Weeknotes #11
This week I met the Bloomberg Digital Accelerator organisations at the National Theatre, watched One Further’s Cultural Content Report findings and went to the seaside estuaryside at Lytham St Annes.
Bloomberg Digital Accelerator
The Tech Fellows and Advisors involved in the Bloomberg Digital Accelerator were invited to the National Theatre for an evening of networking, discussion and behind the scenes tours.
As a Tech Champion I have the privilege of visiting organisations across the country and meeting incredible people doing amazing things. This was on a different level, condensing so many brilliant people in the same room with swanky canapés and fizz (thanks Bloomberg!).
I had some great chats with the different organisations involved in the programme, and caught up with Amy Thomas (Head of Marketing and Communications) at Kiln Theatre and Aidan Woodburn (Deputy Director) at Spike Island, who I’ve been advising for cohort 1 and 2.
National Theatre
The team at the National Theatre were great, we had a backstage tour and a talk about the Immersive Storytelling Studio projects from Toby Coffey (Head of Digital Development).
The National Theatre
The Crucible
In the evening we saw The Crucible in the Olivier Theatre. Erin Doherty was the standout performer for me, I’d seen her recently in Chloe where she was equally intense and powerful.
The Crucible at the National Theatre
In the picture above you can see the camera rigs as they were filming the performance for NT Live.
Cultural Content Report
On Thursday, the team at One Further released the findings of their survey of 169 arts and cultural organisations from around the world. The question was How do cultural organisations plan, produce, and measure their digital content?
Alec Ward live tweeted a great thread with the highlights:
There are some really interesting insights in here and recommendations so definitely check it out. You can read the report and watch the recording here.
I’m disappointed to see a pie chart in there though, you know how I feel about them! 👎😝
Conversations this week
Livvy Murdock (Digital Content Manager) and Lois Olmstead (Senior Marketing and Audience Development Manager) at Autograph. We talked through their web analytics data and the transition to Google Analytics 4. I’ve introduced Hansel for SEO support as ranking for keywords is difficult when you don’t sell autographs!
Autograph Gallery London
On Wednesday morning I spoke to Steph Cullen (Marketing Manager) and Damilola Senbanjo (Digital Systems Analyst) at the Young Vic. Earlier this year we set up Google Analytics 4 with Tessitura, so we went through the new data available and started building out relevant reporting in Looker Studio.
The evening was all about the Bloomberg Digital Accelerator event, but before that Ollie and I had lunch at Kanada-Ya. The Tonkotsu Ramen was incredible and highly recommended.
Finally on Friday afternoon I went to see Anthony Price (Marketing Officer) at Lowther Pavilion. The organisation is working though an ambitious development plan, adding a new theatre space (opening 2023), a 2nd floor restaurant and atrium space. Our discussion was around brand building, strategy and making the case for change to reflect the vision. I’m really looking forward to seeing this project develop through the different stages and how the Digital Culture Network team can help.
The current Lowther Pavilion
The proposed development of Lowther Pavilion
Next week is a huge one for a lot of cultural organisations - the National Portfolio Organisations for 2023-26 are announced by Arts Council England on Wednesday. All the best to everyone waiting on funding decisions 🤞.