benefits of forming a museums at night city cluster
TRANSCRIPT
Rosie ClarkeCulture24
Museums at Nightclustering
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6,900+ cultural venues4,000+ events
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Museums at Night
The bi-annual UK festival of after-hours events in museums & galleries
Museums at Night seeks to encourage venues to try something different to attract new audiences.
We aim for every eligible cultural venue to take part and a million
visits by 2020.
“This is a quote that can be inserted into text columns at 16pt R0 G159 B227”
Museums at Night ran from Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th May and will explode into life again on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st (Halloween) 2015
Museums at Night is about having an amazing night out in an unusual space -like seeing your favourite band in an aircraft hanger full of WW2 bombers!
Or cocktails and craft at your favourite gallery
The public love Museums at Night: since 2009 673,000 visits have been made by audiences to events designed to show culture in a different light.
Step into a new world!
Be part of a rapidly
growing festival
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (est)
157
345
457
537
583
700
900
125
286
352
416 411
486
600
Events Venues
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
Museums at Night Visits 2009 - 2014
Visits
May vs October festivals
• Tourism “shoulder season”
• May – success in attracting domestic tourists, take advantage of long evenings
• October – genuinely dark after hours, likely to attract locals. Opportunities around illuminations, ghoulish archive history, adult events
2015 Stats650 events in May, 200+ expected in October
475 venues in May, 150+ expected in October
850 number of resources downloaded so far in 2015
350 number of hours spent supporting the sector on phone
160 number of museum/gallery professionals attending
participation workshops in Cambridge, Manchester, Bristol,
Canterbury and Sussex so far this year, another 150
expected to attend future workshops by end of the year.
Museums at Night Reach & growth• Website: 330,300 page views, 80,500 users (Mar 3 - May
19 2015)
• Email: 23,000 people on email lists (up from 10,000 in Dec 2013)
• Twitter: 10,000 followers (up from 1492 in Jul 2012)
• Events at over 230 UK locations
Monthly national
consumer release
Regional monthly
Short lead PR
17 July YES YES YES
7 August YES YES
11 Sept YES
Event registration deadlines
City clusters: increasing footfall
• Coordinate programming• Animate public spaces• Walking tours• Offer transport between venues if necessary• Collecting stamps in “passport” over weekend• Alters how people perceive city
Cluster marketing opportunities
• Joint marketing offer• Themed cluster – food, heritage, anniversary, “Wonders”• Share branding• Visual aids e.g. glowsticks• Share stories and press releases• Strong suite of images
Cambridge cluster – photos of target demographic at events
Showcasing Manchester music scene in unexpected venues
Tie-ins with businesses and community groups
• Late openings of shops• Tie in with local food and drink• Experiential opportunities at events e.g. fashion shows, performing arts• Learning and skills development• Discounts on dinner at restaurants
Potential pitfalls
• Must have buy-in from everyone• Clear goals agreed e.g. KPIs, target audiences• Event details must be confirmed by deadlines• One main central coordinator • Data capture, evaluation• About resilience and legacy
Funding opportunities
• Grants for the Arts – if applying for under £15,000, 6 week turnaround, but must be artistically led
• Heritage Lottery Fund – longer timescales
• Must be part of wider strategy
Museum Town Square
