HI~Arts is pleased to announce a range of practical audience development tools and training for cultural organisations across the Highlands and Islands to develop their audiences in the run up to and during the Year of Highland Culture 2007.

The Audience Development Capacity Building (ADCB) project, funded by Scottish Arts Council and Highland 2007, will run from August 2006 and throughout the Year of Highland Culture 2007, to help arts and heritage venues, event promoters and festivals, to capitalise on the increased interest in the region's culture during the festival year, and to build their audiences.

The key aims of the project are as follows:

• To raise the skills, ambitions and confidence of events promoters in audience development
• To encourage best practice in evidence-based and strategic marketing planning
• To assist events and venue promoters in reaching new and tourist audiences, thus expanding audiences
• To increase access to cultural and events information for audiences
• As a result, to increase access to, and attendance at, cultural events and venues and thereby maintain viable event promoting venues and festivals at a local level

It is recognised that the type of marketing training, resources and assistance that is appropriate will differ depending on the nature of the event promoter. For instance, a large-scale, revenue-funded arts venue with Box Office will have very different requirements to a small-scale voluntary festival promoter.

Therefore, for the purposes of the ADCB project, the cultural sector will be divided into four main groupings, with each group receiving a tailored menu of audience development training and practical tools to suit their needs.


Group A includes SAC revenue-funded arts venues with access to a Box Office and marketing department.

Group B includes SAC revenue-funded arts organisations with access to either a marketing or education officer.

Group C includes community-based event promoters without access to dedicated marketing support.

Group D includes cultural festivals, as well as heritage/visual arts groups and visitor attractions in receipt of H2007 funding.


A range of audience development training, consultancy, practical tools and services, will be offered to each of these groups, according to their current capacity for audience development*. Full details of services available to individual cultural organisations during the project will be published shortly.

*Priority will be given to arts and heritage organisations working within the Highlands and Islands, and in receipt of Highland 2007 funding. However, H2007 funding is not necessary for participation in the project.

Project Staff

Marcus Wilson
Marcus Wilson is HI-Arts' Audience Development Coordinator, and has worked with the cultural sector of the Highlands and Islands since 2000. Marcus has practical experience working in both marketing departments and Box Offices of a range of arts venues, and has delivered arts marketing consultancy for a number of arts organisations from Shetland down to Mull. marcus@hi-arts.co.uk

Stuart Brownlee
Stuart joins the ADCB project, having had a vast amount of previous experience working with the region's promoters during the Promoters Arts Network's Audience Development project over the past few years. Stuart has also worked as consultant on a range of cultural projects with his own consultancy firm, sbworks. He is currently the Marketing & Information Co-ordinator for the Highlands & Islands Theatre Network (HITN). stuart@hi-arts.co.uk

Further information on the Audience Development Capacity Building Project will be released soon. In the meantime, if you have any comments or queries, please contact audiences@hi-arts.co.uk

For further Audience Development resources, please visit www.hi-arts.co.uk/audiences