2010 Conference Programme

BRITISH ARTS FESTIVALS ASSOCIATION 2010 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

WEDNESDAY 3 NOVEMBER Welcome to Brighton Reception Host: Brighton & Hove City Council 16.00

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 Exhibition Royal Pavilion Gardens BRIGHTON BN1 1EE 03000 290900 The reception will begin with a tour through the Museum and the Photo Biennial Exhibition. Meet inside the Museum Shop.

BPB Curated: Strange & Familiar: Three Views of Brighton Artists: Alec Soth, Rinko Kawauchi, Stephen Gill Keynote exhibition New works by three internationally acclaimed photographers, each presenting a very different response to the city of Brighton & Hove. Rinko Kawauchi (JPN), and Alec Soth (USA) commissioned by Photoworks and Stephen Gill (UK), in association with the Archive of Modern Conflict 16.30

Move internally through to the Brighton Dome Mezzanine Bar Welcome with: Donna Close, B&H Arts & Culture Andrew Comben, Chief Executive, Brighton Festival Helen Cadwallader, Executive Director, Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 Clare Norburn, Co-Artistic Director, Brighton Early Music Festival This event will draw to a close sometime between 17.00 and 17.30 allowing enough time to return to your hotel to prepare for the evening or simply step outside/across the road if you ticked the box for one of the events at 18.00: 18.00-19.00

Brighton Early Music Festival Commuter Concert The Unitarian Church New Road BRIGHTON BN1 1UF This event is now sold out. Contact BREMF direct for last minute returns.

If you requested a ticket it will be available on the door at the Unitarian Church under your own name The Artisans O Camino de Santiago - A Medieval Rite of Passage Emily Askew vielle, recorders, bagpipes Hazel Askew harp, voice Nicolas Mendoza rebec, hurdy gurdy, voice Matthew Robinson oud, voice Sarah Stuart percussion 18.00-19.00

A guided walk through the back street Twittens and Regency Squares of Brighton Led by Nick Dodds, Managing Director, Festivals & Events International - and long standing resident of Brighton If you selected this option, this walk will begin outside the Brighton Museum and end relatively near to the Nightingale Theatre

19.30

Sussex Salon Series How New is the 'New Politics'?

In conjunction with the University of Sussex Debate some of the hot topics of our age in a series of roundtable discussions between University of Sussex academics, other expert contributors and you, the audience. Ask a question of register your views using our electronic voting system.

Post expenses scandal and mid coalition, have we entered a 'new politics'? Or is it business as usual behind the spin? Join in the debate with: Caroline Lucas (Green MP, Brighton Pavilion); Lib Dem politician Mark Oaten (author of Coalition); Prof. Paul Webb (The Modern British Party System); Dr Tim Bale (The Conservative Party: From Thatcher to Cameron); Dr Luke Martell (New Labour); and Dr Charlotte Skeet (legal expert: human rights, constitutionalism and gender).

Tickets are ÂŁ6 and you can book direct with the Dome or contact the BAFA Office. This includes wine!

19.00

Brighton Fringe Festival Launch Reception Nightingale Theatre Grand Central 29-30 Surrey Street BRIGHTON BN1 3PA ` 01273 702 563 If you selected this option, make your way to the Nightingale Theatre which is above Grand Central.

Brighton Fringe would like to invite all BAFA delegates to its registration launch party on November 3 during the first evening of the conference: there will be drinks, nibbles, and entertainment from top Fringe acts.

Come and join us on the night to find out more: www.brightonfestivalfringe.org.uk 21.00

Donatello The Lanes 1-3 Brighton Place BRIGHTON BN1 1HJ 01273 775 477 If you ticked the box to come for supper, the time and menu will be emailed to you beforehand.

THURSDAY 4 NOVEMBER Host: Brighton Festival 09.00-09.30

Delegate Registration Refreshments & sign up for your choice of workshops

The Corn Exchange Church Street BRIGHTON BN1 1US 01273 700 747

09.30-10.00

Welcome to 2010 BAFA Stewart Collins, BAFA Chair Festival Focus: Brighton Festival Andrew Comben, Chief Executive

10.00-10.15 International Baroque Players Organised with the help of Brighton Early Music Festival A group of outstanding young musicians from the newest generation of professional period performers. It is a self– governing orchestra and serves as an illustration of what can be achieved through a blend of talent, hard work and friendship.

10.15-11.30

Minute Manifesto Panel debate moderated by Stewart Collins

Roger Wright, Director BBC Proms; Controller BBC Radio 3 Joanna MacGregor, Artistic Director, Bath International Music Festival; Artistic Director, Deloitte Ignite Festival Deborah Bull, Creative Director, Royal Opera House Andrew Comben, Chief Executive, Brighton Festival Four leading figures from the arts nail their colours to the mast as we debate how to keep the artistic bar ‘high’ in these challenging times.

NEW! Join in this discussion via Twitter: #bafa10 and tweet your own Minute Manifesto before you get to Brighton.

Hear the panel discuss their own manifestos and challenge everyone to raise the bar to Olympian heights!

11.30-12.00

Facilitated networking session Refreshments

Sponsored by Festivals & Events International BAFA Board

12.00-13.00 MULTI-CHOICE WORKSHOPS Festivals: Stay Connected We look at what organisations are relevant to festivals. A chance to discuss in small groups what the future holds, how connections can be strengthened and what can be gained from new relationships in challenging times.

1: Working in partnership with Arts Council England. How can Arts Festivals work with Arts Council England to deliver great art for everyone? Jon Linstrum, Arts Council England, South East 2: Festivals & Education – Do they work well together? Peter Bolton is well-known to BAFA members as a former festival director (Norfolk & Norwich and Petworth) and BAFA’s Development Consultant from 2005 – 2008.

He now runs Kent Music, an education charity.

3: Linking across the Local Authority to deliver the extraordinary. How can festivals work with local authorities to help realise ambitious artistic programme in outdoor locations and unusual venues? This discussion will focus on the pivotal role that the partnership between the local authority and festival can play in producing flagship events. Ian Taylor, Outdoor Events Manager, who has responsibility for facilitating outdoor events across the city, Donna Close, Arts & Cultural Projects Manager.

4: We’re all advocates now. What can festivals do to champion the arts? John Munro, Campaigns Manager, National Campaign for the Arts will give a short presentation on the importance of arts advocacy and take questions from delegates on what they can do to make their advocacy work more successful.

The NCA provides a united voice for the arts, especially for arts organisations across the UK and for all artists, staff and volunteers who work in the arts. The NCA campaigns for adequate and sustainable levels of resources and support for the arts and for better access to the arts, so that everyone in the UK has opportunities to experience and to take part in - the arts.

13.00-13.45

Lunch with Pearl & Deanie

Brighton Dome Foyer Bar

13.45-14.45

Cultural Connections UK City of Culture 2013 A look at the successful bid OR Creative Partnerships A panel discussion exploring cross border creativity, what initiatives are on the horizon and what resources are available to Festivals to make the connections

A choice of two concurrent sessions: Derry-Londonderry with City of London Festival Caoimhin Corrigan, Cultural Broker Katrina Schwarz, Visual Arts, British Council Christoph Jankowski, European Information Officer EU Cultural Contact Point in the UK Culture Programme (2007-2013) Colin Hicks, Facilitator, VIZIR* Kim Minke, Director, The Danish Cultural Institute

14.45-15.45 MULTI-CHOICE WORKSHOPS Festivals: Work Smarter In these workshops we investigate some of the resources that are available to enable festivals to ‘work smarter’ in these ‘financial times’. What ‘best practice’ really means.

1: Event Sustainability: An interactive introduction to event sustainability: Rebecca Saunders - BS8901, the British Standard for Sustainability Event Management (future ISO20121) -The Global Reporting Initiative - Key sustainability issues - Top tips for planning an sustainable event - Case studies and resources Rebecca’s role at Positive Impact Events and Sustainable Events Ltd is to provide education and consultancy for the event and festival sector to understand how to implement sustainability and BS8901 (starting point for future ISO 20121). This session moves the discussion on from the BAFA Road Show introduction.

2: Digital Marketing: Maximising the internet and its associated technologies - ambient participation, geo location.

Caron Jane Lyon, PCM Creative.

You will have been already tweeting for the day’s first session – what else has the internet to offer? If you attended Caron’s BAFA Road Show session she has lots more free stuff: Geo location? Ambient Participation? How can you make these applications work for your festival?

3: Working with volunteers: Hosted by Helen Thomas, Voluntary Arts, two round table discussions will focus on: Working with stewards – what’s practical and what’s not? Sue Torres, Director, Wicked Events Working with interns – opportunity or exploitation? Lindsey Dear, General Manager, City of London Festival with Deborah Roberts, Co Artistic Director, Brighton Early Music Festival Half way through this session on volunteers, delegates will be invited to swap round tables if they wish.

4: Looking into the future for Local authorities and the Arts. What might it look like and how can festivals engage? Jane Wilson, Director, Arts Development in East Cambridgeshire ADeC provides a wide range of arts services to local authorities, from events through to strategic planning. Within that role Jane is on the team of Regional Improvement Managers for culture and sport in the East of England and is also on the Board of Trustees of NALGAO, leading their work looking at licensing regimes.

15.45-16.00

Refreshments

16.00-16.15

The Girl Guides

16.15-17.15 Cultural Olympiad Ruth Mackenzie, Director, Cultural Olympiad An up-to-date picture of the Cultural Olympiad and what opportunities are presented in this final countdown to the 2010 Games 17.15-17.30

BAFA AGM

17.30-19.00

FREE TIME

19.00-19.45

Pre Dinner Drinks Please allow 15mins to walk to Terraces Bar & Grill

20.00-late

Conference Dinner Host: BAFA Member: Festivals & Events International

Open just to BAFA Members

Colonnade Bar 10 New Road BRIGHTON BN1 1UF

Terraces Bar & Grill Madeira Drive BRIGHTON BN21PS 01273 570 526 Party and presentation of the 2010 BAFA Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Arts Festivals. Previously awarded to Judith Serota: 2007, Nick Dodds: 2008 and Michael and Emily Eavis: 2009. Who will be honoured this year?

FRIDAY 5 NOVEMBER Host: Brighton Fringe Festival 09.00-09.30

Delegate Registration Refreshments

The Corn Exchange Church Street BRIGHTON BN1 1US 01273 700 747

09.30-09.45

Welcome to 2010 BAFA Festival Focus:

Stewart Collins, BAFA Chair Brighton Fringe

09.45-10.00

Music to wake up to!

10.00-11.00

In Conversation with Stewart Collins

11.00-11.15

Refreshments

Peter Florence, Director of the Hay Festivals in Wales, Colombia, Spain, Lebanon, Mexico, India, Kenya and the Maldives Jonathan Holloway, outgoing Artistic Director & Chief Executive Norfolk & Norwich Festival, incoming Artistic Director Perth International Arts Festival Many festivals have expanded significantly beyond their original shape and remit. How does this work, what are the gains, what are the pitfalls? This will merely be the starting point for what is likely to be fiery and challenging conversation encompassing globalisation, public subsidy and ... the Olympics!

11.15-12.15 MULTI-CHOICE WORKSHOPS Festivals: Mean Business st How do festivals survive in the 21 Century when the going is only getting tougher and tougher? These workshops look at radical solutions, at practical solutions and at innovative solutions to enable festivals to Mean Business!

1: Downturn Fundraising: The radical and creative must haves to survive. Tom Petzal, Managing Director, Tom Petzal & Associates, is a one-time CEO of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and now an established arts and charities fundraising consultant with thirty years top-level experience in his own practice, working all over the world, has advised countless music, theatre, dance, visual arts, mainline voluntary organisations and NGOs of all sizes and types on their fundraising challenges. He has also directed several appeals, including The Shakespeare Globe Trust, London Symphony Chorus, Welsh National Opera, Royal Court Theatre and most recently the Cambridge Summer Music Festival.

2: Corporate partnerships when the going gets tough. How do you maintain relationships with your business partners and find new partners when we are all watching every penny of our budgets? Michael Blake, Regional Manager, Arts & Business 3: Pros and Cons of Selling Tickets on-line. Mike Woodward is an opera promoter and performer and also runs the Sunningwell Music and Arts Festival, based in Oxfordshire. Mike first started selling tickets online through the WeGotTickets service in 2007 and recently became an employee. Mike's role at WeGotTickets is to help event promoters and organisers maximise the benefits of their digital marketing campaigns and enabling them to 'close the loop' – to sell tickets online.

4: Research: Is it worth it? Experts in their fields Christopher Maughan, Arts and Festivals Management Faculty of Humanities, De Montfort University with Shaun Romain, Director, Sussex Arts Marketing discuss how well planned research can broaden festivals long term financial opportunities. Using examples from the latest studies, together with your experience, join the discussion on festival lifecycles, partnerships, benefits and values.

12.15-13.00

Lunch with Magic and Comedy

Brighton Dome Foyer Bar

13.00-13.30

Festivals & Tourism: Creating a virtuous circle?

Adam Bates, Head of Tourism and Leisure, Visit Brighton Adam presents us with a lively flavour of Brighton and its unique festival atmosphere, paving the way for the site visits to follow.

13.30-15.15

Brighton Site Visits

Organised with the assistant of Donna Close Arts & Culture, Brighton & Hove City Council

Each of the three site visits will leave from the Corn Exchange directly after the Visit Brighton presentation, read on for the detailed information on each: 1. Evocative and provocative: Art in unusual spaces Possibly compelled by Brighton & Hove’s limited number of traditional theatre and art spaces its Festivals have long sought disused buildings and other unusual settings for their work. How do spaces evoke meaning for the work they house? Can art in unusual spaces provoke a city to look at itself more closely? How aware of practical considerations must artists be in formulating site-specific work and how can Festivals best facilitate this? This discussion takes place in the old Co-op department store on London Road, currently housing Brighton Photo Fringe’s Fringe Focus and earlier this year the site for dreamthinkspeak’s immersive work Before I Sleep, which ran for 9 weeks to a record-breaking Brighton Festival audience.

The discussion will be led by Philip Morgan, former Producer, Brighton Festival Venue: The Old Co-op Building, London Road 2. Programming without Programming Brighton Festival Fringe, Brighton Photo Fringe and Artists' Open Houses are open and inclusive events that enable participants to self-initiate projects and exhibitions. These festivals present a breadth of work in a wide range of locations. How do open access festivals ensure that quality is kept at the heart of their festivals, in terms of the offer to participants and audiences? Can curated programmes and an open access strand sit alongside each other in the context of a Fringe festival? The discussion will take place in the Marlborough Theatre, one of the city’s Festival Fringe performance venues, and feature slides of the Brighton Photo Fringe and Artists' Open Houses.

The discussion will be led by Kata Gyongyosi from Brighton Festival Fringe, Woodrow Kernohan from Brighton Photo Fringe and Judy Stevens from Artists' Open Houses.

Venue: Marlborough Theatre 3. A walking tour of Brighton Photo Biennial and Photo Fringe Brighton Photo Biennial is an ambitious, bold and innovative festival of international photography, a challenging and stimulating event for the widest audiences, that celebrates the role of photography in everyone's lives. The current edition, BPB 2010: New Documents is curated by Martin Parr, exploring contemporary and historic photography, plus new commissions inspired by Brighton & Hove.

Brighton Photo Fringe is a vibrant celebration of photography running alongside BPB and featuring more than 130 exhibitions alongside talks, discussions and workshops and with projects and events spreading as far as Hastings and Chichester.

The walk will be led by Helen Cadwalladar, Executive Director of BPB and Helen Cammock, Co-Director Brighton Photo Fringe Venue: Walking tour around city centre leaving from the Corn Exchange 15.15

Are you rushing for the train to Lewes?

If not then please join us for a final round up and drink at the My Hotel Bar when you have made your way back from the various site visits.

Andrew Comben Born and educated in Australia, Andrew Comben has worked in music and the arts for the last 16 years in the UK, working for Wigmore Hall, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Young Concert Artists Trust and Music International.

Andrew joined Brighton Dome & Festival in May 2008, further developing the vision for the organisation to become a year-round centre of artistic activity and involving all areas of the community in the performing arts. In November 2008 Hofesh Shechter Company was appointed Resident Company of Brighton Dome. They have since used all three of the Dome’s spaces for rehearsal, development and education work, and performed to sold-out houses both with existing works and with three new pieces commissioned by Brighton Dome and Festival. Brighton Festival 2009 saw Anish Kapoor appointed as the inaugural Guest Artistic Director showing six works across the city, attracting some 80,000 visitors alone. In 2010 under Brian Eno’s Artistic Direction Brighton Festival achieved the highest ever ticketed attendances and Associate company dreamthinkspeak’s immersive theatre piece Before I Sleep extended their sell-out run to a total of nine weeks.

Roger Wright Roger Wright took up the post of Controller, BBC Radio 3 in November 1998 and, in October 2007, also became Director of the BBC Proms. Roger also co-ordinates the BBC’s classical music output across all BBC platforms.

As Controller of BBC Radio 3, Roger is in charge of its editorial strategy, commissioning, and scheduling policies. He is also responsible for four of the BBC’s performing groups: the BBC Concert Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers. The BBC Proms is one of the world’s greatest music festivals. Under Roger’s leadership, BBC Radio 3 has increased its commitment to live music both throughout the UK and internationally in addition to strengthening its support and encouragement of young artists. The station continues to be the world’s largest commissioner of new music, broadcasting works by a wide range of composers.

Roger has also been the driving force behind composer-focused seasons such as The Beethoven Experience, A Bach Christmas, Webern Day and most recently, The Tchaikovsky Experience in addition to The Ring in a Day, when the BBC Radio 3 schedule was cleared to broadcast Wagner’s entire 18-hour Ring cycle. In 2009, Radio 3 won the Sony Award for UK Station of the Year.

Joanna MacGregor Joanna MacGregor is thought of as one of the world’s most innovative musicians, committed to expressing musical connections across increasingly diverse and original programming. The Artistic Director of Bath International Music Festival since 2006, she was also the curator of this year’s multi-arts Deloitte Ignite Festival at the Royal Opera House, bringing together visual artists, contemporary dance, film and theatre installations, as well as music collaborations. A veteran of some forty solo albums encompassing classical, contemporary. jazz and world music, she has performed in over sixty countries, often appearing as a solo artist with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has worked with many eminent conductors - Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Simon Rattle and Michael Tilson Thomas amongst them - and has premiered many landmark compositions ranging from Sir Harrison Birtwistle and Django Bates to John Adams and James MacMillan. In May 2010 she gave two acclaimed performances of Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev.

Deborah Bull CBE After twenty years with The Royal Ballet, Deborah Bull is now Creative Director at the Royal Opera House, with responsibility for developing new art, new artists and new audiences.

She has written and presented for television and radio, including the award-winning, The Dancer’s Body, and published three books: The Vitality Plan, Dancing Away and Faber’s Guide to Classical Ballets.

Deborah has received Honorary Doctorates from Derby, Sheffield and the Open Universities. She served on Arts Council England and as a Governor of the BBC and was named a CBE in 1999.

Donna Close Donna Close is the Arts & Cultural Projects Manager at Brighton & Hove City Council, providing advice and support for the city’s vibrant arts and cultural sector. This portfolio includes Brighton Dome & Festival, Brighton & Hove Arts Commission and more than 100 other festivals, venues and arts organisations. She is also the initiator, director and producer for White Night: a flagship festival for the city which presented 65 new events over one night including 10 new commissions, and attracted an estimated 40,000 people into the city (last Saturday). Previous to this, Donna was project producer at Zap Productions producing the Streets of Brighton amongst other street arts festivals and one –off celebratory events

Jon Linstrum Jon Linstrum is the lead for Combined Arts and Festivals in the south east for Arts Council England. Prior to joining Arts Council in June 2010 he was co-director of Magnetic Events, producers of outdoor arts events and also worked freelance as production and safety advisor for Winchester Hat Fair, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Wildworks Theatre, Inside Out Dorset and many others. Other clients have included Brighton Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival, Henley Festival, NGI culture10, Festivals and Events International, Ross on Wye International Festival.

Peter Bolton Peter Bolton started his career as a Concert Manager for the Edinburgh International Festival before working on short contracts for the Commonwealth Arts Festival, Tanglewood Festival and Festival of Sydney followed by a period as the Tour Manager for The Academy of Ancient Music.

After a spell as Music Officer for Southern Arts he ran the Turner Sims Concert Hall in Southampton. He went on to be the Director of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival before setting up his own business running concerts, festivals and arts consultancy projects. In summer 2008 he gave up his business to become Chief Executive of Kent Music.

He is also a member of the Board of the Sounds New Contemporary Music Festival in Canterbury

John Munro John Munro is the Campaigns Manager for the National Campaign for the Arts. He Has been with the NCA for over two years and prior to that worked on election campaigns for the Liberal Democrats ion the South West, most recently in Bath with Don Foster MP.

Caoimhin Corrigan Caoimhin Corrigan is the recently appointed Cultural Broker with ILEX (the Urban Regeneration Company for Derry~Londonderry) who are one of the main partners in leading 2013 UK City of Culture. The regeneration company’s background and research was instrumental in the development of the bid and in articulating how the City of Culture designation would help Derry~Londonderry to deliver step changes within the regeneration of the city.

Prior to taking up post with ILEX, Caoimhín’s background has been in arts development in the Republic of Ireland, working through local government across artforms with festivals, independent venues, artists and arts organisations. He has led the development of two prestigious new arts venues; VISUAL – The Centre for Contemporary Art in Carlow, which is the largest new centre to be built in Ireland in recent years and The Dock in Leitrim, where he was the founding director/curator from 2005.

Based largely on the success of The Dock and also on a track record of programming and commissioning innovative public art projects, Caoimhín was appointed in 2009 to work on behalf of the Irish Government as Commissioner and Curator for Ireland’s representation at the the 53rd International Art Exhibition, the Venice Biennale. He has been an adviser and panel member to many Arts Council reviews, has conducted faculty reviews at art schools and has also served on boards of festivals, venues and third-level institutions. From 2003 – 2009, he was Chair of the Irish Association for Youth Drama.

Colin Hicks Considered one of the top London cultural attachés in the past twenty years, Colin Hicks has now combined his diplomatic skills with those learnt from earlier careers as professional musician, actor and trainer, to offer information, consultancy and coaching in international cultural policy and practice. The core focus of his work is on the constraints to the international mobility of the artist under current finance, visa, diplomacy, tax and environmental regimes.

Colin is bilingual French; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; a member of British Actor's Equity and the Musicians Union; and Board Member of Wildworks International Theatre Company.

Katrina Schwarz Katrina Schwarz relocated to London in 2008 under the auspices of a British Council professional development grant and the Marten Bequest scholarship for prose writing.

Former Editor of the esteemed contemporary art journal Art & Australia, recent publications include Current, a survey of contemporary art from Australia and New Zealand; a chapter on Helmut Newton’s suppressed Australian years for Hijacked: New Photography from Australia and Germany and the introduction to the Whitechapel Gallery’s architectural history, Rises in the East: A Gallery in Whitechapel. Katrina was Co-ordinator for the London Visual Arts Strategy Group, chaired by Ralph Rugoff and she continues to provide exhibition support for the Touring programme of Hayward Gallery, most recently interviewing 10 participating artists for the British Art Show. Working within the British Council’s dynamic arts team, Katrina leads on a programme forging creative connections between Africa and Europe.

Rebecca Saunders Rebecca’s role at Positive Impact Events and Sustainable Events Ltd is to provides education and consultancy for the event industry to understand how to implement sustainability and BS8901 (starting point for future ISO 20121).

She has received training on the Phillips Methodology for Return on Investment in Events and also assisted with writing the Sustainable Events Ltd’s first GRI report.

Rebecca has completed a BA in Geography and a post-graduate diploma in Events Management and PR. Positive Impact is a not for profit education project providing sustainability education for the event industry.

Sustainable Events Ltd is a company providing support to businesses in the event industry who wish to implement and measure sustainability initiatives.

Caron Jane Lyon Internet Adventurer & Explorer. Social web travel guide. Caron is an ex theatre stagemanager turned web events manager and digital resource consultant. From creating social networks for Arts Council England’s Amb:IT:ion program, live streamed interactive coverage for Architects Journal at the Earls Court 2010 Ecobuild event to Twitter conversation curation for Social Media in Business’s 2010 conference at Paypal HQ. Caron provides the knowledge organisations need to connect and talk across the web in real time.

Recently Caron and social content specialist Phil Campbell have established Fibre Studio to enable community and arts groups to create HD web shows which stream directly to their web sites.

Sue Torres 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.

Helen Thomas Helen Thomas is the ‘Once in a Lifetime’ project officer for Voluntary Arts. Helen’s role is to encourage voluntary arts groups across the UK to take advantage of the participation opportunities presented by the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Voluntary Arts is the independent development agency and representative voice of the voluntary and amateur arts across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The mission of Voluntary Arts is “promoting practical participation in the arts and crafts”. As well as supporting and advocating for the voluntary arts sector Voluntary Arts works with the voluntary arts sector to increase and widen arts participation. This includes over 200 national and regional umbrella bodies, and through them, tens of thousands of local groups of voluntary arts practitioners. www.voluntaryarts.org

Jane Wilson I am the Director of an arts development organisation, ADeC, which provides a wide range of arts services to local authorities, from events through to strategic planning. Within that role, part of my time is currently spent as one of a team of Regional Improvement Managers for culture and sport in the East of England. I sit on the board of trustees of nalgao, and lead the work we are doing to understand members views in relation to the licensing regime. In my spare time I work with a number of festivals, including both Strawberry Fair and the Cambridge Folk Festival.

Ruth MacKenzie Ruth Mackenzie joined the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic games in January 2010, following a spell as an expert adviser on broadcasting and cultural policy for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. She was seconded to the Department by the Manchester International Festival where she was appointed the first General Director in 2006. Ruth was previously Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre from 2002-06, General Director, Scottish Opera 1997-99 and Executive Director, Nottingham Playhouse 1990-97. She has also worked on a consultancy basis for the Barbican Centre, Tate, BBC, London Symphony Orchestra and Young Vic and she was Head of Strategic Planning for the Southbank Centre 1986-90. She was special adviser to two Secretaries of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Chris Smith and Tessa Jowell 1999-2002. She has advised the Vienna Festival as a consultant dramaturg since 2007 and she is Visiting Professor for Cultural Leadership at the City University. Ruth’s career in theatre began in 1980, when she set up and directed Moving Parts Theatre Company and she was awarded an OBE for her services to the theatre in 1995.

Tom Petzal Tom Petzal, a one-time CEO of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and now an established arts and charities fundraising consultant with thirty years top-level experience in his own practice, working all over the world, has advised countless music, theatre, dance, visual arts, mainline voluntary organisations and NGOs of all sizes and types on their fundraising challenges. He has also directed several appeals, including The Shakespeare Globe Trust, London Symphony Chorus, Welsh National Opera, Royal Court Theatre and most recently the Cambridge Summer Music Festival; whilst outside the arts he has been charity director of Motability and Secretary General of the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies.

Clare Norburn Clare Norburn has an unusually multifaceted career as a promoter, performer, arts fundraiser and playwright. She has sung with a number of early music ensembles including Eclipse, Mediva, Pastorella and Vox Animae, performing at many of the UK’s leading venues and festivals, including the Purcell Room, Bridgewater Hall and the Spitalfields, Brighton and Oundle Festivals. Together with soprano Deborah Roberts, Clare co-founded and is co-Artistic Director of the Brighton Early Music Festival, which after 8 years is the UK’s second largest early music event. She also works part-time as Deputy Director of Development for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.