Spread The Love By Teasing The Trail The simplest idea we saw some years ago was used in the South of England at an Open Studio trail. At each studio as were about to leave, we were given a piece of A4 paper with the details of 4 more artists involved in the trail.  We were drip fed the details and because of this we were afraid of what we might miss if we had not been given another leaflet. Basic Information The information was simple: Location Number on the trail Name An image of the type of work Contact Details Basic map It was genius since the trail kept on giving.  It felt like a treasure hunt where clues were slowly being divulged to us and it was fun! Everyone Promotes Everyone Using our earlier example, if your group has said, 40 artists, then that is 10 separate leaflets. In this case, those Open Studios which historically have very few in terms of footfall might be [...]

Signing in book Everyone who visits every participating Open Studio should be asked to sign into a standard visitors sheet. The sheet needs to have enough fields to provide the artist and the Open Studio organising group with the information they need to do their job. First Name Last Name Email Address Tel Home Town John Smith John@JohnSmith.com 01555-555-121 Halifax Mary Jane Doe mjdoe@JaneDoe.co.uk 01755-555-123 Croydon Remember: You need to include on the print out sheets a GDRP disclaimer on every page informing the visitors that the information will be shared with the organising organisation and that they will be asked to complete an online survey of their experience. Survey your visitors We assume that you will be emailing out to all attendees a basic online survey asking them: Are you likely to participate in one of our events in the future? How likely are you to tell a friend about this event? Why did you choose to attend our event and what did [...]

Structure Your Follow Up Meeting One of the biggest mistakes Open Studio participants can make is forgetting to do a follow-up meeting after events. It’s essential if you want to level up both your own and your team’s skills since this is the time you can use to discover process improvements and boost morale after a hard year of organizing. Follow-up is essential if you are going to close the planning cycle at the end of the year. Let’s talk about what to do during your follow-up meetings and how to organize them to get the greatest impact. STEPSDETAILSSet a specific date and  location.                              Treat the meeting like an event and add it to the plan for the event. The meeting should be done immediately after the event, if at all possible, so you can capture everyone’s experience while it’s still fresh.Only invite who needs to attend.Not everyone needs to be at the follow-up but don’t forget to invite key stakeholders including all the artists. [...]

Post Event Evaluation Arguably the most important meeting during the Open Studio Annual Cycle is the 'Post Event Evaluation'. You are taking stock of what went well and what can be improved with the event you have just had with the sole view of taking all that goodness and carrying it forward as lessons for your next event. Do It Whilst It Is Still Fresh This meeting needs to happen very soon after your Open Studio event so that recollections are fresh and raw.  There is a temptation for folk to 'take a break' after they have packed up; do so at your peril. Everything discussed at the post event evaluation is a lesson for making the event even bigger and better for next year. Think about it. Agenda Tips the Open Studio Post Event Evaluation Meeting Here are some ideas for your meeting agenda I have used in the past: Financials:  were costs spent in line with the budget?  Per artist and overall what gross revenue [...]

Promote Your Open Studio:  Create An Eventbrite or Facebook Event What is a Facebook Event and how can it help promote your event? A Facebook event is a calendar-based resource which can be used to notify users of upcoming occasions. Events can be created by anyone and can be open to anyone or private. The creator can invite his friends, members of a group, or fans of a page. What is Eventbrite and how can it help promote your event? Eventbrite is an online event-planning site from which you can create an event page, register attendees, track attendance, and even sell tickets online or at the door. Why Bother To Promote Your Event? Listing your event on Eventbrite or Facebook allows others in your organising group or committee to share the event to their contacts, invite everyone they know and also to measure likely audience sizes.  This can help you to plan and decide how much you will invest in things like banners, catalogues and leaflets. Work The Numbers To Promote [...]

Bursting The Bubble When it comes to visitor numbers everything depends on folk knowledge of your event. It is very easy for those involved in the event to assume that 'everyone knows'.  It can feel like that when you have attended committee meeting, after meeting, after meeting, helped ensure banners have the correct dates, designed the catalogue and spent several hours at the printers. In reality, even in the smallest of towns stuck out in the middle of nowhere, very few people will know the event is taking place unless everyone involved has purposefully engaged in inviting everyone who they know and most especially their own Real Collectors; the folk who have bought from them in the past. All of us live within these bubbles.  Someone with kids going to the local primary school and giving their time to the PTA will no doubt have the same feeling that everyone knows about the Christmas Bazaar or school concert.  They don't of course, not unless someone from the [...]

Always Offer Cake or Biscuits During Your Open Studio You may remember all those tips and tricks folk are advised to use when trying to sell their home. The reality is they work! Smells and Emotions Studies have shown that eight in ten people admit an aroma can make them happy, and fresh coffee was found to be the UK’s fifth favourite smell behind fresh bread, flowers, and a cake baking in an oven. There’s no doubt that catching a whiff of one of these is likely to appeal to potential collector, but that doesn’t mean they will be putting their hand in their pocket to buy your creation. Your local bakery might purposefully allow the aroma from its ovens to emit onto the street to tempt in passing trade, but the purchasing of a tiger loaf requires a lot less consideration than purchasing some of your art. That being said, it is definitely advisable to make your home as attractive as possible to potential collectors and, [...]