Top tips and thoughts from 2013 – 7 blog highlights
My weekly blogs are designed to provide tips, insights and ideas for my clients and colleagues working in the arts and cultural sectors, evaluation and market research research, government policy planning and the human services sectors – in metropolitan and regional Australia. To round off the year, here is a summary of my most popular […]
Read more5 tips for good survey design
These days, there are a number of free survey software platforms available to enable anyone to design and run a survey free of charge. If you are taking advantage of this and designing your own survey without the help of an expert, here are some tips to help you avoid some common mistakes. Tip #1: […]
Read more5 small towns thinking big with the arts
Can the arts transform small towns? And what does transformation really mean? Five towns of less than 1500 people in regional Victoria have been selected through a competitive tender process to be part of a pilot project called Small Towns Transformations that involves using the creative power of the arts to contribute to place making. […]
Read moreCreative Capricorn – Peering into Rockhampton’s creative future
In 2012, Rockhampton was chosen as one of two regions in Australia (the other being Goolwa, South Australia) to trial a new model of cultural development. The model is a partnership between the three tiers of government and local communities, aimed to demonstrate that arts and cultural projects can increase social cohesion and improve quality […]
Read moreMeasuring arts and culture – does it have to be all or nothing?
Many years ago it was common to think it impossible, misleading and wrong to measure broad intangible concepts like, arts, culture and the environment. It just didn’t feel right to put a value on these things. Now it is well accepted to measure the value of the environment, as well as arts, culture and wellbeing. […]
Read moreFrom moo to mime- Rockhampton’s artistic transition
Have you been to Rockhampton lately? The beef capital of Australia is going through a period of artistic and cultural change. And that’s no bull. But don’t get me wrong. When you arrive at the airport don’t expect to have your portrait painted as you wait at the luggage carousel. You are unlikely to be […]
Read more6 lessons from the choir
I have been a chorister in Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for 17 years – about as long as I have been working in social and market research. It recently occurred to me that the way I operate my consulting business has been heavily influenced by my experience in this choir. The important thing here is that […]
Read moreHow do you know what you need to know?
So, you have a research or evaluation project ready to put out to tender. How do you know what information you need to know? How do you know what approach to take in order to address your questions? A capable and skilled consultant can work through this for you or with you, but in the […]
Read more10 common mistakes in survey design
The availability of free online survey software like Survey Monkey means that anyone can design and run a survey. It’s great that these tools are so readily available. It means that gathering important data is easier and cost-effective. On the other hand, surveys are being designed by people with little or no experience. Here are […]
Read moreWhen project assumptions can be wrong
As an experienced consultant, it is important to be able to make reasonable assumptions within the parameters of a project. For example, what research method is most likely to work best with a given audience, stakeholder group or other cohort, how much time respondents will be willing to give in in-depth interviews or focus groups, […]
Read more