Monday, 30 July 2007

Relaxing and having fun

A curious wee article on the Creative New Zealand website at the moment recounts a recent visit to New Zealand by Alan Brown, an American consultant who gave workshops in Auckland and Wellington.

Brown's research "focuses on understanding consumer demand for cultural experiences and on helping cultural institutions, foundations and agencies to see new opportunities, make informed decisions and respond to changing conditions." His advice to New Zealand arts organisations:

"We should never lose sight of the fact that the number one reason people attend arts events is to relax and have fun. ... We have to be careful not to over-intellectualise the experience. Our research shows that it's in our nature to over-intellectualise the experience and this can alienate some audiences."

At the end of the article, a selection of comments from feedback cards handed out at the workshops are reproduced, including:

"I intend to use the value framework guidelines to create one for our organisation and to implement these ideas/terminology in our communication with all stakeholders (audiences, sponsors etc)."

You can read the full account here

And download Brown's value framework for art experiences (PDF) here

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