Throughout the crisis, dance houses’ communication, PR and marketing teams have been in the eye of the storm: constantly adapting, conveying cancelation and postponing messages, experimenting with live streaming and promoting online experiences… The challenges have been numerous and EDN offers a new informal and recurring online gathering for EDN members’ staff to share experiences, exchange solutions, dos and don’ts, tips and advice.
Carte Blanche Communication Catch-ups
EDN offers a new informal and recurring online gathering for communication teams to exchange on their experiences, solutions, dos and don’ts, give tips to colleagues.
Carte Blanche Communication Catch-ups are reserved for EDN members only. All online sessions are facilitated by Marie Fol.
Zoom link available to EDN members only (please contact rok@ednetwork.eu).
Schedule and description
Session #1: Stop & go - communication in crisis time / 21 May 2021
Throughout the crisis, dance houses’ communication, PR and marketing teams have been in the eye of the storm: constantly adapting to “stop & go” measures, conveying cancelation and postponing messages, experimenting with live streaming and promoting online experiences… The challenges have been numerous and EDN offers a new informal and recurring online gathering for EDN members’ staff to share experiences, exchange solutions, dos and don’ts, tips and advice.
Session #2: Recreating conviviality / 11 June 2021
Following the suggestion from memberst, we will be exchanging on ‘recreating conviviality’: In the last years we have developed strong & smooth relationships with our communities. It’s all about the little things: hanging your coat as you come into the theatre, chatting with the staff or with friends, being seated, attending the performance – and then of course taking a drink at the bar and exchanging about what we just experienced. With the Covid-19 pandemic and related health measures, all of this has disappeared… How can we make the reopening of on-site activities enjoyable again? How can we create a friendly digital experience?
Session #3: Measuring success / 2 July 2021
Audience engagement has been a very important topic in the last decade. We have devised projects to engage with our audiences, with different people, with people who don’t usually attend our event or “don’t understand dance”. When measuring audience engagement, quantitative data is often not enough. What practices have you developed to get feedback, to progress, to evaluate your programmes and your ways of working?
But evaluation is not only about audiences. During the pandemic, many countries have deemed culture “not essential”. We know that culture (and dance specifically) have a value for society, but how do we report this outside of our own choir? Are there other ways to measure and show impact?
Session #4: “Sorry, this text is too long” - Decoding the artists, Storytelling for Communicators in Dance Houses / 27 August 2021
There is a difference between texts on performance and text about performance; communication managers need the texts to suit their needs, short and sweet, while curatorial texts go on and on. Artistic visions and marketing are not the same, though communication needs to give priority to the artistic vision and make sure the audiences are introduced to the artists they will meet.
What can we, communication managers, learn about storytelling; how can we tell a story that goes beyond the remarkable performance, artist's CV? Do we listen enough? Should we be more interested and involved in production? What should we understand when telling the stories about contemporary dance and dancehouses?
Session #5: What language do we speak? / 17 September 2021
As a continuation of the session #4, “what language do we speak?” invites communication teams to look into the international dimension of communication. How do you understand texts (or even visuals) from other languages and other contexts? How do you respect the artistic intent coming from somewhere else? By contextualising the work, are you doing your job or over-explaining the artist?
Session #6: “Well Thank You, Mark Zuckerberg!” - Contemporary Dance and Social Media / 8 October 2021
Our worlds drastically changed with social media; reaching out to our followers and friends has never been easier, we can openly promote our dancehouses, artists finally have these platforms to present themselves, arts are perceived without any limitations. True or false? Most of the communication managers in dancehouses are using social media daily in order to share the news about the upcoming performances, artists in residence, projects in local communities etc. But is the hype about social media real or do we as communication managers are able to do our work without it?
Session #7: “When does it stop?” - Communication managers & (mental) health / 29 October 2021
Communication is an ongoing process, taking place long before the performance, during and also afterwards. It takes place over multiple channels, from live conversation to videos, interviews, reports and more. Add to that the irregular schedules of the performing arts sector, and, with social media at our fingertips, we are requested to be present for our artists, audiences and houses all the time. How can we cope? How does one balance long-term planning and last minute deadlines - as well as mental health and wellbeing?
More information
You have question? Contact Community & Communication Manager Rok Avbar.