Welcome to the 2008 BAFA conference which we are delighted is taking place here in Liverpool, the European Capital Culture. We meet at an extraordinary time for festivals as the world financial system faces the aftershocks of unprecedented change and the UK economy looks at an uncertain future. Opportunity or threat for British Arts Festivals? Our long planned conference gives us the chance to discuss the issues amongst friends and colleagues and come up with strategies for the future. Uncertain times re-emphasise the importance of working together and developing shared understandings. It is very appropriate, therefore, that we are going to have the opportunity to sign the Arts Festivals Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue here in the Capital of Culture, a symbolic and important gesture. We are also very fortunate to be able to hear from the Directors of both European Capitals of Culture this year with Phil Redmond of Liverpool opening our conference and Mary Miller of Stavanger, closing it – a fascinating contrast. I hope you’ll agree that we have an excellent programme and setting for our annual meeting and that it turns out to have just the right balance of inspiration and practical learning. This will be my last conference as Chairman of BAFA after 5 years leading the Executive Committee of which I have been a member for, a rather too long, 12 years. BAFA has gone through tremendous change over that period and I believe it is now in a good position to support you, the members, through these exciting times! I know from my travels that the UK festival sector is enormously respected around the world and it is vital that we continue to have a strong trade association to support it. Enjoy your conference! Nick Dodds Chairman
THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER 2008 A late afternoon and evening of social networking events setting the scene for two full days of Conference Sessions 16.00-16.30
Drop in Welcome Party: Tate Gallery CafĂŠ, Albert Dock
Please check into your accommodation and walk over to the Tate Gallery CafĂŠ for coffee and cake before we head off on a blue badge guided walk. 16.30-17.00
Guided walk from Albert Dock to Martins Bank
17.00-17.50 Monuments by Terry Duffy. Terry will explain this site specific work that is part of the Independents Biennial. 17.50-18.05
Short return walk to Albert Dock and the Maritime Museum
18.15-19.45
Conference Opening Reception Art & Sea Gallery, Liverpool Maritime Museum Speaker: Prof Phil Redmond CBE: Deputy Chair & Creative Director, Liverpool Culture Company Signing Ceremony: Arts Festivals Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue
19.45-
Free time
10.30-
Late night recommended rendezvous bar: Ha, Ha Bar, Albert Dock
For a brief CV of the speaker presenting each session, please refer to the information at the end of this detailed programme – speakers listed in order of appearance. FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER 2008
CONFERENCE ITINERARY
TIME
TITLE
SPEAKER
All daytime conference events will take place at:
Novas Contemporary Urban Centre
Main entrance off Greenland Street: 41 Greenland Street Liverpool L3
09.00-09.45
Registration, Session Selection & Coffee Conference welcome from BAFA Welcome from our Venue Host BAFA Festival Toolkit
09.45-10.00
10.00-11.00
LOCATION
Ground Floor Lounge Nick Dodds BAFA Chair Novas CUC
Lau Theatre th 4 Floor Lau Theatre
Tiina Taatila & Kim Hart
Lau Theatre
Conference Keynote Nicky Webb: Director, Artichoke Artichoke worked with engineering genius Francois Delarozière and his company La Machine to create ‘La Princess’, the magical new show for Liverpool 08.
Lau Theatre
th
11.00-11.30
Refreshments & networking: Moroccan Lounge – 4 Floor
Culture: 11.30-12.15
Working with International Performers James Waters: Director, Festivals & Events International David Jones: Director, Serious Nelson Fernandez: International Arts & Culture Consultant
Lau Theatre
12.15-13.00 Practical Sessions ROOM 1 Update on Visa Regulations
Nick Dodds & David Jones: Members, Home Office Arts & Entertainment Task Force
th
Multi choice workshops – Muthoora Suite 4 Floor These four 45 minute sessions will run Read across for concurrently room allocation ROOM 2 ROOM 3 ROOM 4 Fringe Matters – BAFA Festivals Relationships what is Fringe all with International Toolkit project about & why are Performers they good for programmed festivals. Holly Payton: Tiina Taatila: Session One Panellists: Venue & Performer Director, Tiihee Manager, Edinburgh Event Management continuing Festival Fringe discussion
13.00-14.00
LUNCH
Moroccan Lounge
14.00-14.45
Steve Mannix: Cultural Programme Advisor, London 2012
2012 & Beyond. How we can work together on the Cultural Olympiad?
14.45-15.30 Audiences: Practical Sessions ROOM 1 PR for Arts Festivals
Multi choice workshops – Muthoora Suite 4 Floor
Kate Statham: Associate Director, Idea Generation
Lau Theatre
th
These four 45 minute sessions will run concurrently ROOM 2 ROOM 3 Green Initiatives The H2O Festival; Only Available in Yorkshire! Programming Free Events Richard Haswell: William CulverDodds: Chief Manager, De Montfort Hall Executive, Harrogate International Festival
Read across for room allocation ROOM 4 Cultural Tourism - Working with the travel industry Ray Jones: Brand Development Director, Superbreak
15.30-16.00
Refreshments & networking – Moroccan Lounge
16.00-16.45 Economy: Practical Sessions ROOM 1 VAT- cultural exemption.
Multi choice workshops – Muthoora Suite 4 Floor
th
For room nos read across ROOM 4 Working with volunteers
Alison Osborne: Indirect Taxes Senior Manager, Deloitte
These four 45 minute sessions will run concurrently ROOM 2 ROOM 3 Fundraising in a Cultural Cold Climate – what regeneration the credit crunch means for the arts Phil Gibby: Sharon Senior: Director, Business Development & Development CommunicationsWe Manager, Creative lsh National Opera Foundation
16.45-17.00
BAFA AGM
ROOM 1
17.45-18.15
optional Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey
19.30-20.00
Drinks reception: Liverpool Independents Exhibition, 3 Floor Galleries, Novas CUC th Conference Dinner Buffet: 5 Floor Dining Rooms, Novas Contemporary Urban Centre BAFA Award presentation
20.00-late
BAFA Members
Sue Torres: Director, Wicked Events
rd
SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER 2008 TIME All daytime conference events will take place at:
TITLE Novas Contemporary Urban Centre
09.30-10.00
Registration, Session Selection & Coffee Conference welcome from BAFA
10.00-10.15
Welcome from our Saturday Host Festival
CONFERENCE ITINERARY SPEAKER LOCATION Main entrance off Greenland Street: 41 Greenland Street Liverpool L3 Ground Floor Lounge Stewart Collins: Director, Chelsea Festivals David Kernick: Assistant Director, Prescot Festival
Lau Theatre th 4 Floor Lau Theatre
10.15-11.00 Chinese Festivals Presentation Lau Theatre Ou Ning, Director: Shao Foundation Get It Louder Heinz-Gerd Oidtmann: General Shanghai Dance Festival – Mission & Manager, Shanghai Dance Festival Challenge Shu Chun Lai: Programme Director, Introduction to the Beijing Music Beijing Music Festival Festival
11.00-12.00
12.00-12.45 Initiatives: ROOM 1 Going Further Together – Exploiting Share-Ware Intelligence. Richard Hadley: Cultural Consultant
Conference Keynote Mary Miller: Director, Stavanger 08, European Capital of Culture
Lau Theatre th
Multi choice workshops – Muthoora Suite 4 Floor These four 45 minute sessions will run For room nos concurrently read across ROOM 2 ROOM 3 ROOM 4 Economic & Social Opportunities from Festival Impact Studies – Europe Exchange – Why do it? From Salisbury to Cheltenham Chris Maughan: Arts Management, De Montfort University & Richard Haswell: Manager, De Montfort Halls
Geoffrey Brown: Director, EUCLID
Salisbury International Arts Festival & Cheltenham Literary Festival
12.45-13.45
LUNCH
Moroccan Lounge
13.45-14.15
Credit Crunch Lunch-time Surgery Drafting a prescription for financial indigestion
Moroccan Lounge
14.15-15.00
Dr Rob Howard: Artistic Director, & Dave Kernick, Assistant Director, Prescot Festival
Lau Theatre
15.00-15.45
Tamsin Cox: Project Manager, Impacts 08 – The Liverpool Model
Lau Theatre
15.45-16.00
Conference round up and farewell till next year
Lau Theatre
ABC – the Art of being a better Board member or Chair These sessions are now open to all delegates but will run as one continuous session with a break for lunch Facilitator: 12.00-13.00
14.15-15.00
Judith Serota Morning Session: Debbie Read: Director, Arts & Business
The Basics on Boards
Afternoon Session: Heather Newill: Board Matters & Recruitment of Managing Director, Executive Staff AEM International
Muthoora Suite
Muthoora Suite
SPEAKERS James Waters: Director, Festivals & Events International James was Associate Festival Director of the Edinburgh International Festival from 1992 to 2006 where he worked with Sir Brian McMaster to devise and implement the Festival’s annual programme. This included all aspects of programming 175 + events each year. James has delivered multinational, crossart form projects involving diverse partners and has built long-term working relationships with performing companies and individual artists of the highest international standing. Now a consultant he is a founder director of Festivals and Events International for whom recent and current clients include both Birmingham and Newcastle City Councils. He is also an assessor for the National Performing Companies Unit of the Scottish Government and lectures at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Nelson Fernandez: Consultant – International Arts & Culture His career in the arts spans 35 years as an artist, producer, and facilitator. As an artist, he has worked in some of the world’s leading contemporary ballet companies, and performed in the West End stage, as well as in television and film. As a producer, he has worked with numerous theatres and festivals such as Nottingham Playhouse, the National Theatre, and Dance Umbrella. Nelson joined Visiting Arts in 1997. As one of three directors, with responsibility for Cultural Operations, he oversaw a broad spectrum of programmes promoting intercultural understanding and artistic exchange between the UK and the rest of the world. He is a Director of Riverside Studios in London, Brighton Festival & Dome Ltd., Theatre O, and until recently served on the board of DanceEast in the East of England. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Chevalier of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and holds a BA in Political Science and Philosophy. He is a regular speaker at seminars, conferences, and symposia on issues relating to the arts, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural dialogue. In September 2008, Nelson left Visiting Arts to launch his own company, working in the field of international arts and culture. Holly Payton: Edinburgh Fringe and WFN Holly has worked with-in the festival business for over 7 years managing the Brighton Fringe; Venue Director at Edinburgh Fringe and currently Venue & Performers Manger at Edinburgh Fringe. I’ve visited and worked for many International Festivals. I played an integral part in bringing Brighton Fringe from a company with a £57k in ‘03 to a £270k turnover in ’08. I’m now on the Brighton Fringe Board of Directors, Steering committee of Oxford Fringe and a member of IFEA, BAFA and have strong links with CAFF. I’m setting up WFN www.worldfestivalnet.com, which aims to be a one-stop shop for festival info and knowledge sharing.
Nick Dodds: Managing Director, Festivals & Events International Nick Dodds is Managing Director of FEI - Festivals and Events International – a consultancy and project management company. He is Chairman of the British Arts Festivals Association and a past Chairman of the International Festival and Events Association - Europe. He was Chief Executive of Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival from 2000 to 2008. Prior to this he was Administrative Director of the Edinburgh International Festival. Nick’s is currently advising a number of cities in the UK and internationally on how to use festivals to raise profile, attract cultural visitors and generate positive benefits for a region. Tiina Taatila: Director, Tiihee Event Management Tiina Taatila is a freelance event and project manager running her company ‘Tiihee Event Management’. Tiina also works part-time for ‘Cultivate’ the East Midland’s audience and organisational development agency. Tiina has a longstanding interest in the development and management of festivals, and has number of years experience of working in the field, including management of Wirksworth Arts Festival (an annual visual and performing arts festival), Wellington International Jazz Festival and her own music events including ‘Global Sounds’ music festival. Tiina has a BA in Event Management and Marketing and a Masters Degree in Arts Management, during which she conducted an in-depth study into the ‘Capacity Building Needs of Arts Festivals in the East Midlands’. Tiina has completed a number of research projects in development of festivals, most recently a production of a ‘Festival’s Toolkit’ for Derbyshire based arts festivals and a facilitation of a Festival Forum event. Steve Mannix: Cultural Programme Advisor, London 2012. Until recently Steve was Chief Executive of Shape, the disability arts organisation and has worked in arts management and campaigning in a variety of roles for over 20 years including The Albany Empire, Graeae Theatre Company, Battersea Arts Centre and Stonewall. In addition to these posts, Steve has undertaken various consultancies and research projects for organisations such as the Greater London Authority, Arts Council England, Sport England, the Dept for Culture Media and Sport and the Dept for Work and Pensions. Steve is currently chair of Graeae Theatre Company and a member of the board of The Albany. He is formally the vice chair of the Independent Theatre Council, Greenwich Young People’s Theatre and The Oval House. Steve is a fellow of the Royal Society Arts and the British American Project.
Kate Statham: Associate Director, Idea Generation Kate is Associate Director for Idea Generation which is a specialist arts & culture PR consultancy based in London. Idea Generation has designed and executed PR campaigns for the county’s leading arts institutions and festivals, as well as working with small arts projects and events, and regional cultural programmes. Recent and current clients include: Manchester International Festival, Edinburgh Comedy Festival, The Big Chill, Birmingham International Dance Festival, Lates Programme (GLA), The Roundhouse, and the ICA. Previously Kate was the Marketing & PR Director for Snowbombing Festival (Switzerland) and had been part of the team that launched the Itchy City Guides throughout the UK. Richard Haswell: Manager, De Montfort Halls Richard Haswell was born and educated in Liverpool. After a year at school in California, he went to Leeds University graduating with a not terribly practical degree in English Literature. He spent the next six years in touring theatre, culminating in becoming national organiser for Jarrow 86, a new march of unemployed people accompanied by a large scale touring theatre show on the fiftieth anniversary of the original Jarrow March. Having walked 300 miles, he had a bit of a rest, and did all sorts of stuff (including writing a gossip column) In 1988 he then became Director of the Met Arts Centre in Bury, Lancashire and in 1993, Director of Phoenix Arts in Leicester. In 1999 he became Manager of De Montfort Hall Leicester. He founded the Summer Sundae Weekender in 2001 and has been Festival Director for all seven events and The Big Session in 2005, in addition to managing a programme of over 200 other events a year. In 2006 Summer Sundae won the award for Best Small Festival at the UK Festival Awards, and in 2007 both festivals were awarded ‘A Greener Festival’ kite marks for outstanding environmental practice. Ray Jones: Brand Development Director, Superbreak Superbreak is the UK’s leading short break operator - see www.superbreak.com Ray is responsible for growing the business, managing London as a destination and all theatre, concert and event packaging. In 2008 Superbreak will sell over 200,000 packages incorporating hotel accommodation with tickets to theatre, concerts, exhibitions and events. Ray is a Non Executive Director of Visit London and is an Executive Director of West End Theatre Bookings, a business acquired by Superbreak in 2007. His passions in life include his family, live music, fringe theatre and the odd late night out!
William Culver-Dodds: Chief Executive, Harrogate International Festivals. Harrogate International Festivals is one of Yorkshire’s leading cultural organisations, working year round to bring the finest in performing arts, literature and community participation to Harrogate and Yorkshire. Music of all kinds has remained at the heart of its activities each spring and summer, with the International Summer Music Festival now entering it 44th year and a Sunday Series of chamber music. Since 2003, this calendar has been augmented by the critical successes of two niche literary festivals, Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival and Carnegie Sporting Words Festival, The H2O Festival of outdoor performance arts and our lead role within the North Yorkshire Youth Music Action Zone. The strategic development has now created a portfolio of some of the country’s most prestigious cultural events, featuring the biggest names in the arts & sports world. William is a member of the Executive Board for IFEA Europe and is a Visiting Research Associate at the Centre for Tourism & Cultural Change at Leeds Metropolitan University. Phil Gibby: Director Of Development & Communications, Welsh National Opera Phil Gibby joined Welsh National Opera in January 2007 as director of development, becoming director of development and communications in November that year. He arrived at WNO after a four years with Arts & Business, where he had been regional director for the south west and then acting commercial director. Previously, Phil had headed the marketing and development department at Bristol Old Vic, having moved into arts management from a career in journalism, including a spell as news editor of theatre industry trade paper The Stage. Phil is a trustee of the Tobacco Factory Arts Trust in south Bristol. He previously sat on the boards of South West Arts Marketing (four years as chair), art+power (two years as chair), Wiltshire Music Centre, Show of Strength, Theatr y Byd and Total Theatre Network. Sharon Senior: Business Development Manager, Creative Foundation Currently working as Business Development Manager for the Creative Foundation: an arts and property based regeneration charity in Folkestone, Sharon has a background in Marketing and Research, as well as business consultancy and evaluation. She was Director of Outlook – a marketing led research agency in London - for 9 years, working with key clients such as Sky, Orange, Transport for London, Wanadoo, L’Oreal and BT and has worked as an internal consultant for Marks and Spencer and Hertfordshire Police. Her role in the Creative Foundation primarily involves business planning, revenue generation and marketing and she was heavily involved in the first Folkestone Triennial, which took place in Summer 2008.
Sue Torres: Director, Wicked Events Sue Torres has run her own Event Management company for the past 9 years. She is the steward co-ordinator for Wychwood Festival and End Of The Road Festival using a mixture of volunteer stewards and paid SIA security. She is SIA badged herself and has a NEBOSH qualification, works as H&S officer, site manager, artiste liaison, box office manager, and security, at numerous festivals throughout the year. Prior to setting up Wicked Events Sue ran an arts festival (Stroud Fringe Festival) in her home town of Stroud, Gloucestershire for 10 years. Alison Osborne: Indirect Taxes Senior Manager, Deloitte Ali is a Senior Manager in the Indirect Taxes group at Deloitte in Bristol. Ali has been advising festivals, theatres and museums during the course of her seven year career in Indirect Taxes considering all VAT aspects of cultural bodies. This includes the application of VAT legislation and case law which provides for cultural exemption, compilation and submission of retrospective claims and ongoing VAT accounting for culturally exempt organisations. Ali’s work has resulted in significant refunds for her clients. Deloitte has wide experience in assisting cultural organisations to recover overpaid VAT. Ali enjoys travel, watching rugby and gardening. Shu Chun Lai: Programme Director My name is Shu-Chun Lai, originally from Taiwan. I graduated at New York University M.A. Performing Arts Administration program before I started to work for Beijing Music Festival since 2004. At the festival, I negotiate the performance contracts, manage the artistic budget, source artists, design educational projects, and oversee the realization of production. I hope with this visit there will be more fruitful collaboration between the UK artists/festivals and our festival. Heinz-Gerd Oidtmann: General Manager – Purple Star Art & Communication Co. Ltd. Shanghai Mr. Oidtmann was born, grew up and studied in Germany. He worked for 10 years as engineer in textile, environmental and automotive industries. In 2003 Mr. Oidtmann became senior manager of a French-Korean joint venture in Shanghai. It was at that time when he discovered the rich cultural heritage of China which gained significant importance in his life. In 2005 Mr. Oidtmann decided to quit his previous employer and dedicate himself to Chinese culture. Mr. Oidtmann joined Purple Star Art & Communication Co. Ltd. Shanghai. With his company he established Shanghai Dance Festival, the first independent festival in China. Besides other cultural activities this annual festival for contemporary dance is a major milestone on Mr. Oidtmann’s mission to build a bridge and foster the exchange between foreign artists and the Chinese cultural world. Ou Ning: Curator, Artist, Director of Shao Foundation
Mary Miller: Director, Stavanger 08 Currently Mary is responsible for Norway’s largest-ever cultural event, a unique regional, national and international project, budget: 40 million Euros ($61m/30million GBP.) Stavanger 2008 embraces over 200 projects comprising 1100 events building unprecedented world-class collaborations between international and Norwegian artists of all kinds. Projects also focus on youth and the widest community. With the vision OPEN PORT, the critical emphasis is on building long-term legacy through challenging, exciting and intriguing projects and events. Christopher Maughan: Principal Lecturer, Arts Management, De Montfort University Chris’s research outputs focus on the impact of cultural festivals and their life cycles. He is the co-author of a major study on the economic and social impact of cultural festivals in the East Midlands of England. He is currently working on a toolkit for festival organisers and a monograph on the Leicester Comedy Festival (of which he is a Director). He is a member of the European Festivals Research Project (a consortium of six organisations with links to over 200 people active in festivals/cultural policy research), for which he is presently its coordinator. He has a broad understanding of festivals within Europe and has participated in research meetings in Slovakia, France, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Finland, Lithuania and Norway. Richard Hadley: Cultural Consultant A UK based independent consultant, trainer and festival/events producer; Rich has a 20 year track of achievement in the cultural sector. A clear thinker, good communicator and popular trainer / facilitator, he has extensive experience in helping organisations articulate their aims and aspirations shape their plans and translate these into constructive outcomes. Most recently he has launched a new flamenco festival at the prestigious Birmingham Town Hall via his production company ‘Emoción’. As a founding member of Audiences Europe Network, he has delivered many successful conferences and seminars throughout Europe over the last five years in addition to major seminars on diverse topics including Ayslum and Refugee Support, Cultural Tourism and Festival Management for Arts Council England, Learning and Skills Council (UK) and many Local Authorities. Prior to this, Rich ran marketing:arts, an award winning audience development agency which pioneered customer data warehousing and analysis as well as the UK’s first B2B+B2C cultural portal. Earlier in his career he worked in advertising, and later in as head of marketing in economic development in the UK’s largest local authority. Among his professional interests, is a desire to help cultural organisations open up to change – enabling them to thrive in a climate of collaboration and knowledge exchange. Richard has worked throughout the UK and overseas with clients ranging from the Government of Mexico and University of Hong Kong, to the Arts Council of England and Heritage Lottery Fund in the UK.
Geoffrey Brown: Director, EUCLID Geoffrey founded EUCLID in 1993. EUCLID provides a range of European & international information, research & consultancy services. EUCLID has several contracts with the UK Department for Media, Culture & Sport and the European Commission to be the official UK Contact Point for various EU programmes – including the Culture programme and the Europe for Citizens programme. EUCLID is also contracted by Arts Council England to provide international information services in England. EUCLID has developed Culture.Info, an extensive web portal providing cultural information from across the world. EUCLID also organizes a wide range of seminars and conferences in the UK and in Europe on European and international topics. EUCLID has undertaken research projects for the European Commission, the Council of Europe, European networks, the British Council and UK arts funding bodies and local authorities. Clair Greenaway: Executive Director, Cheltenham Literary Festival Clair Greenaway studied Music at Durham University and then European Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Warwick. She was Concert Manager of MUSICON, the University of Durham Concert Series and Assistant Manager of Bedworth Civic Hall from 2002-2005, when she joined Cheltenham Festivals. Lucy O'Neill: Programme Manager, Literature & Special Projects, Salisbury International Arts Festival Lucy joined Salisbury Festival in 2006 as the Events & Marketing Coordinator. Previously to that i worked on the 2005 and 2006 Festival of Youth Arts as Festival Assistant. I graduated from Cardiff University in 2004. Dr Robert Howard: Artistic Director, Prescot Festival Dr Robert Howard is a teacher, musician and composer. Born and raised in Prescot, near Liverpool, he gained his doctorate at Goldsmiths College, London, before returning to his hometown, where he pioneered the Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts. Soon to be in its fifth year, the Festival is a grassroots, volunteer-run community festival comprising 10 days of local, national and international talent from an increasingly diverse range of musical and artistic genres. Dr Howard is Head of Music at Deyes High School in Maghull. David Kernick: Assistant Director, Prescot Festival David Kernick, whose background includes church ministry, writing and teaching, although he now divides his time between local arts and a variety of freelance projects.
Tamsin Cox: Interim Programme Manager, Impacts08: The Liverpool Model Impacts 08 is a 4-year programme of research to monitor the Liverpool Capital of Cultural 2008. She has worked in the cultural sector for a number of years, with a portfolio predominantly relating to public funding and capital development. Judith Serota - Facilitator Judith was Executive Director of Spitalfields Festival in London’s East End until 2007. With over 30 years experience in the music industry, she has considerable experience of community involvement, regeneration and diversity, organisational development, corporate fundraising, and successful grant applications. Judith is currently an External Assessor of National Performing Companies for the Scottish Government, and a member of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust’s Arts & Heritage Committee. Debbie Read: Director, Arts & Business East Midlands Debbie Read has been Director at Arts & Business since 2001, and is a national governance trainer for A&B. Previously she was Head of Planning and Combined Arts at Arts Council East Midlands, as well as being a community arts venue promoter, a theatre in education practitioner, and working on sponsorship at the Dome. Heather Newill: Managing Director, AEM International Heather is an experienced search consultant specialising in placing senior personnel for the arts, entertainment and creative industries. Prior to establishing AEM International in 2004, Heather was Director of the Arts and Entertainment Practice at Friedlander Sachs and established the UK Arts and Non-profit Division at A.T. Kearney. Heather has 20 years experience herself in senior level arts management and was formerly Manager of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Chief Executive of the Orchestra of St John’s and Festival Director of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.