Big Music for Small Cities project_The training module was a success

Submitted by KA9031 on
Working Session_Ptz_Jan 21-22

On January, 21 and 22, in Petrozavodsk, within the framework of the Big Music for Small Cities project, a training module for art festivals and specialized institutions with an emphasis on academic music was held, in which organizers of festival and concert activities from the Republic of Karelia took part.

The moderator of the module was Yevgeny Stodushny, a lecturer at the Department of Production and Management of Performing Arts at GITIS, Director General of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic, member of the Board of the Union of Russian Concert Organizations.

Anna Tomchik, the manager of the Big Music for Small Cities project, in her welcoming speech, said that the training module presented to our attention was the part of the most important educational component aimed at strengthening professional skills and introducing new tools for music art promotion and implementation of cross-sectoral initiatives in the cross-border area.

The Deputy Minister of Culture of Karelia Varvara Lebedeva drew the participants' attention to the fact that holding such a module is crucially important for the republic, since there's great potential for development in the direction of academic music.

The Head of the Petrozavodsk office of the Karelia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme Dmitry Bazegsky noted that at the moment all the projects implemented under the Programme (61 in completely different areas) have an educational component. Training is an opportunity to take a fresh look at your activities through the opinion of authoritative experts, analyze your work and build an effective plan of action and development.

Moderator Yevgeny Stodushny in his welcoming speech emphasized that the joint work of all participants, specialists in the field of cultural management, is an excellent reason to strengthen the existing partnership, gain new knowledge and inspiration to improve the quality of their activities and create new ambitious projects.

The two-day module, developed specifically for the Karelian participants, was based on the concept “Cycle. Planning as the key to success in art” of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center (USA) and the fundraising system based on it.

The principles of the concept are the development of a creative organization's activity or project in four directions: creative product, marketing strategy, formation of a loyal audience of donors, financial efficiency. The cycle is a practical management tool that regulates the relationship between the creative, administrative, and trustee parties.

The first day of the training module was aimed at working out the specifics of marketing in the field of culture. The participants' task was to analyze these features and develop effective marketing strategies, taking into account the needs of a particular organization or project. All participants came to the unanimous opinion that the unifying factor influencing the entire life cycle of a cultural product is long-term creative planning. This essentially simple process can conserve the maximum amount of resources and create the necessary conditions for success.

The second day of the training module allowed the already close-knit team of participants to approach specific problems and challenges. An analysis of four cases showed that a clear understanding of the mission and the ability to look at the situation from the outside will certainly guide you towards the right decision and help you adapt to any changes.

Using the example of successful practices presented by the moderator Yevgeny Stodushny in the field of fundraising, the participants came to the conclusion that there can be a large number of strategies for building relationships with donors, but long-term planning will always be an obvious advantage!

In any activity - either in a project work or in an organization's activity - one needs to try to build the strategy with a view to the future, and as a result - on innovative approaches. The participants concluded that marketing and innovation are two pillars of development that should be 
present in any successful activity, and they must work together. Constant development is the wisest investment and the best strategy!

The participants of the training module highly appreciated the two-day work. We hope that the knowledge gained will be an excellent help in solving not only daily tasks, but also will contribute to setting high standards and effectively manage the projects of our dream.