I do love a new brochure – the smell, the feel, the design, the waxy pages. It's no surprise then that one of my favourite months of the arts calendar is this one – a time where arts venues and performance companies up and down the UK roll out their new programmes between freshly printed sheets.
There's a nice stack of new season booklets here at Guardian Culture Pros HQ, but it got me thinking: could the arts be doing more to market and advertise their programmes for the new season?
No matter how flashy or fancy your programme brochure might be, it comes down to what you say, how you say it, and carefully balancing both message and medium to achieve your end goals.
And then there's new and social media. Modern marketers now have some seriously impressive digital tools at their disposal – but which ones work best and how can organisations use them to reach wider audiences and engage with people more?
New seasons are exciting times for venues and punters alike, but we want to explore how arts and culture organisations can make sure their latest offerings are marketed effectively and efficiently. So join us and a panel of marketing experts from noon on Friday 7 September as we talk programmes, engagement, measurement and social media.
Panel
Pamela Pfrommer, Knowledge Bank content manager, AMA
Pam has worked in the cultural sector since 1990 in a range of marketing positions for organisations, in audience development policy and planning for Arts Council England and in teaching, training and consultancy. She currently works for the AMA collating resources for their new online learning and knowledge hub and is the regional co-director in the East for The Audience Agency, the new national audience development and marketing agency for the arts in England. @pfrodo
Richard Thompson, marketing manager, The Place
Richard is marketing manager at The Place, the UK's premier centre for contemporary dance – he has been marketing the arts for fifteen years. @theplacelondon
Claire McFauld, marketing and sales manager, Grove Theatre
Claire is the marketing manager at a regional receiving house – she previously worked for the Original Theatre Company, Swindon Arts Centre and in marketing & press for Wyvern Theatre, The Courtyard and now the Grove Theatre in Dunstable. @McFauld
Suzanne Bull, marketing & PR manager, University College Falmouth
Suzanne manages the marketing for the university's Performance Centre, which has a year round public programme of contemporary performance – she also looks after the events and exhibitions the institution opens to the public, from its media, performance and writing degree courses. @SuzRBull
If you would like to join the panel of this online discussion, please email Matthew Caines
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