Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

Contents

Foreword by project funders

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Introduction by Project Partners

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Toolkit Contents

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Heritage and Tourism profile of Mid and East Antrim - Carnlough to Carrickfergus 8 Participative Theatre Production

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Marketing and Promotion

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Involving Tourism and Hospitality Businesses

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Measuring Success

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Appendix A: Example of a Partnership Agreement.

Appendix B: Heritage background for each site - Quarto research report on Carnlough, and research notes for Carnlough, Glenarm, Whitehead Railway Museum, and Flame Gasworks Museum.

Appendix C: Example risk assessments for Carnlough performance.

Appendix D: Big Telly Theatre Company scripts for each site.

Appendix E: ‘Connecting Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride to Visitors through Experiential Tourism: A Toolkit for Beyond the Project Phase’ by Portia Woods, Toast The Coast Food Tours & Experiences.

Appendix F: External evaluation of Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride by Linda Logan.

Appendix G: Audio-visual record of performances at each site, filmed by Matt Curry of Bluebird Media.

Appendix H: Closing Seminar Report.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit Appendix I:

Closing Seminar presentation by Jonathan Lloyd, European Route of Industrial Heritage

Written by: Donald Bell, Mid and East Antrim Museum & Heritage Service Claire Torrens, Mid and East Antrim Museum & Heritage Service Linda Logan, Evaluation Consultant September 2019 1. Foreword by project funders The European Year of Cultural Heritage aimed to encourage people to explore the rich and diverse cultural heritage across Europe, by celebrating, understanding and protecting its unique value and reflect on the place that cultural heritage occupies in all our lives. In Northern Ireland, we took the opportunity to work in partnership with Tourism Northern Ireland and the Department for Communities Historic Environment Division. We set up a joint funding pot of ÂŁ500,000 to allow the cultural and heritage sector to creatively explore ways to fully realise the potential of our cultural heritage as a lever to attract additional investment, boost tourism and aid regeneration. We challenged projects to show how they could make more of individual sites, things, places and stories to create more joined up narratives and experiences for visitors from NI and further afield. We asked them to engage more people with heritage and to unlock the heritage potential through enlivening the visitor offer, reinvigorating interpretation and storytelling, animating sites, creating new products, events, partnerships and ways of working. Overall we challenged them to be ambitious, creative, to try new things and to share the outcomes so others could learn.

We funded nine diverse projects across Northern Ireland and we were delighted that Shaped

by Industry - Shared with Pride was one of these. We liked their strong partnership and their ambitious plans to explore how four key industrial heritage sites could be interpreted in new and creative ways. The complex industrial sites were humanised through bringing to life the stories of individuals who would have worked or engaged with the sites. We were really excited to see how the combination of live performance, participatory theatre and authentic heritage could work to bring more people and a diverse range of people to visit the sites. We were thrilled that the project was a great success and attracted increased audiences to the individual sites. We are delighted to see that the project partners are putting everything they have learnt into this toolkit to help others think about how they can reimagine their heritage and be more creative about how they present their heritage to a diverse audience.

Paul Mullan, Director of Northern Ireland, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride was an innovative project funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Department of Communities, Tourism NI and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride was co-delivered by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Big Telly Theatre Company and Carrickfergus Enterprise. Shaped

by Industry - Shared with Pride is an innovative project that uses participative theatre to highlight our rich industrial heritage over four sites; The Heritage Hub and Carnlough Harbour, Glenarm Village, Whitehead Railway Museum and Flame! Gasworks Museum. The project aimed to connect the four industrial heritage sites, to encourage cross-promotion and working 3

Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit together, as well as connecting with local tourist businesses through participative theatre as a cross publicity opportunity. Another aim of the project was to create an opportunity for sustainable tourism and heritage with a potential buy in from tour operators.

Participative theatre was a novel and key component in Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride, where the audience were lightly encouraged to take an active role in the performance.

Industrial heritage formed the basis of these participative performances as a vehicle for promoting our heritage to both domestic and international audiences. For Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride five tourist businesses aligned with the project and offered special discounts, bespoke menus and had period dress during the performance weekends. We were thrilled to have received support thanks to the National Lottery players, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Tourism NI and the Department for Communities. This funding was a welcome boost as great work has already been done through other projects; including the new Heritage Hub at Carnlough Town Hall and the development of Whitehead Railway Museum.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council 2. Introduction by Project Partners Mid and East Antrim Museum & Heritage Service This learning resource aims to support continued interest in our industrial heritage through the use of participative theatre as a vehicle to deliver this heritage and tourism initiative. This resource shares our learning from Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride, in designing and delivering an innovative immersive theatre project, promoting and marketing performances, working with volunteers and tourism businesses, and the sustainability of the project. We hope this toolkit can assist other heritage sites to develop a bespoke participative theatre project.

This learning resource also demonstrates the potential for participative theatre projects in developing tourism, by building relationships with tourism business owners, and creating a sustainable tourism and heritage initiative.

The target users are: 1. Amateur and professional drama groups who want to replicate these performances with the aid of scripts produced by Big Telly Theatre Company.

2. Tourist businesses who want to align themselves with local tourism initiatives to gain an insight into developing strategic partnerships.

3. Local heritage sites who would like to participate in a tourist initiative.

4. Volunteer groups who want to contribute to a participative theatre project either through research or acting.

This learning resource is fully adaptable for the use of amateur and professional drama groups as well as tourist businesses, and local heritage sites and volunteer groups, who want to gain understanding of how to develop and produce a participative theatre project.

Carrickfergus Enterprise Carrickfergus Enterprise has been providing support and training to the local business sector for 38 years. In the last five years we have recognised the limited support for local tourism providers, as well as the huge opportunities that the sector can offer. As such, we have developed two very successful initiatives funded by Big Lottery Coastal Communities, namely East Antrim Coastal Way, and Glens Coastal Tourism Hub, offering a range of support including website development, business mentoring, WorldHost training and visitor map.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

Manager Kelli Bagchus has developed strong relationships with tourism providers and this offered a beneficial connection as a partner in Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride, to promote the project and encourage visitor attendance. Through participation in Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Carrickfergus Enterprise staff now have a much clearer understanding of industrial heritage and participative theatre, and felt reassured by the knowledge and expertise of the other partners. The partnership worked well because we all had our areas of expertise, and this offered a very complementary partnership approach. We worked on our strengths to deliver a very successful initiative with the common aim of bringing the industrial past to the forefront of visitor experience in a hands on way. This will allow us to take advantage of the opportunities tourism can bring to the local economy with the promotion of the Causeway Coastal Route. To do this we need to develop experiences to encourage visitors to stay longer, and spend more money along the Causeway Coastal Route. We think this initiative and its legacy does just that!

Big Telly Theatre Company Big Telly Theatre Company are based in Portstewart, on the north coast, and are proud to be part of Northern Ireland’s strong theatre heritage and vibrant creative future. Set up in 1986, we are Northern Ireland’s longest established theatre company. We make theatre for traditional venues, creative projects, and unusual sites. We engage new audiences by presenting work in surprising spaces, and invent projects with unique engagement strategies.

We are playful and experienced. We innovate performance techniques which create a heightened sense of awareness in an audience – a sense of mystery, an emotional experience – familiar, or unknown. The narratives we use are deeply rooted in storytelling traditions, myth and legend, but our theatre reinvents how stories are told, and how they are felt. We also explore different frameworks which hold fragments of stories, recognising that placemaking may be more effectively shared and unlocked through a number of micro-performances rather than the pursuit of a single narrative.

As a commissioning partner, Mid and East Antrim Museum & Heritage Service were really supportive of the creative elements of the project and championed the work. We welcomed their ambition and commitment. There was great enthusiasm from the whole team, with the foresight to look beyond this project to develop the creative potential of heritage sites. Through Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride we delivered a unique offering which added to the existing heritage offer in each location, and developed connections between local residents, businesses and the heritage sector in a way that is sustainable.

Previous site specific projects include The Little Mermaid, which toured swimming pools across the world, The Kitchen that Fell into the Sea (Dunluce Castle), and immersive multisite games such as Operation Wolfhound (Antrim); A Quirky Tale (Coleraine); and The Merchant Quest (Newry), involving castles, shops, boiler rooms, horse boxes, phone boxes, boats, and limousines. Examples include; Tide Will Tell, where children made boats from driftwood, launching them at storytelling gatherings on beaches; Trade Secrets, where artists made box installations based on the history of the business/building; and Inside Stories where local stories were presented in a 4 seat portable theatre at markets, alongside local produce. We’ve made theatre in shops, swimming pools, and towns – as well as on the stage.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

The Little Mermaid https://youtu.be/enXr-MLHkIM Operation Wolfhound, Antrim https://youtu.be/l4y9kE6I-3g Merchant Quest, Newry https://youtu.be/YOCDvBGH6UM) Quirky Tale, Coleraine https://youtu.be/0j9uAYVR2V8 Trade Secrets https://youtu.be/mpyVj40m1ZM

The Kitchen that Fell into the Sea

Tide Will Tell

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

Shaped By Industry – Shared with Pride performance at Carnlough, September 2018. Actress Jo Donnelly leads the audience towards Workman’s Tea Room and Carnlough Harbour

3. Toolkit Contents The Toolkit aims to explain, in a simple way, how heritage sites and tourism businesses can work together on a participative theatre project, and achieve positive and sustainable results for organisations, participants, and communities. Learning in this Toolkit comes from the three project partners, Mid and East Antrim Museum & Heritage Service, Big Telly Theatre Company, and Carrickfergus Enterprise who delivered Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride, supported by volunteers and staff at the heritage sites. External evaluator Linda Logan’s insights and analysis are included in the Toolkit, and her final evaluation report is Appendix F. The Toolkit is divided into sections, with a heritage and tourism profile of Mid and East Antrim giving cultural and geographical context. This is followed by details of how participative theatre can be adapted to heritage sites. Next, methods used to promote and market participative theatre to potential audiences during the project are discussed. A section of practical tips and insights on involving tourism businesses is also included. The final section highlights the importance of measuring success using simple evaluation methods to assess participant response, and implement project learning in future projects.

Toolkit appendices written by project staff and consultants provide additional downloadable learning resources and background information: ➢ Appendix A is an example Partnership Agreement, which can be customised for use by heritage and tourism organisations developing a joint creative project.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit ➢ Appendix B contains Quarto’s heritage research for each project site, which Big Telly Theatre Company used to develop storylines and characters for the productions. ➢ Appendix C contains sample health and safety risk assessments for the 2018 Carnlough performance, with examples of how legal requirement to identify and manage risks associated with participative theatre performances open to the public can be documented. ➢ Appendix D provides copies of Big Telly Theatre Company’s scripts for each site. ➢ In Appendix E, Tourism Consultant Portia Woods, provides a detailed report on experiential tourism, and an exit strategy for the project, focusing on how heritage and tourism sites can work together sustainably and profitably to develop this approach more widely. ➢ Appendix F contains Linda Logan’s external evaluation report from July 2019, reviewing and assessing the entire project from the start in August 2018. ➢ Appendix G has condensed video highlights of the performances, with audience feedback and comments as subtitles. ➢ Appendix H is the report on the Closing Seminar. ➢ Appendix I includes the Closing Seminar’s keynote presentation given by Jonathan Lloyd, UK and Ireland Coordinator for the European Route of Industrial Heritage, Europe’s largest network of industrial heritage sites.

A Closing Seminar was held on 26 September 2019 in The Linen Hall Library, Belfast. It aimed to widely disseminate the experience and knowledge gained in project delivery, and raise awareness of the project and associated learning among heritage and tourism volunteers and professionals. The seminar provided an opportunity for interactive workshops, where attendees discussed the potential for participative theatre to animate heritage sites and support tourism in the future, how challenges could be overcome, and sustainability achieved.

The Closing Seminar report, at Appendix H, makes a significant contribution to the learning presented in the Toolkit, as well as documenting the contributions and discussions of participants at the Seminar.

4. Heritage and Tourism profile of Mid and East Antrim - Carnlough to Carrickfergus Tourist points of interest in Mid and East Antrim

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

Map downloadable around

from

https://www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/tourism/welcome-to-mid-east-antrim/getting-

The Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area includes many natural and marine heritage attractions in addition to industrial heritage visitor sites at Carnlough, Glenarm, Whitehead Railway Museum, and Flame Gasworks Museum in Carrickfergus. Two outstanding landscapes that draw local and international tourists are located in the Borough; the Causeway Coastal Route in the Borough extends from Carrickfergus to Garron Point, and the central part of the Glens of Antrim Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Maritime and natural heritage are both related themes to industrial heritage, with factors such as landscape, geology, natural resources, and access routes for transport being key for early industrial development. For centuries maritime trade has existed between this part of the Causeway Coast and Scotland, and was essential to economic and industrial development during the nineteenth century, when mining and quarrying industries were thriving, and later in the twentieth century for tourism.

Shaped by Sea and Stone, Mid and East Antrim’s tourism marketing strategy, was launched early in 2019 and is using the cultural, natural, and industrial heritage assets of the Borough as a driver for tourism development. The section of the Causeway Coastal Route between Carrickfergus and Garron Point, where the Borough of Mid and East Antrim meets the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council boundary, is an internationally recognised scenic road that follows the coastline of nine glens. The Causeway Coastal Route continues to the north Antrim coast, attracting large numbers of visitors annually to beaches at

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit Portstewart and Portrush. Beyond, this route continues further as the ‘Wild Atlantic Way’ along the coastline of Donegal, Sligo, and the west coast of Ireland.

In 2018 the Causeway Coastal Route was recommended by Lonely Planet as the top region in the world to visit. Visitor numbers at the Giant’s Causeway increased by 5% to 1.04 million visitors in 20181, so to ensure the sustainability of tourism, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council aim to attract visitors to stay longer along the section of the Causeway Coastal Route between Carrickfergus and Garron Point, and also highlight the distinctive cultural tourism offer of industrial heritage coupled with world famous scenery. The Shaped by Sea and Stone tourism information website for Mid and East Antrim Borough can be found at https://shapedbyseaandstone.com/coast.

At the Closing Seminar Kelli Bagchus of Carrickfergus Enterprise and Jason Powell, Tourism Marketing Manager of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, both spoke about the importance of widening the range of cultural activities, food and hospitality, and heritage experiences to attract, and keep visitors longer in the area. This concept of ‘experiential tourism’ was key to the success of Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride.

What is experiential tourism?

‘Experiential tourism’ is where visitors are engaged through their emotions and senses. Examples of experiential visitor experiences could be; attending storytelling sessions held by local people and getting a chance to talk with them; or finding out about local cooking traditions, sampling quality local food produce, and testing the recipes out with local chefs. These experiences bring realism and authenticity to the tourism product, providing rich experiences for the visitor to remember for a long time, and a highly effective method of connecting visitors to local traditions and culture.

More can be read on this in Appendix H, page 16.

The participative theatre performances delivered as part of Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride are a strong example of experiential tourism. Performances delivered a unique, authentic experience, giving participants an opportunity to interact, emotionally and physically, with the local culture, and project partnerships with food and hospitality businesses created other bespoke experiences for participants to enjoy.

In Appendix E Portia Woods describes Ireland, north and south, as rich in opportunities for visitors to get involved in experiential tourism, due to distinctive culture, landscape, traditions, and recreational activities. Experiential tourism activities are of particular interest to the culturally curious, as they are unique and the opposite of mass tourism. Industrial heritage tourism can be considered a niche offering, so including other activities with an experiential element, such as food and hospitality, or recreational activities such as walking or cycling, will Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (2018) ‘Northern Ireland Annual Tourism Statistics 2018’ available at https://www.nisra.gov.uk/news/northern-ireland-annual-tourism-statistics-2018 p15 (accessed 14/06/19) 1

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit have broader appeal and add value, encouraging visitors to lengthen their stay and deepen their experience of the local area. In Appendix I, Jonathan Lloyd of ERIH discusses Regional Routes, where several industrial heritage sites are working together in tourism promotion, as well as working with other tourism stakeholders to offer additional cultural and recreational activities in conjunction with industrial heritage tours.

The performance of the tourism hospitality industry in Mid and East Antrim is summarised in the two Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) infographics below.

Tourism performance is also demonstrated by NISRA statistics: • In 2018 there was an upward trend in bed nights, trips, and visitor spend in the Borough.

• A 17% increase in tourism revenue, as a result of more visitors choosing the Borough as their holiday destination.

• £43 million was spent by visitors to Mid and East Antrim in 2017, which increased to £51 million in 2018.

• In 2018 there were 300,000 overnight trips to Mid and East Antrim, the same as in 2017.

• In 2019 Mid and East Antrim had the second highest room occupancy rate of Northern Ireland Boroughs.

• Food and drink makes up 30% of the visitor spend on hospitality in Northern Ireland (from Tourism NI statistics). Mid and East Antrim is a prime regional agricultural producer, reflected in the high quality of home-grown food and drink products produced by many SMEs in the Borough. Mid and East Antrim was a finalist in the all-Ireland ‘Taste the Island’ contest for food and drink producers (from MEA Tourism E-Zine, August 2019).

• The Borough has 139,000 residents.

MEA Borough Council produce a monthly Tourism E-Zine of tourism related events and trends within the Borough. Copies can be downloaded at https://www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/business/tourism-business-engagement Tourism Ireland also produce a monthly E-Zine update with tourism news and travel events, and their website is regularly updated with topical issues in tourism, and travel industry trends.

The website address is https://media.ireland.com/en-gb/news-releases

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

Available at https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/local-government-district-tourism-statistics-infographics

On pages 7 and 9 of Appendix E, ‘A Toolkit for Beyond the Project Phase’, there are links to tourism data, research, and reports, from both Tourism Northern Ireland and Tourism Ireland to provide background data to your audience for a potential participative theatre project.

Scene from Whitehead Railway Museum performance, May 2019

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit 5. Participative Theatre Production 5.1 What is participative theatre?

Participative theatre is a drama style where the audience interact directly with the actors based on a real contemporary or historical problem. Actors lead and animate the audience, often getting them involved verbally, with a group activity, or a gaming approach to immerse them in the drama of the storyline. Participative theatre often takes an audience outside of a conventional theatre building, into a setting associated with the storyline, such as heritage sites, historic buildings and public places, and museums and art galleries. These sites are then used as the ‘stage’ for the actors and participating audience. For example, the audience can play the parts of Victorian industrial workers taking coal to a lime kiln being led by an overseer, played by an actor. In a cultural heritage context participative theatre can be used to explore historic sites and heritage buildings to reveal details of the site’s past to the audience. This ‘immersive theatre’ places the audience into a situation where they often experience feelings and reactions as though the scene is real. The realism and authenticity generated by this creates an emotional connection to the storyline and characters for participants, stimulating a desire to learn more. The story may often be fast-paced with an evolving plot that is never obvious or simple, and an unexpected ending.

Participative theatre still involves the technical skills of conventional theatre, with actors and a creative director using a script to develop actions, characters, and a finished storyline, with full support from a stage team who deliver special effects, costumes, and props to create an authentic historical or contemporary social context for the production. It is quite distinct from ‘living history’ in which actors in period costumes narrate a story of their role or work, but the audience are listening and observing in a detached way.

The outcomes of participative theatre when working with a skilled drama company can be socially inclusive for participants of all ages and backgrounds, from young children to older adults. The Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride external evaluation report evidenced that there was successful participation from people of all ages from across Northern Ireland and further afield. Learning and insights into industrial heritage were evidenced by comments made on evaluation forms, and informal conversations held with the external evaluator.

Participants described the performances as ‘fun and vibrant, but still informative’, ‘a really novel way to bring a site to life, and make it relevant and fun’, ‘well paced, and absorbing’, and ‘at times funny and sad and really engaging’. Other participant comments demonstrating learning included; ➢ ‘I loved every minute of it, I was totally immersed in the story, it was so sad at the end.

It really made me think about how hard life was back then.’ ➢ ‘The performance got me intrigued and curious to find out more about industrial heritage.’ ➢ I learned a lot without realising I was learning.’ ➢ The stories were well researched and captured the atmosphere and history of the building. It made us want to find out more and we will be back. ➢ ‘It enacted tragedy and hard times, the paucity of the crops. The visual with the sacks brings that to life rather than just talking about it.’ ➢ ‘The difference between industry now and then, that people might have to go to the workhouse because of an accident.’

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit ➢ ‘The performance helped me to think about how people worked and lived in the past, making it more than just an old building. It brought it alive to me.’

5.2 Partnership Agreements Partnership agreements should be used if you are working with others outside of your organisation. A partnership agreement will confirm the responsibilities of everyone involved in the project, setting out expected outputs and outcomes, and what contribution each project partner will make to these. Portia Woods of Toast the Coast, author of ‘A Toolkit for Beyond the Project Phase’ (Appendix E), emphasises the importance of forming a stable and durable relationship with partners.

‘An equal and motivated partnership between all parties involved will be vital for a strategy to develop and be implemented. To achieve it there must be an understanding that working together will be essential, collaboration key and that it will be a drip feed success journey (1-5 years).’

(Portia Woods – ‘A Toolkit for Beyond the Project Phase’ Page 1)

An example of a partnership agreement is shown in Appendix A. As a minimum the agreement should cover: ➢ Names of Partners ➢ Purpose of Agreement ➢ Duration of Agreement ➢ Is it legally binding or for governance and accountability? ➢ Responsibilities of each partner involved ➢ Outputs and outcomes of partnership ➢ What contribution each partner will make to these All partners should sign and date a copy of the agreement, and each should receive a signed copy to refer to.

5.3 Role of site volunteers and staff in site access, research, and production Heritage site volunteers have a wealth of experience with visitors and operations, from opening and closing buildings, to more technical aspects of delivering skilled services, such as tour guiding, maintenance, and operating equipment. Examples of this include visitor services roles welcoming visitors, and delivering site tours at Whitehead Railway Museum and Flame Gasworks Museum. Some volunteers also offer more technical skills, such as maintaining steam trains and operating gas appliances behind the scenes. Heritage site volunteers come from many different walks of life, some are retired and have industry related qualifications and experience. This is evidenced at Flame Gasworks Museum, where two of the volunteers are the last Manager of the Gas Works when it closed in 1987, and a retired Industrial Archaeologist. At Whitehead Railway Museum young people of school age volunteer, assisting in the operation of steam train rides for the public. Volunteers at both Whitehead Railway Museum and Flame Gasworks have been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest such award in the UK for voluntary effort.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit During Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride volunteers played a key role in developing storylines for the participative performances, as well as supporting the successful delivery.

Carnlough Heritage Hub volunteers carried out historical research at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, exploring letters sent from the family of a worker killed in an industrial accident to the Londonderry’s Estate Land Agent. This research was an important contribution to storyline development for the Carnlough script written by Big Telly Theatre Company.

Volunteers also supported delivery of performances, in Carnlough by facilitating access to a former Workman’s quarters and a clock tower, which offered locations for immersive performance scenes. At Whitehead Railway Museum the technical knowledge and skills of volunteers ensured stage-crew and actors had access to power and could work safely inside and outside the confines of an historic railway dining carriage.

During the delivery of performances to the public, whether at heritage sites or at local tourism businesses involved in a partnership promotion agreement, volunteers have an important role in supporting the creative performance. Volunteers assisting with Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride welcomed participants to the site, told other visitors about the performances and partner businesses, and marshalled the public safely for the performance. In order to work well with volunteers it is essential to organise regular briefings with volunteers and the volunteer manager, to ensure they are aware of their role in the project’s success, and are updated on partner business offers, performance times and bookings, and any other information they might need. Volunteers are there because volunteering is a flexible way to support a project they may feel very passionately about. Most volunteers have limited time to commit, so meetings and briefings should be arranged around their availability.

5.4 Adapting Participative Theatre to heritage sites Delivering authenticity Authenticity in the performances is key to attracting and maintaining an audience. During Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride extensive background research was carried out into each heritage site, to explore potential storylines for the script, and the historical characters and events associated with the sites. Heritage Hub at Carnlough Town Hall volunteers visited the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, and Gemma Reid of Quarto, a professional researcher, was appointed to carry out research into potential storylines. Please see Appendix B for the research report, and research notes from the participating sites.

The involvement of volunteers was of great value in uncovering stories associated with the sites. They also offered a route to accessing parts of the site inaccessible to the public. In Carnlough site volunteers afforded access to a stone built store and the Clock Tower, near the Hurry Head limestone bridge. The resulting performance at Carnlough was more authentic because : 2. Professional research was complimented by volunteer contributions, adding authenticity.

3. Volunteers worked with Big Telly Theatre Company and the professional researcher, to provide access to areas where the public are not usually permitted.

4. Site volunteers and the theatrical team worked within the constraints of health and safety policies and the site risk assessments.

Health and safety risk assessments If you are moving around a heritage site and accessing areas not usually open to the public, then it is essential to carry out risk assessments to ensure compliance with health and safety 15

Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit legislation and public liability insurance, and that participants will be safe and comfortable during the performance. There are examples of risk assessments created for the Carnlough performance at Appendix C. 5.5 Script and Production Costs A participative theatre production is not just about the script. There are additional factors, such as costumes, special effects, props, rehearsal time, and actors. Not all actors are suited to immersive theatre work, as it requires the ability to adapt to the audience, and tailor each performance to the response received. The scripts from Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride are at Appendix D, to demonstrate the dialogue and scripting required for a 20 minute performance.

There are many factors to take into account when costing a production, depending on how many actors and crew will be required, length of performance, and the type of site the performance will be held at. Big Telly Theatre Company are always happy to have a conversation with interested organisations and individuals to discuss ideas for creative theatre projects and typical costings, to reflect their specific requirements. Typically a new site responsive production would have an estimated cost of around £8,000 to £10,000, and then further performances at a later date, called a ‘remount’ would be around £3,000 to £5,000.

Big Telly Theatre Company can be contacted on 028 7083 6473 or email info@big-telly.com 5.6 Involving the wider community If participative theatre at heritage sites is to be sustainable then it is important to communicate with the local community before project delivery. This enables local people and community organisations to support the project, in simple ways by telling tourists about performance dates, and in more involved ways, for by volunteering time to help with welcoming participants.

Practical ways of involving the wider community could be any of the following: spreading awareness of the project through local media such as Church magazines, local radio, press release to local papers, or posting on local government website events page. Specific community organisations, such as local history or leisure groups could be asked to attend project steering group meetings as a form of consultation. Public information meetings or events could be held in the local library or community centre, with details about the project, and an opportunity to meet project partners and find out more about the performances and project.

‘Housewives Challenge’ from Flame Gasworks Museum performance, June 2019

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit 6. Marketing and Promotion 6.1 Audience Development In order to assess if your participative theatre project attracts additional visitors an awareness of baseline audience figures is required. The 2018 Visitor Attraction Survey by NISRA evidenced annual visitor numbers for Flame! Gasworks Museum, The Heritage Hub at Carnlough Town Hall, and Whitehead Railway Museum. Glenarm Visitor Information Centre record the number of visitors they receive each year.

Heritage Hub at Flame! Gasworks Whitehead Year Carnlough Town Glenarm Museum Railway Museum Hall 2018 3,551 1,025 6,135 15,483 2017 2,345 n/a* 7,065 10,602 2016 5,475 n/a* 4,807 5,860 Source : https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/visitor-attraction-survey-publications *The Heritage Hub at Carnlough Town Hall only opened in 2018.

Visitor numbers at Whitehead Railway Museum have risen strongly since 2016, as the Museum underwent a refurbishment and added additional interpretation after significant National Lottery Heritage Fund grant works in 2017. Visitor numbers have fallen between 2016 and 2018 at Flame! Gasworks, with the planned £38 million investment in Carrickfergus visitor numbers would be expected to increase in the future.

Whitehead Railway Museum would like to attract more families, their current typical visitor profile is a male older adult with an interest in railway heritage. Flame Gasworks Museum are also targeting the family market, as their typical visitor is an older adult. Consideration should be given to the proposed storyline, locations, and participative activities and their suitability for the audience the performance is targeted at.

6.2 Proven Marketing Methods 1. Printed Flyers Pros : ➢ Highly effective for smaller one-off events focused on a well-defined locality, such as a village or small town, where they can be easily distributed. ➢ Can be distributed by hand or post with incidental opportunity of feedback on promotional offer when flyers are handed over to customer or stakeholder. ➢ Quick and inexpensive to produce in a basic form using standard office equipment and IT programs: computer; colour printer; word processing or presentation software program, such as Word or PowerPoint; free online template sites, such as Canva or Crello; suitable logos and digital photo. ➢ Depending on budget custom flyers can be produced by graphic designer including customised logos and branding.

Cons: ➢ Flyers produced in-house need careful proofreading and testing to obtain feedback on the messages it conveys, are recommended. ➢ Marketing by flyers lacks longer term impact to a broad range of consumers.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit ➢ Flyers may not be read and it can be more difficult to follow links for online booking.

Discarded flyers cause litter, and are not environmentally friendly.

2. Posters Well-designed posters that clearly communicate a compelling offer and motivate an action in response make an immediate visual impact on large numbers of potential customers. The 40/40/20 rules of direct marketing campaigns state that 40% of success is based on the relevance of your mailing list to the demographic profile of your desired audience. 40% of success in poster campaigns is based on the offer content showing unique selling points in a clear and visually attractive way. The final 20% is contingent on everything else, such as the organisation of the campaign, timing, and brand awareness.

Poster size should be tailored to location and the relative position of the audience. For an audience at close quarters, such as shop windows and notice boards an A3 sized poster is most effective. To capture the attention of passing motorists a large format A1 size may be more visible. Again, posters can be designed in-house with free online template websites or standard office software programs. Using a professional graphic designer means more tailored options, and providing a series of linked poster designs for different offers and locations can be produced.

Pros: ➢ Posters allow for wider distribution flexibility in terms of formats, content and design, and a wide range of options for placement in villages, towns and cities. ➢ Can be printed in a large range of sizes, colours, and designs to match each location’s requirements. ➢ Cheaper than printed newspaper adverts or radio advertisements. ➢ Asking local business owners to display posters can prompt conversations about aligning their business to the project. ➢ Permission from sites owners and public authorities to display posters in visible locations might be extended or repeated to assist with brand recognition and publicity for future projects and events.

Cons: ➢ Time involved in researching suitable locations and getting permissions from businesses to display posters. However discounts on offers advertised, and reciprocal advertising could be negotiated if this is required. ➢ A lot of competition for attention with other posters and notices. ➢ People have to remember details of the events rather than being able to take a copy home for reference.

3. Social Media Campaigns Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the most used social media platforms, allowing you to advertise your project to your existing follower base, and also reach new audiences through the use of targeted marketing campaigns. Carefully tagged and linked content can expose tourism businesses involved in your project to new audiences, and can encourage better engagement with an existing audience. If you are planning a project, or would like to increase your reach or impressions, without a communications or marketing department, then a digital marketing consultant can assist in developing a strategy and marketing campaign.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit Social media was one of the best methods in attracting participants to Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride, with over a quarter of participants seeing the performances advertised online. It also has the benefit of being free to use, along with the ability to respond to queries and engage with potential participants in a two-way conversation.

Pros: ➢ Allows clickable links to online booking to be shared easily. ➢ Can promote businesses involved with project. ➢ Participants can share photos and video afterwards with a project hashtag and tagging project partners also helps to market future performances. ➢ Free to use. ➢ Can track success through metrics on clicks through to online booking system.

Cons: ➢ Can be time consuming ➢ Some target audience groups don’t use social media as much ➢ Platform algorithms mean your posts might not be seen by target audience unless you have a paid for campaign.

Examples of social media posts to promote performances

Tourism Ireland’s website provides some basic tips on the use of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. See link : https://www.tourismirelandindustryopportunities.com/how-we-can-help/social-media 6.3 Promotional Plan As Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride was an innovative pilot project a month by month promotional plan was sufficient. As Portia Woods states in ‘A Toolkit for Beyond the Project Phase’ (pages 10 and 16), an extended promotion from one to five years could be highly advantageous for a longer-term project.

Step 1: Assemble a team ➢ Consider who will provide assistance in key areas such as digital marketing and copywriting for printed promotional material.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit ➢ Consider on the ground support in the area: engage with community organisations and local businesses to display flyers or posters to highlight the project and any associated promotional offers. ➢ Appoint a project lead for marketing, who can maintain oversight and coordination of the promotional process. ➢ Hold regular meetings to review progress towards objectives, and reflect on where marketing campaigns are having most impact.

Output: Signed partnership agreement between lead and any creative partners.

Step 2: Identify Tasks and Schedule a Timetable ➢ Assemble your team for an initial meeting. Representatives from community groups give the added benefit of buy-in from the community. Depending on the theme of your project local groups such as history societies, community associations, recreational clubs, educational groups, and women’s and young people’s groups could be invited. ➢ Set a timeline to develop and deliver publicity for the project, with a start and completion date, aiming to capitalise on events to build and develop audiences. The creative events also provide an opportunity to build partnerships with local tourism, food, and hospitality businesses as well as community organisations. ➢ Examples of promotional methods used in Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride were; social media posts, flyers handed out around the heritage sites, posters in local businesses, advertising on the Council’s website, and an interview on BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Your Place and Mine’ about the project.

Output: Written plan including marketing methods to be used, dates for completion of marketing related tasks and the specific team members these are allocated to, any expected costs, and how these will be paid.

Step 3: Review Progress ➢ A team meeting to review progress on the promotional plan is recommended between allocating tasks and the event delivery date. ➢ Review meeting can be used to proofread promotional copy and design, checking for compliant use of branding and logos, and that any aligned businesses and community groups have been acknowledged or included. ➢ Plans for promotional events such as photos at businesses or community premises can be arranged, press releases and newspaper advertising (if required) finalised, and social media campaigns reviewed.

Step 4: Delivery and Evaluation of Promotional Plan ➢ As deadlines draw near for event publicity there should be a final focus on promotion for any performances that still have spaces available. ➢ The final evaluation report should include a review of the effectiveness of all forms of marketing, such as impact on ticket sales and participation, and response of and impact on partner businesses and organisations. Partner businesses may prioritise seeing a boost to trade through more awareness of their brand, products, or services.

Community organisations may favour greater awareness of their social development role, volunteering opportunities, and organisation mission.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

6.4 Charging for Tickets During the pilot performances of Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride the issue of charging for tickets was discussed, in order to make performances more sustainable, and enable repetition at a later date without funding. This was discussed at project meetings and during focus groups with participants conducted by external evaluator Linda Logan. In addition, a question on the performance evaluation form asked how much participants would be prepared to pay for the performance if it was not funded. The average cost participants were prepared to pay was £5, with children paying either £2.50 or going free. This figure was also supported by tourism business attendees at the ‘Coffee with Colin’ event. Based on four performances a day with 15 participants paying £5 this would only provide £300, which would mean performances were not sustainable without additional funding.

An alternative scenario was considered, where one of the Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride heritage sites requests a remount of the performance from Big Telly Theatre Company.

If this was packaged together by the partnership with additional experiences there are some worked examples of how this can be presented as an offer to tour companies and individuals on page 12 of ‘A Toolkit for Beyond the Project Phase’ in Appendix E. 6.5 Promotion Via Other Business Networks Promotion of creative theatre projects involving food and hospitality tourism businesses can be through direct contact to individual businesses, or using existing trade networks operating within Mid and East Antrim. Details of some networks are below, this list is not exhaustive. ➢ The Gobbins and Glens of Antrim Cluster Group Membership includes bed and breakfast owners, tour guides, hotels, restaurants, and cafes.

Organiser: Norman McBride, Manager of Ballygalley Hotel. Contact details available from Carrickfergus Enterprise.

➢ Économusée Food and Craft Workshops Économusée is a global network of artisan’s workshops, open to the public to observe production and buy produce. Food and craft production use local materials where possible, to conserve traditional techniques in a sustainable small business. Artisan workshops in Mid and East Antrim include: Steenson’s Jewellers, Glenarm; Audrey Kyle Art, Gobbins; Hot Milk Forge, Martinstown; Hillstown Brewery, Randalstown.

Organiser: Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust, details available at http://ccght.org/sustainability/economusee-northern-ireland-artisans-at-work/ ➢ Hospitality Ulster Hospitality Ulster is a strategic umbrella organisation supporting the development of the hotel, food, and hospitality industry in Northern Ireland. They offer a range of information and support services and advocate to government on members’ interests.

Organiser: Colin Neill, CEO of Hospitality Ulster. Contact details available from Carrickfergus Enterprise. ➢ Tour Guides NI Focuses on supporting the quality, training and ongoing professional development of tour guiding in Northern Ireland for members. Also offers details on a range of tours available across the province and contact information for Tour Guides.

Email: info@tourguidesni.com Phone: 07704 575932 Website: https://tourguidesni.com 21

Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

➢ Carrickfergus Enterprise Contributed expertise in supporting and engaging with the local tourism business community in East Antrim, as a partner on the Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride project. Also delivers MEA Council funded Business Improvement Programme, the Coastal Tourism Hub funded by Coastal Communities Fund, and helps local businesses in practical and innovative ways.

Contact details: Kelli Bagchus, Manager. Email: info@ceal.co.uk Phone: 028 9336 9528 Website: http://www.ceal.co.uk 6.6 Use of Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Brand The Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride brand logo was made available for participating heritage and tourism businesses to use on promotional materials, such as flyers, posters and electronic media.

6.7 Good Practice in Involving Volunteers and Staff at Sites During Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride experience proved that involving heritage site volunteers at all project stages was fundamental to connect with target audiences and develop a strong marketing plan. Holding a meeting with all volunteers involved with performances was crucial to project success, giving volunteers confidence to promote the project to their networks, and to answer questions from potential participants, and the public while performances were taking place. It helped that creative partners briefed volunteers on how to explain the performances without giving away the storyline, and how to encourage the audience if there were any issues with engagement.

We found it best to liaise with the Volunteer Managers at sites, and ask them to allocate roles and responsibilities, as they knew their team, volunteer availability, skills, who would enjoy which role, and had policies and procedures in place to support volunteers. It is good practice to communicate to all staff and volunteers the results of performances, and how their support assisted with the promotion of performances. This could be achieved by a letter to the Volunteer Manager, as well as thanking volunteers personally after the event. See also Appendix H, Closing Seminar Report pages 12 to 15 on interactive workshop discussion on ‘Working with Volunteers’.

6.8 Managing Bookings Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride performances were bookable online using Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk. This meant bookings could be made anytime, and didn’t require staff time. Eventbrite is free to use for events where there is no charge, however there are fees for paid for events, which can be covered by the event organiser, or passed on to customers. A graphic image and photo are required to set up a booking page, and tickets can be sold directly via Facebook. There are other online ticketing options available.

Other methods of booking are: ➢ Manual booking sheet A printed booking sheet can be used for phone bookings, or face to face at an event. If there are spaces after online booking closes this method can be used effectively to continue bookings on the day of the event.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit ➢ Phone and Email Bookings can be accepted by email and a confirmation returned. This can mean multiple emails if performances are fully booked. Also, not everyone uses email, so a backup phone number allows for queries, as well as additional bookings. These methods only work when there is a specific person or team to take bookings during regular office hours.

Please remember to comply with data protection regulations when holding personal information for booking purposes, and once the event is finished securely destroy any personal information no longer required.

Promotional photo for Carnlough performance

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

7. Involving Tourism and Hospitality Businesses 7.1 Handling Business Expectations Many of the food and hospitality businesses involved with Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride had no clearly defined expectation of outcomes as they had not previously been involved in a project of this type. Tourism businesses can be encouraged to support the project by featuring their brand, products, and services on project promotional materials, and holding promotional events such as photoshoots for social media. This offers valuable publicity for a business to increase brand awareness, and attract footfall before and after performances. It is very important to emphasise it is a cross-promotional offer designed to benefit both partners. The businesses should be advertising the heritage events, displaying posters and flyers and telling customers, to increase attendance and audience participation in the heritage event.

The distinctive points of your promotional offer to businesses are that participative theatre at a heritage site is innovative, creative, and largely cost free to the business as a marketing method. This, in itself, offers a reason to align a business with the project.

Whilst the promotion can’t promise increase in trade for businesses, it will raise brand awareness with the heritage site audiences, and the public via social media. A discussion around possibilities for future bespoke experiences for groups or special events will showcase the potential for business development. A variety of bespoke tie ins between tourism businesses and heritage sites staging a creative event are possible, but are not limited to the following: ➢ Staff dressing in period costumes to tie in with performance and create atmosphere. ➢ Objects from heritage site displayed in business premises. ➢ Themed menus with ingredients, cooking methods and recipes associated with the period to tie in with heritage event. ➢ Photo opportunities with performance actors on business premises for social media and press releases. ➢ Scene from performance or other part of heritage event takes place on business premises.

A flexible approach is required as businesses might expect part of the creative event to be held on their premises. Be clear on what is possible, and what cannot be achieved. A really good promotion will be of real practical benefit to both heritage site and local business.

7.2 Practical Aspects of Promoting Businesses Tips for success: ➢ A specific person to contact in the business works best to avoid miscommunications. ➢ Details of participating businesses and their offers should be included in briefings with site staff and volunteers. ➢ Include information on businesses and their offers with tickets to promote pre and postperformance visits. ➢ Consider marketing methods and timings to suit businesses involved. ➢ Consider how to fully benefit from partnerships with local businesses; printed flyers and posters, themed tie-in products or services, vendors at the performance, scenes from performance on business premises.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit ➢ Use specific discount code or offer code so success of partnership can be measured easily.

7.3 Use of Digital Media

To promote businesses supporting Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride at Whitehead Railway Museum there was a photoshoot held with costumed actors at each business premises. The post made it clear how to benefit from the offers, and included a link to the online performance booking system. To extend the social media reach and impressions the post was shared widely, and so reached new audiences, other than Facebook followers of the Council.

Social media posts with photos are always more popular than plain text, and the use of hashtags allows followers to see participant photos afterwards. It also allows participating businesses and heritage sites to engage further with their audience by liking and commenting on any posts.

7.4 Tourism Businesses Involved in Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride Dobbins Inn on High Street in Carrickfergus supported Flame! Gasworks Museum with a 10% discount on menu items, and hosted objects from the museum’s collection. Whitehead Railway Museum was supported by Bank House Café, where a special pudding and pate board themed around the performances was offered. The Lighthouse Bistro, Carmel’s Sweet Shop, and The Old Tea Rooms also had special offers over the performance weekend. In Appendix H the Closing Seminar Report, pages 17 to 19 cover the interactive workshop discussion on ‘Working with Tourism Businesses’.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit

8. Measuring Success 8.1 Evaluation of performances Funders typically require evaluation to evidence project activity and outcomes, so the first step is to ensure evaluation activity meets their requirements. A good evaluation will include both quantitative data, such how many people attended and enjoyed the performances, and qualitative data, such as why people enjoyed themselves and what they learned from the experience. There should be enough evaluation activity to evidence whether each project objective and outcome has been achieved, and to explore any unexpected outcomes and learning. During the project planning stage, when setting aims and objectives, consideration should be given to the measures of success. For example is it enough to know that 200 people attended a series of performances, or would it be more beneficial to also understand why they attended, what they learned, and improvements that could be made to future performances?

Make sure your evaluation activities will robustly answer the key questions about your project.

The optimum solution is to appoint an independent external evaluator to develop a bespoke evaluation framework, carry out evaluation activities, and present the results in a report demonstrating project impact. If this is not possible, there are a few simple techniques that can be implemented to measure the success of participative performances.

As Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride was an innovative project, formative evaluation was carried out in Carnlough during the first phase of performances in September 2018. This gave an early indication of participant experience, and learning from the first phase informed the development of Phase 2 performances, identifying small changes that could be made to performance times, the booking process, and volunteer support. After performances participants were asked to complete a one page questionnaire with tick box responses and open ended questions, and a sample of participants were invited to a focus group for 20 minutes. This process was repeated at Phase 2 performances, along with observations and more detailed interviews with participants, site volunteers, and project partner staff.

Using more than one evaluation method will give more robust, reliable data that better represents your outcomes and participant experience. Choice of methods depends on staffing and budget resources, time constraints, and your expected audience. For example with school-aged children you might consider a simple questionnaire with smiley faces, asking questions with a show of hands in response, or asking for votes to be placed with sticky notes.

Planning Phase What questions does your evaluation need to answer?

How will you measure each project objective?

Project Phase Carry out evaluation activities Record project activity and achievements Feedback learning to be implemented during project

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Summative Phase Analyse data collected Evalauate outcomes, outputs, and impact Write up evaluation report Act on findings

Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit 8.2 Evaluation methods Questionnaires Questionnaires are the most commonly used form of evaluation, as they can gather information from a number of people at the same time, can be used multiple times, and don’t need a lot of time or staff resources to implement. Questionnaire design should be as simple as possible, and only ask questions relevant for your requirements.

Shaped by Industry, Shared with Pride Participant Questionnaire Your answers help us evaluate why people attended, if the event was enjoyable, and how we can improve. Please tick answers. Information provided will only be used to evaluate this project.

Location Attended Carnlough I am

Glenarm

male female aged 12-17

Whitehead

18-24

25-49

Date

Carrickfergus 50-64

65+

Prefer not to say

Where have you travelled from today?

Where did you hear about this event?

Social media Email list Website – please specify

Other – please specify

Strongly Agree

Agree

Unsure

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

I enjoyed the performance I learned something new today I would attend a similar event again The performance made me want to find out more about industrial heritage What did you learn today that surprised you?

If there was a charge for this performance how much do you think it should be? £______ Had you heard of or visited these sites before this event?

Visited

I’ve heard of

I haven’t heard of

Carnlough Heritage Hub Whitehead Railway Museum Flame! Gasworks Museum, Carrickfergus Glenarm Any other comments?

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council currently holds and processes your personal information to support our legal obligations in relation to the provision of cultural activities under s10 Recreation and Youth Service (NI) Order 1986 and following your previous involvement with the exhibition and/or you are regularly associated with museum activities. We will keep your information secure, accurate and for no longer than is necessary in line with data protection laws. If you want to find out more about how we control and process personal data and protect your privacy please see www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/privacy-notice.

This means people are more likely to complete the questionnaire and it will be easier to analyse the results. A good questionnaire explains the reasons for asking the questions, what the answers will be used for, and asks questions as simply as possible. Likert scale questions with tick answers from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’ can be useful to answer questions raised by project objectives. Demographic questions show who your audience is and who is not attending, and how far audiences will travel. This information, along with where participants heard about the event, allows targeted marketing of future events through the most successful marketing channels. By not asking for names and personal details your data is anonymised to comply with data protection regulations.

Focus groups Focus groups allow more detailed qualitative data to be gathered, with a series of open-ended questions around why participants attended and their thoughts on the performance, how it could be used to attract tourists, the learning, and anything that could be done differently. A balanced sample of performance participants were invited to join, across gender and age groups, and including children (with their parents). Focus groups give more detailed feedback than questionnaires, and are more time efficient than individual interviews, but do need to be kept on topic and carefully managed so everyone has the opportunity to respond. Responses can also be questioned further to clarify, and uncover additional information and opinions.

It is a good idea to offer light refreshments, then introduce yourself and confirm how long the focus group will last for, explaining how information gathered will be used. Keeping participants anonymous when reporting findings is the simplest option, and always get a signed consent form and provide participants with a copy. At the end when thanking the group it is standard practice to provide an information sheet and contact details for the focus group leader. If possible have a note taker as well, as it can be difficult to make notes while also asking 27

Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit questions and engaging the group. Questions should be open ended to elicit a more detailed response, and leading questions suggesting an answer should be avoided.

Shaped by Industry – Shared with Pride focus group questions Question 1. What made you decide to see this performance today?

2. What did you like about the performance, and how did it make you feel and react?

3. What would encourage you to see a similar live theatre performance at another venue?

4. How do you think performances like this could be used to attract tourists to stay longer in the area?

5. How did the performance help you better understand industrial heritage? What challenged you about the performance?

6. If you were directing the performance what would you do differently? What would be a fair ticket price?

Expected answers • Saw it advertised – where?

• Recommendation/previously seen performance • Interest in industrial heritage/live theatre • In the area already – doing what if not local?

• Audience got to join in • Location – moving around • Understood more about history of site • Empathised with characters – which ones?

• Topic of performance – suitable for family?

• Location and weather • Cost – how much?

• Advertised – where?

• Something unusual • More detail about local area/ reason to stay longer • More interactive • Different shows for different audiences • Easy to understand what was happening • Learned something new – what?

• Issues with accessibility – hearing actors, standing up, audience numbers, understanding of plot • Topic • Cast • Location • Time

Interviews Formal and informal interviews can be used to gather qualitative data for evaluation. During Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride informal interviews with participants and volunteers were used throughout, as well as more formal semi-structured interviews with volunteers and project staff. Semi-structured interviews have defined topics, but questions can be asked to fit in with the conversation flow, and allow for additional questions if additional points of interest are identified. Interviews allow more questions to be asked and more detail obtained, however they can be time intensive. At the start you should introduce yourself and explain how long the interview will last, how information gathered will be used, and get a consent form signed.

Interviews can be recorded and transcribed, or notes taken during the conversation, and an information sheet should be provided.

Observations Observation of participative performances can evidence interaction with the audience from facial expressions, body language, and participant responses. Observations can also demonstrate any barriers to participation, such as hearing the actors clearly, or being able to see the actors in a small space. During Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride performances the external evaluator observed children commenting on their experience, and participants laughing and enthusiastically joining in when given a performing role. Consideration should be given to what you are most interested in finding out about the performances, for example whether participants are more enthusiastic at a certain point, or how well certain types of audience respond to the storyline.

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Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit Comments and visitor books On performance days at Carnlough and Flame Gasworks Museum participants were asked to comment in the visitors book, and comments were analysed and included in the evaluation.

Rather than obtaining short remarks such as ‘great performance’, you might ask a specific question about the performances, such as ‘What would you do differently if you were the director?’ or ‘How could we make the performance even better?’

Take up of linked offers If your project has partner hospitality businesses with special offers you can measure uptake by using a specific code for discounts, providing customised discount vouchers, or asking participants to show their performance ticket, so the business can report back on uptake. you get started

8.3 Evaluation data analysis Quantitative data can be analysed by adding up the responses to each question and presenting results in a table or chart, depending on the question. Tables are an effective way to present a series of related outcomes.

Phase 1 Performances Strongly Agree Unsure Agree 90% 10% 75% 18% 7% 85% 13% 2%

I enjoyed the performance I learned something new today I would attend a similar event again The performance made me want to find out more about industrial heritage

71%

29%

-

Phase 2 Performances Strongly Agree Unsure Agree 91% 8% 1% 76% 23% 1% 78% 20% 2% 68%

28%

4%

When presenting results for single question percentages, bar charts and pie charts are the most meaningful way to present this data.

Participant age range

This bar chart shows the age range of Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride participants as percentages of the total participant number.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

5-17

18-24

25-49

50-64

70%

80%

90%

65+

Spreadsheets are useful to analyse results, by giving each completed questionnaire a unique reference, creating a spreadsheet and entering a 1 in the row or column against the relevant response on the spreadsheet. This makes it faster to analyse a large number of responses, as Excel can total the answers, calculate percentages, and create charts and tables.

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100%

Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride Project Toolkit Where have you travelled from today?

Mid and East Antrim 21%

Europe 2%

Belfast 14% County Down 7%

Causeway Coast & Glens 6%

Mid Ulster 2% Carrickfergus 11% Glenarm 7%

Scotland & England 5% Antrim & Newtownabbey 10%

Responses to open questions, such as where the participant lives, will need to be grouped so results are more meaningful.

For Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride it was decided to group by town or village where there were enough responses, then by Council area, then moving up to County. Grouping the data helps to identify trends, such as how many people from outside the Borough attended, or the type of comments participants make about the performances.

Carnlough 15%

It’s important to include feedback from stakeholders in your evaluation, such as staff or partner organisations. Any unsuccessful elements of the project should be discussed, along with how change as a result of learning will be implemented going forward.

8.4 Evaluation Report A written evaluation report should ideally include: • Executive summary with all the key elements and achievements of the project • Introduction with background to project, aims and objectives, expected outputs and outcomes, and stakeholders and project partners.

• Evaluation methodology explaining data collection methods and how you assessed the project • Project activities and delivery • Learning from the project, and achievements against objectives • Recommendations around topics such as future performances, how to implement any learning, and project sustainability Reports can include photographs, charts and graphs to visually represent data, and quotes from participants to support your findings. A copy of the Shaped by Industry - Shared with Pride evaluation report is at Appendix F.

Performance at Carnlough, September 2018. Participants haul ‘wagons’ containing coal to fuel the Victorian Lime Kiln in Carnlough.

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