the content involves a (very affordable) paid plan, but you can access 10 hours worth of webinars for free.

The Audience Agency have some helpful guidance for digital strategy (start with this article in Arts Professional).

I’ve been reading Katie Moffat’s Digital Snapshot for years. Another favourite newsletter with digital storytelling finds is the Storythings newsletter.

Still more?

If you have specific questions, please get in touch with me via LinkedIn or Twitter.

To stay in the loop with new research and resources generally, subscribe to Patternmakers’ semi regular Culture Insight & Innovation Updates.

You can listen to the first five episodes of the Theory of Creativity Podcast now, and look out for the upcoming episode on digital storytelling metrics and measurements. 

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Tandi Palmer Williams

Patternmakers
Managing Director

Tandi leads Patternmakers’ research projects, and is a regular speaker, trainer and writer on audience research and public value in cultural organisations.

 
 

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6 digital professionals share their insights about engaging audiences online

Six digital professionals share their insights about audience engagement, including a web developer, a digital strategist, a digital transformation consultant and a creative entrepreneur.

This week, I’m delivering a webinar entitled ‘What Audiences Want Online’ for the Australia Council for the Arts’ Creative Connections webinar series.

In the process of preparing the content for the session, I reached out to a number of colleagues working in digital technology.

I wanted to hear about audience engagement, from the point of view of others working closely with artists and cultural organisations (not just a data geek like me!). This included with a web developer, a digital transformation professional, a digital strategist, a digital inclusion researcher and a creative entrepreneur.

I’m so glad I did. Not only are their insights useful for culture professionals thinking about sharing work online - but I learned a lot too (ego - be gone!). Thank you to all the people below who helped me make the webinar much more interesting, nuanced and useful.

Read more about the contributors below.

…

Indigo Holcombe-James

Research fellow in the Technology, Communications and Policy Lab at RMIT

‘It’s important to remember that [digital] inequity applies to audiences as well as cultural sector practitioners. If we want to ensure that the cultural sector is as inclusive as possible in these strange times, acknowledging digital inequity is a critical first step.’

You can read more about Indigo’s work in The Conversation article, on Twitter, her website. You can read her thesis and visit the Australian Digital Inclusion Index (which provides some helpful demographic insights).

Peter Tullin

Co-Founder - REMIX Summits & CultureLabel.com

‘Don’t start with the tech or the platform, think about the need… study the landscape… think deeply about the consumer of the content. What customer journey are you creating and why is it different from what exists already?’

Pete is delivering a free webinar on digital business models and monetising digital work this Friday.

REMIX also just launched the Remix Academy, which will have hours of free content, condensing some of these trends. it will also give you access to over 500 talks from amazing content creators around the world.

Jane Peacock

Digital Coach & Advisor at Your Coach.Digital

‘Right now, the opportunity is to be the people that are building the community… Digital is an enabler of connection. Those who are doing it well are starting to build collaborative ecosystems around what they do, getting active in telling their brand story and reaching out and connecting with people. That’s what we’re seeking; connection.’

At the time of posting, Jane is offering free workshop/ ideation sessions to help businesses pivot. She’s happy to do an hour for free as long as time permits.

Jasper Visser

Consultant specialising in community leadership, sustainable development, and digital transformation

‘Cultural institutions that are successful with digital engagement combine ‘reaching’ and ‘engaging’ activities in an ongoing conversation with their audience. Reach out to a new audience, address a shared interest, find a shared purpose with a new group of people, and then engage them by telling a unique and compelling story that only you can tell.’

Jasper references the (free!) publication the Digital Engagement Framework along with podcasts Explore the Symphony from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and 20000 Hz: Cremona.

You can read more case studies on his blog www.themuseumofthefuture.com

Yuan Wang

Founder of Yump, web development agency specialising in user experience for not-for-profit organisations

‘Before a person can make a decision about whether to support an organisation… they have to first develop a connection with the website. To develop a connection with your audience, you have to create trust with your content, and to create trust, you need two key ingredients: credibility and authenticity.’

Case studies of Yump's work are online at https://yump.com.au/work/ and they share insights and helpful tips about online engagement on their blog https://yump.com.au/blog/

Michael Edson

Digital strategist working with tech, culture, democracy, & the SDGs

“If you want to ask a powerful question that helps your team see what could be possible, that helps you serve the people you serve and love, the question isn’t “what do people engage with online”, it’s more, “What do we stand for, WHO do we stand for? And what can we do together? I think the answers aren’t in your conference room, Directors Suite or creative studios. They’re out there in the world, so - go out and find them.”

Since the Covid-19 crisis broke, Michael has been working with 13 institutions and leaders across 18 time zones. He says, ‘Audiences, users, PEOPLE, are inventing a new kind of digital culture, a new kind of platform in the home that is cultural, emotional, connected, and open to play and experimentation in a way we've never seen before. I encourage your audience, everyone, to look outward from their institutions and join together with communities to develop the cultural language for what is happening to us now — and to help shape the culture we want to have when the crisis eases.’ 

Michael is organising free workshops, an evening of Ignite talks, and peer-to-peer meetings for cultural leaders and practitioners — find out more at https://usingdata.com/covid19.

…

Header image features Jasper Visser at work. Image credit: Dmitry Smirnov / Strelka Institute

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Tandi Palmer Williams

Patternmakers
Managing Director

Tandi leads Patternmakers’ research projects, and is a regular speaker, trainer and writer on audience research and public value in cultural organisations.

 
 

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The art of adaptation

A journalist friend asked our MD recently how the culture sector is adapting, and whether she was seeing exciting examples of digital innovation already emerging from the crisis.

To which she answered yes. And, no. And not yet. Here’s why.

A journalist friend asked me recently how the culture sector is adapting, and whether I was seeing exciting examples of digital innovation already emerging from the crisis.

To which I answered yes. And, no. And not yet. Here’s why. 

Why I said ‘yes’

Yes, some cultural experiences are rapidly moving online. Like the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra streaming live performances on YouTube mere hours after announcements that performing arts venues in Victoria would close. 

In the past few weeks we've seen some incredible offerings emerge. In fact, there were a lot of cultural offerings already online, some of them crying out for a larger audience to find them. From the treasure troves of Europeana (the online collections of over 3,500 European museums, libraries and archives) to innovative contemporary performance experiences like AudioPlay (an interactive audio theatre game for kids), there are some impressive options to choose from.

But it's important to state that many of these digital experiences have been years in the making, required significant investment and deep thinking by teams of highly-trained people.

Which brings me to the ‘no’ part of my answer.

Why I said ‘no’

There are a lot of artists (and large cultural organisations) out there who are still in crisis mode, who overnight lost their income and their potential to earn one for the forseeable future. The events and experiences they have worked on for months or years are (in the short term at least) now redundant.

For those professionals (who FYI were already in one of the most highly educated yet underpaid professions in our country) it's critical that they get the support they need to survive. Only with the benefit of food, shelter and security, for themselves and their families, can they even contemplate making new work for a new world, or ‘adapting’ works for online consumption.

Which brings me to the task of digital adaptation itself, and why my final answer is 'not yet'.

Why I said ‘not yet’

Having previously been Research Manager for technology innovation program the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts in England, I know that the digital environment brings its own opportunities and challenges. I've seen many tech innovation projects fall short of their goals because creating engaging experiences online is not straightforward.

Yes, the world's online population is now your potential audience (and it’s spending more time online than ever before), but you’re also competing with the world's artists, institutions, influencers and broadcasters.

Adapting a gig designed for the physical world and expecting equivalent digital attendance is not a given. Adapting an exhibition designed for the physical world and expecting an equivalent experience is not a given. Adapting a product designed for the physical world and expecting equivalent sales is definitely not a given.

Digital cultural experiences are different. Not better, or worse, but definitely different.

Producing great quality digital experiences requires in-depth knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of digital platforms, and the attitudes and behaviours of digital audiences (#attentionspans!).

For instance, online, you can lose that visceral feeling of ‘live’-ness, but you can gain new forms of access, with cameras able to provide close ups of actors you would never see in a theatre (NT Live was one of the first to master this for cinema audiences).

With mobile technology like apps, there’s no captive audience waiting for the show to start, but you can reach people anywhere. And there's more potential for interactivity, and personalised experiences, like Karen, an experimental mobile theatre experience by Blast Theory that psychologically profiles you as you play, adapting the performance to you.

One of the big elephant-sized questions in the room is the extent to which audiences are willing to pay for digital experiences, and the relative cost of developing high quality offerings online. I Lost My Gig has calculated that more than $325 million has been lost from the performing arts industry since the pandemic began, and only time will tell what proportion can be 'recovered' online in the coming months and years.

I answered 'not yet' because mastering the art of adaptation is going to take time. And money (there is more to this than live-streaming events on YouTube). If we're serious about quality (in the arts is there any other way?) it's going to require new innovation programs, accelerators, training and capacity building. New techniques, new platforms, new business models. New partnerships and collaborations between cultural organisations and technology firms, artists and software programmers, musicians and graphic designers, producers and UX experts.

My team will be working on providing insight to artists and cultural organisations about audience demand, tastes, preferences, behaviour and spending, and how the situation is changing. We'll be releasing new data sets, running webinars, facilitating digital focus groups and testing products.

Collectively, we're going to have to do a lot of failing before we see gold. But if that journalist asks me again in a year's time, I know I'll be sharing examples of products and experiences that we simply can't comprehend today.

Ultimately, it will be artists who show us the art of what's possible online, assuming they get the investment and support they need. There is literally no-one better placed to blow our virtual socks off. But not yet. Patience!

This article was first published on LinkedIn

Image credit: David Collins for Audio Play

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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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Digital arts experiences to enjoy from home

With arts venues, events and festivals being cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future, it’s a good time to start exploring the offerings online.

Here are a list of great quality digital arts resources you can consume from home, including arts education resources for families.

With arts venues, events and festivals being cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future, it’s a good time to start exploring the offerings online.

Here are a list of great quality digital arts resources you can consume from home, including arts education resources for families.

Many of these are completely made available for free or at low-cost to the user, so if you love something, you might consider making a donation to help out artists and arts organisations at this time.

For kids and families

Author talks and workshops

  • In the next fortnight, the Sydney Opera House will be streaming live digital workshops such as Staging Stories and the Story Factory workshop.

    For any parents wanting to give their kids some quality arts education at home, all of the SOH digital education resources are available online with teacher notes.

  • Storyline Online has a collection of favourite kids books read by famous people, like Arnie the Doughnut read by Chris O’Dowd.

Digital art apps for kids

There are some amazing art apps designed especially for kids by some of the world’s most iconic cultural institutions.

  • As part of the Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence at Home, Mo Willems invites you into his studio every day for his LUNCH DOODLE. Learners worldwide can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually once a day for the next few weeks.

  • Tate Kids has art making games, quizzes and videos that will make parents want to play too!

  • NGAkids interactives offer an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history, from the US National Gallery of Art. There are a variety of computer-based activities and things to do at home.

  • Artsology helps kids learn to appreciate the arts by providing them with the opportunity to play games, conduct investigations, and explore different forms of art.

  • Kids Think Design explores careers in fashion design, graphic design, interior design, book design, product design, film and theatre, architecture, animation, and environmental design.

Virtual museum experiences

  • From the Sydney Opera House’s Digital Education team, families can access LIVE digital tours from home this week, such as the Guwanyi Walama tour of the Aboriginal history of the site.  

  • The British Museum, located in the heart of London, allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies.

  • The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games.

  • You can also tour Yellowstone National Park, and explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover.

For adults

Virtual art exhibitions and talks

  • The NGV is sharing daily content and inspiration using the hashtag #NGVEveryDay. You can also visit the NGV website for virtual exhibition tours and talks, and explore NGV Channel for videos, essays and interviews. They’ll be sending frequent updates in their e-newsletter, with lots more content to follow and activities for kids and families especially for school holidays.

  • For those unable to proceed with travel plans, the Google Arts and Culture app, available on iOS and Android (and web), is like Google Street View for galleries and places of cultural interest. It allows the user to explore highlights or entire floors of institutions like MoMA New York, Uffizi Gallery, Florence and The State Hermintage Museum in Russia.

Virtual orchestras

  • The Berliner Philharmoniker can be enjoyed from your TV, computer, tablet or smartphone thanks to the Digital Concert Hall. Each season, around 40 concerts are broadcasted live in HD and there are hundreds of recordings, numerous interviews, Education Programme films. Redeem the voucher code BERLINPHIL by 31 March and receive free access to all concerts and films in the Digital Concert Hall.

Courses

With thanks to all those who have contributed suggestions, including the Sydney Opera House, NGV.

We’d also like to credit other pages and posts where we have sourced this list from, including Jules Buckland on Facebook.

If you have items to add to this list, email us at info@thepatternmakers.com.au

Cover illustration by Rose Blake is from Meet the Artist: Andy Warhol published by Tate at https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/make/paint-draw/make-pop-art-warhol

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