We’re delighted to introduce our 2015 programme of practical touring workshops, bringing essential training and networking opportunities to a venue near you. Our four hands-on full-day sessions delivered by our own team of experts cover a range of hot topics, from getting the best from your box office to developing a content marketing strategy that works. From May to December, these workshops will be available at venues throughout Scotland:

• Asking the right questions: Intelligence gathering for cultural organisations
• Content Strategy: what’s your story? A step-by-step introduction to brand-led content strategy
• Box Office Best
• Getting It Right Online – a practical digital communications workshop

Read on for details of what’s on offer, and look out for confirmed dates and venues, coming soon.

Asking the right questions: Intelligence gathering for cultural organisations

How much research does your organisation need? And do you have the right tools and skills to make the most of the research you have? Choosing methodologies; analysing information; monitoring and tracking performance over time and against targets are all part of the process – but could you be spending your time and money more wisely to deliver more for less? Could you be using research to predict audience behaviours and identify problems before they hit? These are just some of the key questions that we will address in this workshop.

You’ll learn how to use research to improve organisational focus, prioritisation and decision making.  Austerity has affected every arts and cultural organisation in different ways: we’ll explore ways of stopping old practices and introducing new ones that can make your organisation more efficient, better informed and better prepared for whatever change is on your horizon. This one-day workshop will equip you with the essential know-how to take control of your research needs and help your organisation earn more; understand what works and what doesn’t; and move forward with the confidence that comes from building a full, clear picture of your customer environment.

“This was a really great session, I came away feeling challenged but inspired. Appreciated it being delivered on home turf too, nice not to travel for excellence.”

Delivered by Clair Gilchrist, Associate Director

Aberdeen – 20 May, His Majesty’s Theatre (past)
Glenrothes, Fife – 29 June, Rothes Hall (past)
Glasgow – September
Edinburgh – December

Content Strategy: what’s your story?   A step-by-step introduction to brand-led content strategy

Brand stories are everywhere. In today’s hyper-connected communications environment, the need for marketing professionals to proactively shape and monitor their brand messaging has never been stronger. This workshop introduces a framework of simple techniques to help you implement a story-led approach to communications planning that will ensure that your campaigns resonate with the audiences that matter to you. This is a practical, hands-on introduction to the theory and practice of effective storytelling for marketers. Focusing on campaigns, audiences, plotlines and relationship building, we’ll work through a channel-neutral approach that allows you to build up the content strategy that is right for your brand and your audiences, and identify the pitfalls along the way.

From tactical actions to brand strategy, we’ll use a combination of real-life examples, case studies, individual and group exercises to connect campaign-orientated communications with strategic brand development, providing you with a toolkit to support, implement and measure an effective approach to content creation and sharing when you return to the office.

Delivered by Jo Cowper, Associate Director

Dundee – 29 May, Caird Hall (past)
Glasgow – 30 July, CCA (past)
Aberdeen – 1 October, His Majesty’s Theatre

Box Office Best

Your Box office data is precious: so, what can you do to manage it and keep it safe? This practical workshop tells you all you need to know about collecting, using, cleansing, protecting, sharing and extracting data to make sure you are making the most of your Box Office.

The workshop will take you through key areas of data management.  Where does your data come from? How should your database be structured?  You’ll learn how to clean your data, how to optimise it for analysis, how best to extract and share data and what you need to know about Data Protection.  You will learn about performance and discount coding, booker segmentation and get top tips for data migration. You’ll discover just how much of your venue’s success depends on having a great database, and how the quality of your database depends on the quality of your coding.  An unmissable workshop for anyone working in a Box Office today.

Delivered by Charlotte Wilson, Associate Director

Edinburgh – 16 June, Lyceum Theatre (past)
Aberdeen – 12 August, Music Hall
Perth – November

Getting It Right Online – a practical digital communications workshop

A practical full day workshop where you will be guided through the process of building a tailor made Digital Communications Plan for your organization. The event is designed for team working – ideally two attendees per organisation will work collaboratively on a series of practical activities.

If you publish digital content, working with a mix of social and digital channels, this workshop will help you to understand and define your online audience. We will show you how to identify who you’re reaching with your digital communications, how to target new audience groups and know what prompts response. We will give you the confidence to understand the impact of different digital communications channels and concentrate on the communications channels that are right for you, ensuring your website and other digital channels work together, and help you to create an effective channel strategy which makes the most of the expertise in your organisation.

You’ll hear plenty of case studies and impact results, illustrating different approaches to digital communications and how they worked for other organisations. At the end of the workshop, you’ll take back a Digital Communications Plan ready to put into action, and a set of tools and techniques to help you develop your organisation’s wider communications strategy.

Delivered by Dianne Greig, Associate Director

Dundee – December