Audiences Europe Network

Audiences Europe Network is a platform for debate, exploration, sharing of ideas, and creating linkages across national and cultural borders. Since 2000, the AEN community has supported conferences, seminars, and workshops for managers and decision-makers who are committed to widening participation and engagement with their work.

Wednesday 21st December

CultuurNet.be have upload all the slideshows to slideshare. See them all and a summary of each session here on the network all in one place.

Tuesday 13th December

A pictorial reflection. This collection of photos and short video clips paint a small picture to give an impression of the Buzz 'on the ground'. Did you take photos? Have your written a blog post? Post your links in the Ghent AEN group and they will be included in the network archive page for the New Technologies for New Audiences event.

Thursday 8th December

Another AEN partner event has taken place to rapturous applause leaving us with the critical evaluation and the question "What do I do now?" As you are reading this your journey can start here. Over the next few days blogs, tweets, photos, forum topics and presentation slideshows will be added to the network. Honest feedback is essential. What did you enjoy? What didn't work for you? At least wifi won't be on the list of annoyances. Thank you to all the Ghent team who seamlessly delivered a wonderful event. I think we all learnt alot. But what I want to know is, has it made a diference? What is going to change within your organisation. AEN wants to know.

Saturday 3rd December

The New Technologies for New Audiences has a Twoppy event guide. The Audience or attending delegates use the event guides for free, to modify the branding as CultuurNet Flanders has done requires a basic upgrade at a cost of £152.27 for a year. The intention of this post is to get the New Technologies for New Audiences event guide on to your devise for you to get great added value when you attend next week's events. The method my vary from devise to devise.

When is an app not an app? When its a mobile optimised dedicated miro-site. Twoppy sits perfectly on most web enabled mobile devises. No multi-platform designing necessary just a few more steps to install than the one click 'install' command app store users are familiar with.

Explore the Event Guide enjoy the New Technologies for Audience event. If you are in Ghent find me, tweet. If you are unable to attend join me on the live-stream, there is direct chat on the livestream viewer and there will be a chat room running here on the Audiences Europe Network's chat page.

Read the full article posted with screenshot to follow for iPhone installation

Friday 2nd December

We now have a AEN livestreaming page for you watch the sessions and view the pictures and podcasts directly from the network. The chat module has also been turned on so you can IM to chat to anyone one else logged on to the Audiences Europe Network. Check out the NETWORKING tab for all the AEN social  networking activity.

There is also a group for you to stay in touch with each other and get all the Ghent updates once the event has ended.

Wednesday 23 Nov

What is the Extending the Margins programme all about?

Last week (3 articles below) provided a little background to our Ghent hosts @cultuurnet_be

Tuesday 15th November

To help you get to know our next Audiences Europe partnered event CultuurNet Flanders have written 3 articles for you to digest before you travel to Ghent in December.

Introducing CultuurNet Flanders

CultuurNet Flanders has a team of 8 people who travel throughout Flanders to give personal support to local authorities and to help them in taking a more strategic approach to their culture and leisure communication.

As well as personal support, the OuTnetwork focuses on knowledge-sharing between the partners, organising several workshops each year. The personal guidance and the workshops organised by the OuTnetwork are placing the partners a step closer to achieving their aim: to promote participation in culture to new audiences and to build a long lasting relationships with their public. Read the full article...

Wednesday 16th November

CultuurNet Flanders is implementing brand new technology called ICIS - the Infrastructure and Culture Information System. All you need is a PC, an information-pillar, a smartphone or a digital television. ICIS will then give you an overview of cultural and leisure activities located close by and adapted to your personal interests.

Innovation and Cultural e-Government

The information appears on the website UiTinVlaanderen.be displaying the full range of cultural and leisure activities in Flanders and Brussels. The new technology offers users the opportunity to add their own content: expert opinions, visitors comments and suggestions for other social cultural activities.

New and visionary ICIS-like projects have the potential to change the way audiences are introduced to and experience art and culture. Read the full article...

Friday 18th November

How can you motivate children to go and see an art exhibition in the museum just around the corner? How do they and their families even know what cultural activities are out there to discover?

These questions inspired the launch of the label ʻFlyʼ with the mission to give more children, more enthusiasm, more culture. Fly has gained such enormous popularity that when families are looking for a cultural pastime they now know to look for the little fly symbol.

More than 140 cultural institutions and local authorities use this popular insect in their communications. It appears in leisure calendars, programming brochures and municipal information magazines and it helps to make activities for children easily recognisable. 

But, thereʼs more! Fly not only promotes cultural and leisure activities, but the little fly comes to life, appealing to children to leave their comfortable, cozy chairs and participating in nearby activities. These Fly campaigns are an extra stimulus to pull children over the threshold of cultural institutions.

This summer more than 200 museums, libraries, festivals and youth services took part in the Fly campaign, attracting more than 30,000 children. Read the full Fly. The Friendly Monster - culture for children article

Fifty years on and Birmingham’s MAC arts centre has just had a makeover (it’s had a few along the way) and turned itself from the City’s favourite cultural hangout, to one its smartest. 

Not that this has diminished its passion for actively welcoming people who think the arts are not for them.

Director Dorothy Wilson says it’s in MAC’s DNA to engage and encourage people ‘to take their own creative journey, to have their own voice’.

At Jolt 11, Dorothy electrified symposium delegates with her radical approach to audience engagement. Throw out your own pre-conceptions she said, surround yourself with the people you want, show them what you do. Above all, listen to them and trust their judgement. Audiences aren't an add-on. They are at the heart of what you do.

‘Don't tell people why we’re good – find out what we are doing wrong, and what we could do better,’ she says.

Listen to the audio-boo of Dorothy interviewed by Caron-Jane Lyon at Jolt for more insights: listen to ‘@deejay3 - Dorothy Wilson’ on Audioboo.

And read the full report (JOLT Dorothy Wilson Know Your Neighbours) packed with practical ideas.

This selection of web platforms, tool and services are a great foundation when you want to make some noise about an event.

Clicking the icons above today will take you through to the upcoming CultuurNet - New Technologies for New Audiences event resources.(not using Eventbrite) An industry event gives you the opportunity to try out these apps without having to involve client connections. Have a play, sign up and share. Let me know how you get on. Do you like these apps? Share your fav apps in the Audience Development Digital Toolkit Forum. 

Throughout the day at JOLT you may have been invited to record a "Boo" with me. AudioBoo is an audio podcasting social network where I regularly post audio blog posts. This 'Boo' is a response to my audio post about my reflections on the day from Nick Holloway a member of my audience.

For more insights from the day

On demand media and tweeted hi-lights

Feedback stats and comments

Audiences Central have collated summaries from the facilitators

More information from James Yarker (he's an AEN member) or admin@stanscafe.co.uk

In Britain, Europe’s most comprehensive audience development support network had all of its core funding cut by Arts Council England earlier this year. 

Having pioneered the strategic delivery of audience engagement and intelligence gathering programmes over the last twenty years, the English audience development agencies now find themselves first to the guillotine.

So what does the bonfire of the agencies mean for audience development in the UK?

Photo: London Fashion Week

Read Rich Hadley's full article