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By James Kelly, February 26, 2010

Arts Audiences is happy to announce that 8 mentoring relationships are now underway on the New Media Mentoring Scheme. In this scheme, individuals from a range of arts organisations from across the county will receive expert mentoring in the area of new media and audience development. On completion of mentoring, these individuals will produce reports for online publishing and discussion, in order to share their learnings with the wider arts community.


The mentoring relationships

With the most welcome late addition of a team of mentors from Google Ireland, the mentoring relationships are as follows;

• Anne O’Gorman and Emmet Sheerin of The National Youth Council of Ireland are being mentored by a team from RTÉ Publishing
• Conor Malone of Balor Arts Centre is being mentored by David McCadden of the Abbey Theatre
• Derek Kelly of the Gate Theatre is being mentored by a team from Google Ireland
• Marcella Bannon of Droichead Arts Centre is being mentored by Aoife Flynn of asquared
• Michelle Dillon of The Dock in Carrick on Shannon is being mentored by a team from Google Ireland
• Louise Walsh of Music Network is being mentored by a team from RTÉ Publishing
• Rayne Booth of Temple Bar Gallery and Studios is being mentored by Aoife Flynn of asquared
• Tara Connaghan of Éigse Carlow Arts Festival is being mentored by a team from Google Ireland

Sharing the learning
Each mentoring relationship is structured around a specific piece of work in the area of new media, and each mentee will produce a short report on completion of their mentoring. This report will be published on this website, and on the Arts Ireland group on LinkedIn, where members of the arts community will be able to address questions to the mentees specific to what they have learnt during their mentoring.


Areas covered in mentoring
Over the coming couple of weeks, a description of the areas being covered by each mentoring relationship will be published here. For the moment, suffice to say that there will be a wide range of areas covered, from the use of Facebook and twitter, to website optimisation, the use of Google analytics and Google ads, to website design and the development of a digital marketing strategy.

timeframe
Publication of mentoring reports will begin in early April, with the final reports being published by the end of May.


Finally to say…
Many applications were submitted from across the country last December, and it is regrettable that we were unable to provide mentors for all applicants. Fully aware of the widespread appetite for arts-specific knowledge in this area, the evaluation panel endeavored to assemble a shortlist of organisations from a wide range of sectors and backgrounds, so that the learnings, when published, would be of value to the broadest range of readers from across the spectrum of the arts in Ireland.

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By James Kelly, September 30, 2009

If you’re not on LinkedIn, you might, for a moment, fight the initial reaction of ‘oh no, not another drain on my time!‘ and read on, as what follows may be of interest to those working in an arts management context.

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Firstly though, for those already on Linkedin – this is advise you we’ve set up an Arts Ireland group (hence the new logo above). The aim this group is to provide an online space where those working in the management and administration of the arts in Ireland can discuss and exchange ideas, find support, make contacts, find work opportunities etc.

With 60 members and rising, all are welcome! Click here to join; Arts Ireland Group

(we only ask that you are working, seeking to work, or have an active interest in arts management and administration in Ireland).

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For those unsure / unclear of what exactly Linkedin is;

Linked In is a professional social networking site, and as such is a powerful tool to help you access a wide network of professional contacts.

Where a site such as facebook keeps you in touch with friends, Linkedin is about keeping in touch with colleagues (and friends) in a professional capacity. As such, the functionality of the site is geared accordingly (and there is not a holiday photograph in sight).

One aspect of the site I find very useful is the ability to access an extended network of people outside my own circle.

For example, imagine I am looking for a web designer with experience of designing a site incorporating a ticketing system, and that I know no one who can do this. This is what I do;

• In Linkedin I search my contacts’ contacts using specific search terms
• I find my friends Joe, Sue and George each have a different contact who can do this (Joe, Sue and George don’t have to respond to me, the search is automatic)
• I phone Joe, Sue and George and ask them if they can recommend their contact
• very quickly I get an idea of the right person for the job without much effort

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holiday photos: not on Linkedin

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It’s like word of mouth on steroids. When you start to use groups, this becomes even more powerful. Every group members can post a question which all the group will see – they can choose whether or not to respond. So, I could ask the group (most of whom I won’t know personally) for advice on a web designer with specific experience, and get advice from all sort of people I don’t know.

Many of you are familiar with discussion forums (like the fantastic boards.ie) so the idea might not be so new. What we are hoping for Arts Ireland, is that the group becomes a discussion forum specifically for arts management and administration in Ireland – and this will only work if a critical mass of people get involved.

Well, by now you probably get the idea. If you’re curious, the best and easiest thing to do is give it a go. It’s free, you can give as little or as much personal information when you’re setting up your personal account, which can take as little as 5 minutes. For those interested in a bit more explanation, this film explains the concept a bit more…

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