We’ve worked with the Cultural Industries Development Agency in east London to develop and deliver number of training programmes. Here’s the lowdown on a couple of them.
Sustain to Gain
Sustain to Gain was a five-day business planning programme. Highly interactive, the programme was designed to not only develop participants’ knowledge and understanding of business planning practice, but also to provide moments of critical reflection so that participants could reflect on their current situation and what they need to do to achieve their goals and be financially secure. Sessions included:
- Back to Basics and Effective Management: exploring values and motivators, mission and vision and getting the balance right between them in your plan.
- Putting on the Nuts and Bolts: explaining what needs to be in a business plan and why, including budgets and cash flows, risk analysis and clear targets.
- Translating what we’ve got into a thriving organisation: focuses on action and milestone plans, designed to have immediate practical use.
- Fundraising and sponsorship: exploring what successful fundraising looks like, and where you should be looking.
- Marketing: exploring target audiences, branding, how to create and action a marketing strategy
Time to Think
Time to Think focused on planning, managing and delivering better festivals and events. It was designed to hone event managers’ and festival directors’ strategic planning ‘muscles’ as well as their understanding of practical matters such as licensing and risk assessment.
Key areas covered include business planning and financial management, income generation and marketing, event management, licences, health and safety, risk assessments, venue negotiation and team management. Again, the course was highly interactive, with participants encouraged to share previous experiences and given the chance to play role real-life exercises focused on licensing and risk assessment.