TASK 2. 'Where are they - How will they find me?'

- From looking into 'working in the creative industries in the UK' on the internet it is clear to see that there are many things that will affect putting on a creative event or trying to do anything creative. Firstly there is the recession, but also on a positive note the EU is currently the largest economy in the world, which means that it gives me a good chance of finding these young creatives.

Directly looking at the subject of Politics, I looked into policies and found an interesting article about 'arts' funding being significally safer under Tories', it makes me feel unsure about the funding of the arts under any political party if they ever come into power. They talk about how their manifesto sees the arts getting a lot of funding which is good but if it went the other way this then effects funding for projects and grants for exhibition space or places to put on events. I think this is just something to be aware of that could go either way in any political party, and needs to be taken into account for putting on this event or even anything I plan to to creatively in the future. It just so happens that it was this article on Tori policies that I came across.

Below is a link to the article.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/feb/22/arts-funding-safer-with-tories-manifesto

I'm going to make sure that I work around other events that are already happening and are constantly aware of what they're doing not only to be competitive but also due to the fact that I don't want to piss anyone off or take away from any already standing live drawing events.

If I were to take this drawing event further and put it forward within the EU, I would need to make sure I researched each individual country properly. This could be reseraching into

anything from cultural differences or political preferences.

- From an economic point of view, I think it's clear to see what has happened over the last view years and from this there becomes an automatic pesimistic feeling towards trying to do anything. For my event the recession plays a huge part.

But there seems to be a positive outlook for the event being put on as well. The recession has caused businesses to go under and freelance illustrators to be in the lurk, but for me and my event this means creatives are still excited about showing and promoting themselves and their work and agencies are excited to then see work and get people on board with them.

I had a quick look on google for the economy of the Uk and wound up here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_Kingdom

Finding this -

From this we can see that it's gone down then up then down again but in 2008 hitting an all time low and this all time low has led to all the unemployment now about.

- As I've already talked about, the reccession has/is having a major impact on all fields of work, and sustainability is one of the most talked of subjects, especially within the art world I feel. Within society an example of how this recession has come into play is through government legislations being put forward that then put a business at risk. One is the smoking ban within pubs and bars, which is also something that could in effect put my event at risk as these are the kinds of places I want to put on this kind of event. However looking at the number of people that do attend this kind of event, creates enthusiasm and added promise for the economy because people going to these things is a measure of creative industries expanding.

So for me this means, within my work ethic I want to promote the use of eco-friendly materials used within my event where possible. I will therefore invest in recycled papers/boards and also environmentely friendly inks/pens.

- As far technology goes, I am lucky to have a target audience that work on the most popular type, which is of course the internet. For older people it will be through agencies and the yellow pages. Through the internet I will be able to promote my event really well also, through facebook events, twitter and other global sites.

In terms of at my actual event, I plan to use interactive whiteboards, as well as drawing a much bigger crowd to the event as these are possibly one of the newest bits of technology in the art world, but also using projectors.

I also plan to film the events and put them on to youtube, this not only records the events and gives a clear indication of whats available to new comers, but also gives my event more publicity!

Doing a PEST analysis was key in my understanding of what's going on in my customers' world ---> their country, industry or sport.

Technology/communication with my audience is key, - what technology might be coming next? Could it give me a competitive rate?

Looking at how other live-drawing events get people together and how they put it on gives me insight into gaining possibilities for my event and then getting/gaining the full potential of the business.

Segmentation.

I looked into defining my customers/attending creatives through this method. I tried to make the table bigger but it wouldn't work! Zoom Zoom Zoom...

The factors within this that I think I needed to think about hardest were the Geographic and Behaviour based factors. Especially as I think that my main audience for this event will be students.

Geographics:

- Students/people traveling from towns will be getting trains or buses. Within walking distance would be good for my event.

- Customers are in the Colleges and Universities in Leeds and neighbouring cities.

- Find these students in bars and clubs/pubs, 'creative hubs' of Leeds - The Nation of Shopkeepers.

Behaviour: 'Getting your head out of your specialism'.

- Knowing that most of my customers will be students. Appropriate media usage:

- Posters, flyers (around the city and around college).

- Internet, Facebook groups, college email.

- TRAVEL they use: foot and bus - advertising it through that somehow.

- Free gifts, free cakes or badges.

- Benefits that my customers will expect, especially if they already attend a monthly drawing event, would be exhibiting their work while they get involved with what's going on, using eco-friendly materials, using some of the latest technology such as interactive whiteboards and getting publicised through the photographers there.

I also had a quick look into the UK National Statistics website for market re-search, seeing what was popular within putting on live art nights although I didn't find much on my topic.