{"id":4507,"date":"2015-07-30T11:03:31","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T12:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/?p=4507"},"modified":"2020-09-04T06:47:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T06:47:51","slug":"working-with-audiences-how-to-be-curious-and-not-die-trying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/working-with-audiences-how-to-be-curious-and-not-die-trying\/","title":{"rendered":"Working with audiences: \u201chow to be curious and not die trying\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>Pepe Zapata<\/h6>\n<table style=\"height: 300px;\" border=\"0\" width=\"620\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: hidden;\" valign=\"top\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/1.imatge_cap\u00e7alera.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-4447 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/1.imatge_cap\u00e7alera.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"646\" height=\"301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/1.imatge_cap\u00e7alera.png 646w, https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/1.imatge_cap\u00e7alera-300x139.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 646px) 100vw, 646px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><em>Audiences and Culture.\u00a0 Even though the event was not specifically about museums, there were keynotes such as the one by the British Museum. Furthermore, many of the principles and experiences presented highly apply to the museums\u2019 sphere.\u00a0 Thank you very much, Pepe, for this good synthesis and for having highlighted many good cases of museums.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This is the chronicle about the three inspiring days at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.a-m-a.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arts Marketing Conference (AMA) <\/a>2015 held in Birmingham. The focus: how to optimise the relation with the audiences of culture, and with a very explicit claim: <em>Stay curious. <\/em>This is a clear declaration of intentions about what the attitude should be of the marketing and communication professionals in the sector of the arts and culture.<\/p>\n<p>This was my second experience in the AMA Conference after the 2014 edition in Bristol, just as enriching, a fact that has allowed me to confirm some initial impressions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nobody here is in doubt about the need for an analytical and marketing vision of the cultural management and, specifically, the management of the public or audiences. This is not an obstacle (in fact, quite the opposite) for working on cultural and artistic projects with a high social component, shared, jointly created and boosted by the citizenship.\u00a0 The methodology, the technology, the means and resources, the rigor and the professionalism, all at the service of our sector.<\/li>\n<li>The melting pot of the various subsectors and profiles of the culture is something that was highly enriching. 650 professionals from museums, art galleries, theatres, opera, dance, facilities for performing arts and musicals, libraries, cultural and multi-disciplinary centres, festivals, etc.;\u00a0 artists, orchestras, theatre and dance companies, agencies and consultants, providers of services, etc.\u00a0 Public, private and consortiums, all together sharing knowledge and experiences, without compartments: transversality as an added value.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"height: 300px;\" border=\"0\" width=\"620\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: hidden;\" valign=\"top\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4500\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2.assistents_AMAConference4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4500\" class=\"wp-image-4500 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2.assistents_AMAConference4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2.assistents_AMAConference4.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2.assistents_AMAConference4-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4500\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attending the AMA Conference 2015 before the opening speech. Photo by the author<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>And one derived from the previous point:\u00a0 the importance of networking.\u00a0 For sure the beers and Beaujolais, accompanied by canap\u00e9s and little blackberry tarts, helped, but both the conference programme as well as the venue (the marvelous and spectacular <a href=\"http:\/\/www.libraryofbirmingham.com\/\">Library of Birmingham<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.birmingham-rep.co.uk\/\">The Rep, Birmingham Repertory Theatre<\/a>, integrated in a unique space right in the heart of the city), with the trade fair for suppliers and providers, the encounters afterwards, etc., and the help of a simple and practical app, were also carefully thought up and designed for providing contacts, and leading by example, for extending the user experience (in this case of the participants of the congress) before, during and after the event itself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"height: 300px;\" border=\"0\" width=\"620\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: hidden;\" valign=\"top\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4501\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/3.-TheRep_Library_Birmingham1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4501\" class=\"wp-image-4501 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/3.-TheRep_Library_Birmingham1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/3.-TheRep_Library_Birmingham1.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/3.-TheRep_Library_Birmingham1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4501\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rep, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Library of Birmingham, place of the congress. Photo by the author<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if the same thing happens to you when you travel abroad, but in my case I get caught up with the compulsive need to be nosey, to continue with the slogan, and to contrast professional realities, close in context to ours, but far away in terms of context.\u00a0 To put it another way, I want to know what it is that concerns my British colleagues most in their day-to-day work and to compare this with the headaches we suffer from.\u00a0 I should state, however, with no doubt whatsoever, the <strong>absolute assumption that digital makes up a fundamental and integral part of the marketing and communication strategies<\/strong>.\u00a0 And, at the same time, they passed on to me an uneasiness which has become rather extended within our environment: we share a problem of priorities.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We are capable of innovating, but more out of necessity, than from a process incorporated into our everyday work. Why?\u00a0 The adaptation to constant change isn\u2019t easy, and it is complex in settings in which the teams aren\u2019t aligned with the vision of the organization.<\/li>\n<li>We provide an infinite number of interactions with the public, but\u2026are we dialoguing enough? Are we prepared to transform our organisations based on the interaction with our audiences?\u00a0 Are we capable of changing our strategies and actions according to the users\u2019 criteria?\u00a0 Do we really have the audiences in the neuralgic centre of our projects?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And a trend on the increase: the use of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.periscope.tv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Periscope<\/a> as a <em>self-videostreaming<\/em> tool for sharing cultural experiences, even in guided visits to museums, such as , for example the one of the British Museum.<\/p>\n<p>The level of the talks was very high:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The engagement of the audience, with a roundtable shared by Alec Coles, from the <a href=\"http:\/\/museum.wa.gov.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Western Australian Museum<\/a>, Richard Evans, from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beamish.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Beamish Museum<\/a>, and Skinder Hundal, from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nae.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Art Exchange<\/a><\/li>\n<li>The audiences of the museums as active partners, with Stephanie Burge and Laura Gutierrez, from the programme <a href=\"http:\/\/www.glasgowlife.org.uk\/museums\/about-glasgow-museums\/Pages\/Our-Museum-project.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cOur Museum\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Family public strategies, by Esme Ward from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/museum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Manchester Museum<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Whitworth Art Gallery<\/a>; and with a young public, by Marcia Springer, from the <a href=\"http:\/\/macbirmingham.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mac Birmingham<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sponsorship and fundraising, given by Anne Areing, from the<a href=\"https:\/\/bac.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Battersea Arts Centre<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I will focus on two moments of the Conference which I found especially relevant, and which illustrate <strong>two key concepts in the strategy for the development of audiences: their knowledge through figures and data, and the creation of communities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>(1)\u00a0Chris Michaels, the Head of Digital and Publications of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.britishmuseum.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">British Museum<\/a> explained in detail the strategy that they follow so as to obtain an in-depth knowledge of the behaviour of the visitors throughout their experience. \u00a0The difficulty from the outset can be found in terms of the infinite number of channels and means of interaction with the publics:\u00a0 ticketing, apps, shops (physical and virtual), audio-guides, QR codes, beacons, social networks, email and newsletters<em>,<\/em> pedagogical manuals, interactive games, etc., as well as personal attention in the ticket offices and in the rooms.\u00a0 <strong>Is it necessary to unify the analysis of the data which comes from different sources and unconnected between them<\/strong>?\u00a0 How can we achieve a coherent strategy?<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 300px;\" border=\"0\" width=\"620\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: hidden;\" valign=\"top\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4502\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/4.PrioritatsDigitals_British_ChrisMichaels1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4502\" class=\"wp-image-4502 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/4.PrioritatsDigitals_British_ChrisMichaels1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/4.PrioritatsDigitals_British_ChrisMichaels1.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/4.PrioritatsDigitals_British_ChrisMichaels1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4502\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Digital priorities at the British Museum, by Chris Michaels. Photo by the author<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>One of the most interesting aspects of his talk was the clear vision of the importance of data as a tool for helping to understand the past (the <em>what<\/em> and <em>why<\/em> of what the different public have done), for influencing the present (optimizing the information and the decision-making in real time), and for predicting the future (with mechanisms of alert allow you to anticipate what will happen with marketing strategies and tactics). <strong>The methodology used by the British Museum with data is no more than that of providing it with a context, <\/strong>that are live, stable and sustainable, and to build a system of decision-making based on the information generated. Its recipe, although a priori it seems very simple, is nothing other than: a) having a clear vision; b) making it grow; c) developing it outside the big data; d) constructing business models based on this vision, e) and transforming the sector.<\/p>\n<p>(2) I will finish with the beginning, that is, highlighting the key points from the opening keynote, given by Russell Willis Taylor, a highly prestigious consultant and former chairman and CEO of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artstrategies.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Arts Strategies<\/a> of the USA. The talk highlighted the importance of empathizing with the audiences, starting by understanding them deeply by means of their needs, motivations, perceptions and attitudes, and ending up by providing them with all the value of the user experience. To paraphrase Warren Buffet, \u201cPrice is what you pay; value is what you take away\u201d. To do so, the speaker advised applying the <strong>methodology of the map of empathy<\/strong>, a graphic tool developed by the consultancy XPLANE, and used <strong>to learn to look at our services through the eyes of our public<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 300px;\" border=\"0\" width=\"620\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: hidden;\" valign=\"top\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4503\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/5.RussellWillisTaylor2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4503\" class=\"wp-image-4503 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/5.RussellWillisTaylor2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/5.RussellWillisTaylor2.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/5.RussellWillisTaylor2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4503\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Russell Willis Taylor in the opening session of the AMA Conference 2015. Photo by the author<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table style=\"height: 300px;\" border=\"0\" width=\"620\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: hidden;\" valign=\"top\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4504\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/6.empathyMap1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4504\" class=\"wp-image-4504 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/6.empathyMap1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/6.empathyMap1.png 640w, https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/6.empathyMap1-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4504\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Empathy map. Photo by the author<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>So as to illustrate his talk, I will give as an example two relevant museum projects:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The programme <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npg.org.uk\/whatson\/graysonperry\/display.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cWho are you?\u201d <\/a>of the National Portrait Gallery, promoted by the artist Grayson Perry \u2013winner of the Turner Prize, which provoked the reflection and introspection of the visitors in interaction with the artistic work based on the portrait of their contemporaries.\u00a0 The project aims to illustrate the British way of life through the portraits of 14 individuals, families and social groups intercalated with works of the permanent collection of the museum in the gallery dedicated to the 19th and 20th centuries, and is complemented by a series of programmes broadcast on Channel 4.<\/li>\n<li>The exhibition \u201cplay time\u201d from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.toledomuseum.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toledo Museum of Art<\/a> (TMA) of Ohio, an invitation to the ludic relation of the visitors with the museum space, to the interaction from the perspective of games. It is, without doubt, a fresh and original look at how a museum should be and it asks whether the ludic sense of life is a questions of frivolity or of need; in any case, the <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/126855169\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video<\/a> of the exhibition is an open invitation to take part.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"height: 300px;\" border=\"0\" width=\"620\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: hidden;\" valign=\"top\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_4505\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/7.PlayTime_ToledoMuseumArt1.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4505\" class=\"wp-image-4505\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/7.PlayTime_ToledoMuseumArt1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/7.PlayTime_ToledoMuseumArt1.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/7.PlayTime_ToledoMuseumArt1-300x133.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4505\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The \u201cplay time\u201d program at TMA<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">W. Taylor&#8217;s talk was full of recommendations about the passionate attitude and the actions that, as cultural managers, we should take to create value for our audiences: <strong>ongoing learning and re-learning, models of flexible and adaptable organisation, and the creation of value for the communities beyond the cultural organisations.<\/strong> He left us with some gems for framing: \u201cart and culture create sense over and above the market\u201d, \u201cwe make an effort to build communities, beyond individual publics\u201d and \u201cempathy (and curiosity) will save us\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Now you should think about beginning to book your plane tickets for Edinburgh, the venue for the next AMA Conference. The title? I haven\u2019t a clue, but&#8230; <em>stay curious<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile you can take a stroll on twitter through <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/amaconf?vertical=default&amp;f=tweets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#amaconf<\/a> \u2013the hashtag of the conference \u2013 so as to enjoy the comments of our British colleagues and to be able to reach your own conclusions.<\/p>\n<h3>Related links<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/teknecultura.com\/bloc\/es\">TekneCultura blog<\/a>,\u00a0 (in Spanish) to find out about the latest trends in audience development.<\/p>\n<p>Pepe Zapata.\u00a0Partner and consultant of TekneCultura<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pepe Zapata Audiences and Culture.\u00a0 Even though the event was not specifically about museums, there were keynotes such as the one by the British Museum. Furthermore, many of the principles and experiences presented highly apply to the museums\u2019 sphere.\u00a0 Thank you very much, Pepe, for this good synthesis and for having highlighted many good cases&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":4447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1,45],"tags":[67,255,829,524],"class_list":["post-4507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-general","category-visitors","tag-audiences","tag-marketing","tag-user-experience-2","tag-user-experience","author-guest"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/1.imatge_cap\u00e7alera.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4tWCI-1aH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4507"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22200,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507\/revisions\/22200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}