In this episode, James Akers interviews Owen Hopkin, Director of New Technologies and Innovation at Arts Council England and Dr Oonagh Murphy from Goldsmiths.

We discuss:

• The journey, challenges, and considerations in formulating an AI policy in a values-driven and legally compliant way
• The creation of a practical toolkit designed to guide organisations in developing their own policies
• The importance of sector consultation and the need for evolving AI policies

Links and resources discussed in this episode:

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Responsible AI at Arts Council England – Report on how the Arts Council is using AI responsibly in its internal work
• Responsible AI Practical Toolkit – a framework to help creative and cultural organisations that want to create their own Responsible AI policies and practices
• AI: meeting the challenges and embracing the opportunities – Owen shares Arts Council England’s thinking on AI and what’s coming next
• 2023-26 National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) – Explanation of how Relationship Manager support National Portfolio Organisations

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR

In this episode, James Akers interviews Jacqueline Ewers, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Email Marketing.

They discuss:

• What does email marketing mean and why it should be at the heart of your digital marketing mix
• How to avoid the “leaky bucket” syndrome by strategically capturing contact details at every touchpoint
• Why testing is essential to improve results and how Jacqueline can help

Links and resources discussed in this episode:

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• 10 ways to make your email marketing more sustainable - discover steps you can take to make your email marketing more sustainable
• How regulation GDPR/PECR affects email marketing and why it is important - On demand webinar to learn how GDPR/PECR regulations can support your email marketing and help you grow your contact list.
• Revitalise your email marketing – grow and engage audiences with email - On demand webinar including practical tips and best practice examples to help you optimise your email marketing
• Introduction to email marketing automations - On demand webinar to explore how automations can help you to work more efficiently to achieve your goals
• The five essentials of collecting contact data - find out how to set up and grow, and collect a contact database starting with these 5 essentials
• How to use UTM Parameters to track marketing activity - what are campaign parameters and why are they useful? Also, generate your own links with our template
• Canva for non-profits – Create assets for your emails for free
• Email marketing platforms - a list of providers
• Find more email marketing resources in the Digital Culture Network knowledge hub

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR

In this episode, James Akers interviews Katherine Brown, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Ecommerce and Merchandising.

We discuss:

• What does ecommerce and merchandising mean for the creative and cultural sector
• Why cultural organisations, practitioners and artists should sell online
• Tips to get started and how Katherine can help

Links and resources discussed in this episode

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• How to grow the audience for your online shop - how creative and cultural organisations and individuals can grow traffic to their online shop, to drive online sales.
• Smartphone photography: Taking great photos for your online shop (on demand webinar) - tips to improve your product imagery using just a smartphone
• Everything you need to know about Print on Demand (on demand webinar) -top tips and best practice for how to develop, strategise and market a successful Print on Demand offering.

In our sixth episode, James Akers interviews Andy Leitch, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Websites.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The evolution of websites over time and options available today
•  Key considerations for anyone with a website and how Andy can help
• Top tips from Andy’s experience in the creative and cultural sector

Links and resources discussed in this episode

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• How to create a simple website on a shoestring! (on demand webinar) - A webinar for artists and smaller arts and culture organisations with limited budgets who need a simple website.
• Looking after your website with limited resources - This article has been written for organisations and individuals who don’t have a dedicated marketing or communications team (or budget).
• How to do a simple health check on your website (on demand webinar) - A webinar for creative and cultural organisations to learn how to perform a simple health check on their website to highlight improvements.
• Testing and improving your website navigation - Tree testing is a quick and easy way to test the effectiveness of your website navigation. It’s a technique that can also test a new website structure you may be planning.
• How to make your website more sustainable with Tom Greenwood (on demand webinar) - A webinar for creative and cultural organisations and individual practitioners to learn about website sustainability and how to reduce their digital carbon footprint.
• Ecograder - A tool to help you evaluate the carbon footprint of your websites.
• Finding the best supplier for your website project - Are you a creative or cultural organisations looking to redesign or improve your website? This article helps you source and select the best supplier to do the job.

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR

In this episode, James Akers interviews Dean Shaw, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Content Creation.

We discuss:

• What free and low-cost tools can be used to create high quality content
• How Dean can support you in your content creation skills development
• Top tips from Dean’s experience in the creative and cultural sector

Links and resources discussed in this episode

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Smartphone photography: Taking great photos for your online shop (Webinar on Tuesday 8 April 2025) - how to improve your product imagery using just a smartphone and grow your online sales
• Using digital solutions to make your facility more accessible: Ensuring visitors feel confident - This resource explains how videos and images are a great way to communicate your access offer, making sure every visitor feels confident in enjoying the space without the worry of how they'll navigate it.
• From Fandom to Funds: How the Tank Museum is Transforming Museum Fundraising
• Video editing platforms: CapCut, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro
• Canva for non-profits - Create social media posts, presentations, infographics, thumbnails, reports, posters, flyers and signage - for free.
• Edit it yourself: a practical guide to video editing (on demand webinar) - Learn basic video editing for social media content.
• How to make YouTube, TikTok or Instagram videos your audience will love (on demand webinar) -  Learn how to create short form video content using only your smart phone.
• Crafting audience personas for creative and cultural organisations on YouTube  - An effective way to expand reach and engagement on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or LinkedIn, is through developing well-defined audience personas. This handy step-by-step guide walks you through the entire process, from start to finish.
• Get the YouTube audience your videos deserve! (on demand webinar) - How to improve you digital content and grow your audience.

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR

In this episode,James Akers interviewsAdam Sykes, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Ticketing.

We discuss:

• How CRM systems help organisations collect, manage, and use audience data to improve engagement, marketing, and fundraising.
• The importance of a seamless ticketing process to increase attendance, reduce drop-offs, and enhance customer satisfaction
• Top tips from Adam’s experience in the creative and cultural sector

The following links and resources were discussed in this episode:

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Whose CRM is it anyway? – an article exploring how creative and cultural organisations can effectively utilise a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage their audiences.
• Access All Areas: Making ticketing more accessible for everyone – Adam takes you through how to enhance your ticketing inclusivity and ensure equal access for all
• The Ticketing Journey: From Pre-Purchase to Post-Event – webinar recording to learn practical strategies to streamline your ticketing processes and enhance the customer journey, from start to finish.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platforms – explore a list of relevant systems
• Box office and Ticketing platforms – explore a list of relevant systems
• More than half of arts audiences are first-time bookers – 2024 Tomorrow’s Audience report from Indigo Ltd
• Dynamic pricing could be banned under new federal government crackdown amid pressure on music sellers – Changes to regulation in Australia
• Pearl Jam v. Ticketmaster: What Happened?– why Pearl Jam fell out with Ticketmaster over their operating practices

In this episode, James Akers interviews Jack Roscoe⁠, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Audience Data Collection and Evaluation.

We discuss:

• Designing effective audience surveys by focusing on clear objectives, tailoring questions to different audiences, and utilising tools like Illuminate and Microsoft Forms
• Methods to boost survey participation, including face-to-face interactions, staff training, and creating concise, engaging surveys
• Top tips from Jack’s experience in the creative and cultural sector

The following links and resources were discussed in this episode:

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Increase your audience surveys and improve survey data - Jack's webinar exploring tips and tactics to collect more audience surveys for a variety of organisations.
• How to decide your survey targets and improve your sampling - Jack's article including a step-by-step guide to determining an appropriate number of surveys to aim for.
• National Museums Liverpool - Understanding Audiences - an interview with Wesley Thistlethwaite, Insight and Analysis Manager at National Museums Liverpool, on his role working with audience data.
• Freelancer Directory - Arts Marketing Association - a useful resource to find freelancers, including evaluators and audience consultants.
• Tomorrow's Audience Indigo Share: Hot Topic - this sector-wide audience survey makes a number of useful recommendations on how to reach, grow, and better cater to new audiences, backed up with solid data.
• Illuminate by Arts Council England - an overview of Illuminate including links to FAQs and to download a list of the mandatory and optional questions.
• Impact & Insight Toolkit - an alternative platform for National Portfolio Organisations to collect surveys, with templates containing the mandatory questions, along with the ability to write your own questions and more flexibly redesign surveys.
• Culture Counts to Illuminate Conversion Service Guide - a guide to the free survey data export service for Impact and Insight Toolkit users, creating data files that are formatted and ready to be uploaded directly into Illuminate.
• ⁠Connect with Jack on LinkedIn⁠ and enjoy his videos.

In this episode, ⁠James Akers⁠ interviews Ollie Couling, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Digital Marketing and Strategy.

We discuss:

• What is a strategy and why you shouldn't fear one
• Useful frameworks to help build your strategy
• Top tips from Ollie's experience in the creative and cultural sector

The following links and resources were discussed in this episode:

• 5 reasons why creative and cultural organisations need a digital strategy
• Theory of Change (ToC) - A guide and template
• Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) model - Getting started with objectives and key results
• MoSCoW method - 3 Prioritisation Techniques for Arts Marketeers
• What is the Pareto 80/20 principle? - Roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes
• Why are you measuring that? - Webinar recording to learn how to define and track the metrics for different audience actions
• Content strategy development: Aligning content with a marketing funnel - Webinar recording with techniques for developing a content marketing strategy
• Influencer insights: How Mary Spender reached 750k subscribers on YouTube - Article where Ollie interviews George Spender about the process and what he has learned along the way

Music by ⁠SHAR

In this episode, James Akers interviews the Digital Culture Network Tech Champions Katy Farrell and Nicola Barratt who specialise in Social Media.

We discuss:

• What support is available for creative and cultural professionals in England
• The changes we’ve seen in Social Media over the past 12 months
• Top tips and recommended actions for anyone working in Social

The following links are resources were discussed in this episode:

• Digital Culture Network Knowledge Hub – Over 230 free resources
• What goes into a social media strategy? - A webinar for anyone working in the creative and cultural sector who wants to create a social media strategy but isn’t sure where to start.
• Reaching Your Audience: Making Your Meta Ads More Effective - How to make your Meta (Facebook and Instagram) ads more effective by using a marketing funnel and key tools like Meta Pixels and Audiences. You’ll learn how to move users from the awareness stage all the way to taking action on your website.
• When Gen-Z writes the marketing script: Royal Armouries edition
• Museum Creepy Doll Contest from Colchester and Ipswich Museums
• BRAT vs DEMURE: Classical Edition from Southbank Centre
• Gen Alpha content example: Nutter Butter on TikTok
• Sign up to the Digital Culture Network newsletter

Music by SHAR