Introduction to Culture Days. Open classes at Canada's National Ballet School, Culture Days 2015. ... Marketing and medi
Ontario Culture Days is supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund and the Government of Ontario in recognition of Celebrate the Artist Weekend.
Introduction to Culture Days
Open classes at Canada’s National Ballet School, Culture Days 2015.
What is Culture Days?
• Culture Days is a national collaborative volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. • The seventh annual Culture Days weekend will take place September 30, October 1 and 2, 2016, and will feature thousands of free, hands-on, interactive activities.
How can people get involved? Anyone in Canada can register an activity at www.culturedays.ca There are only four requirements: • Activities must be free • Activities must take place on the Culture Days weekend • Activities must be interactive or participatory in some way (very broadly defined) • Activities must be registered on the Culture Days website
Studio Tour Preview and artist demos, Richmond Hill Library. Photo by Stephanie Graham
The History • Inspired by Journées de la culture – an annual weekend long celebration of arts and culture in Quebec produced by Culture pour tous, celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year • Journées de la culture is an internationally-recognized Canadian model for promoting public participation and engagement in the arts and culture sector. • Canadian Arts Summit commissioned a feasibility study to assess the viability of launching a similar annual celebration across Canada. • Culture Days was launched in 2010
Organizational Structure National Culture Days
Public
CULTURE DAYS Activity Organizers
Ontario Culture Days
Community Organizers
Reflecting the complexity and diversity of Canada, Culture Days has a nonhierarchical structure with a national office and provincial offices that are separate entities who work collaboratively. Both are not-for-profit organizations.
Who Participates in Culture Days?
Culture Days 2016 Draft Timeline April 4 – June 16 Information Sessions across Ontario April 25 Registration Campaign Launches April 25 – May 31 (today!) Spring Registration Incentive
July 4 – July 31 Summer Registration Incentive Early September Marketing and media campaigns ramp up
September 19 Activity Registration Deadline September 30, October 1, & 2 Culture Days weekend
October Post-event surveys and content collection
Pearl Knotting at the Richmond Hill Public Library Photo: Stephanie Graham
Major Growth in Muskoka Year
# of Activities
2014
10
2015
116 a 1060% increase
Grassroots Organizing • A spring information session hosted by the Town of Huntsville was presented by ONCD staff to 40 members of cultural community. • Local volunteer and Antoni Cimolino Leadership award winner, Pam MacKenzie personally invited arts collectives, cultural centres and individual artists and crafts-persons throughout the Muskoka region to participate. As a member of the Task Force, Pam receives one-on-one support from ONCD staff throughout the year.
Major Growth in Muskoka Local Promotions get a boost •
•
•
• Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison makes candles at Soapstones in Hunstville during the 2015 Culture Days Photo: Catherine McLeod
Town of Huntsville spent just $1412 on marketing and PR and contributed staff time to coordinating promotions. ONCD increased the digital marketing impressions served to Metroland’s muskokaregion.com to 75K in recognition of the huge jump in activities registered. ONCD’s Publicists pitched local, regional and provincial media on stories about Muskoka Culture Days events. Mayor Scott Aitchison participated in Culture Days activities and held press conference.
Major Growth in Muskoka Results • Attendance of 5,225 across the region, the majority in Huntsville. • One couple ONCD staff met travelled from Oakville (566 km roundtrip) specifically to attend the Ghost of Tom Thompson Reading in Huntsville.
Media Reach • 5 news articles, 1 television interview and 3 radio interviews including province-wide coverage on CBC’s Fresh Air • Social media reached a minimum of 40,000 impressions
“I saw Culture Days tweeted me. My blog statistics went through the roof. Thanks!” – Ghost of Tom Thomson @TTLastSpring
First time success in Brockville 2015 was the first year Brockville participated in Culture Days: • Included street closure of their main street for celebrations • Attendance estimated at 2400 with record number of visitors reported by Brockville Tourism at their visitor centre. • Received international media coverage with two radio interviews on North Country Public Radio in Upstate New York. Photo: RONALD ZAJAC/The Recorder and Times
Partners in Brockville said…
“We were so pleased with the tools and resources for organizers but also the level of support online and through the database to upload the events. From a BIA perspective, the resources were wonderful to help us promote our events for a low cost. We're very excited to have Culture Days back next year and to grow it each year.” – Meghan Plooy, Brockville Downtown BIA
“One of the more interesting bits of feedback was that those participants that were selling, whether tickets, memberships or wares, had a very, very good day. In Brockville and area the usual complaint is that there are mostly window shoppers. The fact that Culture Days brought out a different demographic wasn’t lost on the DBIA and merchants. Moving ahead we need this sort of mutually beneficial aspect.” – Russ Disotell, Brockville Arts Co-operative
London Culture Days
London is one the
LARGEST Culture Days celebration in Canada
MAPGUIDES 10,000
Attendance
Approx. 25,000
Map Guides circulated
Strategies:
POSTERS 5,000
posters distributed throughout London and Region
OTHER ADVERTISING
Collaborate Cluster Support
$50,000+
invested in print, radio, transit and Online Advertising
Audience Surveys Data and Demographics Source: The Strategic Counsel, October 2015
3D Printing @ MakerSpace Brampton photo: Herman Custodio
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The Culture Days’ Brand TOP PERCEIVED BRAND ATTRIBUTES
CREATIVE COMMUNITY INTERESTING FUN FREE FAMILY-FRIENDLY
A father and daughter work together on a mask at Culture Days @ the Library: Mask Making Workshop in Scarborough. Photo: Alejandra Higuera
Source: The Strategic Counsel, October 2015
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Culture Days Attendees
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Survey of Culture Days Attendees Of those who attended Culture Days Activities in Ontario in 2015: •
97%
Were satisfied with activities attended
•
71%
Will recommend attending Culture Days to others
•
79%
Experienced greater pride in their community
•
73%
Expressed increased understanding of the positive contribution of artists and arts organizations to the community
•
70%
Plan to attend more arts and cultural activities in their communities as a result of participating
All ages Clay drop-in, Oakville Photo: Jenni Foto
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Survey of Culture Days Attendees Attendance has a positive impact beyond the Culture Days weekend, with attendees in 2015 reporting a higher level of arts and culture participation throughout the year. Repeat audiences (attended in 2014 and 2015) were asked how attending Culture Days affected their arts and culture engagement throughout the rest of the year: • • • • • • •
53% 37% 30% 24% 20% 12% 12%
Reported attending more arts and cultural events Visited more art galleries or craft studios Became a fan of/supported an artist or arts or cultural organization Volunteered with an arts or cultural organization Took classes related to an arts or cultural activity Donated more to arts and or cultural organizations Bought more art work
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Ontario Culture Days Tourism Strategy 2016
The Art of the Tart, Muskoka Rose Guest House and Retreat Photo: Catherine McLeod
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Cultural Tourism By the Numbers • $3.9 Billion in GDP generated by cultural tourism in Ontario 1 • 61,000 jobs supported by cultural tourism 1 • 15.2 million trips in 2012 to arts and culture destinations, approximately 10% of all tourist trips that year 2 • 1/5 of all overnight trips to Ontario in 2010 were by tourists who participated in arts and culture activities 3 • 2:1 – Rate that arts and culture tourists outspent typical overnight tourists in Ontario ($667 per trip in Ontario, compared to $374 spent by the typical overnight tourist) 3 • 34% of the general public prefer to attend the arts, vs. 29% who prefer sports.4 Sources: 1. Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport 2. OTMPC 3. Ontario Arts Council 4. Business for the Arts
Polls • Do you specifically promote cultural attractions (destinations or events) as part of a tourism strategy in your region? • Who is your target tourism market for cultural attractions?
Culture Days Activities by RTO
Culture Days Travel and Spending in Ontario Of those who travelled to another community during Culture Days, 51% travelled primarily to attend Culture Days and 28% took Culture Days into account when planning their travel.
Culture Days Travel & Spending in Ontario (2015)*
505,000
Total participants
Brought visiting friends or family to attend Culture Days Attended Culture Days in another community in Ontario Spent money during Culture Days in another community in Ontario Willing to travel to attend Culture Days in another community in Ontario Willing to travel 80 to 150+ km Willing to travel 40 to 79 km Willing to travel less than 40 km Willing to travel (unspecified)
131,300 (26%) 121,200 (24%) 103,020 (85% of travelers)
313,000 (62%) 75,145 (24%) 65,750 (21%)
137,765 (44%) 34,441 (11%)
* Travel and spending estimates are based on a national survey of Culture Days attendees undertaken by The Strategic Counsel in 2015
Culture Days Travel and Spending in Ontario Estimated Spending by Culture Days Tourists in Ontario (2015)* in millions of dollars Total spending
8,485 travellers (7%) spent $200+
$6.9 million
1.7
31,510 travellers (26%) spent $50 to $199
58,175 travellers (48%) spent up to $49
3.8
1.5
23,057 travellers (19%) spent nothing, or prefer not to say • •
*Travel and spending estimates are based on a national survey of Culture Days attendees undertaken by The Strategic Counsel in 2015. Using the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport’s Economic Impact Model (TREIM), Culture Days across Ontario generates an estimated $13.1 million in total spending, including $5.8 million in direct and $11.5 million indirect impact to Ontario GDP.
Culture Days is Ready for Tourism Culture Days is equipped to respond to the major trends in tourist consumer behaviour Desire for Authenticity • Culture Days offers travellers an unparalleled chance to meet, talk with and take part in creative activities directly with local artists, craftspeople and cultural organizations • Culture Days showcases the distinctly local character of each community’s culture Travellers are hyper-connected and want to share their experiences • Culture Days has a strong social media presence and growing engagement levels • Culture Days experiences are photogenic, active and shareable – travellers can show themselves participating hands-on in a huge range of unique activities! Kids show off their mask at Culture Days @ the Library: Mask Making Workshop in Scarborough. Photo: Alejandra Higura
Culture Days is Ready for Tourism Mobile technology is driving travel choices in real-time Culture Days website is fully mobile-friendly “Find Activities Near Me” search capability on mobile devices introduced in 2015 lets travellers immediately find the closest activities Travellers want personalization The Culture Days Bright Spots Scheduler is a customizable itinerary tool that lets the public select and plan their Culture Days weekend The Bright Spots Scheduler can be saved to calendar programs, emailed and shared as a PDF to meet anyone’s needs
Ontario Culture Days Marketing and Media
Afro-Brazilian Rhythms! Come Drum and Dance in Kingston photo: Rob Mooy
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Ontario Culture Days Campaign Strategy
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Provincial Marketing and Media Impressions Ontario Culture Days received 866 media hits on 231 media outlets across the province in 2015. Category
2015
Ontario Marketing Impressions (in millions) Gross Provincial
28.6M
Local*
41.9M
Gross Provincial and Local Impressions
70.9M
Ontario Media Coverage Impressions
68.1M
Minimum Value**
$867,402
*The impressions and valuation for the local portion of the marketing campaign are higher than reported as not all communities reported their investments. Communities are also inconsistent reporting year to year. ** not all media values are available; therefore the actual amount is higher than reported.
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Culture Days Marketing Campaign Tiers
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Ontario Digital Media Statistics • Culture Days social media community has over 80,000 members across all platforms • Culture Days is amongst the largest social media communities in the arts sector in Canada • 323,300 impressions in 2015 on Ontario Culture Days social media channels
Ontario Culture Days Online Platforms Visits to culturedays.ca
Visits to on.culturedays.ca
Newsletter Subscribers
Twitter Followers
Facebook Likes
176,643
22,947
6,186
4,677
761
Social media stats are recorded for November 1, 2014 to October 31, 2015
Use Culture Days to Boost Cultural Tourism Strategies Example: Thunder Bay Tourism Strategy “The Tourism team works to develop and deliver strategies that position Thunder Bay as one of Canada's Premier Outdoor Cities weaving Thunder Bay's intimate connection to its natural environment with culinary and cultural attractions and events.” – Tourism Thunder Bay Thunder Bay could connect with their pre-existing tourism strategy by promoting Culture Days activities that combine arts and nature, such as: Plein d’air painting trips (by foot, bike, canoe or car) Landscape photography or painting classes – especially at sites of famous outdoors Canadian paintings (à la Algoma Group of Seven tours) Site-specific poetry in natural setting Heritage nature walks Foraging culinary workshops Outdoor scavenger hunts or geocaching Walking/Biking tours of public art Canoe construction demonstrations Hunting, trapping or fishing demonstrations, lessons or exhibitions Star gazing parties
Photo: Dwight Canoe Demonstration, Catherine McLeod
How to get Involved in Culture Days
Depending on goals and resources, tourism organizations across the province can do some or all of the following to support local Culture Days events: Encourage Local Involvement • Distribute the Culture Days invitation to participate through tourism communication channels (blogs, website, social media) • Build partnerships with community organizers such as municipalities, BIAs, arts councils and other local partners • Fund a local or regional coordinator • Fund production costs for local/regional activities
Applefest at Ireland House Museum, Burlington Photo: Aubrey Reeves
How to get Involved in Culture Days continued Support Promotions • Create a Culture Days webpage on tourism sites • Include Culture Days on your calendars of events and on other seasonal promotions • Boost municipal or arts councils’ marketing budgets to produce marketing materials • Distribute Culture Days SWAG • Create a Culture Days Bright Spots Schedule: Can select all or highlight activities in your region Can select activities based on a theme such as culinary, outdoor, dance, familyfriendly, etc. Print and distribute the Bright Spots Schedule at Tourism Information Centres and other distribution points in your community/region Link to the schedule on your website and in social media posts Use the schedule to promote “One-tank Trips” to your region
Social Media Connect with us through our social media channels – we’ll help get the word out about your activities!
Ontario: @ONCultureDays @Onfdlc
National: @CultureDays @FeteDeLaCulture
Resources Activity and community organizers have access to a wide range of customizable tools and resources to make planning and hosting their activities easier, including: • Participation Guide • Community Organizer Toolkit • PR Toolkit • Customizable advertising templates for a variety of media including posters, postcards, video bumpers, web badges and banners, social media graphics, etc. • Tipsheets on a range of topics • Bright Spots Personal Scheduler • Recorded webinars and whitepapers on crowd funding, digital marketing, etc. • And more
2016 Ontario Culture Days’ Supporters Public Sector Funders
Corporate Supporters
2016 Campaign media partners National Media Partner
Provincial Media Partners
Thank you! Contact Ontario Culture Days Aubrey Reeves Executive Director Ontario Culture Days 416-964-7555
[email protected] Catherine McLeod Outreach and Network Manager Ontario Culture Days 416-964-7555
[email protected] www.on.culturedays.ca
Canada’s national Ballet open classes. Photo by Kevin Jones
