Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
Acknowledgements This report was prepared for Performing Lines by Denise Wilson, Performing Lines’ Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator, and Tandi Williams of Patternmakers. The authors would like to acknowledge the individuals and communities involved in the Head Full of Love tour and associated community engagement activities, including Performing Lines staff. Particular thanks go to those who took the time to participate in the evaluation, including 19 presenters and 11 community engagement stakeholders. Performing Lines and Patternmakers acknowledge the traditional land and its owners and the contribution of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia both past, present and future. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this report may contain images of people who have passed away.
1 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
Contents 1. Introduction What is the pilot about? What does this report cover?
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2. Activities What happened as a result of the grant?
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3. Outcomes What impacts and benefits were achieved?
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4. Successes and challenges What lessons were learned?
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5. Future What conclusions can be drawn? What is recommended for the future?
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Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
1. Introduction What is the pilot about? Performing Lines manages and produces Blak Lines, a national touring initiative designed to enable Australian presenters and audiences to experience contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance and theatre. To strengthen engagement with Indigenous communities throughout its tours, Performing Lines piloted a new part-time coordinator role alongside Head Full of Love, a Helpmann award-winning play about the friendship between a white woman and an Aboriginal woman at the Alice Springs Beanie Festival, which toured nationally in 2015 as part of Blak Lines. Figure 1 – Head Full of Love national tour poster.
The Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator position was created in early 2015 with support from Australia Council’s Key Organisations. After a competitive selection process, Denise Wilson was appointed to the role in March 2015, and worked a total of 65 days up until November 2015 (equivalent to 2 days per week). Her role served as a catalyst for engagement activities, and provided a link between tour locations to facilitate sharing of ideas and good practice. The key tasks of the position were to: • Identify examples of community engagement strategies and explore potential activities and key contacts. • Work with producers, touring companies and presenters to develop and implement community engagement programs and activities, and a cultural protocols framework, as part of the itinerary for tours. • Work closely with the Producer and Production Manager on the timelines, logistical arrangements and technical requirements for community engagement activities associated with a tour.
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Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
• Liaise with the Producer and Marketing/PR staff regarding potential marketing and publicity opportunities through all forms of media, including social media and community news outlets. • Contribute to a full and comprehensive community engagement report at the conclusion of each production/tour, including suggestions for the future. Arts research consultant Tandi Williams was commissioned in June 2015 to design a simple evaluation framework for the pilot. Tandi worked with Denise and the Performing Lines team to gather and analyse evidence about the outcomes of the pilot and draft this report.
What does this report cover? This report captures the activities, outcomes, successes and challenges of the pilot, and makes some recommendations for the future. More detail on the background of the pilot, and the evaluation framework, are available in a separate Appendices document (available upon request). This version is designed for Performing Lines and key stakeholders, and the arts sector across Australia, to spark discussion among the team about the outcomes of the pilot, and identify lessons which may be helpful in designing the next phase of community engagement. A shorter Summary Evaluation Report is also available. Figure 2 – Annie Byron, left, and Paula Delaney Nazarski in Head Full of Love. Image by JamesPhoto.
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2. Activities What happened as a result of the grant? The activities of the pilot took place in four key stages: • • • •
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
Consultation and Relationship Building Program Development Tour and Community Engagement Activities Review and Evaluation
Stage 1 - Consultation and Relationship Building In April 2015 Performing Lines formally introduced Denise to each presenter, along with Louana Sainsbury the Associate Indigenous Producer for Head Full of Love. As an Aboriginal woman with experience in coordinating engagement activities in different contexts, Denise was able to establish trust and act as a communication bridge between non-Indigenous and Indigenous stakeholders. In collaboration with Performing Lines, Denise began developing her coordination schedule based on lessons from past tours, and Denise’s own experience of community engagement. Key principles underpinning the pilot included: • Self-determination – Each community would drive their own engagement rather than it being imposed by any external force. This would ensure the activities were right for them, and have a greater likelihood of being sustained beyond the tour. • Tailored approaches – Whilst ideas could be exchanged between communities, each community would be supported to tailor a unique approach based on specific local needs and opportunities. • Managing expectations – Stakeholder expectations of the degree of likely impact would need to be managed, particularly in terms of community engagement and audience development. • Goals – Ideal outcomes for this project would not necessarily be ticket sales, but rather small, incremental shifts in community perceptions, relationships and ways of engaging. • Mutual respect – To establish the right foundation for positive impact, it would be important that the Indigenous community, presenters and other organisations trusted the communication process and felt respected. • Lasting relationships – Positive outcomes often stem from individual relationships, and it would be important to support the presenters to develop their own relationships with their Indigenous communities, that could last beyond the scope of the tour.
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Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
Stage 2 - Program Development In Stage 2, Denise liaised with presenters and communities to gather baseline data and help develop their community engagement plans. Early review of the 22 tour locations revealed that some presenters were more advanced in the community engagement work than others. Some had developed stronger relationships with their Indigenous communities over time and were already ensuring Indigenous people were involved in their work and made to feel welcome inside their venues. However, in many of the tour locations, Indigenous communities had had little or no previous contact with the presenters. The correct cultural protocols were unclear, and presenters were still developing relationships and connections with Elders and other Indigenous community members. Denise telephoned all presenters to understand their situation and their ideas, and find out what existing relationships they had with the local community. Figure 3 – Focus locations visited (blue), other tour locations visited (yellow), other tour locations (green) for Head Full of Love.
She also identified and contacted Indigenous people within the government and nongovernment sectors and Elders in each community. She introduced the subject matter of 6
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
the play and related this to concerns about the renal health of Indigenous communities and the social isolation of people accessing dialysis great distances from their home. Denise actively sought feedback from both venues and community members on what would work best in each location. She provided ideas, but gave the community ownership of the activities which would work for them. After seeking feedback from all parties, ideas on engagement were collated and distributed back to the presenters. Denise followed up with emails and telephone calls to motivate the presenters to follow through on their ideas. Denise explained, ‘This was effective in holding presenters accountable. The activities and workshops were then offered by the presenter to the community and these provided a forum to discuss the issues portrayed in the play.’ Figure 4 - Denise Wilson (right), Robert Carroll, CEO (second left) and cast members Annie Byron and Paula Delaney Nazarski at Griffith Local Aboriginal Land Council, NSW.
Performing Lines prioritised six ‘focus venues’ for Denise to work with more closely, including some with local relationships already in place (to learn from good practice), and some where relationships were underdeveloped (areas of greatest need). After researching and planning her visits, Denise travelled to each focus location five to ten weeks prior to the Head Full of Love performances. As well as meeting with the presenter in each focus location, she arranged meetings with local organisations and contacts to discuss community engagement. This included informal committees being formed, ideas generated and plans made to implement engagement strategies.
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Denise’s role provided the linkage, focus and coordination to ensure that ideas for engagement translated into practice. She used regular emails and weekly telephone calls to ensure timeframes were being followed to implement the action plan. Organisations involved in the planning meetings and local engagement included Local Councils, State and Australian Government departments, non-government organisations such as Youth Off The Streets, health services, women’s services, schools, Elders groups and interagency groups.
Stage 3 - Tour and Community Engagement Activities Throughout the tour, Denise continued to phone each presenter weekly, and visited focus locations in person. A range of community engagement activities were ultimately delivered together with presenters and other organisations, including: • • • • • • •
Post show Q&A sessions with the cast Discussion events on related health issues Artist ‘meet and greets’, and cast visits to communities Welcomes and/or Acknowledgements of Country BBQs, afternoon teas and other social events ‘Crafternoons’ and beanie making hubs Touring beanie exhibition, often with the addition of locally made beanies.
Figure 5 - Denise Wilson (second from left) with Roger Penrith (Griffith Regional Council) Jo Southern (Griffith Regional Gallery), Alan McKenzie (Youth Off The Streets), Sarah Boon (Griffith Regional Theatre), NSW.
The assistance Denise gave for community engagement varied in each location according to the needs of the community, including: • Organising Welcome to Country – In some locations Denise located a member of the community to provide the Welcome, whilst in others she arranged a pre-recorded Acknowledgement of Country. 8
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
• Organising for the cast and crew to participate in local tours of key Aboriginal Organisations. • Ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members were included in workshops. • Supporting organisation of specific Indigenous community engagement activities including BBQS, pre-show suppers, post-show Q&A’s, morning/afternoon teas. • Linking with key organisations and Indigenous community contacts. • Transport assistance including picking up Elders for the performances and engagement activities.
Stage 4 - Review and Evaluation Performing Lines worked with consultant Tandi Williams to design the pilot evaluation framework and collect data for the pilot evaluation. The key evaluation questions form the structure of the following chapters, including: • • • •
What impacts and benefits were achieved? What lessons were learned? What conclusions can be drawn? What is recommended for the future?
Detailed questions in relation to the project logic are included in the evaluation framework in the Appendices (available upon request). With limited resources available for this evaluation, data was collected mainly using online surveys. The key methods included: • Online survey of Head Full of Love presenters. • Online survey of key community contacts (alternative approaches were also offered, including completing the survey by telephone). • Interviews of the Community Engagement Coordinator. • Workshops with the Performing Lines team. The major limitation of this methodology is that online surveys may not suitable for those without access to the internet, including some Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The results should be interpreted accordingly. Figure 6 - Data collected for the pilot evaluation
Method Presenter survey Community engagement contacts survey Interview of Community Engagement Coordinator Workshops with Performing Lines team
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Number 19 out of 23 (83% response rate) 11 out of 28 (40% response rate) 2 2
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
3. Outcomes What impacts and benefits were achieved? Overall Denise undertook 15 visits to communities and made hundreds of phone calls, connecting continuously with 22 presenters and 29 community contacts. This work helped to encourage, mobilise and guide community engagement activities around the Head Full of Love tour. All presenters responding to the survey (19 out of 23) said they ran at least one community engagement activity alongside the show, such as a forum or panel discussion, or Welcome to Country. Hosted activities had varying attendances, although overall 90% of presenters felt the engagement activities were well received. ‘Head Full of Love was one of our highlights this year - great production, performances, tour organisation and community response. We had over 200 beanies knitted/donated to our community engagement activity, from local community groups and interstate too.’ This section outlines the impacts and benefits of the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator.
Role of the Coordinator 15 out of 19 presenters (79%) agreed that the Coordinator helped them to engage with Indigenous communities. They noted a variety of reasons that the role was helpful, such as: • • • •
Making regular motivating phone calls Providing documentation and advising staff on design of engagement activities Suggesting individuals and groups to engage with Successfully making contact with groups that presenters had not been able to connect with previously.
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Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation Figure 6 - Community participants in a craft session in Penrith, NSW.
Figure 7 - Presenters perceptions of community engagement outcomes (2015).
Additional engagement activities were wellreceived by the community
91%
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator helped us to engage with Indigenous communities
79%
The Indigenous community we engaged with attended the show
62%
We enhanced our relationship with the Indigenous community
60%
Of the four presenters who did not report such impacts, two indicated they already had strong relationships and plans in place and did not require further assistance. Another two said that their attempts to engage had not been successful (for example, phone calls to community members had not been returned). One presenter elaborated: ‘We tried very hard to engage with our Indigenous Medical Community with this event without success - initially there was a commitment however when the time came it didn't happen.’ Presenter and community capacity to engage are further later in the report.
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Enhanced relationships When asked if they felt they enhanced their relationship with the Indigenous community specifically, 60% of presenters said they had. Many presenters also indicated that the tour had enabled them to develop valuable specific relationships, including, for example, with: • • • • • •
Local Elders Aboriginal corporations and Land Councils Local government Arts centres and local galleries Local media and radio stations Aboriginal medical community
Denise explained about the value of these connections: ‘Other benefits for the Indigenous communities included connecting with the broader community so they were not so segregated. Some community members had never been to the theatre before and they all loved seeing the show. It was quite emotional for some of them, to hear stories like their own told on stage on a public platform.’ Figure 8 - The Head Full of Love cast with staff members from the Aboriginal Medical Service in Griffith, NSW.
One presenter’s experience suggests that Denise was able to open new doors to allow enhanced engagement to take place: ‘Until the coordinator was introduced I had tried by various means to contact Indigenous groups in the area but to no avail. The coordinator was able to successfully make contact with one group and we then started to engage with them. We then had two beanie sessions with the group.’ 12
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
Another elaborated about the impact of this: ‘The community were delighted to be involved and because they had a common goal (to knit beanies for the Purple House in Alice Springs) they all wanted to help. It was the first time that the Centre had been involved with the Aboriginal Centre and we really felt the connection with them.’ Denise’s work helped to bring different parts of the community together, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members. One Indigenous community contact noted: ‘There were a lot of non-Aboriginal people who attended the show and also the engagement activity, which suggests to me that the Indigenous Engagement Officer did a lot of work with the whole of the community. There were a mix of Aboriginal people who work in the key roles in our town, but there were also people from the general community and Elders also who attended and really enjoyed the show.’ Figure 9 - Denise Wilson making bush medicine at Purple House in Alice Springs, NT.
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Welcome to Country The Coordinator established protocols for ongoing acknowledgement of the local Indigenous communities in tour locations, including through providing an appropriate Welcome to Country and/or Acknowledgement of Country at each venue. Although some presenters already had processes in place for this, most did not. Denise explained why these were important and worked towards a solution that would work in each community. In one particular location, which is situated at the intersection of four Countries, there had never been a Welcome to Country, due to difficulties of engaging across country borders. She was able to locate an Elder who was from two of those countries and he was able to organise a Welcome for the first time ever. In other locations, where a Welcome to Country could not be organised, Denise arranged for pre-recorded Acknowledgements to be broadcast. Denise would research the correct names of the People and Nation, draft the acknowledgement and ask Indigenous cast member Paula Delaney Nazarski to deliver the Acknowledgement. Figure 10 - Uncle Ron Wilson providing a Welcome to Country at Colac, VIC wearing a possum skin cloak.
Work to establish these cultural protocols has been particularly well received by communities, as one Indigenous community member indicated in a follow up comment: ‘Thanks to you Denise! You understand the importance of doing the right things in the community and follow protocol where ever you go - fighting the battle for our people and helping breaking down the barriers also.’
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The presenters are also now aware that acknowledgements should be done for all performances, not just Indigenous productions.
Health Education Presenter and community responses suggest that Denise helped people connect over the themes of the play, including renal failure and social isolation. In Katherine the presenter visited a renal unit to gain an understanding of the factors impacting renal health. Additionally, a community health worker from an Aboriginal Health service attended a workshop and discussed renal health issues with other participants. This was effective in bringing a health service to the people and providing informal health education in an engaging way. In Alice Springs, the town where Head Full of Love is set, community engagement activities enabled playwright Alana Valentine to reconnect with the local community. The cast and crew were able to participate in making bush medicine (Figure 10), and Purple House hosted a panel discussion featuring local people alongside Alana and Performing Lines Producer, Narelle Lewis. Figure 11 - A panel event at Purple House in Alice Springs, featuring Alice Springs Beanie Festival’s Jo Nixon, Performing Lines’ Narelle Lewis, Purple House’s Sarah Brown and playwright, Alana Valentine
These activities not only helped bring people together, but raised funds for Purple House and gave the cast an opportunity to understand their characters at a deeper level.
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Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation Figure 12 - Purple House’s Sarah Brown with community members in Alice Springs
Community engagement activities also helped engage people with health education in Margaret River, where a volunteer from the community coordinated a ‘Mini Beanie Festival’, raising $2,000 for Purple House. In Griffith, the Aboriginal Medical Service staff all attended the show, whilst in Penrith, beanies were donated to local renal and neonatal units. Figure 7 - A volunteer-run Mini Beanie Festival helped raise $2,000 for Purple House
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Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
Beanie Exhibition The beanie exhibition stands out in both presenter and community feedback as a highlight of the engagement activities. Further, given that the Alice Springs Beanie Festival had a mini exhibition prior to the play, this motivated and inspired community members to participate in workshops and also display their own creations such as beanies, weaving and possum skin cloaks. One presenter illustrated how using creative and expressive art and craft proved effective as an engagement tool: ‘People loved that we made the connection between the local Indigenous community and Head Full of Love. They loved seeing the possum skin cloak, and many were genuinely thrilled to see the on-tour beanies. Teachers from the local primary school were rapt with the talk/cultural education session.’ Those presenters who developed further ideas around the exhibition, such as ’Crafternoons’ or call-outs, received a particularly strong response, as one presenter explained: ‘It was the first time we had done a call out to our audiences/community to participate in an exhibition. In the end we had over 150 beanies and tea cosies collected for display. In some cases, the people who participated in creating and then came to the production had never been to the theatre before.’
Engagement and Attendance Indigenous cast members were also supported as they were able to connect with other Aboriginal people while they were on the road. Cast are on the road for long periods of time and being able connect with communities and network gives a familiar feeling. Almost two thirds of presenters (62%) said that members of the Indigenous community they engaged with attended the show. At least one presenter suggested that whilst direct involvement was limited, the activities contributed indirectly to community engagement: ‘There wasn't a huge direct involvement of local indigenous communities, but the project's presence and community support contributed to a strengthened relationship.’ Whilst the engagement activities may not have equated to more ticket sales in all locations, over time feedback suggests that such efforts will ensure a sustainable and growing community involvement in future productions.
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Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation Figure 8 - A beanie making session in Mandurah, WA.
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Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
4. Successes and challenges What lessons were learned? Successes Highlights from Denise’s work include: • Helping people make valuable new connections in their communities, for example, introducing Griffith Regional Theatre to the Nungeena Aboriginal Corporation For Women's Business. • Being recognised for establishing appropriate cultural protocols in several communities, for the first time ever in one community. • Finding new ways to promote the production, e.g. including information about the show in Council’s NAIDOC week events. • Connecting with local media such as 4K1G Radio Station in Townsville, who could help build awareness of the show and engagement activities. Figure 9 - Denise arranged for the cast to visit local Indigenous radio station 4K1G in Townsville, QLD.
Analysing where the best outcomes have been achieved indicates there are a range of ‘success factors’ at play. For example, contacting people early and often has been effective in motivating presenters and other organisations to plan and deliver successful engagement activities. Denise said: ‘I found that the most effective way to engage was to go to the location prior to performances and get the right groups together. By planning what 19
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activities they will do, they are accountable. The type of engagement is also important, for example for this particular tour, using arts and craft bought groups together.’ A warm and friendly style was important for building relationships and supporting others to engage, as one community contact explained: ‘I really appreciated Denise's support. We just went with our original plans but it was delightful to get a call from Denise, and it always worked as a bit of a nudge; "Oh yes, I must get back onto that". Denise has a lovely, warm manner and her interactions were always just right - supportive but never pushy.’ Comments from community members also indicated the value of having an engagement approach that is tailored to both the location and the show. One community contact explained, “The critical thing is to adapt the community engagement activities to the show, not have a 'standard response’.” Figure 10 - A volunteer-run 'Mini Beanie Festival' in Margaret River, WA.
A success of the Coordinator role was enabling sharing between tour locations. Locations scheduled later in the tour benefitted most from this, as Denise was able to provide ideas, photos and content of successful events in other, earlier tour locations. In several locations this helped to inspire new engagement activities and motivate action, as one presenter explained:
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“One of the really valuable things that Denise was able to provide was to let us know what was happening in other locations. This acted as an 'ideas trigger' but also showed us that we were on track with our plans.” Other factors which contributed to the success of the engagement included: • Head Full of Love being a quality production that audiences intrinsically enjoyed. • Production themes that the community could relate to, and that allowed presenters to forge stronger connections with other organisations in the community, such as health providers and local government. • Offering a package of community engagement activities that presenters can select from and develop to suit their community’s needs and interests. • Complimentary Beanie exhibition, which connected with local craft interest groups and makers, and could be displayed in the foyer for other audiences to appreciate. • Cast, crew and playwright having the desire to connect with communities in an authentic way. Figure 11 - The Head Full of Love cast with craft activity participants in Mandurah, WA.
Challenges The challenges for this pilot largely related to time constraints of the Coordinator, the limited resources available to presenters for outreach and engagement activities, and the capacity of communities to respond.
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Denise was not able to visit every community, which limited the amount of support she could offer via weekly phone calls for most locations. One presenter explained: ‘It’s very difficult for someone outside to assist with contacting and encouraging participation from local groups. The engagement coordinator provided regular motivating phone calls but no real assistance with coordinating on the ground.’ For presenters, staff time and resources are the major constraint for engagement, with some venues under considerable financial strain. Locations with just one or two staff members found engagement near impossible, as one presenter explained: ‘It's quite difficult to do any lengthy or in depth community engagement for specific groups of people, particularly ones we don't have existing ties to. It's essentially a one-man show in our office with this kind of thing, and we have 36 productions coming to us in any given year.’ Denise explained another case: ‘For one location I was able to get all the contacts requested but presenter could not do anything with information with the small timeframe. But they were grateful and will be using the contacts in the future.’ Community capacity is also limited, due to tour dates clashing with other major events in the community, such as sporting events. In one location, sorry business meant that it was not a good time for engagement, whilst in others, NAIDOC week led to an already crowded schedule of events.
Attendances Whilst many presenters thought the production quality was good (52%) or excellent (39%), marketing the show was challenging. Presenters judged attendance as fair (52% of locations) or poor (35%) in most locations, although it appears that those that did attend largely enjoyed the production. The community engagement activities alongside the show helped raise awareness of the production, and contributed to attendances in some locations. As one respondent said, ‘The engagement strategy was vital in attaining the bums on seats. It is extremely difficult to sell drama here - so having the tour come with readymade ideas for engagement was a bonus!’ Several others were disappointed by attendances, despite having good responses to engagement activities. Many of the presenters actively targeted new audiences in terms of marketing the shows, which may yield greater outcomes over the long term. For example, one presenter who connected with local craft organisations said, ‘We targeted textile artists and they were here in strong numbers, however we gave almost all of them free tickets to thank them for volunteering. Hopefully we might have introduced some of them to the delights of live theatre and we'll see them here for other works. 22
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
5. Future What conclusions can be drawn? This pilot has achieved significant positive outcomes within the context of a single tour, and has confirmed the value of a Coordinator role for presenters, communities and the production itself. The Coordinator position appears to be the right model for supporting this kind of activity at this stage, as one presenter illustrates: ‘I believe by having the coordinator on board this year Performing Lines have taken the right direction in providing assistance to the Centres. The coordinator was able to answer any queries we had and also helped us to engage with the Indigenous community in an extremely positive way.’ The results demonstrate that a small additional investment (relative to the cost of a tour) can deliver tangible outcomes. Efforts to engage Indigenous communities in appropriate ways have been well received, for instance establishing protocols for appropriate Welcome or Acknowledgement of Country. Some locations have also developed exciting new relationships, laying a foundation for further activity and increasing understanding. Sustaining genuine engagement with individual communities can be challenging, particularly for national organisations with limited capacity to invest in local relationships. However, across Head Full of Love’s tour locations, this pilot has generated some meaningful connections and valuable community goodwill. In leading this pilot Performing Lines has begun to establish trusting relationships, and forge a new way of working. There is an exciting opportunity to continue building on this, and Performing Lines will be continuing in this role in 2016 with Sugarland, the next Blak Lines production to tour nationally. If resources can be sustained or expanded to embed community engagement in more Indigenous and non-Indigenous touring work, it is likely that positive outcomes could be extended into new communities, and into new contexts outside the performance realm. The ultimate objective is for this work to be fully embedded at the local level, led and sustained by communities themselves.
What is recommended for the future? Approach and objectives Those presenters that had positive experiences confirmed they are interested to see a similar approach for future tours, for example, when asked what they would like to see happen in future, one presenter said: 23
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
‘Exactly the type that we achieved via Head Full of Love - with a well thought out and appealing engagement strategy culminating in a visit to a live performance.’ Figure 12 - Beanies, featured in the play, helped engage grassroots community organisations.
Other presenters say they would like to build further on current levels of engagement and pursue: • Greater attendances by Indigenous community members, reduced complimentary tickets and/or alternative models for audience development. • Indigenous engagement with more parts of presenters’ offering, including nonIndigenous productions and greater use of venues by Indigenous community outside of performances. • More exchanges of stories between local communities and the artists / companies that travel here to perform. • Two-way relationships where presenters support Indigenous community initiatives and ventures (such as Indigenous-owned and -operated tourism and hospitality businesses). • Employment of Indigenous people within their organisations. Several community contacts said they would like to see future engagement activities involve even more members of the community, particularly Indigenous community members. Others suggested there may be value in further collaborations with local government and other community organisations. 24
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator – Pilot Evaluation
Resource Allocation Overall the evidence collected to date suggests that with additional resources, the scope of the Coordinator role could be developed further to build on achievements to date and concentrate on embedding sustainable solutions. Allocation of resources among the portfolio of presenters is one area that may benefit from further thinking. There is a balance to be struck in terms of targeting: • • • •
Locations where there is strong momentum from Head Full of Love. Locations of greatest need, or where little or no engagement took place. Metropolitan vs regional/rural towns. Locations with large or small Indigenous populations.
Scheduling With tour schedules planned years in advance, there is also an opportunity to increase the planning horizon for engagement, so activities could be built into programs from the outset. Several people suggested it would be valuable to start conversations even earlier in the lead up to tours, for instance, contacting presenters as soon as shows are booked to begin conversations. Denise Wilson agreed, and added that this early contact could guide prioritisation of focus locations: ‘What I would do differently next time is call the presenters first to discuss engagement and what help they would be needing before choosing target locations. I would also research what is happening in the communities in the lead up to tap into what is already happening in the communities.’ Scheduling of community visits and face-to-face meetings is also key, particularly in the planning stages, as one presenter explained; ‘There is only a very small Indigenous population in Margaret River and outlying towns. Face-to-face meetings are vital to foster relationships and for us to get more information from them regarding their events and how we can work together.’ Once relationships had been established, Denise found she could maintain contact via telephone and email, but early visits were essential to initiate activity.
Other Strategies Drawing from the feedback and success of the current production, other strategies that could be pursued in the future tours include: •
Additional “Hooks” – Future productions may need to explore ‘hooks’ for engagement, which may help presenters tap into existing community groups, as they did using beanie crafts for Head Full of Love. 25
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•
•
Extra due-diligence – There is scope to conduct more research into local organisations that relate to production themes, and local media outlets such as radio stations, print newspapers and social media networks. Additional Partnerships – Partnerships with other Indigenous programs and organisations may also be worth exploring, to help strengthen and sustain engagement over the long term.
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