AUSfolk CONFERENCE
WOODFORD
FOLK ALLIANCE AUSTRALIA CONVENTION
SEPTEMBER 2-3 2010
Notes on sessions visited at the AUSfolk weekend by Greta Kelly
Michael Doneman, Edgeware
Discovering your inner
Entrepreneur
Michael (and his wife Ludmilla) have inspired many artists into ethical entrepreneurship
through their training organisation Edgeware. Despite sounding like a software start-up, Edgeware is effective in teaching creatives how to be persistent,
resilient, risky, creative and weird entrepreneurs. He encourages us to suspend the way we usually see things and to de-centre ourselves.
Michael uses Ernesto Siroli, a pioneer in the field of Enterprise Facilitation, and his triad of:
Developing the product/Service
Marketing/Sales
Financial Management/Admin
More on Siroli here:
www.sirolli.com/About/tabid/55/Default.aspx
Why do we always go on about our 'work / life balance' as if we hate our work and love our life?
More on Edgeware here:
www.edgeware.com.au
I caught a tiny bit more of another of Michael's talks the next day:
Herding Cats on Acid: Business planning for Creative Entrepreneurs
Michael and Ludmilla encourage creative entrepreneurs to develop an 'elevator pitch', a
basic value proposition of their business.
The first sentence should state the target audience, product/service and benefit:
- For
-
Who
- The (Product/Service) is a (product/service)
- That (statement of benefit)
Second sentence (competitive advantage)
-
Unlike...
- Our (product/service)
The business's basic value proposition should be
regularly updated.
He uses Seth Godin's book Idea Virus about viral marketing. He gave away his book online yet he still got a publishing
deal and it became an Amazon best-seller (a good example of viral marketing).
www.sethgodin.com/ideavirus
Keith Preston, Migrant Resource Centre, SA
The Money Tree: Funding for our Arts
When seeking funding pitch your project to various Government departments (not just the Arts) and tailor your project, in small
ways that don't compromise the essence of your project, to their goals. Explore areas of funding that come from Migrant Resettlement, Mental
Health/Health, Conservation departments etc.
Include in your funding application info about how your project will generate:
- Audience development (demographic expansion; audience
development - they learn stuff and go on to see other Arts projects)
- Age / gender mix
-
Skills development
- Career pathway creation
His research on Punch and Judy and his work in multicultural theater has taken
him recently to a Puppet Conference in Tehran and is bringing an Iranian group of Puppeteers to Australia next year.
Migrant Resource Centre, S.A.
www.mrcsa.com.au/profile.htmlArts S.A.
www.arts.sa.gov.au Multicultural Arts S.A.
www.multicultural.sa.gov.au
Paul Mason, Director Music, Australia Council
The Money Tree: Ins and outs of Funding
Paul explained Oz Co's funding categories:
New Work - for established musicians who want to create something new
Skills Development - for established musicians who want to learn
something new (like learn Kamanche in Iran)
Presentation and Promotion - Electro Fringe is an example of a festival that won this funding. Also see
Dept of Water
Live on Stage - Music International Showcase Program - Market Development
International Pathways
www.australiacouncil.gov.au/grants/grants/international_pathways
Various Awards and Fellowships.
Also see Sounds Australia.
Boards/Peers rank grant applicants' work. Anyone can register
as a peer to help analyse applications for grants.
Tips: ring us before you apply, get feedback if you're unsuccessful, remember there's only an 18% success rate.
John O'Sullivan
Queensland Events
This arm of the
government funds a lot of sports events on the Gold Coast.
They are also responsible for the Easter Festival in Toowoomba (Qld's largest
alcohol and drug free festival)
His colleague Sandra Garban is responsible for the Townsville based activities of Queensland Events (including a big car race).
They also run the Asia
Pacific Screen Awards on the Gold Coast.
Funding from the Qld Events Regional Development Program includes anywhere outside of Brisbane.
Qld Govt has a 5 year goal to become one of the most healthy states in Australia (hmmm, funding for music therapy)
Applications for funding to
Queensland Events have a 70% success rate.
Two people asked provocative questions of this yuppie speaker:
Why are most of your funded projects on the Gold Coast, and why are they mostly sporting events???
Jim McQuarie
Connecting the Dots: Touring Circuits
Canadian Australian who talked about the Canadian Home Routes House Concert Circuit and Website:
homeroutes.ca/About%20Concerts.htm
The site / touring circuit shows at least 5 houses in each Canadian province. March and April aren't good times for Australian bands to tour
Canada 'cos that's when the Canadian and international bands are most likely to tour.
Concerts average 30-40 pax audience, acoustic gigs mostly, audience musicians meet/chat after the gig, the ticket sales go entirely to the musicians and
also the host house feeds and accommodates the band.
A good way for Australian bands to get to small festivals like Winniepig Folk Festival:
www.winnipegfolkfestival.ca
Jim told the story about one muso who did a 6 week tour thru Home Routes Touring Circuit. In each town he sussed out the most appropriate venue
(usually by reading local streetpress) and organised a gig directly with that venue about 6 weeks later. When he reached his final Home Routes gig he turned
around and toured all the way back along the same touring circuit.
Christina Olsen's Manager, just after her final Woodford gig last year, told the Woodford audience that Christina had an empty week and was
looking for house concert offers - she got 3 offers - not were all in houses but they were all good gigs.
Also Amsterdam Acoustics have a great network of houses, cafes and rooftops on which to play, plus the film and record the gigs and broadcast them on
radio and the Web:
see
vimeo.com/8617006
or
www.amsterdamacoustics.com
Jamie McKew, Port Fairy Director and John McLausen, Brunswick St Party
Mixed Business: Engaging local communities
Port Fairy, they involve primary schools in the area in the lead up to and in the actual festival.
Brunswick St Party uses most local bands and stalls and works with the local community groups - they recently made their festival drug and alcohol free and now the families are back and there's much less trouble.
Jane Haley Sue Fisher, Australian Business Arts Foundation (ABAF)
The Money Tree - Partners: Cross Pollination for Better business
ABAF's funding eligibility criteria for artists is very broad - artist needs to be involved in cultural practice, basically.
www.abaf.org.auThese lovely ladies do:
- Advocacy - talking to donors and business to business liaison
- Advice Bank - match artists or organisations with IT, Marketing or Fiancial consultants who give pro-bono advice. Eg. KPMG have a relationship with ABAF and regularly allow their senior consultants to provide advice to relevant arts business.
- Workshops
- Organise partner sponsorships - advise you on what the sponsor needs (usually you can be more creative than just tickets to a gig). Networking with sponsor board members is a good idea. Thinking up great opportunities that you can provide sponsors' staff. ABAF devise ways art can boost the corporate reputation of the sponsor and allow them to publicise their social responsibility.
- The other wonderful thing ABAF do is that they pass tax deductible gifts from individual or corporate philanthropists directly to the artist of their choice. This is because ABAF have some kind of weird status with the tax department that allows them to pass money through their foundation. Using this service of ABAF saves artists and arts organisations from having to get their own deductible gift recipient status from the tax department.