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!