Guide and Toolkit for Audience Research at Festivals and Outdoor Events
Measuring and evidencing the impact of an outdoor event can be harder than with other artforms, because of often widespread locations and the fact that many such events are unticketed.
We have produced a new set of guidelines with an associated toolkit for audience research at outdoor events, designed specifically to support the unprecedented activities and opportunities of 2012. On 24 January 2012, we ran a free symposium to share these guidelines with the outdoor arts sector and below you can find many of the resources from that event.
The Toolkit and Resource
You can download our guidelines as a pdf below, and get in touch with us to use the full toolkit. The toolkit has been designed to support research at the Mayor's Showtime and Hidden London programme during the summer of 2012, however this framework can be applied in a wide range of contexts, festivals and outdoor events.
To find out more email
The guidelines cover the following sections:
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Introduction and context: good reserach principles, the challenges we face and how to use the guidelines.
- Evidencing success: the types of evidence yo umay need to collect, how to match these to your objectives and how to report evidence successfully.
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Data collection methods: pros and cons of various methods, taking into account factors such as cost, staff resources, time commitments, access issues and the accuracy and quality of data.
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Using questionnaires: a guide to key question areas, advice on design and a sample questionnaire for you to adapt.
- Sampling for surveys: advice on sample sizes, random sampling and maximising response rates.
- Estimating audience size: the importance of accurate estimates in planning and evaluating and the pros and cons of various methods.
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Working with volunteers: Best practice guide for recruiting, training and rewarding a team of volunteers.
- Assessing economic impact: how economic impact is calculated and a recommended free toolkit for 2012.
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Research guidelines and data protection: the key legislation you need to be aware of when collecting personal data and the main principles of the Market Research Society code of conduct.
The symposium - 24 January, 2012
This free event brought together nearly 150 professionals from the outdoor arts sector across the UK, representing a range of local authorities, festivals and arts producers.
Watch short video interviews with many of our speakers and delegates on our Winkball Video Wall.
Notes and presentations from the event are also available to download below.
Downloads
- Researching Audiences at Outdoor Events and Festivals
Filesize: 3MB - AL Presentation - Outdoor Arts Symposium 24 Jan 2012
Filesize: 492KB - Winkball Presentation - Outdoor Arts Symposium 24 Jan 2012
Filesize: 259KB - Sample Audience Questionnaire for Outdoor Events
Filesize: 25KB - Summaries of breakout sessions from Syposium
Filesize: 248KB