Archive for the ‘for activity organizers’ Category

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Volunteers Can Make All the Difference!

September 2nd, 2011 by Culture Days

Nazanin Shoja, OAC’s Ontario Culture Days Animator/Coordinator, interviewed Gina Rim, Volunteer Coordinator Reel Asian International Film Festival, about how to recruit, train and show appreciation for your Culture Days volunteers. The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival  is Canada’s Premier Pan-Asian International Film Festival. The 15th Anniversary Edition takes place  November 8-13 in Toronto and November 18-19 in Richmond Hill. Check out their 2011 Culture Days event “Meet the Festival.”


Nazanin Shoja – How far in advance do you post a call for volunteers? Where do you advertise?
Gina Rim – Since the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Reel Asian) holds year round events, I post monthly calls through our volunteer e-bulletin. For the film festival in November, I post a call for volunteers in September by inviting them to our Culture Days event, ‘Meet the Festival’. It’s a great way for all our potential volunteers to meet the entire staff, learn what happens behind-the-scenes, and hear about the roles they will be playing during the festival. I also advertise volunteer postings through our various social media, such as Facebook, and I spread the word through local community and student groups as well.

NS – What incentives do you give?
GR – We offer free volunteer t-shirts, vouchers for any of the films at our festival, and a letter detailing their contributions.

NS – What draws volunteers to the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival in particular?
GR – Volunteering at Reel Asian is a great way to interact with film and the industry, as well as a great opportunity to meet people. Every staff member at Reel Asian including myself, is a previous volunteer for the festival so we treat all of our volunteers like family.

NS – What is involved with training to become a volunteer?
GR – Training varies depending on their volunteer roles but our general training sessions are done at the theatres that we use during the festival. Chris Chin, our Operations Manager, did a walk-through of the venues with the volunteers, gave them an overview of the night, examples of questions that may be asked, and what to do in certain situations. We try to train all our volunteers with as much information as possible so that they feel confident in what they do and have fun while they volunteer with us!

NS – What role do the volunteers play at your festival? What tasks are involved?
GR – Like any other film festival, Reel Asian relies on the help of dedicated volunteers for various tasks – from office help to ushers and front of house support, industry series and special events hospitality.

NS – How do you communicate with your volunteers and determine scheduling?
GR – I have a one-on-one scheduling session with each and every volunteer. This allows me to get to know my volunteers better, what their background and interests are, and see if what we have available for them suits their schedule.

NS – How do you ensure their commitment?
GR – During our volunteer orientation and the one-on-one scheduling session, we make sure that the volunteers clearly understand that they play a very important part in our festival and that they are the ones who puts into action the months of work and planning.

NS – How do you show your appreciation to volunteers? How are they recognized?
GR – We have a volunteers appreciation party with food, drink, music and some great prize giveaways a week after the November festival. This year, Reel Asian will also have a screening just for the volunteers before the party as well. We realized that last year, a lot of our volunteers didn’t have time to watch many of the films because they were volunteering instead. To appreciate such participation from our volunteers, we decided to have a screening of one of the festival selections just for them as our way of saying thank you.

NS – How do you ensure that your volunteers return year after year?
GR – The most important thing is for the volunteers to have a positive experience with us. If the volunteers enjoyed their experience and had fun during their previous shifts, they are more likely to return to volunteer with us again this year. We already have a few volunteers from last year who volunteered with us on our pre-festival screenings this year!

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days 2010, Ontario, for activity organizers, uncategorized, ways to get involved | Tags: , , , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Catherine – Kingston, ON (Part 3)

September 2nd, 2011 by Culture Days

“Ripple Effect” is the third installment in a series of blog posts that document Catherine’s (aka Kingston Through My Lens) experience and participation in Culture Days 2011.

Find out more by reading the first and second installments.

One of the greatest things that can happen when you embark on a journey to make change in your community is knowing that it has inspired change in other places as well. Through My Lens started off as an initiative in Kingston, and has now grown to include an event in Toronto as well as a second initiative to come in Kingston through the Kingston Frontenac Public Libraries. Here’s an excerpt from Jenn’s latest blog post about Toronto Through My Lens.

Over 100 photographers will be taking city inspired images for 10 days in Toronto. For added inspiration, we are leading 4 neighbourhood walking tours around Toronto. Their images and stories will be collected for our Nuit Blanche exhibit in Parkdale.  We are 1 of 18 rental truck installations in Leitmotif and 1 of 5 community based installations. Our truck installation is an interactive city building themed truck.

When you come to visit us on October 1, you are the curator of our exhibit. You will help us design our exhibit with hundreds of city images, then we will  layer your stories and build dialogue. Inside the truck you can participate in storytelling and a photo shoot with a cardboard city scape backdrop. We are looking to gain insight into what the community focuses on in the city and how we can inspire positive change.

Change can start anywhere and from the smallest of ideas. What can you do to inspire change in your community?

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Through My Lens project and follow Catherine’s Culture Days journey.

UPDATE: Click here to read Catherine’s summary blog post detailing her Culture Days weekend experience with Kingston Through My Lens.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, Ontario, Results and impact, for activity organizers, ways to get involved | Tags: , , , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Catherine – Kingston, ON (Part 2)

August 25th, 2011 by Culture Days

“Confessions of a First-Time Organizer” a great blog post written by Catherine (aka Kingston Through My Lens) and is the second installment in a series of posts that documents her experience and participation in Culture Days 2011.

Click here to read Catherine’s previous post.

Organizing Kingston Through My Lens has definitely been a whirlwind adventure. We’ve experienced many ups and downs, but already the results are amazing. We’ve inspired multiple other photography projects, and we’re looking forward to the start of the project. Thinking back, there are three things that I have gleaned from starting this initiative. They’re my three tips for successful community engagement practice if you will.

Be excited and spread the word

People need to know what you’re up to, and they need to see that you believe in the project. Bring other people on board who can share that excitement with you as well.

Dream big and be flexible, but never lose sight of your mission

You need to have a clear goal of what you hope to achieve from your project while being able to adapt to the circumstances. We all have the ability to be creative, so tap into that! It’s really important, though, to remember why you decided to start the project in the first place, and to make sure the end result is true to that original vision.

Use your connections and don’t be afraid to build new ones

Starting with the people you already know is a great way to go. Further to that, with technology and online media being what it is today, it’s even easier to send someone an email and let them know what you’re doing. You’ll be surprised with how willing people are to meet you and learn more about your project.

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Through My Lens project and follow Catherine’s Culture Days journey.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days stories, Ontario, community organizers, for activity organizers, opinions, ways to get involved | Tags: , , , , , ,

Self-Promo and Marketing Info Session – Summary

August 3rd, 2011 by Culture Days

Thanks to all who participated in last week’s Info Session on Self-Promo and Marketing!

This Info Session was the first in a series dedicated to self-promotion, so if you weren’t able to join in, mark these upcoming sessions in your calendar:

- Tuesday, August 16 at 2pm ET – Self-Promo: Public Relations

- Tuesday, August 23rd at 2pm ET – Self-Promo: Marketing Tools and Social Media

Be sure to reserve your spot for these sessions here.

Last Tuesday, we reviewed some of the FREE Culture Days marketing tools now available for download off the Culture Days web site, including: logos, e-flyers, web banners, and web badges. You can maximize the use of these tools by uploading logos to your social media profile, sending e-flyers via email, or posting the web banners and badges on your website or blog; all you have to do is simply copy and paste the provided embed code!

Culture Days will continue to release free marketing tools, including customizable posters, post cards/flyers, web banners, and more! Stay tuned for the release dates of these items, along with a PR Tool Kit, which will be made available over the next couple of weeks.

Also discussed during the Info Session was how word of mouth is a powerful and effective tool, as seen in the Culture Days elevator pitch. This pitch was created as a guide to help activity organizers explain the Culture Days movement and spread the word. There has been some great feedback about the pitch and many are creating their own! Feel free to share your pitch with the growing Culture Days network in the “Comments” section, here.

Those who participated in the Info Session also posed questions about how to find a venue and how to “hub”. In both instances, the best place to start is on the Culture Days web site. Check out the “Looking for a space to share” page – this is where available venues are listed. Also, use the search functionalities on the web site to search for other activities happening near you and see if you can work with other organizers to share venue space and resources. You can also contact your regional representative – they can connect you with other organizers and also make suggestions for possible venues.

One of the key marketing tools available to you is your activity page. With an engaging title, clear description and an enticing photo, your activity page will be ready for its close up! To learn more about how to write a captivating description, check out this informative blog post. Not sure how to upload a photo? It’s quick and easy! Click here to learn more.

Did you know that your activity page has built-in social media tools? Maximize your activity’s visibility by “liking” the activity and have it automatically shared with friends on Facebook and Twitter. Social media is a great resource when wanting to share a message to many in a short period of time – you can copy the URL for your activity page (the address for your page at the top of your web browser) and send it out to your network of friends, family, colleagues, and whoever else via email, Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media platform. Don’t forget to  ”like” and “follow” Culture Days on Facebook and Twitter, as well; Culture Days encourages cross-promotion and wants your activity to become a success, so be sure to use the Culture Days social media channels made available to you!

View Comments | Posted in Local marketing & promotions, community organizers, for activity organizers, marketing & PR, uncategorized | Tags: , ,

Culture Days Stories: Susana – Winnipeg, MB

July 28th, 2011 by Culture Days

As the Culture Days weekend approaches, some activity organizers have taken to the web to document their participation in the movement.

Here’s an excerpt from a great blog post written by Susana (aka Lemon Dear).

The key to keep up with all the happenings is to be informed. Recently, misinformation cost me not being able to attend Winnipeg’s very own Soca and Reggae festival, which I had been looking forward to for quite a while (I must keep my senses more open).

After Michelle encouraged me to participate in Culture Days, ideas starting flowing and since then, she has kindly helped me shape them into their current form, her input has inspired me so much and all of her suggestions have made my projects bloom, so this is, in the very core, a thank you note to her and Culture Days.

It is not easy being a newcomer, and being able to participate in this amazing event is a truly beautiful way of feeling welcomed and home at last.

I am developing a personal project (a comic book!), alongside with working on my Culture Days activities, and soon my tiny flat will be an explosion of thread, fabric, paper and super fine pens… actually, it already is!

Thankfully, there are some very kind people out there willing to inform us! I was blessed to meet one of those wonderful persons (Michelle Rosner) during a Freeze Frame workshop given by the great local photographer Dustin Leader in which I was one of his assistants.

It was a pleasant surprise and an honour to find out about Culture Days through Michelle, and when I say an honour, I truly mean it, since Culture Days is, to me, an open arms invitation for all the inhabitants of Canada, regardless of their country of origin, to participate and express themselves and release their creativity – and in my case, to do one of the things I aspire to with my art: to honour my roots.

Click here to read Susana’s blog post in its entirety.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, Manitoba, for activity organizers, opinions, ways to get involved | Tags: , , ,

Capture the Public’s Eye: Uploading an Image to Accompany Your Activity

July 19th, 2011 by Culture Days

As we get closer and closer to the Culture Days event weekend (September 30, October 1 & 2) it’s time to start thinking about how you can maximize the visibility your activity  on the Culture Days web site! The site offers a wonderful opportunity to generate enthusiasm for your activity, particularly when you supplement your information with an eye-catching image. While uploading an image to accompany your activity is not a requirement, it will go a long way to enhance your activity listing on the web site.

Uploading an image to your activity is easy! Once your activity has been registered, log into the system and, head to the “My Culture Days Activity Page.” Click the “View My Culture Days Activities” button. You will then see a list of the activities you’ve registered. To the right of the activity(ies) you’ve registered, under the header “Actions”, you will see a series of options, including “Activity Image”. This link will take you to the Culture Days activity image upload screen. Follow the instructions on this page, taking special care to ensure that your image’s file size (in both “weight” – ie megabites, and “dimensions” ie pixels) falls within the system’s processable range. Here’s a list of some things to keep in mind:

  • it’s a good idea to keep your images well under 8MB in size; 1 – 3 MB is ideal – Before uploading your image, you can check its size by right-clicking on the image icon and choosing “properties” from the pop-up menu. (or if you’re on a Mac, click the image icon and hit “command + i”). If your image is too big, don’t worry! There are a number of free sites that specialize in resizing JPG and other files to suit your needs, most notably Shrinkpictures.
  • the ideal dimension for your image is 240 x 160 pixels – the maximum size you can upload is 1000 x 1000 pixels
  • horizontal (or “landscape”) images work much better than vertical (or “portrait”) images when displayed on the Culture Days web site

Once you have an appropriately sized image prepared, the rest is easy! Simply click on the “browse” button next to the “Your Activity Image” field and choose the file from its location on your computer. Don’t forget to give credit where credit is due in the “photo credit” field. Then press the “Upload & Process” button at the bottom of the page and you’re done!

Your activity will now be ready for prime time!

View Comments | Posted in community organizers, for activity organizers, marketing & PR | Tags: , , ,

The Elevator Pitch: A Short Explanation of Culture Days

July 14th, 2011 by Culture Days

As the Culture Days event weekend grows nearer, lots of people are talking about it. However, you may be wondering how to explain what Culture Days is all about. Without getting too lengthy or going into too much detail, how do you talk about Culture Days?

An elevator pitch is a great way of highlighting key aspects of what makes Culture Days unique to someone who is unfamiliar with the movement. An elevator pitch is a clear and concise description, and its name reflects the idea that one should be able to deliver a short summary in the span of an elevator ride.

When telling friends, family and anyone else about your activity or Culture Days in general, an elevator pitch is an enticing and efficient way to share your message!

Below is an elevator pitch you can use when talking about Culture Days.

Culture Days Elevator Pitch

  • Culture Days is a collaborative pan-Canadian, volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities.
  • Culture Days is a grassroots movement that self-mobilizes to implement concurrent, annual, province-wide public participation events that take place throughout the country over the last weekend of September.
  • This year, Culture Days is taking place throughout the country on September 30, October 1 & 2.
  • Thousands of artists, individuals, organizations and communities are involved in organizing Culture Days.
  • Culture Days events feature free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind the scenes,” to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, and designers at work in their community.
  • Culture Days is the largest-ever grassroots campaign to celebrate the arts and promote cultural participation in Canada.
  • You can find out more via the Culture Days web site: CultureDays.ca
View Comments | Posted in community organizers, for activity organizers, marketing & PR | Tags: , ,

Culture Camp Guelph

July 11th, 2011 by Aubrey Reeves

On May 25, 2011, the City of Guelph hosted a “Culture Camp” for artists, organized by Culture Days task force member, Astero Kalogeropoulos, in partnership with the Guelph-Wellington Business Enterprise Centre, Work in Culture, Guelph Arts Council, and Ontario Crafts Council.

After an info session and discussion with Culture Days staff, artists broke out into groups to brainstorm ideas in preparation for Culture Days on the following given topics: Sharing Resources, Maintaining Connections, Promotion & Marketing, Venues, and Measurements of Success. Below are a few highlights from the Culture Camp brainstorming sessions.

Sharing Resources

Working together and sharing resources can lead to more successful Culture Days events. These are a few ways to share resources effectively:

  • Do an inventory of the needs, skills and assets amongst a group before you start planning so collectively you know what resources are already available.
  • Invite the Chambers of Commerce or Business Improvement Association to join your Culture Days planning group to tap into their resources and to build relationships with local businesses.
  • Gather for regularly scheduled meetings with activity organizers. It’s impossible to share resources, if you don’t communicate with each other!
  • Be willing to support others and extend a helping hand. For example, mentor young artists who may need some guidance to realize their activity.

Maintaining Connections

Many of the artists at the Culture Camp wanted to see how their Culture Days experience could become more than just one great weekend. They asked – what ways could they extend the impact of their Culture Days events to the rest of the year by recruiting new audiences, customers or volunteers, and by developing lasting relationships with other artists in their community?

Some of their ideas take a little preparation, but are well worth the effort:

  • Determine what is your ideal audience/client/market so you know who you are trying to connect with on the Culture Days weekend.
  • Have a clear goal for your Culture Days activity and a next step in mind before the Culture Days weekend.
  • Be prepared for your next step with promo materials for your future events, a sign-up sheet for your newsletter, etc. allowing the public to connect with you again soon.
  • Create or attend follow-up networking events between artists as well as between artists and businesses.

Promotion & Marketing

In addition to discussions about using the Culture Days marketing and promotion resources and social media to promote activities, the attendees at Culture Camp had a few innovative ideas for collectively promoting Guelph Culture Days activities, such as:

  • Have a Kick-off Party/Launch event that brings attention to all Culture Days activities happening in the community and starts off the weekend’s celebrations.
  • Work with other cultural events on the September calendar. With multiple cultural events in the Guelph area during the month of September (Jazz Festival and Nuit Blanche – Sept. 9 – 11, Eden Mills Writers Festival – Sept. 16-18, Culture Days – Sept. 30- Oct. 2), they are planning to promote September as “Culture Month.”
  • Preceding festivals and events are great opportunities to cross-promote Culture Days. Connect with those events to set up an info booth, or have volunteers hand out flyers, buttons or other promotional material.

Artists in Guelph and area interested in learning more are also invited to register for:

Marketing 101 for Artists & Small Arts Groups

Date: Thursday, September 15, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.

Location: TBA

Cost: $25

To register, please email mcalarco@craft.on.ca

Blog post compiled by Aubrey Reeves, Culture Days Ontario Manager and Nazanin Shoja, OAC’s Culture Days Animator/Coordinator with notes from Ontario Task Force member Astero Kalogeropoulos.

View Comments | Posted in Ontario, Results and impact, community organizers, for activity organizers, marketing & PR, uncategorized | Tags: , , , , ,

Robert McLaughlin Gallery – Durham County, ON

June 30th, 2011 by sbattle

Nazanin Shoja, the OAC Culture Days Ontario Animator/Coordinator spoke with Jacquie Severs, Manager, Communications & Social Media about what  the Robert McLaughlin Gallery offered the residents of Durham County, ON during Culture Days 2010.

Culture Days – Who are you and what do you do?

Jacquie Severs – We are the largest public art gallery in Durham Region with an important collection of modern and contemporary art.

CD – What made your 2010 Culture Days activity unique?

JS - For Culture Days last year we hosted an art opening and party, as well as a costumed life drawing event as well as offered tours in 6 languages. It was our first time participating in Culture Days and the first time offering the costume life drawing event as well. It was unique in that we partnered with the Durham Shoestring Performers, who took part as costumed models for this event.

CD – What inspired or surprised you about Culture Days?

JS – I was surprised at how quickly people got on board for Culture Days in the city of Oshawa. It was nice to see the excitement for a brand new event.

CD – What did you learn from your experience of Culture Days that would be useful for other activity organizers to know?

JS - There were many venues, which sometimes created competition. For this year, we would like to avoid that by timing things better. We also plan on collaborating with other organizers in terms of marketing and cross-advertising. A lot of attendees work in culture, so we would like to stagger the events, so that everyone has the opportunity to attend other events.

CD – What do you feel is the impact of culture in your community?

JS – Culture Days helped draw attention to the arts and culture community, which helps Oshawa in its transition from a manufacturing to a creative economy. The growth of arts and culture helps draw in new audiences, improving lifestyle and revitalizing the downtown core.

CD – Give us a hint of what you are planning for your 2011 Culture Days activity.

JS - We are planning a photography project workshop and activities linked to our historical collection of photographs from the Thomas Bouckley Collection. Activities may include flash mobs and a historical scavenger hunt.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days 2010, Culture Days stories, Ontario, community organizers, for activity organizers, uncategorized |

Toronto Public Library Application Form

June 1st, 2011 by Aubrey Reeves

Please note: the application deadline (midnight on June 10, 2011) for artists seeking venue spaces at the Toronto Public Library during Culture Days has now passed. Notifications will be sent out by July 15, 2011.

The Toronto Public Library (TPL), the Neighbourhood Arts Network and Culture Days are pleased to announce an exciting partnership called Culture Days @ The Library to help artists and arts organizations to share their creative work with the public. The Toronto Public Library is offering free venues to Toronto-based artists and arts organizations wishing to be part of Culture Days. Some 45 TPL branches spanning the city will provide various types of venues at no cost. Often described as the living-rooms of the city public libraries are important community spaces in our neighbourhoods for learning, exchange of ideas and connecting with others. This partnership enables artists to take their practice out of their private studios into the accessible spaces of library branches so that the public can discover and engage with their work.
To be considered for a space, the arts activity must be free and interactive. Toronto-based individual artists, small and medium-sized arts and cultural organizations, collectives or groups that wish to organize their events at a TPL branch are invited to submit an application by June 10, 2011. These will be assessed by a jury and matched with an appropriate branch location. Decisions will be based on the suitability of the activity for the branch’s venue space and the interactive nature to the activity. Artistic merit will not be assessed. Activities in all artistic disciplines are encouraged as well as those that appeal to families and to audiences of diverse ages. Whenever possible, artists/organizations will be matched with a branch in their own neighbourhood.
View Comments | Posted in Ontario, for activity organizers | Tags: , ,
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