Test Drive the Arts at the Alley!

It's been a hectic time at the Alley over the last few months, so sorry for not blogging away, however now I'm back...and brimming over with news, views and projects to share!

The first thing I must mention is the Alley has recently joined a new project run by Audiences NI, entitled "Test Drive The Arts!". What's it about? Well research has shown that if organisations could attract new patrons via a special guest (free) tickets, it allows them to enjoy the experience, see a new art form and wet their appetite to come back and sample another show, this time by paying for the pleasure. It is open to everyone in NI who have never been to a particular venue, meaning someone like myself could visit the Belfast Opera House or the Riverside Theatre in Coleraine. If you haven't been to the Alley, then this is a great opportunity for you, as we have offered guest tickets for Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club, Kila and Madam Silk....three superb shows which we feel will thrill and excite new patrons to the Alley.

I have to admit I am very excited about the project from a PR perspective and I personally hope it takes off as a sustainable project across NI. It currently works very well in America and Australia, however it has not kept the imagination in the UK. The English version of this scheme has yet to reach it targets for enabling new patrons, even though it has received a large amount of backing from celebs and arts venues.

To check out Test Drive the Arts NI click here.

Alley Theatre scoops major Prestige Access Award

The Alley always prides itself on being based in the heart of the community, serving our community, so this week we were delighted to receive official recognition from the William Keown Trust for our service, design and access for people with disabilities. Let's face it the building is fantastic, however what made me so proud was the the staff were part of this award process.

The judges commented that the staff at the Alley were committed to service, attention to detail and support for customers from all backgrounds with a variety of special needs. For a full report and images from the awards ceremony click here.

The Alley expands into YouTube.

With a little help form your friends you can achieve anything and this week has been another great week at the Alley, as the Alley marketing department took a masterclass in how to use YouTube and develop a Alley Theatre YouTube channel.

So far we have launched audio visual presentations for the Strabane Drama Festival, Northern Ireland Photographic Association and Strabane Grammar School. Today we launched a new video from BT Sounds Like Summer champions, King Coma and their new single "On My Side". The band are delighted with the final video, with several leading press and radio critics looking to review it over the coming weeks...watch this space! Want to see the Alley Theatre You Tube channel? Click here.

This week we also had some great news from Arts and Business, who have agreed to fund two exciting projects with BT/NWIPP and P.G McGillon Motors in Sion Mills. I cannot say too much at this stage, however we hope to run both events in March time....sorry to say it again, however watch this space!

The Alley wins the National Personal Safety Award!

Northern Ireland’s Alley Theatre has won the prestigious Safer Workplace Award at the National Personal Safety Awards 2009 presented by The Suzy Lamplugh Trust in London last week.

The National Personal Safety Awards were held at the Hilton Hotel in London, with the Alley scooping the top award of the night, the “Safer Workplace Award” sponsored by Royal Mail. This was a tremendous achievement for the Alley Theatre, who faced tough competition from organizations from across the UK and Northern Ireland in making the finals shortlist and was delighted to be announced winners at this star studded gala night.

“The Alley Theatre is delighted to be recognized for our hard work in promoting personal safety amongst staff and user groups” commented John Kerr, Alley Theatre manager. “The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is recognised around the world as being the leading authority on personal safety and to win recognition at their recent awards ceremony was a tremendous achievement for The Alley Theatre, Strabane District Council and our staff”

The judges said that measures the Alley Theatre took to improve personal safety was incredibly thorough, and what particularly impressed them was the fact that as well as risk assessments, training and policies, they actually effected a culture change, so that all employees are now encouraged to openly discuss any safety concerns and to plan their working day with safety in mind. It was very clear to the judges that this was not a tick-box exercise, but that the Alley Theatre places the personal safety of its staff at the heart of everything it does. Also shortlisted for the Safer Workplace Awards were Norfolk County Council and EDF Energy.

Ann Elledge, Director of Personal Safety at Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said “The National Personal Safety Awards were established by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust two years ago to recognise the achievements of organisations, workplaces and individuals around the country in promoting personal safety. We were extremely impressed by the calibre of nominees this year and The Alley Theatre were deserving winners against impressive competition.” For more information about the National Personal Safety Awards, visit www.suzylamplugh.org/awards.

Arts and Business Course proves a great success!

I took part in an "Art of the Pitch" course earlier this year which I really enjoyed and which I feel I took great benefit from. The links made on the course with fellow particpants and potential sponsors has already led to several successful relationships, including the securing of a performance at the Alley by one of the particpants and cementing the sponsorship relationship with one of the panel.

Arts and Business have now profiled the event as a case study on their website, check it out at http://www.artsandbusiness.org.uk/Case-studies/2009/oct_dec/ni_artofthepitch.aspx

Personal Safety First at the Alley!

The Alley Theatre received some wonderful news this week as the highly respected Suzy Lamplugh Trust, one of the worlds leading personal safety experts, short listed the venue for the prestigious "Safer Workplace" award at their annual awards ceremony set to be held in the Hilton Tower Hotel in London in November 2009.

The National Personal Safety Awards were established to celebrate and highlight organisations around the UK who are providing exceptional procedures and support in personal safety issues for staff. With the new nomination, the Alley can now seen as one of the top 3 organisations in the UK for putting personal safety of staff at the top of their agenda, an amazing achievement for this wonderful regional theatre.


The Alley Theatre certainly impressed the panel of judges, who have been inundated with nominations from around the UK. David Adams from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust said: “We were delighted to receive a nomination from The Alley Theatre for our National Personal Safety Awards. Their unique and comprehensive application exhibits how seriously the issue of employee personal safety is taken by the management of the Alley Theatre, and we are very pleased to shortlist them for this national award.”


The Suzy Lamplugh Trust was established in 1986 after the disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, a 25 year old estate agent who disappeared after she went to meet an unknown client. So far her body has not been found. However, she has been presumed murdered and legally declared dead. Her parents, Paul and Diana Lamplugh, believed that Suzy, like most people at that time - and even now - was simply unaware of the possible dangers that individuals can face in society. Paul and Diana founded the Trust to highlight the risks people face and to offer advice, action and support to minimize those risks. The Trust is now based at The National Centre for Personal Safety in central London, working with a wide range of partners in the public, private and voluntary sector, always seeking new ways to keep people safe from violence and aggression.

Strabane is a great place to live and work, however the Alley has to ensure they take staff safety seriously. Thankfully the Alley staff had not had to suffer any incidents of violence and aggression from patrons, however at least our staff are trained, prepared and supported if something did ever happen.

For more information about personal safety in the workplace click here to be redirected to the official Suzy Lamplugh Trust Website.

The Alley is up for another Arts & Business Award!

This week the Alley Theatre was delighted to hear that we had been selected for a prestigious Arts & Business Award in association with one of our sponsors, CRAFT Training.

Seven judges from across the spectrum of commerce and culture had the difficult job of short listing the best examples of excellence in partnerships from a record number of entries. The awards pay tribute to a total of 22 short listed partnerships jostling for first prize in five of the eight awards categories.

Nineteen arts organisations have also been nominated for the prestigious Arts Award, with a further 12 individuals nominated in the new Professional Development Award and Arts Individual of the Year Award categories.

Last year (see picture!) the Alley won the overall prize for Management of Business sponsors and a record 5 other nominations. This year has seen particularly tough competition for shortlisting, however we are delighted with our nomination. Looking at all the other projects nominated we are delighted to be held in the same light as some of the best projects taking place in Northern Ireland.

The Allianz Arts & Business Awards ceremony will be held in the Ulster Museum in Belfast on Thursday 21st January 2010, when the winners will be announced in all categories. For a full report click here.

From Holbein to Cambridge Curry Houses, the Alley draws inspiration from all sources.

The Alley Theatre recently took part in a Audience NI training session in Belfast which was all about reaching the student audience. From research it seems that students are certainly having a different experience than maybe students 10 or 15 years ago. The most interesting point, but not totally relevant to arts marketing, is that students take 3 holidays per year....3 holidays on a student loan, how do they manage it?


Anyway the guest speaker on the day covered a number of different points on how to appeal to the student market, however the Alley was already working on a number of projects that he suggested.

He did offer two gems of information however which made the whole trip worthwhile.....


1. When using Facebook, one of the essential sites for students today, always ensure you page is a "fan" site, rather than a "group" page. The main difference being that by running a "Fan site", you can directly post into their newsfeed, while in "groups" page you can only email the member.
Research shows that students on Facebook never really bother opening emails in their Facebook page, meaning students join various interest groups, then never really interact. The opportunity to get into their newsfeed ensures you are constantly reminding them of their membership at the Alley Facebook page and what's coming up, hopefully developing further interaction.

Since we relaunched the Alley Facebook page, not only have we seen a increase in numbers, but also a "better quality" of member. Before I hear a flood of complaints about that comment, what I mean it that gone are all the Alley staff members friends and family who join the site out of loyalty, but now the new site has appealed to a host of people who are seriously interested in receiving and interacting with the Alley. We now have 140 members, 99.9% from Northern Ireland, with a few ex-pats also joining to keep up to date with news back home Strabane.

One small comment about the relaunch..since we did it, other venues copied us within 48 hours! Once again the Alley led the way.




2. Develop Facebook ambassadors.

The world of ambassadors have moved on from the time of Henry VIII and Hans Holbein, however a few things are timeless....the power to influence through letters, words, images and recommendation.

Would Henry had married Anne of Cleeves if he had not received a personal recommendation on her looks from his Ambassadors or a sketch from Holbein? Certainly not.

The same can be said in the 21st century with people now using social networking sites, online friends and Youtube clips to work out what purchases to make, which shows to see or things to do at the weekend. One quick example of this in action was when friend was in Cambridge at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night and wanted a recomendation for a Curry House for a post-pub trip. He put the call out on Facebook and within 2 minutes he had received 3 curry house addresses and indepth personal recomendations. If it can work for a Curry house, it can certainly work in the arts!

Therefore the Alley is working on developing links with key Facebook users in the North West, with the intention of making them our Facebook ambassadors. It's in the early stages of planning and execution, so I think I will give a more detailed desciption on how we intend it to work in a couple of weeks once it is full up and running.

To check out the Alley Facebook page or maybe apply to be our new Facebook Ambassador click here.

Speed dating - Alley style

The Alley Marketing Department recently took part in a fantastic new idea from Arts & Business - Speed Sponsor dating!


Basically 12 arts organisation representatives and 12 potential business sponsors would spend 4 minutes with each other, finding out about each others organisations and possible investment opportunities the Arts could offer. It was a great chance to meet with potential sponsors and raise the profile of the Alley within the business community. I must say at this stage, Enda McShane, MD from Spirit Marketingm (http://www.spiritmg.com/) officially opened the event with a superb speech, highlighting to those businesses present the impact and success of Arts and Business organisations working together. With several successful arts related projects under his belt in America and the UK, Enda certainly offered concrete evidence that by working together both parties will benifit not only in the short/medium term success, but also in leaving a long lasting legacy which is not just successful from an arts perspective, but also profitable from a business viewpoint.


Did it work? After the breakfast meeting the Alley received 2 emails instantly that afternoon from potential sponsors looking to work with the Alley in some capacity! Once again the Alley Theatre is pushing new partnerships and investment opportunities which will not only benefit the arts in the North West, but build successful arts and business partnerships which will have a tremendous reach across the North West of Ireland.



One quick recommendation - the event was held at Belfast's Merchant Hotel, if you get a chance you must go! Its a wonderful venue which transport you to the chic of a top Parisian's hotel. The staff are fantastic, very helpful and with the news that a further £16 million pound investment in the hotel will just about to start means the Merchant looks like it will be one of the best hotels in Ireland. Check out their website at http://www.themerchanthotel.com/




To find out the full story with pics taken on the day visit http://www.artsandbusiness.org.uk/News/2009/Oct/ni_commerce_and_culture.aspx

Another first for the Alley!

For a venue which is not based in a city, the Alley Theatre certainly punches above its weight in terms of quality, style and marketing. This week the Alley once again scooped other Northern Ireland venues with the recording of a podcast in Irish, another first! The podcast was recorded in the Falls Road in a wonderful cultural centre, which is home to Aisling Ghear Theatre group. This groundbreaking theatre group will be performing at the Alley on November 18th as part of our celebration of the life and work of Flann O'Brien, one of Ireland's leading literary figuires and a famous son of Strabane .

The play, "The Poor Mouth" will be perfromed in Irish, and relates to the story of one, Bonaparte O'Coonassa - ‘son of Michealangelo, son of Patrick, son of Owen, son of Sarah, son of Thomas, son of Maire, born in a cabin in a fictitious village called Corkadoragha in Western Ireland. From the front door of this ‘small lime-white house situated in the corner of the Glen’ you could (allegedly) see - Gweedore, Connemara, Galway, the island of Aran and The Great Blaskets!!! Famed as much for its beauty as the abject poverty of its residents, the daily fare consists of potatoes which they shared with a horse called Charlie, a bunch of sheep ‘a slim thighed cow’, a clutch of chickens and Ambrose the pig!! Ambrose has now been immortalized for future generations by the Alley Theatre sculpture, “Where Dreams Go”, the 8 ft bronze pig outside the Alley, which is known lovingly as Ambrose by locals.

“The play will be performed in Irish, offering a wonderful opportunity for fluent Irish speakers and those learning the language to immerse themselves in the wit and humour of Strabane’s most favourite literary son” commented Nathan Flatman from the Alley. “For non-Irish speakers like myself, the Alley will be providing Irish translation headsets, allowing the patron to follow the play in English, breaking down language barriers for those interested in seeing a fantastic Flann O’Brien play performed live on stage.”

“To highlight the forthcoming play, Flann’s background and the superb cast, including actors from television’s “The Tudors” and hit Irish film’s, the Alley has produced a free podcast at http://alleytheatre.podbean.com/ in both English and Irish for patrons looking to get the inside scoop.”

The Alley podcast site is now working really well and is not only providing a service to our local patrons, but also web broswers around the world interested in Flann himself. Why not check it out for your self at http://alleytheatre.podbean.com/

Strabane businesses praised at Arts & Business Creative Advantage Breakfast

The Alley Theatre recently took part in a Arts & Business Creative Advantage Breakfast in Derry. The A&B ethos champions the power of innovative partnerships, in which businesses can create a ‘competitive advantage’ through creative innovation, inspired by engagement with arts and cultural organisations. The Alley has benifited wonderfully from developing strong Arts & Business partnerships and we were delighted not only to be taking part, but also to have several special mentions from the guest speakers.

With economists predicting a return to growth for the UK economy mid 2010, local businesses were keen to learn how engaging with the Arts could enhance their competitive edge and lead to future success and sustained economic regeneration.

Social and economic regeneration in Derry and the North West were addressed by Aideen McGinley, Chief Executive, Ilex – the Urban Regeneration Company. Speaking about the future plans for the area and her experiences of working with arts organisations to encourage community buy-in to social regeneration projects, Aideen said: “The importance of culture to Regeneration is fundamental to achieving social physical and economic success, which I understand at first hand and recognise its continuing importance in these challenging times.”
To succeed in the global or local marketplace, businesses need to consider their brand image and review corporate strategy to ensure marketing and communications strategies deliver key objectives.

David Beck, Head of Marketing Communications BT Ireland and sponsor of the Alley's BT Sounds Like Summer music festival focused on the changing face of brand sponsorship, and how BT’s new emphasis on Innovation and grassroots engagement - demonstrated through new partnerships like QFT & most recently the Alley Arts Centre in Strabane - is challenging perceptions about BT the brand; “Sponsorship is becoming a crucial part of the marketing mix as brand’s turn to new categories, Arts sponsorships in particular, add much needed credibility to their brand propositions.”

It was left to Joe Barber, Manager, Linton Robinson, Strabane and another Alley sponsor to showcase the value to local businesses, citing their own successful partnership with The Alley Arts Centre, which has seen increased footfall and increased sales throughout the store, as well as strengthening their customer base and enhancing their reputation, saying "We have remained in business for over 56 years thanks to our reputation for offering quality and value. The In-Store Gallery, curated by The Alley, has been enormously popular and extremely successful. As a local business, we have been able to give our customers a new consumer experience - something that the multiples would find difficult to recreate.”

Facilitating questions from the floor and bringing the event to a close, Mary Trainor, Director Arts & Business NI, said “It’s good to see that businesses have been increasingly using arts partnerships as a brand platform to express or even define who they were as a business. We want to inspire them to engage further to help them deliver successful marketing and corporate social responsibility campaigns that use culture in distinct and powerful ways!”

The Alley staff were delighted with the special recomendatons from the guest speakers and certainly reinforeced the Alleys position as the leading arts organisation in the North West!

North West Gallery seeks new artists!

Linton and Robinson, the North West’s leading department store and a Alley Theatre sponsor, is seeking submissions from North West artists who are keen in exhibiting in their new gallery space based in their award winning department store in Strabane.

The North West Artist Gallery, which has been opened for just 4 month’s with the help of the Alley Theatre and funding from Arts & Business, has been a tremendous critical and commercial success for Linton and Robinson’s and the artists who exhibited in the store. The gallery has exhibited a selection of different pieces from breathtaking sculptures from local artist Gloria Perry, stunning photography from Jim Hamilton and some superb fine art pieces from Maura Grey, ensuring the gallery has growing reputation for developing, nurturing and showcasing the very best on offer in the North West arts scene.

“We have certainly seen new faces come into our store because of the gallery and it has clearly given increased exposure to the artists and to the shop as a whole. The exhibiting artists have expressed their delight at the response each has had to their work and we are delighted to be supporting local artists and helping their endeavors in finding new markets for their work” commented Joe Barber, Linton and Robinson’s manager. “The results of the North West Artist Gallery have far exceeded my expectations and I would encourage everyone in the local art scene to submit work in the latest call-out.” Applications to submit artwork can be collected from customer services in Linton and Robinson’s Abercorn Square store or by calling customer services on 028 7138 4920. Artists are warned that all submission packs have to be in no later than November 6th, so don’t delay!

Can the Arts create a competitive advantage for your business?

Joe Barber, the visionary manager at Linton and Robinson's and Alley Theatre sponsor feels the Arts can play a significant role in offering business a strong competitive advantage in today's current climate.

As part of a Arts & Business conference set to take place in the North West in September, Joe has recorded a podcast at the Alley explaining how he came to this conclusion after collaborating with the Alley Theatre over the last 2 years. Ocer the past two years the Alley has helped Linton's develop "Arty Parties" within their toy department and the "North West Arts Gallery" (pictured), which highlights the very best in commercial art on sale by local North West artists.

In his podcast Joe talks about his relationship with the Alley and concludes that .....

We feel we have moved into a new circle of potential customers and by being closely involved with the Alley in everything they do we are benefiting by getting more sales and spreading the word that Linton & Robinson has not only maintained its reputation of quality products and service but is more innovative and also is part of the Community of Strabane and the region. We now offer something we didn’t do before and which no-one else offers. It is working for us and the artists and this success story will generate sales for some time to come.

I know that by showing a wee bit of imagination, getting the right level of support from the Alley Arts Centre who have been excellent in everything we have asked them to do that we have created a model for success for the artists, the Alley and for us and we now are all working as one to further promote our Gallery and Linton & Robinson as a place to shop.

Joe is not the only Alley Theatre corporate sponsor which to feels this way, all of our sponsors can see how the arts can create an advantage in the business world. To hear Joe's comprehenisive views on the arts offering a creative edge in business, why not click here and hear his podcast.

King Coma takes BT Sounds Like Summer 2009 title!

After tough competition on the night, Strabane's King Coma (left) took the title of BT Sounds Like Summer Champions 2009 on August 21st, in what the judges saw as a mind blowing performance which had the crowd calling for more. The five piece band from Strabane beat rivals Fiona McCaughey, Ross and the Wronguns and Derry's The Wonder Villains to walk away with the converted music industry prize.

The band now get the chance to record their own music video, record a CD, get a professional photo shoot and receive BT Broadband for 1 year.

The final was a spectacular event with strong performances from Fiona McCaughey, The Wonder Villains (next big thing out of Northern Ireland, pictured below, click here to hear the addictive Oh Peter), Ross and the Wrongens and King Coma. With excellent sponsorship and support from the NWIPP and BT, the Alley presented a strong, fun and cutting edge musical festival, which accommodated fans from thrash metal, acoustic, indie and electro pop under one roof.

 

The is Year 2 of Sounds Like Summer, so what is expected in Year 3? At the present time the staff are debriefing about the festival to management, what went well, what could be tweaked, what shouldn't happen again. On a quick note, and you would expect me to say this, the marketing for the event was spot on. We went down several different avenues from traditional print to more cutting edge approaches like our podcasts, facebook and twitter pages. The 5 nights of music offered a great stage for unsigned bands in the island of Ireland, with a number looking to be heading for great things in the next few years. Exhausted but delighted with the festival, I cannot wait to get started on the next one.


After the event, John Kerr, Alley Theatre Manager stated "The BT Sounds Like
Summer Festival has been a great success, attracting bands and fans from across the island of Ireland and further afield, including finalists Ross and the Wrongens from Kent (pictured right). We would like to thank our sponsors, NWIPP and BT for making this festival the great success it was and thank the bands for performing some wonderful gigs. We can't wait to see what next year has to bring!"

"We are delighted to have come on board this year as the BT Sounds Like Summer Festivals main sponsor" stated Tony Sheehan, BT Shop
manager, the Richmond Centre. "From the quality of the entries, it's clear to see that there is an enormous pool of talent in Northern Ireland and we're delighted, that through this competition, the creativity and commitment of our local musicians can be recognised and encouraged. The success of BT Sounds Like Summer has far exceeded our expectations and we're excited about the future of this inspiring event."

Personally I feel for all three organisations, BT, NWIPP and the Alley, all benefited tremendously from the success of BT Sounds Like Summer and I personally look forward to next year! For a full festival report click here.

Hiding in Plain Sight via You Tube

The Alley Theatre has a wonderful gallery space which has welcomed numerous artists over the last 3 years to display their work in Strabane. Now with a growing reputation, the amount of applications we receive to exhibit at the Alley is growing dramatically on a yearly basis.

From the world famous Felim Egan, glass artist Sean Campbell, the Northern Ireland Press Photographers Association to the local arts Group, the Alley has offered an exceptional space and support for professional and amateur artists alike. The venue offers regular exhibition launches, an art club and regular podcasts with the exhibiting artists, all aimed at raising the profile of the artist and the gallery space.

This year the Alley also embarked on establishing a second gallery space within the Linton and Robinsons department store in Strabane, funded by Arts and Business. From a wonderful launch in a newly refurbished 2nd floor area, the North West Artist Gallery, based in Lintons' has became a commercial success!

The superb success of our exhibitions clearly demonstrate how the Alley is leading the creative arts in not only the North West, but across Northern Ireland, pushing the boundaries and getting more people interested in viewing/buying art.

However our new exhibition, "Hiding in Plain Sight" made me stop and think about how we should approach new artists in the future.


Our new exhibition, "Hiding in Plain Sight" is by a Strabane photographer, Raymond McCarron, a highly complex man whose passion for street photography is endless. He has a god given gift to capture that lost or stolen moment on the street which when seen through the lens offers more than a thousand words to the observer. From the gritty streets of Belfast, a Halloween trip in Derry, an old women hunched in a windy high street to an almost "Darwin -ist" portrait of an old man walking the dark narrow back alleys in Edinburgh, Raymond can certainly be hailed as one of Ireland's leading street photographers and is worthy of having his work put into a book format (any publishing houses reading this?)

For his new exhibition, "Hiding in Plain Sight", the Alley has developed press releases, interviews with regional newspapers, twitter updates, designed invitations, web updates, e-news letters, planned an official launch night, a Facebook events page, got David Oliver to play at the launch and completed a hit podcast.

However one piece of marketing gold we missed out in producing was a You Tube presence for the exhibition. We shouldn't have worried, Raymond had already completed one himself without telling us and boy was it good. This stunning exhibition on You Tube, mixed with a killer soundtrack simply took my breath away it was that good.

I have to admit my jaw dropped when I first saw it listed on You Tube, how could I have missed this? What a great way of exhibiting the work to potential journalists and patrons. Why hadn't he told me? More importantly, why hadn't I asked? However my frustration over missing this golden opportunity to further promote his show was very short lived, as I began soak up the music and enjoy the wonderful images which were flowing in front of my eyes.

So this weeks comment from the Alley, when you are planning your campaign, make sure you have a good chat to the performer/artist about what else they have done and maybe you might find a hidden gem! To watch for yourself the wonderful work Raymond has produced on You Tube click here.

I hope you enjoy it as much as me.