British Science Festival Newcastle 2013
Evaluation Report
Produced by Flo-culture Published in January 2014 by Newcastle University and the British Science Association
British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report
Contents 1. Executive Summary ...... 4 1.1 Main findings ...... 4 1.2 Recommendations ...... 7 1.3 Future vision ...... 9 2. Introduction ...... 10 2.1 About the evaluation report ...... 10 2.2 Overarching aims ...... 10 2.3 Evaluation approach ...... 11 3. Key findings and recommendations ...... 12 3.1 Programme profile and audience attendance ...... 12 3.2 Audience profile ...... 15 3.3 Audience motives and behaviour ...... 18 3.4 Audience experience ...... 21 3.5 Audience perceptions of Newcastle ...... 25 3.6 Programme content ...... 27 3.7 Programme schedule ...... 29 3.8 Programme presenters ...... 31 3.9 Marketing and communications ...... 36 3.10 Media evaluation ...... 40 3.11 Regional partners and stakeholders ...... 41 3.12 Business partnerships ...... 45 3.13 Operations ...... 47 4. Summary of key conclusions and recommendations ...... 51 4.1 Conclusions ...... 51 4.1 Recommendations ...... 52 5. Final thoughts ...... 55 6. Abbreviations, references & links ...... 56 6.1 Abbreviations ...... 56 6.2 References ...... 56 6.3 Links ...... 56 7. Appendices ...... 57 7.1 Description of evaluation methodologies and approaches to data collection and analysis 57 7.2 Description of method used to confirm Festival audience numbers ...... 62 7.3 Overview of main Festival partners ...... 64 7.4 Call for proposals ...... 65 7.5 Feedback on the Young People’s Programme 2013 ...... 66 7.6 Festival delivery team professional development impacts ...... 67 7.7 Media Evaluation report ...... 70 8. Acknowledgments ...... 77 9. Contacts ...... 78
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report Foreword
When the British Science Festival visited Newcastle from 7 – 12 September 2013 tens of thousands of people helped make it an event to remember. The event was a city-wide celebration, showcasing the region’s world-class science, engineering and technology credentials. From its beginnings, the British Science Festival has brought together scientists from different disciplines to explore scientific breakthroughs and to demonstrate how research can make a real impact on diverse areas of science, business, innovation and professional endeavour. Newcastle University is a research-intensive university focusing on the global societal challenges of ageing, sustainability and social renewal, and as hosts of the 2013 Festival, we had the perfect platform to bring our expertise to life. Like many universities, science engagement is very high on our agenda and we were pleased to be working with the British Science Association and with our regional partners to throw the spotlight on Newcastle’s science and technology strengths. For us, the Festival was so much more than just a six-day science event – we expect to see lasting legacies in innovation, industry and investment. It is with this in mind that we, in partnership with the British Science Association, have undertaken this evaluation, to learn from the experience of hosting the Festival and to ensure that our future efforts to collaborate with partners maximises the city’s scientific potential and raises awareness of our collective expertise across the world.
Professor Ella Ritchie OBE Deputy Vice-Chancellor Newcastle University
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 1. Executive Summary
This report presents the findings of the evaluation of the British Science Festival 2013 and resulting conclusions and recommendations for the future. It was commissioned by Newcastle University and the British Science Association, with the overall aim of providing an independent assessment of the Festival and its impact in relation to audiences, key stakeholders and the media. The report details the work undertaken for the evaluation and presents findings in relation to 13 impact and delivery areas. The analysis is based on data gathered via online audience and stakeholder questionnaires, interviews with audience members and stakeholders, and a review of programme documents and data supplied by delivery partners. 1.1 Main findings a. The annual British Science Festival is the British Science Association’s premier programming highlight and one of Europe’s largest celebrations of science, engineering and technology. The British Science Festival in Newcastle, 2013 recorded 76,393 visits to 258 different events and exhibitions. It is estimated that 19,000 unique visitors attended the Festival. In addition, 7,349 pupils and adults participated in the Festival’s Young People’s Programme.
b. The Festival attracted people of all ages and it is estimated that one-third of the audience (circa 5,500 visitors) had not previously attended a public science event or venue. • 19% of visitors were from outside the North East region. • 2,470 visitors stayed in Newcastle for more than three days. • Direct visitor expenditure during the Festival was in the region of £250,000.
c. The audience was fairly evenly split between those attending for professional and study reasons and those with a more general interest in science. Visitors were mainly motivated to attend because they were interested in the subjects being discussed and the opportunity to learn something new. The location of the Festival in Newcastle and the quality of the speakers were also cited as being of high importance to visitors.
d. The most significant finding from the audience feedback was the strength attributed to the core function of the Festival, which was to deliver relevant and meaningful content through high-quality speakers in ways that were engaging and thought-provoking. • 94% of visitors indicated that they thought the quality of the content of their event was ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’. • 86% of visitors considered ‘Opportunities for questions and audience engagement’ to be ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’. • 92% felt the ‘Friendliness and helpfulness of event staff’ to be ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’.
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The following features were citied as being most enjoyable aspects of events: • The quality of the speakers. • The high level of interaction and debate. • Having the opportunity to learn.
The most prevalent audience impacts relate to gaining knowledge, being encouraged to pursue a topic further, and having fun.
e. Hosting the British Science Festival has had a positive impact on the profile and reputation of Newcastle both in terms of visitor experience and wider perceptions. • 31% of visitors stated their experience had been ‘much better than expected’. • 93% felt that the Festival’s impact on the reputation and profile of Newcastle was ‘Extremely positive’ or Good’.
f. The delivery of such a broad-based and diverse programme was seen by many as the main strength of the Festival and critical to securing such high audience numbers and positive feedback. Some partners and programme presenters felt that the process for selecting programme items could be more transparent and streamlined, and that programming decisions could have been aided with the establishment of clearly- defined programme themes.
g. The Festival took place over 6 days (7 – 12 September) with events taking place during the day and in the evening. This was just after the return to school for pupils after their summer break and just before universities’ start of term. The Festival was hugely successful at attracting audiences. However, some feedback suggested that more events should be held in the evenings to allow those at work and school to participate. It was also mooted that the event should take place later in the term, as this would allow university students to attend and make it easier for schools to plan their involvement.
h. The involvement of 333 programme presenters ensured that the Festival delivered a programme of great diversity and range. Most notable, however, was the audience feedback that highlighted the quality of speakers as being one of the greatest strengths of the Festival. This combined with positive feedback on the programme’s educational impacts and high entertainment value makes for a very impressive programme report. The commitment of many of the speakers to find new ways to share their work in a public context and to stimulate debate and engagement was critical to delivering such positive audience feedback, as was the support - and in some cases funding - provided by the Festival and University teams to enable many of the presenters’ ideas to be realised.
i. The Festival established a strong brand presence in the city, which helped establish a festival atmosphere and raise awareness of the event. Most people received information about the Festival via word of mouth and the internet.
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report
Some partners felt it would have been beneficial in terms of promotion (and programme curation) to establish a local sub-brand. (This ‘absence’ was not however identified as being of concern to audiences.) That said, all partners and the BSA worked well to generate high levels of press coverage and attract such large audiences to the Festival. There were concerns raised in numerous quarters about the booking and ticketing systems. Given that over 60% of events were ticketed, this is an aspect of Festival delivery that needs to be addressed.
j. As of 11 November 2013, the total advertising equivalent ratio of UK print and broadcast that the Festival had attracted was £1,243,808. The Festival featured in 210 pieces of national, 289 pieces of regional and 6 pieces of international print media coverage. 169 pieces of radio and 20 pieces of television coverage were broadcast, and 574 pieces of online coverage were recorded on UK websites. During the Festival the BSF Facebook site increased its ‘likes’ by 10% and many popular posts were seen by over a thousand people. The BSA on Twitter increased it followers by almost 500 people resulting in 7,151 followers at the end of the Festival.
k. The 2013 Festival was hosted by Newcastle University and delivered in partnership with Northumbria University, Newcastle City Council, Newcastle Science City and local institutions, including the International Centre for Life, Great North Museum: Hancock and the Discovery Museum, as well as many other educational and business partners. The range of partners involved in working alongside the BSA to develop and deliver the BSF was one of its great strengths. They provided additional resources and expertise and played a key role in diversifying the range of event venues that included art galleries, museums, a cinema, theatre and libraries as well as university campuses. They also helped to effectively connect the Festival to the local area and use their networks to drive audiences.
l. The environment for attracting business sponsorship was particularly challenging this year due to the demise of the Regional Development Agency and the ongoing recession. Despite this, 19% of investment in the Festival was successfully secured from business sponsorship. Businesses’ main reasons for investing in the Festival included: • Having a platform to engage the public in their work. • Raising awareness about their company’s links with science and technology and wishing to be associated with the BSA and the Universities. • Inspiring young people to study science subjects and increasing awareness of the potential career options connected to science.
m. The delivery of 258 events and exhibitions by 36 partners across 35 venues was a logistical challenge but one which was successfully met by all those involved. Overall audience and programme presenters’ feedback was very positive in terms of the professionalism demonstrated and support provided by members of Newcastle University and BSF event delivery teams. There are operational challenges that need
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report
to be addressed to help enhance delivery in the future, but overall, the Festival was delivered in good spirit to an extremely high standard.
n. The professional development benefits gained by programme presenters and delivery staff as a result of their involvement in the Festival were significant. Programme presenters confirmed their Festival experience had been invaluable in encouraging them to consider their research from new perspectives, and supporting them achieve a range of work and professional development objectives. Members of the Festival delivery team highlighted how their experience had enabled them to extend their leadership, managerial and team-working skills, and strengthen internal and external relationships. Over 72%1 of Festival delivery staff considered their Festival experience as having been ‘extremely effective’ or ‘effective’ in supporting their professional development, and 93%2 described their experience of working as part of the Festival team as being ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. 1.2 Recommendations An analysis of the findings confirms that many of the approaches adopted by the BSA and partners were very effective in delivering a successful Festival. These, along with a number of suggestions on how delivery could be even better in the future, are presented below: a. Strategic vision • Establish a strong collective vision with partners right at the start of the process. Stick to it and use that vision to inform and agree a series of measurable delivery priorities that every partner must work toward achieving. This was achieved in the main in relation to this year’s Festival but would benefit from being given even greater focus and clarity in the future. • Strengthen governance, management and reporting systems (built around the delivery priorities) to ensure that the resources and expertise of the BSA and delivery partners are utilised to the full. • Build on the success of the Festival by securing the strategic commitment of all partners to work together to strengthen, and where appropriate diversify, existing provision. This could include exploring options to connect the BSA brand and expertise to locally-managed programmes such as Newcastle ScienceFest as well as investigating opportunities to host the BSF in the future.
b. Programme • Remain committed to delivering serious, educational and thought- provoking content in ways that are engaging, interactive and entertaining. • Retain a commitment to ensuring that the content and ‘themes’ of the Festival reflect global and local science and technology interests. In the future, this may require a greater focus on local interests and connections as well as those from further afield
1 Base: 29. 2 Base: 29.
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• Ensure that the programme schedule is driven by a commitment to secure the highest possible access and engagement. In the future, this may include giving even greater attention to peoples’ work and study commitments and the planning needs of schools and other potential audience groups. • Facilitate the presentation of engaging content by inspiring scientists and educationalists via the provision of support and funding to programme presenters, especially those in their early career, to help realise their ideas. It is suggested that in the future, a distinct funding strand is built into the core Festival budget to support this area of work. • Work to ensure that the processes for inviting and selecting programme items is even more transparent and streamlined in the future. It is suggested that this will help support more effective cross-strand programming and timetabling. • Ensure that BSA continues to uses its status to attract high-profile speakers to the Festival.
c. Audience mix • Make an even more robust commitment to equality of access and be a strong advocate for inspiring and engaging people from all backgrounds and of all ages in science and technology.
d. Business engagement • Continue to secure the involvement of the business sector in the Festival by pursuing a clear sponsorship offer as part of more broad-based business engagement strategy. It is suggested that this approach will help diversify the ways in which businesses can contribute and invest in the Festival in the future.
e. Booking and ticketing systems • Improve the Festival booking and ticketing system by establishing the best suited and most appropriate single entry point among partners that better meets customers’ needs and that supports the effective management and distribution of audiences.
f. Operations • Strengthen operational delivery by introducing a clear Festival master plan and established project management system that all partners can access to direct and support delivery in the future.
g. Professional development • Be proactive in promoting the professional development benefits associated with participating in the delivery of the Festival. This could prove beneficial in helping to ‘recruit’ and secure the commitment of delivery team members and provide Festival partners with valuable staff development opportunities.
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1.3 Future vision For the future it is suggested that the BSF consider building more on its heritage as well as its ability to make connections with some of the top scientists and educators globally. This, combined with an ongoing and vigorous commitment to making local connections and to widening access and audience engagement, would help consolidate the Festival’s long-term position within the European Science Festival arena. For many partners the connection to the BSA via the Festival was central to raising the profile and role of Newcastle and the local area in relation to science and technology. All the strategic partners confirmed they are keen to explore opportunities to work with the BSA again in the future, both in relation to hosting the Festival and in other circumstances where possible. The partners are also keen to build on the legacy of the Festival by finding more ways to work together and deliver an ongoing programme of public science events. All partners confirmed their commitment to bringing communities, schools, businesses and universities together in order to inspire and facilitate further public engagement with science and technology in the region.
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 2. Introduction
The British Science Festival 2013 took place in Newcastle upon Tyne from 7th – 12th September. Thousands of people took part in hands-on activities, discovered something new, and debated the top science issues of the day with experts from all over the UK and the world. This was the seventh time that the Festival visited Newcastle, the first occasion being in 1838. Working with partners3 including hosts, Newcastle University, associate partners Northumbria University and Newcastle City Council, Newcastle Science City, and local institutions including the International Centre for Life, Great North Museum: Hancock and the Discovery Museum, the British Science Festival presented a diverse programme based on scientific discovery through over 250 events and exhibitions. The North East has a rich scientific and technological heritage and there was a strong local focus to the Festival, with many events celebrating the scientific history and heritage of the region. Over one-third of the events in the programme turned the spotlight on research being undertaken in local universities. 2.1 About the evaluation report This report was commissioned by Newcastle University and the British Science Association to evaluate the British Science Festival Newcastle 2013. It has been written and produced by Katherine Pearson of Flo-culture4 in association with Nicola Harrison of Whitehot Communications5 and describes the profile and experiences of the Festival audience and those involved in its delivery. Additional information was sourced from the Young People’s Programme Feedback Report produced by Sarah McLusky of Sparks Education and Colin Wilkinson of Corylus Learning. The main aim of the report is to provide an insight into the impact and delivery of the Festival and make recommendations for the future. The spirit of the report and all those who have contributed to its content and production is one of reflection and learning. It is anticipated that the report will be used to inspire and inform the development and delivery of similar future events. 2.2 Overarching aims Newcastle University and the British Science Association sought to deliver the following aims in relation to the Festival: • Deliver a world-class science festival across the city, strengthening Newcastle’s reputation as a City of Science. • Increase access to and engagement in science activity in the city. • Build and strengthen science education partnerships at local, regional, and national level. • Encourage and enable university staff and students to pursue new opportunities in science engagement.
3 See Appendix 7.3 for a summary of the main Festival delivery partners. 4 Flo-culture specialises in undertaking research and evaluation in the educational and cultural sectors. www.flo- culture.com 5 Nicola Harrison of Whitehot Communications was responsible for producing the Media Evaluation report. http://www.whitehotcomms.co.uk
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report
• Secure new investment in science education and engagement. 2.3 Evaluation approach This report is based on an analysis of findings generated from questionnaires and semi- structured interviews undertaken with members of the audience, programme presenters, members of the delivery team, and strategic and business partners. All contributors were advised that all data would be anonymised prior to reporting and publication. The percentages presented in the report are projections based on the findings generated from audience and stakeholder evaluation. Additional analysis was provided by Nicola Harrison of Whitehot Communications (a Flo- culture Associate) who produced the Media Evaluation report6. Further data and analysis relating to the Young People’s Programme was provided by Sarah McLusky (Sparks Education) and Colin Wilkinson (Corylus Learning), who were commissioned to manage and provide feedback on the Festival’s Young People’s Programme. See Appendix 7.5 for a summary, the headline data and attendance numbers. A full description of the evaluation methodologies and approaches used for data collection and analysis undertaken by Flo-culture are presented in Appendix 7.1. Details about the approaches used to produce the Media and Young People’s Programme Feedback Report are given in their respective reports.
6 See Appendix 7.7 for a copy of the full Media Evaluation report.
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 3. Key findings and recommendations
The following findings have been drawn from an analysis of all the feedback gathered from event profiles and from audiences, programme presenters, event assistants, members of the delivery team, and strategic and business partners. Where data from questionnaires has been presented, the number of individuals to which it relates (i.e. the number of people who provided an answer to that question) is indicated as a ‘base’ number. 3.1 Programme profile and audience attendance
“Inspiring and thought-provoking.” (AMQ, 2013)
“Excellent events for everyone, every age.” (AMQ, 2013)
Findings
Programme profile The Festival presented a total of 256 event and exhibition opportunities. • 147 different events providing 213 different event opportunities. • 18 exhibitions providing 45 exhibition days. • See Figures 1 and 2 for a breakdown of the Festival programme delivered by type and day.
Figure 1 | Breakdown of the Festival programme by type
107
58 45 26 15 5
Talks / Debates Workshops Exhibitions Shows / Trips /Tours Dinners / Demonstrations / Receptions Performances
Base: 256
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Figure 2 | Breakdown of the Festival event and exhibition opportunities by day
64
47 46
35 35 31
Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 7 Sept 8 Sept 9 Sept 10 Sept 11 Sept 12 Sept
Base: 258
These events and exhibitions took place in 35 different venues across Newcastle and Gateshead. • 61% of the events were ticketed7. • 78% of the events were free8. • 54% of ticketed events were 80% full9. • 18 delivery partners10 were involved in delivering the Festival. • 333 different programme presenters were involved in delivering the programme. In addition, 19 Street Scientists each delivered between 10 and 42 hours of science demonstrations throughout the Festival. In total, they delivered over 600 hours of science engagement activities.
“They [the Street Scientists] made a lot of difference at events; it was a nice way of getting people to engage with science.” (Interviewee B, 2013)
Recorded visits11 There were 76,393 recorded visits to events and exhibitions opportunities through the Festival. This includes: • 26,943 visits to events. (See Figure 3 for breakdown of events by number of visits). • 39,701 visits to exhibitions.
7 Information about whether an event was ticketed was only available for 256 of the events. 8 Information about whether an event was free was only available for 256 of the events. 9 Information about audience capacity was only available for 131 events. 10 See Appendix 7.3 for details of other Festival partners. 11 See Appendix7.2 for description about methods used to calculate number of Festival visits.
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• 2,400 interactions with Street Scientists throughout the Festival.
Figure 3 |Breakdown of events by number of visits
10,679 9,906
5,808
358 192
Talk / Debate Workshop Show / Reception / Trip / Tour Demonstration / Dinner Performance
Base: 26,943
In addition, 7,349 (6,650 pupils and 699 accompanying adults12) participated in the Festival’s Young People’s Programme. Footfall audience There is also an estimated footfall audience of circa 72013 associated with two large events, ‘Festival Launch in the City’ and ‘Festival Finale: Good Vibrations’, which took place around Grey’s Monument at the beginning and end of the Festival. Holding these two events in such high-profile public spaces, with an exposure to about 18,000 people, provided a good platform on which to promote the Festival and potentially engaged with large numbers of people. Unique visitors If we assume that the trend for people to visit 3.6 events (as indicated in the audience questionnaire14) is reflected in audience behaviour as a whole, then we can assume that the number of unique visitors to the main Festival (not including Grey’s Monument footfall numbers or those involved in the Young People’s Programme) is in the region of 19,000 (i.e. 64,000 (visits) / 3.6). Impact of the Festival on core audience numbers Visitor figures for the Discovery Museum and the Great North Museum15 indicate that the Festival had increased equivalent attendance numbers by 23%. At other venues such as the
12 See Appendix 7.5 for attendance details presented in the Young People’s Programme Feedback Report. 13 See Appendix7.2 for description of methods used to calculate footfall numbers. 14 See ‘Number of events attended’ for further details. 15 Findings from the Great North Museum: Hancock indicated that the number of young people participating in learning activities during the week of the Festival was significantly lower (circa 50% lower) than was achieved in the same period the previous year. Although the Young People’s Programme is not in the scope of this report this finding would suggest that, in the future, where partner organisations have a good track record of working with schools they should be considered as the primary delivery agency of schools activities in their venue.
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Tyneside Cinema and the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, attendance numbers were in line with standard expectations.
Conclusions and recommendations
The Festival recorded over 70,000 visits from an audience of circa 19,000 individuals. It is likely that the provision of over 258 event and exhibition opportunities in over 35 different venues was an important element in securing high numbers of visits throughout the Festival. The diversity of event formats and the use of a range of established cultural venues to present events were likely to be significant in attracting audiences. For the future, it will be important to maintain a strong commitment to providing diversity in programme content, format and venue when seeking to attract large audiences. 3.2 Audience profile
Findings
Age & Gender Based on the feedback from the audience questionnaire reiterated in the event profiles, the Festival attracted individuals from all age ranges and a fairly even mix of males and females. See Figures 4 and 5 for a breakdown of age and gender.
Figure 4 | Breakdown of audience by age range Figure 5 | Gender balance
Age Gender16 25% 70% 21% 58% 60% 20% 18% 16% 16% 50% 42% 15% 14% 11% 40% 10% 30% 4% 20% 5% 10% 0% 0% Under 18 – 26 – 36 – 46 – 56 – Over Male Female 18 25 35 45 55 65 65
Base: 462 Base: 462
New visitors It is estimated that almost one-third of visitors17 to the Festival were new audiences, i.e. individuals who had not attended a public science event or visitor attraction previously.
16 Bear in mind this is a reflection of those who completed the questionnaire. 17 This is based on projections linked to findings in the audience questionnaire where 29% of 462 audience questionnaire respondents indicated that they had not attended a public science or visitor attraction previously.
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Geographic reach The Festival attracted audiences from the local area (Tyne and Wear) as well as from further afield (see Figure 6).
Figure 6 | Breakdown of where audiences travelled from to attend the Festival
Rest of the world Rest of the UK 2% 17%
Rest of North East England Tyne & Wear 17% 64%
Base: 464
Overnight stays This audience reach profile was further borne out in the data relating to overnight stays. 78% of respondents confirmed they stayed at home whilst visiting the Festival. 81% indicated they were visiting the Festival from North East England, i.e. within a relatively easy travelling distance. The remainder (22% / 119 respondents) said they were visiting and staying overnight in Newcastle (see Figure 7).
Figure 7 | Breakdown of accommodation choices made by those staying overnight
43 38
27
11
In a Hotel In self-catering With family or In a guest house accommodation friends or B&B
Base: 119 Those staying overnight were then asked to confirm for how many days they were visiting Newcastle. See Figure 8 for a breakdown of their responses.
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Figure 8 | Number of days visiting
59
24 22 14
1 day 2 days 3 days over 3 days
Base: 119 13% of visitors (59 from a base of 464) stayed in Newcastle for more than three nights. Average spend per head Respondents were asked to state approximately how much they spent during their visit to the Festival and how many people their expenditure covered. On average, respondents spent £13.21 per head. This figure was based on the feedback from 251 respondents who anwered this question.
Conclusions and recommendations
Based on the above findings and the number of unique visitors estimated to have attended the Festival (19,000)18, it is possible to predict that: • The Festival was successful in attracting around 5,500 people who had never previously engaged with a public science event or visitor attraction. • The Festival attracted 3,376 visitors from outside North East England and 287 from outside the UK. • 2,470 visitors to Newcastle stayed for more than three days. • Direct visitor expenditure during the Festival was in the region of £250,000.
The reasons behind the Festival’s success in attracting high audience numbers might be connected to feedback that suggested people were attracted to the Festival because it appeared to combine education with entertainment, thus making it feel more accessible and engaging. Other reasons may be associated with the fact that 78% of tickets were free and the programme provided many different ways for people to engage with the content. Audiences also highlighted the BSF brand as an important feature of their decision to attend the Festival, as it gave credibility to the programme. These points are worth revisiting when planning future events.
18 See findings linked to ‘Unique visitors’.
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3.3 Audience motives and behaviour
Findings
Interest in science and reasons for attending the Festival Questionnaire respondents were asked about the nature of their interest in science. Nearly 50% declared they had no professional involvement in science but were generally interested (see Figure 9).
Figure 9 |Breakdown of respondents’ interest in science
University or college lecturers or school teachers 10%
University, college and school students Individuals with a 20% general interest in science 47%
Science sector professionals 23%
Base: 444 Respondents were also asked to rate the importance of their reasons for attending the Festival. See Figure 10.
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Figure 10 | Percentage of people who considered the following reasons to be of ‘High Importance’ when deciding to attend the Festival
97% 92% 83% 74%
25% 23%
The subjects The opportunity The location The quality of Networking and Suitability for a being discussed to extend was appealing the speaker or socialising family group or presented knowledge and (Newcastle) presenter opportunities were of interestlearn something new
Base: 555
These findings were further reflected in the feedback provided by those interviewed during the Festival. Most identified that they were interested in attending the Festival to learn more about science subjects and also to have fun and enjoy themselves. “I thought it would be really interesting. […] I am very interested in science, so was attracted by the variety [of the programme].” (Interviewee AM1, 2013)
“I thought it would be something different.” (Interviewee AM5, 2013)
“[The speakers were] good names in science.” (Interviewee AM10, 2013)
“Sounded science-y but also comedy - so light-hearted but also informative.” (Interviewee AM12, 2013)
Respondents also identified the fact that the event was the ‘British Science Festival’ and was close to home as two of the main reasons they chose to attend. Number of events attended Questionnaire respondents were asked to confirm how many events they had attended during the Festival (see Figure 11).
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Figure 11 | Number of events attended
1 event 22% Over 4 events 39%
2 events 18%
3 events 13% 4 events 8%
Base: 560
Based on this assumption, where respondents indicated they attended ‘more than 4 events’ we based our calculations on them having attended 6 events. The average visitor attended 3.6 events. Composition of groups Based on feedback from the audience questionnaire, 58% of respondents confirmed that they visited with family and friends and 22% attended with work colleagues (Base: 561). 10% attended the event with children under 13 years old, and 9% attended with young people aged between 13 and 18 years old. Respondents were also asked to confirm the number of people in their group. See Figure 12.
Figure 12 | Number of people in a group
Over 4 people 12%
4 people 8% 1 person 31% 3 people 11%
2 people 38%
Base: 560
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Based on feedback from the audience questionnaire respondents, the average size of the groups visiting the Festival was 2.3.
Conclusions and recommendations
The primary reasons behind the attendees’ decision to attend the Festival were: • Having an interest in a specific topic being covered. • Having the opportunity to extend one’s knowledge and learn something new.
The quality of the speakers and location of the Festival in Newcastle were also identified as being of high importance, as was the desire to have fun and to enjoy oneself. Once again, the fact that it was the ‘British Science Festival’ in Newcastle made a difference. The brand was important in helping to give the programme credibility. 50% of the audience indicated they had a professional or educational interest in science, with nearly 25% of visitors attending the Festival with a colleague. This highlights the importance of the Festival in relation to delivering content that is relevant to current themes and debates in science. The fact that the remaining audience were visiting with family and/or friends also indicates that the Festival was successful in presenting high-quality ‘serious’ content in ways that were perceived to be accessible and engaging. Based on the assumption that 19,000 unique visitors attended the Festival in groups of 2.3 (i.e. 8,261 groups) and that 19% of those groups (1,570) were made up of 50% adults and 50% children and young people, then we can project that circa 1,800 children and young people (9%) attended the main Festival. 3.4 Audience experience
Findings
“Thank you for an enjoyable few days of scientific escape and challenge.” (AMQ, 2013)
“Really fun and inspiring – makes me think what an exciting life it will be in the future.” (AMQ, 2013)
“Marvellous to see collaboration and the bringing together of different strands of thought.” (AMQ, 2013)
Quality of event Respondents were asked to rate their event experience in relation to a number of delivery features. See Figure 13.
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Figure 13 | Quality of event features
71% 61% 49% 37% 40% 30% 31% 23% 18% 11% 12% 6% 3% 1% 3% 2%
Quality of the content (the Opportunities for Opportunities for Friendliness and speaker, tour, questions and audience networking and socialising helpfulness of event staff performance or exhibition) engagement
Excellent Good Okay Poor
Base: 550
Quality of engagement
“Great chance to learn about scientific subjects outside my realm of study… I learnt a great deal.” (AMQ, 2013)
“My 7-year-old son was made to feel welcome at all the events, including those for adults, and encouraged to participate.” (AMQ, 2013)
“Sparked lively debate amongst the audience.” (AMQ, 2013)
Respondents were asked to rate their event experience in relation to a range of engagement criteria (see Figure 14).
Figure 14 | Quality of engagement features
46% 46% 45% 41% 39% 39% 39% 40% 40% 32% 24% 14% 11% 11% 9% 7% 4% 4% 5% 4%
Success of the event Success of the event Success of the event Success of the event Success of the event in engaging the public in encouraging in generating debate in providing in supporting learning in science further interest and and changing opportunities that and extending engagement in attitudes were fun and knowledge science entertaining
Extremely successful Successful Moderatley successful Not successful
Base: 488
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Feedback from interviewees The findings above were borne out in the findings from the audience interviews. Those interviewed identified the following features as being most enjoyable aspects of the event they experienced: • The quality of the speakers. • The high level of interaction and debate. • Having the opportunity to learn.
“It was good to have actual opposing views. People really knew about the topic and researched it - actual experts.” (Interviewee AM11, 2013)
“I always like questions from the audience […] I liked the interaction between the two speakers and the speakers and audience.” (Interviewee AM10, 2013)
“Haven't done science for years and not a scientist, but enjoyed the bits of science that I could understand. It made me feel like I could understand science. It was expanding my brain in ways that I don’t normally.” (Interviewee AM15, 2013)
The majority highlighted the educational impact of the event they attended, with many expressing that their experience had inspired them to learn more.
“Want to go and learn more.” (Interviewee AM1, 2013)
“Will be looking into the subject more.” (Interviewee AM12, 2013)
Most also highlighted the entertainment and enjoyment value of their event, with many expressing the view that the event they attended had been more educational and engaging than they had expected.
“[The] event made me think. It was exhilarating. It made you come alive…” (Interviewee AM15, 2013)
“Educational but very entertaining, engaging.” (Interviewee AM13, 2013)
“Educational, entertaining, fun.” (Interviewee AM9, 2013)
All the audience members interviewed (29) confirmed they would definitely attend a similar event in the future. Strengths and areas for improvement In addition to feedback presented in response to specific questions within the questionnaire, 150 ‘additional comments’ were submitted by respondents. 96 responses were positive and 54 identified areas for improvement. A summary of the comments are listed below. However, where relevant, some have also been reiterated in other parts of the report.
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The following were identified as key strengths of the Festival: • The presentation of current and relevant topics. • The quality of the speakers. • The variety of the programme. • The effectiveness of the events to stimulate curiosity in the topic and even change attitudes. • The level of debate and the opportunity to ask questions. • The success of the Festival in making science more accessible; and engaging the wider public with science. • The diversity of event formats. • The range of different venues that were utilised across the city.
The following were identified as possible areas for improvement: • Allocating more time for speakers and increasing the amount of time for questions at the end of sessions19. • Increasing publicity and advertising of events. Some respondents reported that they had only found out about the Festival by chance, and that many of their colleagues and friends were unaware of the Festival. • Providing a better booking system and reducing the number of empty seats at ‘fully booked’ events. • Using larger venues to reduce overcrowding at some events. • Describing events in more depth. A number of respondents felt that some of the event descriptions were misleading. • Recording talks so that people who are unable to attend can still benefit from the Festival20.
Conclusions and recommendations
71% of respondents said the quality of content at the event they attended was ‘Excellent’. A further 21% said it was ‘Good’. This is particularly noteworthy as the quality of content (quality of the speaker/presenter) was considered by 74% of respondents to be of ‘High Importance’ when considering whether or not to attend an event. This is an excellent example of where audience expectations have been clearly met. Feedback in relation to ‘Opportunities for questions and audience engagement’ and ‘Friendliness and helpfulness of event staff’ was also very positive, with 86% and 92% of respondents respectively considering it ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’. The feedback was less positive in relation to ‘Opportunities for networking and socialising’. It is worth noting that only 25% of respondents considered this to be a feature of ‘High Importance’ when considering whether or not to attend an event.
19 Time pressures may of course have resulted from speakers overrunning. 20 Many of the Festival events were actually recorded and published on Newcastle University’s website. http://www.ncl.ac.uk/events/sciencefest/ . The issue may be one of promotion.
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Feedback about the quality of the engagement was also very positive, with over 71% of respondents confirming that they felt the event had been ‘Extremely successful’ or ‘Successful’ in: • Engaging the public in science. • Encouraging further interest in science. • Generating debate and encouraging a change of attitude. • Supporting learning. • Providing opportunities that were fun and entertaining.
The importance and perceived value of delivering activities that were both educational and entertaining was very strong, as was the fact that many events encouraged attendees to engage in further study and to find out more about the topics being presented. The positive feedback from audiences is clearly focused on the success of the Festival in presenting high-quality speakers who are capable of inspiring audiences to engage with serious and relevant topics. Maintaining the Festival’s commitment to these strengths is critical to delivering a Festival of value and worth. Addressing some of the more operational concerns is also important so as not to diminish the audience experience. 3.5 Audience perceptions of Newcastle
“The Festival was great, a really positive, buzzing atmosphere in the town.” (AMQ, 2013)
Findings
Expectations Respondents were asked their opinion of Newcastle, having attended the Festival, compared to their expectations prior to their visit. See Figure 15.
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Figure 15 | Opinion of Newcastle
A little Didn't know what disappointing to expect 2% 1%
Much better than expected 31% As expected 66%
Base: 539
Festival impact on the reputation and profile of Newcastle Respondents were then asked to indicate what they thought the impact of hosting the Festival had had on the reputation and profile of Newcastle. See Figure 16.
Figure 16 | Impact of the Festival on the reputation and profile of Newcastle
None 7%
Extremely Good positive 40% 53%
Base: 483 (after-Festival questionnaire only)
Return visits 99% of respondents (Base: 539) said they would visit Newcastle again and 97% said they would recommend visiting Newcastle to family members, friends and work colleagues.
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Conclusions and recommendations
The profile and reputation of Newcastle was clearly enhanced as a result of hosting the BSF, both in terms of visitor experience and wider perceptions. Given the importance placed on achieving such impacts by many strategic partners, these are very positive and important results. Clearly there are many drivers behind such outcomes, including the attractiveness of the programme and the quality of the visitor experience. As such, for the future it will be important to: • Acknowledge the interplay of numerous drivers in achieving such outcomes and the role of all partners in defining and delivering programme offers. This includes recognising that variety does not only relate to the range of topics being covered but also to event formats, venues and types of engagement opportunities. • Continue to utilise the value of the BSF brand in terms of credibility to attract audiences. • Maintain a commitment to delivering programmes that are both educational and entertaining, and creating opportunities that encourage engagement and interaction. 3.6 Programme content
“Cutting-edge ideas.” (AMQ, 2013)
“Hearing eminent scientists speak freely on a wide range of topics and being able to ask them questions is a rare opportunity.” (AMQ, 2013)
Over 258 event opportunities took place during the Festival at 35 different venues. A call for programme proposals was initially made by the BSF and circulated by partners in July 2012. It included confirmation of the different strands of the programme and proposal submission dates. See Appendix 7.4 for further details. The submitted proposals were reviewed and assessed by members of the programming steering group, who then decided which programme items would be included in the Festival programme.
Findings
“Spoilt for choice.” (Interviewee AM7, 2013)
“Good effort to engage the audience.” (Interviewee AM6, 2013)
“I didn't know what it was going to be like but really enjoyed it.” (Interviewee AM12, 2013)
It was important for partners that some of the city’s and region’s specialisms and areas of expertise in science and technology be explored through the programme content, e.g. advanced manufacturing, design, ageing and health, sustainability, energy, and regenerative medicine.
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Most programme presenters and stakeholders acknowledged the challenge of delivering a balanced programme, one that meets the needs of novices and experts alike, and that makes meaningful connections to scientific discovery and the local context. With that in mind, a number of partners were involved at an early stage in the development of a theme - ‘Making Waves’ - that would be used to define the nature of the Festival in Newcastle. It was initially agreed that this would be used to inform the direction of the programme and associated Festival brand. However, this was ultimately not used, and the branding from the previous Festival held in Aberdeen (devised in response to the theme of ‘Energising Minds’) was used. Many partners were disappointed by this decision and although they understood BSA’s desire to establish a more recognisable Festival brand, they believed it could have been developed and not replicated. There was concern that in the end it became “[…] quite an arbitrary programming hook, which didn’t really have much meaning.” (Interviewee F, 2013) Some people felt this lack of clear conceptual vision impeded the programme decision- making process.
“One gets the impression looking from the outside in that the [programme events] have been organised almost too much within silos, and there needs to be more joined up thinking.” (Interviewee G, 2013)
A number of partners felt that having a stronger programme identity and conceptual framework would have made it easier to ‘tell the story’ of the Festival and market it more effectively. Some concerns about the process that was used to curate the final programme were raised by programme presenters and stakeholders.
“I found it exasperating in the extreme to put forward a list of ideas which the British Science Association then said were either good or not good […]” (Interviewee A, 2013)
Some partner contributors felt that they were excluded from the process of actually contributing to the final selection of programme items and that consequently the programme was (despite assurances to the contrary) ultimately decided upon by the British Science Festival team. Some also felt the process for selection was rather opaque and that expectations about potential success in securing a programming slot could have been better managed. Many reported having spent a great deal of time encouraging colleagues to spend time generating proposals that in the end were not selected. However, it was acknowledged by all that “you can't curate by committee” (Interviewee B, 2013), and most felt that overall a balanced programme had been achieved. There was full acknowledgment and complete agreement about the need to have a programme that is curated and subject to selection and review by a small team of individuals. Although a number of high-profile contributors were attracted to the Festival, it was also felt by some partners that given the profile and influence of the BSA more high-profile presenters could have been secured. Some feedback from audiences also supported that view.
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“They [the Festival organisers] need to aim higher with what sort of people [presenters] they get. Less well-known people don’t attract so much attention.” (Interviewee AM10, 2013)
Conclusions and recommendations
Audiences identified the quality of programme content, engagement and speakers as three of the main strengths of the Festival. Some of the partners and programme presenters did, however, feel that the process for making decisions about the Festival ‘themes’ and content of the programme could be improved. Based on these findings, it is suggested that the Festival team consider the following actions: • Connect a clear overall vision about the Festival to programme themes and ensure this information is shared at an early stage with all programme partners and potential programme presenters. • Establish a single deadline for all proposals and a more formalised procedure for reviewing and accessing them all within the same timeframe. This will avoid ‘silo programming’ and allow for more effective curation and consideration of content diversity and engagement. • Ensure even greater clarity and transparency about the process of selecting programme items. This could include making sure there is real clarity about the roles, responsibility and governance structures around those who are responsible for directing the content of the programme. • More effective communication of the programme’s thematic strands and selection criteria along with the provision of more guidance on the number and range of proposals being sought and that are likely to prove successful. 3.7 Programme schedule The programme took place over 6 days, with events happening throughout the day and in the evening.
Findings
“[It was] good that everything is all in one place, I signed up for over 20 lectures.” (Interviewee AM6, 2013)
Overall, the variety of programme offers and associated visitor choice was identified by most attendees as the main strength of the Festival. In terms of scale, a few felt it was rather ‘thin’, whilst others felt there were too many overlapping events and as such, it could have been further extended.
“Big names clashed at times.” (Interviewee W, 2013)
Other feedback from audiences highlighted: • A desire to have more events in the evening to accommodate people at work, college or school. Some respondents felt that holding the Festival
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before the students went back to university was a missed opportunity, as having them there would have helped to create a more festive atmosphere. They also felt it would have provided them with a unique opportunity to engage with the Festival programme.
“There were masses in there [the programme] that she wanted to go to, but actually all the key things she wanted to go to she couldn’t do because they were in school time.” (Interviewee C, 2013)
• School teachers and university partners indicated that they would have liked the Festival to have taken place slightly later in the month. Teachers, in particular, felt that the timing of the Festival was too close to the beginning of the school term, which made it difficult for schools to make all the necessary arrangements to visit the Festival. They also highlighted the fact that it made it particularly difficult to engage post-16s in the Festival. • The fact that the event also clashed with universities’ planned maintenance schedules was another point raised on several occasions. • The need to allocate more time to speakers so that they were not so rushed and there could be more time for questions.
“It's [the Festival] been done very well […] the talks have been very good, but in between talks it's sometimes a bit of a rush to get from one to another. Maybe more strands for the more mature person. Some of the presenters rush it a bit […]. They need to relax a little and allow more time per session.” (Interviewee AM19, 2013)
• Ensuring that all the venues are fit for purpose. Some respondents felt some of the events were rather overcrowded.
Conclusions and recommendations
Many parties had differing views about the timing of the Festival. Given the BSA confirmed they are flexible about the exact timing of the Festival, it is always going to be a difficult to secure the ‘best time.’ As part of their decision-making process partners may, however, wish to reflect on some of the feedback above and related recommendations: • Place greater emphasis on programming events in the evening to increase access to those at work or school. • Allocate more time for audience interaction during event sessions and ensure that every event is well managed to make sure that speakers work within their allocated time. Audience interaction and the opportunity for debate were identified as features which most audiences felt contributed to their enjoyment of events. It is worth extending those opportunities for interaction where possible. • Ensure all event venues are fit for purpose. This could be supported though the introduction a clear master-planning and project management process (discussed in more detail under Operations). This would ensure that a consistent and detailed set of criteria were used to
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define the profile of each event, including its operational and audience requirements. • Consideration of other operational demands, including building maintenance, should also be accommodated within the overall planning framework. • There was also the suggestion that events could be recorded and shared at a later date. This does, of course, happen but could perhaps be publicised more widely. This could include promoting filmed content as a discrete strand of the programme and include live streamlining licencing options, in the same vein as the TED Annual Conference. This will ensure an ever greater audience reach and would help maximise return on the Festival’s main assets, its speakers. It would also provide opportunities to create Festival outreach hubs across the UK and beyond. 3.8 Programme presenters
“It was fun but it was hard.” (Interviewee AK, 2013)
“Staff and students’ enthusiasm was amazing and they took on huge projects. People working outside of their normal roles a lot.” (Interviewee F, 2013)
Over 333 individuals and organisations were involved in delivering 258 events and exhibition opportunities during the Festival. Once their proposal had been accepted, programme presenters then worked with the Festival delivery team to agree on all operational arrangements.
Findings
“Our academics got great exposure […] and we were able to deliver really interesting programmes to audiences we wanted to reach.” (Interviewee J, 2013)
Objectives and impacts Programme presenters had many motives for participating in the Festival, including: • Being part of the British Science Festival programme and a major public science event in Newcastle. • Wishing to encourage wider public engagement in science and realising a personal commitment to public engagement - “Personally I enjoy public engagement. It is good to inform the public about science research.” (Interviewee AK, 2013) • Having the chance to develop new skills - “I am keen to get into science teaching, so this was good experience.” (Interviewee W, 2013) • Having the opportunity to deliver work and funding objectives linked to public engagement.
‘Working in partnership with other colleagues and external partners’ and ‘gaining a public profile for my work’ were also identified as being important.
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In order to incentivise and support their staff and students to contribute to the programme, Newcastle University created a small grants scheme. 29 project leaders were awarded over £60,000 in small grants. Funding was used to cover operational costs as well as to support larger scale investments such as the ‘Newcastle Science Comic’, which featured 74 individual academic and artistic contributors.
“Having financial and moral support […] has been amazing.” (Interviewee U, 2013)
Some confirmed that they were able to report on their work as part of their wider work, research, and in some cases, related funding objectives, but a number stated that the work involved had to be delivered outside their ‘day job’ - “It was like working two full-time jobs” (Interviewee U, 2013). All programme presenters confirmed that producing work for the Festival had required many hours of additional work in the evening and at the weekend. Many programme presenters confirmed they were interested in finding ways to provide opportunities for interaction with audiences. This included providing hands-on experience through workshops and interactive experiments, open debates, walks and tours, comics, mobile apps, street performances, and so on, as well as more traditional lectures and presentations. They saw this as a key factor in effective communication and a way to secure feedback and engagement with their work. Audience impact Programme presenters shared a range of views about the types of audience impact they were hoping to create.
“Making information not typically accessible to the public accessible and engaging.” (Interviewee U, 2013)
“The idea was they would go away and look at the world around them differently.” (Interviewee Y, 2013)
“Initial scope was to show that science wasn’t all white coats and test tubes.” (Interviewee AC, 2013)
“Inspiring people to become more actively involved, where they’re more passionate, more enthusiastic and more aware of science, scientific inquiry, the benefits of science, the role of science in society, etc.” (Interviewee G, 2013)
See Table 1 for a breakdown of the priorities that programme presenters attached to different types of audience impact and the audience assessment of the effectiveness of their delivery.
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Table 1 | Breakdown audience impact priorities and audience ratings
Presenter ratings Audience ratings of impact of impact (% who considered delivery Type of audience impact importance (1 of against the impact to be most importance, 5 of ‘Extremely successful’ or least importance) ‘Successful’) To engage the public in science 1 87% (1) To be fun and/or entertaining 2 79% (4) To encourage further interest and 3 85% (2) engagement in science (inspiring) To generate debate and change attitudes and/or behaviours (thought- 4 71% (5) provoking) To support learning and extend 5 85% (2) knowledge in science (educational)
The audience rated the delivery of these impacts very positively, which shows a positive alignment between programme presenters’ ambitions and audience experiences. The only slight incongruity relates to the high ratings attached to the ‘educational’ benefits reported by audiences which were not identified by programme presenters as among their highest priorities. Programme presenters did place a higher premium on delivering an event that was ‘fun and/or entertaining’, so it might simply mean they did not feel that delivering an event deemed overly ‘educational’ was something to be promoted. Audiences, on the other hand, have been clear about their desire and satisfaction that the Festival delivered events they considered as both educational and entertaining. See ‘Quality of engagement’, p. 21, for more details on audience feedback. Benefits of participating in the Festival Respondents to the programme presenter questionnaire were asked in what way participating in the Festival added value to their work or helped them to meet any specific work or funding objectives. 29 respondents provided answers to these questions. Their feedback is summarised below. • The majority of respondents felt that the opportunity to share exciting research, to engage new and different audiences, and to bring new perspectives to their work had been valuable. Many highlighted how this had also helped them meet funding requirements to engage the public in their works.
“Sometimes it is very easy in research to get stuck in the ivory tower. It [public engagement] helps us because a lot of the research councils and grant-funding bodies that we apply for really want to see that that funding has an impact beyond just the scientific community.” (Interviewee AK, 2013)
• Respondents also highlighted how preparing for their event had helped them to frame research and focus research problems for the future.
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• Raising awareness of their research topics was also deemed to be important. • Being given recognition for their work and having the opportunity to collaborate through the Festival were also identified as benefits of participating in the Festival.
In addition to many of the benefits outlined above, those interviewed highlighted more ‘organisational and managerial’ benefits such as leadership, delegation and team-building.
“It was good to put together a team.” (Interviewee U, 2013)
“The fact is that it helped the group gel […] it seemed that that week brought everybody together.” (Interviewee H, 2013)
“Personally, it [working on festival] built my delegation and organisational skills, also my management skills.” (Interviewee AK, 2013)
Development and delivery 11 respondents from a base of 29 provided optional feedback on the effectiveness of the delivery processes. The majority of comments were complimentary about the delivery of the event and level of support they received from the Festival team before and during the event. This was further reflected in the comments provided by those interviewed.
“Everything ran smoothly […] I received lots of clear information and the students [event assistants and ambassadors] were very helpful.” (Interviewee YU, 2013)
“I felt fully supported. We had everything we needed.” (Interviewee W, 2013)
“Festival team were excellent. We got lots of support.” (Interviewee AC, 2013)
Many went out of their way to highlight how helpful and supportive the Festival delivery staff, including those from Estates Support Services and Information Systems, had been in enabling them to deliver their event. Reflections from delivery staff at both Universities and within the BSA also highlighted the level of support provided to programme presenters, albeit from another perspective. They commented on the amount of time and energy it took to ensure all the programme presenters were fully supported.
“There was a lot of hand-holding […] lots of support given to a lot of individuals. It was exhausting.” (Interviewee F, 2013)
Some negative comments were also recorded by questionnaire respondents and those interviewed. These included a number of comments regarding the physical set-up for their event, stating that it was not ideal for the activity in the event, and as a consequence, the event was overcrowded. A number felt they were left to their own devices with regard to event set-up. They felt unsupported at times, and concerned about the potential for things to go wrong.
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Some (mainly those from outside the main institutions) did highlight some examples where they felt the BSF team had shown poor communication and operational management. There were also concerns about the fact that some event formats were changed by the BSF team without consultation with programme presenters.
Conclusions and recommendations
Overall, most programme presenters indicated that they were extremely positive about their experience. 93%21 of all questionnaire respondents described their experience of working as part of the Festival team as being excellent or good. It is, however, suggested that the following recommendations be considered as ways to ease some of the operational pressures in the future: • Ensure that clearer management processes are in place to help mitigate the operational demands associated with supporting the many different needs of programme presenters. Delivering such a diverse programme with so many presenters attracted very positive feedback from audiences, but is operationally very demanding. • Ensure that the aims of the Festival and programme presenters are clearly aligned in order that expectations can be met. Based on the findings from this year’s Festival, there is a disparity with regard to the fact that many of the programme presenters wanted to attract young people to their events, whereas in reality over 80% of those attending events were in a group of adults. See Composition of groups for more information. • Ensure that BSA uses it significant influence and brand value to attract high-profile speakers to the Festival. The BSA and BSF brands are key drivers of audiences, partners, sponsors and programmer-presented decisions to invest, take part in and visit the Festival. Those within the BSF must ensure that the brand’s strength is leveraged in order to secure the ‘names in science’ that other partners would find it difficult to attract, and that audiences really want to see. • Be clear about the potential impacts of participating in the Festival as regards the delivery of research outcomes and core work priorities for academic staff and institutions. Being more explicit about capturing the impact of the Festival in respect of these types of objectives would help extend the value of the Festival to potential institutions in the future. It would also help to ensure that the staff members who are involved in delivering programme items are always fully supported to do so by their institutions. • Provide programme presenters with a named single point of contact who is responsible for working with them, to confirm all operational arrangements and marketing requirements. This would significantly reduce the amount of ‘unnecessary additional work’ many programme presenters felt they had to deal with on top of the work they were happy to undertake.
21 Base: 29.
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• Ensure selected venues are fit for purpose i.e. that they are matched to presenter and audience needs. This was highlighted under Programme schedule and is discussed further in Operations. • Ensure ‘small grants’ funding is made available to enable more researchers and others to contribute programme items. Although the Festival has a budget to commission some elements of the programme, the majority is delivered without programme funding and as such is dependent upon the support and goodwill of those involved. Creating a ‘small grant scheme’ (as Newcastle University did) ensures that the provision of programme items is more accessible and equitable. 3.9 Marketing and communications Dedicated teams from Newcastle University and the British Science Association were responsible for working together to devise and deliver the communications and marketing strategy for the Festival. They were supported by a marketing steering group that involved most delivery partners. The Festival’s media and publicity partners were The Journal, Metro Radio, NE1 Business Improvement District Company, and NewcastleGateshead Initiative.
Findings
Brand and communication channels The BSF brand was identified as a significant strength and important driver for gaining credibility, profile and visibility.
“We had access to national media who were interested in science-based subjects, and that’s something that’s quite different for us.” (Interviewee D, 2013)
The brand was successfully used to promote the presence of the Festival across the city. Feedback confirmed that many felt it helped to create a festival atmosphere and attract people to the Festival.
“There was a definite buzz around the place.” (Interviewee H, 2013)
Not having a distinct brand (as discussed in relation to the development of programme themes) for the 2013 Festival was seen as problematic by many. Some partners felt that it made it difficult to promote the Festival locally. Some partners also thought that they could have provided more support in relation to the Festival’s PR activity, but they felt it had been difficult for them to actively contribute and engage with the process. With regard to audiences, most respondents to the audience questionnaire (over 70%) indicated that they heard about the Festival via the internet (Festival website) and word of mouth. See Figure 17 for more details.
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Figure 17 | Breakdown of how the audience heard about the Festival
34.8% 35.6%
17.0%
6.6% 4.6% 1.1% 0.3%
Newspaper Radio TV Word of Internet Programme Social media mouth (website)
Base: 35622
Browsing the website (124) and word of mouth (121) were the primary sources of information used by respondents. Traditional media, including TV (1), Newspaper (23), Radio (4) and social media (16) were the least used. Feedback from audiences via the questionnaire and interviews indicated that they felt the Festival could have had a higher profile. They felt that despite being very interested in these types of event, they had only found out about the Festival by chance or at the last minute. They also noted that their colleagues and friends were unaware of the Festival. This sentiment was also reflected in the feedback of some programme presenters and members of the delivery team. Many felt that the Festival should have had higher visibility and needed to be “promoted to more non-science people” (Interviewee W, 2013). They recommended “more publicity and advertising of events” (Interviewee R, 2013) and a greater social media presence.
“I would like to see more people on Twitter. We do a lot of tweeting. I feel like we're just shouting into an empty room right now. It's nice when there's a lot of people on Twitter because you can connect and have a discussion in conjunction with what's going on.” (Interviewee AM16, 2013)
A number of programme presenters mentioned that they were asked to promote their own event. This was not a task they had envisaged for themselves. They clearly felt it should have been the responsibility of the BSF team to undertake this work. Consequently, they felt that more could have been done in terms of event promotion. Website and programme guide The Festival programme was promoted via a dedicated British Science Festival website and programme brochures. Programme brochures were distributed through many different distribution points throughout the city. Programme partners, including Northern Stage,
22 8 respondents selected ‘other’.
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International Centre for Life, and Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, were also proactive in promoting the Festival programme. Feedback on the website and programme brochures was mixed. Some people were very positive about how easy it was to find programme information, whereas others were quite critical. Some respondents to the audience questionnaire would have liked better descriptions of events. Some felt that some of the event descriptions were misleading. Others found it difficult to read, and highlighted concerns about how ‘difficult’ it was to navigate the programme and make decisions about what to go and see due to the density of the information.
“The Festival programme is set out really weird. Where are the stands where I can just go along to and interact with people and find out what's going on? Needs to be set out by the day and then colour-coded.” (Interviewee AM7, 2013)
Some partner organisations found uploading and revising the content for their session on the website and communicating with organisers frustrating. They felt it took too long for their information to move from their desk and appear on the website. Booking and ticketing system Members of the audience bought or booked tickets for different events via various unconnected ticketing systems. This ranged from using online ticketing systems such as Eventbrite or different event hosts such as Northern Stage, to requesting tickets via email or phone. The mix of different ticketing systems was the cause of a great deal of irritation amongst audiences, partners and programme presenters alike. It was the primary complaint about the Festival, along with a related complaint about events being fully booked and then not being fully attended.
“[…] you can't book everything in one place […] all the booking needs to be all in one place.” (Interviewee AM16, 2013)
“I went onto the website and then it directed me to the place where the event was taking place, and then I had to ring them up to try and book. And I thought: ‘You are joking’ […]. It was just crazy.” (Interviewee M, 2013)
“[People thought] ‘Oh, it's sold out so I won’t bother going.’ But actually in reality there were a lot of events that were half-full because although the tickets were all sold - well, allocated – not everyone turned up, but people [without tickets] didn’t go because they thought that it was full.” (Interviewee R, 2013)
Conclusions and recommendations
The majority of visitors (70%) heard about the event via word of mouth or the internet. This is a trend that is likely to continue. Therefore, it is important that the Festival and its partners build on their social media presence to engage with audiences even more in the future.
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Audience feedback also highlighted the fact that some people found it difficult to navigate the website and had problems using the booking and ticketing systems. This is of particularly concern given the high reliance on digital platforms to support operations in these areas. Feedback also highlighted problems associated with events being fully booked but not fully attended. For the future, it is suggested that the Festival team consider the following actions in order to strengthen promotional messaging, to increase the Festival’s presence, and to improve customer care: • Establish a social media strategy to provide more opportunity for interaction and conversation with audiences and potential audiences, and be even more active on social media channels before and during the event. Ensure this activity is directed and supported by a clear social media strategy and that all those involved feel confident and empowered to use these channels effectively. • Consider listing events under a number of strong key themes to bring more ‘light and shade’ to the density of the programme and to make it easier to navigate. It might also make it easier to promote event ‘stories’. • Develop strategies and delivery mechanisms to ensure that the expertise and resources of all partners are used to maximise the marketing effort and impact. • Road-test the accessibility and readability of the programme guide across all platforms (online, mobile, print) prior to release. This will help to ensure that programme information is easy to read and navigate. The provision of clear links to an effective and efficient booking system is critical. • Establish a single ticketing system to service the needs of all audiences. Consideration should be given to commissioning this service from a partner who has existing ticketing expertise and capabilities. • Introduce a minimum payment or refundable deposit for all tickets to help ensure that those who book to attend an event actually do so. All ticket-holders should also be encouraged to be considerate and aware of the implications of non-attendance.
“Emphasise that people should turn up if they've booked, as there are many people who'd like the opportunity to attend.” (Interviewee AM6, 2013)
Also make it easy for people to return unwanted tickets, and retain a percentage of tickets for ‘first come, first served’ door entry at the time of the event. There are many examples of good practice in this area within the wider festival and theatre community. It would be sensible to seek out examples of best practice in this area to inform future decisions.
Some partners felt that establishing a locally relevant Festival sub-brand would have helped to strengthen local connections and to attract greater media coverage. Some also felt they could have done more to help as regards marketing and PR but had not found it easy to engage with the delivery process. The lack of a local sub-brand and ‘storyline’ are not
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reflected in any negative feedback from audiences. However, partners did feel passionately that it was important to them and as such, this is worth considering for the future. 3.10 Media evaluation The information in this section was sourced from the Media Evaluation report (see Appendix 7.7 for a full copy). Additional feedback from local press representatives about the quality of the story ideas and editorial co-ordinated by Newcastle University’s Festival team was very complimentary.
Findings
The total advertising equivalent ratio of UK print and broadcast at 11 November 2013 was £1,243,808. Printed media coverage 25 national newspapers and 37 national titles (including magazines and other publications) covered the Festival. There were 210 pieces of national print media coverage, including 26 articles in the Daily Telegraph and 23 in The Times. 37 regional newspapers ran one or more articles about the Festival, presenting 289 pieces of regional print media coverage. This included 119 articles in The Journal and 18 in The Press and Journal, Aberdeen. There were 6 pieces of international coverage, including one in the International Herald Tribune and one in The Times of India. Broadcast coverage 169 pieces of radio coverage were broadcast, with Radio Newcastle providing the most extensive coverage. 20 pieces of television coverage were broadcast. These pieces were almost exclusively regional broadcasts in the North East by BBC and ITV, apart from one piece on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch. Online media coverage At 20 November 2013 there were 574 pieces of online coverage recorded on UK websites. Some coverage was duplicated in print/broadcast, but much was unique. BSF Facebook. The total number of ‘likes’ in the month leading up to the Festival and over the Festival period increased by 10%, bringing to the total to 2,250 likes. Popular posts were often shared 10 to 20 times, and each seen by over a thousand people. BSA Twitter. In the month leading up to the Festival, the Twitter following increased by almost 500 people, bringing the followers to 7,151 at the end of the Festival. BSA Blog. The blog posts were some of the most viewed pages on the Association’s website during the Festival and helped to drive traffic to Festival event pages.
Conclusions and recommendations
The Festival was successful in attracting significant media attention, and feedback from press contacts confirmed that they were impressed by the quality of ‘stories’ being presented for potential publication. Greater utilisation of social media and continued high levels of clarity and consistency in data capture were the main areas that might merit further attention.
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Recommendations in this area are as follows: • Maintain strong relationships with local and national media representatives. The Festival attracted a good mix of print and broadcast coverage at a regional, national and international level. Relationships with local media partners and the national press were positive and certainly helped to secure high volumes of articles in the local press and radio, as well as in most national broadsheets. • Continue to use Facebook and other social media to promote specific events in the build-up to the Festival. This technique was successfully deployed this year with ticket giveaway posts liked/commented on/shared over 60 times. Twitter should also be used to generate and share comments and photos during the Festival. This year, Twitter was used successfully to draw attention to events and generate hundreds of retweets and comments. • Ensure absolute clarity about which systems are used for collecting and collating media data and who is ultimately responsible for producing the final ‘master’ data set. This will avoid additional work having to be undertaken in order to cross-reference and de-dupe all the data. 3.11 Regional partners and stakeholders Over 36 partners were involved in devising and delivering the 2013 British Science Festival in Newcastle.
“I think something which is very distinct about the British Science Association from the other festivals is it has this network of events which are organised and co-ordinated by regional organisations.” (Interviewee G, 2013)
Working through numerous steering groups, key stakeholders and delivery partners collaborated with members of the British Science Festival delivery team to oversee the direction and delivery of the Festival.
Findings
Investment A number of regional partners and stakeholders were involved in funding and directing the Festival. Not including the significant in-kind investment they contributed through staff time and use of venues, they provided 35% of the Festival funding. See Figure 18 for details.
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Figure 18 | Financial investment profile
Trusts 2% Newcastle City Council Earned 9% income 7%
Northumbria Department of University Business 9% Innovation & Skills 37%
Newcastle University 17% Business sponsorship 19%
Base: 100%
Although some partners did not directly contribute to the Festival finances, their contributions in terms of staff time and free use of venues represented significant investment. These partners include Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (Discovery Museum and Great North Museum: Hancock), International Centre for Life, Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI), NE1, Northern Stage, Tyneside Cinema many others. See Appendix 7.3 for further partner details. Partner aims and objectives Partners expressed a range of reasons why they chose to get involved in delivering the Festival. These included: • To use the Festival to generate positive press stories about Newcastle, to fully engage visitors, and to build “a much more enhanced and positive view of the place” (Interviewee C, 2013). • To raise Newcastle's profile as a ‘Science City’ - “We’re a city of science…” (Interviewee S, 2013) • “To position our strengths in science and STEM subjects […] to profile to our expertise in science.” (Interviewee J, 2013) • To increase public understanding of science, and profile research. • To contribute to the visitor economy.
Many partners cited the desire to increase engagement of young people and families in the Festival “to increase the participation from groups who wouldn’t normally participate.” (Interviewee E, 2013)
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They also highlighted the desire to ensure that the Festival had “a specific Newcastle flavour” (Interviewee C, 2013), ensuring Newcastle and the surrounding area gained maximum value (public engagement and profile-raising opportunities) from hosting the Festival. This included creating a profile and programme that was meaningful to local people and that attracted visitors to the city. They also described how they believed the Festival contributed to meeting their objectives. These included: • Raising the profile, creating a ‘noise’ and ‘a spotlight’ on the fun and excitement of science engagement. • Reinforcing the scientific credentials, credibility and reputation of the area. This included supporting “academics to engage the public with their research.” (Interviewee P, 2013) • Promoting positive visitor experiences of Newcastle. Many saw the Festival as having created an opportunity to ‘sell’ a new perspective on Newcastle. It gave them a chance to “to tell them [visitors] how wonderful the place is, so they might want to come back again.” (Interviewee K, 2013)
Many partners acknowledged the difficult funding environment, especially the loss of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) who would have in the past supported such an event. Many went out of their way to acknowledge the hard work of all partners in maintaining a rugged determination to ensure the Festival took place on a scale and quality worthy of its profile. Steering groups Feedback on the steering groups was mixed. Some partners felt there were too many steering groups with too many representatives and that the relationship between the groups was at times unclear; and that despite apparent agreement, work scheduled to take place outside the steering groups was not always undertaken.
“[There were] so many different agendas across the city. This was one of the biggest struggles throughout the Festival.” (Interviewee F, 2013)
Some partners felt there was a lack of clear vision driving the overall direction and remit of the Festival, which in some cases made it difficult for partners to truly understand what was expected of them.
“[…] it was very unclear to me when I started going along to Steering Groups […] as to quite what the British Science Festival wanted from this [the Festival].” (Interviewee S, 2013)
People also felt that due to their scale, they were not always the most effective decision- making forums. “It’s difficult in a big forum for people to be frank and honest about how things are going.” (Interviewee S, 2013) There were also concerns that levels of reporting were not as strong as they needed to be in order to support such a large multi-agency event. Delivery In addition to the expertise provided by the BSA team, the Festival benefited from access to numerous highly committed partners with significant expertise in delivering large-scale
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events and public science programmes. “[We] really wanted to make this work and I think we really pulled together to make sure it happened.” (Interviewee P, 2013) Feedback from partners confirmed that finding ways to fully utilise the Festival team’s past experience and local knowledge was challenging at times, especially when there was a clash of expertise and views about what would work best.
“Everyone had their own way of working – that was both a strength and a weakness.” (Interviewee Q, 2013)
They did, however, acknowledge some of the challenges associated with working on multi- agency projects.
“There were some hiccups behind the scenes, but one would expect that with so many different organisations.” (Interviewee A, 2013)
“[…] when you do a big thing […] there’s always a lot of flotsam and jetsam and crisis behind it.” (Interviewee S, 2013)
Some of common challenges identified resulted from the fact that the organisations involved often had: • Different strategic priorities and objectives. • Different governance, decision-making and reporting requirements. • Different internal cultures and communication mechanisms. • Different approaches to project and event management.
Acknowledgment Overall, partners were very positive about the value they gained from being a partner, although a number felt more could have been achieved. Having reflected on the delivery of the event, despite all the challenges, many acknowledged how it had enabled them to enhance their relationships with other partners, to demonstrate their commitment to working in partnership, and their ambition to deliver larger, more impactful events through partnership working. Many acknowledged the positive effect of the Festival in bringing the city and university campuses together. In terms of legacy, most partners identified a desire to maintain a close working relationship with the BSA and Festival partners, and an enthusiasm to welcome and participate in a future British Science Festival if it were to return to Newcastle. Some partners also highlighted how important it was to create an opportunity to celebrate and thank all the partners and stakeholders for their contribution to the Festival. Many acknowledged that the British Science Association Annual Dinner was clearly not designed to cater for that need, but did suggest that an appropriate forum to meet such a need should be considered in the future.
Conclusions and recommendations
Regional partners are a key resource that could be utilised more effectively, especially in relation to fully connecting the Festival to the local context.
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It is suggested that the following actions could be implemented to further strengthen delivery partnerships in the future: • Provide greater clarity about the roles and responsibilities of all partners and use collective agreements on aims and objectives to direct decision-making earlier in the process. Be clear about the areas of agreement and difference.
“Set out what the timeframes are and what needs to be done, and really think through what they need from the partners or actually just talk to the partners upfront about what they can offer at different stages of the process.” (Interviewee E, 2013)
• Ensure robust and clear governance arrangements between and within steering groups, including the presentation of timely papers to aid and validate decision-making, and possibly smaller steering groups. • Produce a comprehensive master plan, including frameworks for governing all workstream planning and operations early on in the process, and use this to build a collaborative approach to decision- making and delivery. In addition, produce clear protocols that clearly articulate approaches and expectations in relation to event management and communications. (See associated recommendations under Operations.) This will help to build confidence and trust amongst partners. • Culturally instil a more collaborative mutual approach, and ensure “[…] more dialogue and more listening.” (Interviewee J, 2013) • Organise an event to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions of all partners. • The value of partner contributions over time should be accounted for in order to get a realistic picture of the overall cost of the Festival and investment levels of partners. 3.12 Business partnerships The British Science Festival team led on all sponsorship negotiations and were successful in securing 19% of the Festival budget in business sponsorship.
Findings
All partners acknowledged the challenges of trying to raise money to support the Festival in the climate of recession in the wake of the abolition of the Regional Development Agency. Equally, they shared their related concerns about the tight timeframes associated with raising the necessary money, and decisions on programming. Feedback from those representing a number of the businesses that sponsored the Festival was very positive. They confirmed that their main objectives for engaging with the Festival had been met. These included: • Raising awareness about their company’s work and their links with science and technology. • Inspiring young people to study science subjects.
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• Increasing awareness of the potential career options connected to science.
“[…] it was an amazing thing to have the British Science Festival coming to Newcastle and the North East. A lot of the science we do doesn’t usually get a public platform.” (Interviewee D, 2013)
For a number of companies, the Festival provided a platform to develop new ways to engage the public in their work. They also cited the importance and value of aligning themselves with the BSA and the Universities. They confirmed that one of the main reasons for their sponsorship of the Festival was that the British Science Association is a national institution with a strong history and track record in delivering the annual British Science Festival. This was important to them, as they felt it gave credibility to the Festival and provided them with an opportunity to gain a national profile for their company. Those interviewed were also very clear that they were not interested in simply having their logo on print material, but rather they expected to have opportunities to engage with the programme on many different levels, including the delivery of programme content. In the main, they felt this had successfully been achieved. Approach A number of the strategic partners highlighted concerns about the approach used by the British Science Festival to secure sponsorship and build relationships with local businesses. Some felt the British Science Association was rather inflexible in terms of the sponsorship packages that it would consider. In most cases, partners felt their knowledge and expertise of potential business sponsorship could have been utilised more effectively. They also raised concerns that when initial leads were offered, they were not always pursued with the resolve expected. Companies involved confirmed that although they developed a very good relationship with the BSA team, their initial contact with the BSA had not been ideal. They felt that their approach was out of kilter with what companies needed - “It felt like no-one had really thought it through from a sponsor or a company point of view and what we might need.” (Interviewee M, 2013) They were looking for a collaborative relationship, not simply a transactional one. Nevertheless, they were quick to point out that in the end, they were able to establish a more collaborative and mutual relationship, and one which they valued greatly.
“We did have to put a lot of effort into it, but then I think you have to do that if you want to get the best out of something anyway.” (Interviewee D, 2013)
Although they raised some concerns about the effectiveness of business management processes, including poor communication during their partnership and poor event management during the Festival, they were keen to confirm that overall, their experience was very positive. They also confirmed their enthusiasm and interest in participating in other similar events in the future.
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Conclusions and recommendations
Despite difficult economic conditions, the Festival secured 19% of its investment from business sponsorship. Given the funding environment that is likely to remain challenging, it may be necessary for the Festival and its partners to consider a more broad-based approach to securing investment in the future. Based on the findings, the following recommendations are suggested for consideration: • Devise a business engagement strategy that is built on securing a wider set of relationships with businesses, not just sponsorship. This could include exploring the provision of CPD and networking opportunities for business staff and representatives, and the provision of a platform for local business to share their scientific expertise. This will help diversify the role and remit of businesses in the context of programme content and investment models offered. • Be more proactive in utilising local knowledge and leads in developing relationships with locally-based businesses. • Identify an account manager, a single point of contact, for every business partner to ensure greater consistency and quality of relationship throughout the process, including during the Festival. • Find more ways to encourage businesses to increase their involvement as programme presenters, audiences and sponsors. 3.13 Operations The Festival took place across 35 different venues, mainly in Newcastle. The British Science Association was responsible for directing and overseeing the overall delivery and management of the Festival. It was facilitated via a number of steering groups. Various delivery partners held associated operational responsibilities for delivering aspects of the events programme. Most of the local partners were well-practiced in working together to deliver various large and small public events, including Newcastle ScienceFest which takes place every March. There were 36 partners and over 333 programme presenters engaged in delivering the Festival. This was a large and complex project which brought together numerous organisations with different management and communication practices. Those involved in the operational management of the Festival were asked for their feedback via a focus group, questionnaire and interviews23.
Findings
Location of the Festival Feedback highlighted the benefits of delivering a city-wide festival that operated across a number of established ‘science’ venues such as the International Centre for Life and the two university campuses as well as cultural venues, e.g. Northern Stage, Discovery Museum, and
23 See Appendix 7.1 for further details.
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Tyneside Cinema. Many respondents felt that this helped to increase access and create a city-wide festival feel. Some respondents wondered whether the festival atmosphere could have been increased by focusing the event over fewer venues. This was a minority view. Operational management Despite the very inclement weather on the Friday before the Festival (6 September 2013), no major operational problems were reported and the Festival was delivered largely as scheduled. Only a couple of events were cancelled. Members of the public reported high levels of satisfaction about the effectiveness of the event delivery:
“The organisation and professionalism of everyone involved has been terrific and impressive.” (Interviewee AM15, 2013)
“Overall, everything I've gone to has been really well organised. Everyone's enjoying it.” (Interviewee AM12, 2013)
Benefits highlighted by those involved in the Festival delivery teams Delivery teams within organisations reported a range of operational and professional development benefits associated with their experience. Those involved in the delivery were positive about their early involvement in decisions about Festival delivery, as this helped people get to know each other and to support the planning process. Those involved in the delivery also highlighted the positive impact of the process on building stronger cross-departmental relationships and improving perceptions of how well operational teams can contribute to delivering large-scale events. They also highlighted a range of professional development impacts associated with having a wider remit, i.e. working across departments and with external partners, which included the development of leadership and delegation skills.
“[…] it gave me the opportunity to get to know people and also to work outside of my box […] I enjoyed it and I think I learned quite a lot from it.” (Interviewee AF, 2013)
Questionnaire respondents stated that the most significant professional development impacts gave them the opportunity to: • Expand their knowledge and develop new skills. • Develop team working and/or leadership skills.
In both cases, over 72% of respondents considered their Festival experience as ‘extremely effective’ or ‘effective’ in supporting their professional development in these areas. The findings are based on feedback from 29 respondents. See Appendix 7.6 for further details. Challenges highlighted by those involved in the Festival delivery teams Numerous respondents raised concerns about elements of the Festival’s management. Based on the feedback, it would appear that the lack of a single operational master plan was the root cause of the operational difficulties. Difficulties highlighted by members of the delivery team included:
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• Lack of clarity on Festival plans until the last minute. • Specifications being altered and changed. • Delivery expectations not being met. • Information was hard to obtain or given on a ‘need-to-know’ basis. • Concern that some Festival event assistants employed by the BSA were not appropriately trained or supported. Other matters The process for collecting data on audience numbers and event details across the Festival was inconsistent during the Festival. This meant that a great deal of time was spent after the Festival working with partners to complete and correct the data. This caused delays in publishing the final evaluation of the Festival.
Conclusions and recommendations
As one might expect from a large multi-partner event, there were tensions regarding the operational delivery of the Festival. However, feedback from audiences was extremely complimentary in terms of the diversity and breadth of the programme, and it is worth acknowledging that much of this diversity came from the range of partners involved in the development and delivery of content and programmes. Many lessons were learned on all sides. Consequently, partners felt confident that where difficulties existed, these could and would be resolved at an early stage in any future delivery plan. Their overriding message was one of enthusiasm and support in continuing to work together to deliver public science engagement activities and to welcome the British Science Festival back to Newcastle in the future.
“Please can Newcastle host this again!?” (AMQ, 2013)
Despite the operational challenges, collaboration in the development and delivery of the Festival is likely to remain an important conceptual and operational feature of the Festival going forward. Bearing this in mind, it is suggested that the BSA establish a set of event management protocols and adopt a clear project management methodology to help bring greater clarity and rigour to the overall management of the Festival in the future. This would help to build confidence and trust among all delivery partners. Other recommendations include: • Continue to involve people early while acknowledging that they may have other priorities, and use that time to agree roles, remit, lines of communication and delegation, and areas of collaboration, along with non-negotiable elements. • Fully utilise all the expertise that is available. • Establish dedicated and clear support systems for all members of the delivery team, e.g. single IT helpline, as was the case with this year’s Festival. • Recognise and promote the value of enabling cross-departmental teams to work together in order to strengthen communications and organisational culture. The professional development benefits for individuals and teams of getting involved in the delivery of the Festival could be given greater recognition.
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• Establish a single data collection system to capture data consistently throughout the Festival. It is also important that appropriate resources (including people) and systems for checking are deployed to ensure the data collected is accurate and complete.
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 4. Summary of key conclusions and recommendations 4.1 Conclusions a. Programme The Festival succeeded in attracting large audiences by delivering a programme of serious, intellectually stimulating, and challenging content in a manner that was engaging and entertaining. The BSA and BSF brands lent credibility and profile to the Festival and were important drivers of engagement by partners and audiences. The involvement of the main strategic partners in supporting the development and delivery of the Festival was critical to extending the reach and diversity of the programme. Over 250 event and exhibition opportunities in 35 different venues were delivered.
b. Audience Clear evidence of the success of the Festival can be seen in audience numbers. The Festival recorded over 70,000 visits, attracting an estimated audience of 19,000 unique visitors, 19% of whom came from outside the region. The Festival was particularly strong at attracting new audiences (just under one-third of the audience had never attended a public science event or visitor attraction previously), and one that was evenly balanced between those who were studying, teaching or otherwise professionally involved in science and those who stated they were just generally interested. 94% of audiences said that the quality of the content of the event they attended was either excellent or good, and 92% felt that event staff were friendly and helpful. The real strength of the Festival, however, can be seen in the types of audience impact it delivered: • Audience members strongly identified with the educational and learning benefits they gained as a consequence of their experience. They were also particularly positive about how much they had enjoyed the opportunity for debate and interaction with the speakers. Appreciation of the quality of the speakers, feeling engaged, and being inspired to learn more about a particular topic were other strong features of audience feedback. • Audience members also felt that the Festival had been very well-organised (notwithstanding the booking and ticketing system) and had offered them significant choice in terms of content and event formats.
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c. Newcastle The positive impact of the Festival in terms of enhancing the reputation and profile of Newcastle was also conclusive, with the vast majority of visitors confirming they would recommend visiting Newcastle to family, friends and work colleagues.
d. Presenters and members of the delivery team Those who presented programmes and were involved in the delivery of the Festival also reported benefits as a result of their involvement in the Festival. Presenters spoke most passionately about how they felt their commitment to engaging and inspiring people to get more involved in science had been realised. For some, despite the huge amount of additional time and effort it took to present at the Festival, the opportunity to share their research with a public audience delivered significant professional benefits, including helping them to consolidate and articulate their work and ideas more clearly. For many on the delivery team, working on the Festival was both tough and rewarding. Most spoke about how they felt their experience had enabled them to develop their leadership, managerial and team-working skills, and had strengthened relationships within their organisations and with external partners. 4.1 Recommendations a. Strategic vision Working with a mix of local delivery partners was undoubtedly a great strength of this year’s Festival and is likely to be the delivery format for the BSA Festival in the future. Not only do strategic partners deliver additional practical and intellectual resources, but they also utilise their networks to build strong local connections and attract audiences. Given this operating context, it is important for the success of future Festivals that the needs and interests of the BSA and each of the delivery partners are more clearly stated and aligned at an early stage in the development process. This, combined with ensuring greater clarity around the different roles and responsibilities of all those involved, will help ensure that the expertise and resources of all partners and the BSA are fully utilised in the pursuit of a common goal. Stronger governance and reporting processes would help to further underpin this process. In relation to future provision, all partners said they were keen to maintain a relationship with the BSA, but were also motivated to explore new ways to continue to work together. Many said they were keen to consider how existing programmes like the Newcastle ScienceFest, could be extended to involve more partners and reach a wider audience. Clearly, there are significant benefits to the BSA and local partners associated with ‘touring’ the Festival. These include: • Maintaining a ‘unique’ public science event offer. • Building programme content around subjects of local and global significance. • Diversifying the delivery and extending audience reach. • Utilising a broad base of expertise and maximising resources.
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In the future, however, it might also be useful to consider how relationships between the BSA and local partners could be strengthened on an ongoing basis as well as in relation to hosting a possible future Festival. This could involve looking at how smaller events could be delivered ‘in association with the BSA’. This is where the BSA brand, expertise and contacts could be used to add value to locally resourced and managed events. This would allow BSA to deliver its aims through numerous smaller-scale local events throughout the year and to build on and maintain partnerships initially forged via the Festival programme. Local partners would benefit from the brand association and expertise of the BSA. The adoption of a more varied approach to utilising the BSA brand and expertise through a wider range of partnership delivery models could prove extremely beneficial to the BSA and local partnerships.
b. Programme Audiences were attracted to the Festival primarily due to their interest in the subjects being discussed and the opportunity given to extend their knowledge. 81% of the audience were from the North East region. Building on these findings, it is suggested that the Festival programme should reflect issues that are relevant locally and globally. These ideas and themes could then be used to help define the curatorial direction of the programme and help to bring a uniqueness and significance to the Festival. It could also provide meaningful thematic hooks that can be used to encourage and help drive the generation of interesting proposals and programme items. Bespoke Festival themes would also be useful in relation to marketing and PR activity. Ensuring that the processes used to invite, review and select items for inclusion in the programme are more transparent and easy to grasp will most likely help build greater trust and engagement with contributors. Being clearer about the curatorial interests and assessment considerations of the selection panel(s) is part of that process. It is important that intellectual rigour combined with a clear understanding of the overall ambitions of the programme be maintained. Considering all the proposals at one time might help to streamline that process and help ensure that a good balance of content, event type and timetable is achieved. Providing access to ‘small grants’ to enable some programme presenters to realise their ideas would help to ensure those with great ideas, perhaps in the early stages of their careers, are supported to participate in the event alongside those with a greater profile and experience. It also remains important that the BSA use its contacts and influence to attract high- profile speakers to the Festival. This helps to underscore the Festival’s strong heritage and helps to position the Festival as a significant national event.
c. Audience mix Projections indicate that 90% of the audience attending the main Festival were adults. Although engaging children and young people in science is clearly an important objective, it is also important to remember that one of the Festival’s great strengths is its capacity to engage and inspire people of all ages. Perhaps in the future, alongside an ongoing commitment to attract family audiences and young people, even greater attention could be paid to promoting equality of access. This would provide some focus on seeking to engage with people irrespective of their age or background.
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d. Business engagement The creation of a broader-based business engagement strategy would allow the BSA and local partners to diversify the ways in which businesses can engage with the Festival. It would also help to clarify and direct the resources, contacts and expertise of the BSA team and local partners to gain maximum benefit from the Festival’s relationship with business partners.
e. Booking and ticketing systems It is crucial to address some of the problems associated with the booking and ticketing systems. There are two issues that need to be dealt with. The first concerns making it easier for a person to book tickets (especially multiple tickets, as most attendees attended more than one event), by using a single entry point booking and ticketing system. The second is to find ways to manage event bookings more effectively. There are lots of examples of good practice in this field, which include charging a minimum administration fee for bookings, and retaining a certain number of tickets for door- entry only.
f. Operations There were some concerns raised about the operational challenges associated with delivering such a large event with so many different partners, and it is important that these are acknowledged and addressed to ease future delivery. The introduction of an overarching delivery master plan supported by an established project management system that everyone can access and use would deliver significant benefits. The introduction of such systems would not only strengthen the reputation and delivery capacity of the BSF team but also help direct the resources and secure the confidence and ‘buy in’ of delivery partners right from the start.
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 5. Final thoughts
“We’re not in a world anymore where people will wait for the British Science Festival as being the best possible arena at which to announce some fantastic scientific discovery.” (Interviewee G, 2013)
A number of partners and programme presenters offered some thoughts on what might be important considerations for the British Science Festival in terms of its future vision. These included thinking about how the Festival could build on its unique strengths to assert its position within the now-busy public science event arena. For example: • Making more of the strong historical pedigree of the Festival to promote its heritage and inform elements of the programme. • Being more connected, both to global scientific discoveries of the past, present and future, and to the local context in which the Festival is presented. This includes gaining greater leverage from the fact that the Festival tours to different regions in the UK by making stronger programming connections to historical and contemporary scientific practice related to each area and encouraging genuine community involvement. • Adopting a more explicit approach to its commitment to audience engagement and interaction as a means to increase interest and learning in science, not just in relation to children and young but people of all ages and interests. This was a great strength of the Festival and could be pursued and promoted with even greater vigour and strategic intent.
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 6. Abbreviations, references & links 6.1 Abbreviations AMQ - Audience Member Questionnaire AM - Audience Member BIS - Department for Business Innovation & Skills BSA - British Science Association BSF - British Science Festival RDA - Regional Development Agency 6.2 References British Science Association website, [Online], Available: http://www.britishscienceassociation.org [accessed, Oct 2013]. Newcastle University website, [Online], Available: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/events/sciencefest/ [accessed, Oct 2013]. McLusky, S.; Wilkinson, C. (2013), Young People’s Programme Feedback Report. 6.3 Links BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art City Learning Centre Discovery Museum Great North Museum: Hancock International Centre for Life Newcastle City Council Newcastle Science City Northern Stage Northumbria University Tyneside Cinema
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 7. Appendices 7.1 Description of evaluation methodologies and approaches to data collection and analysis Methodologies This section of the report describes how information relating to individuals’ experiences of the Festival was collected. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to capture both a broad spectrum of views and more in-depth reflections. Questionnaires Separate online questionnaires were designed for each of the following groups: • Audiences. • Programme presenters. • Members of the delivery team.
This ensured that we captured feedback that was relevant to their Festival experience. The questionnaires were designed to take about 10-20 minutes to complete and consisted mainly of a range of multiple-choice questions with the option to include other information or comments via open-ended text boxes. Respondents were also invited to contact the evaluation team with further comments or queries. Audience respondents were incentivised to complete the questionnaire with the offer of entry into a prize draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. Another online questionnaire was designed to assist with the collation of the event profile data. Semi-structured interviews Semi-structured interviews were used to generate more in-depth data which provides a richer and more nuanced insight into individual experiences. The semi-structured interview approach provides a framework for conversation between the interviewer and interviewee. This ensures that areas of interest are covered, but allows enough flexibility to enable the interviewer to probe with follow-up questions as appropriate. It also allows the interviewee to discuss any aspects deemed relevant in relation to the Festival. Different interview schedules for members of the audience, programme presenters, members of the delivery team, and strategic partners were designed to account for their different roles and experiences. The interview schedule focused on generating feedback regarding the following areas of interests: • Nature of the participant’s involvement. • Motives and reasons for getting involved. • Nature and impact of the participant’s experience. • Reflections and recommendations for the future.
In general, the interviewer did not know the interviewee, but efforts were made to put people at ease and create a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. This included meeting with strategic partners, programme presenters, and delivery teams at their own premises and providing audience interviewees with a comfortable place to sit and relax during the
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interview. Many of the audience member interviews were conducted in pairs to encourage those involved to feel more confident about sharing their experience. Interviews generally lasted 15-30 minutes and all those involved welcomed the chance to talk at length about their experience. The majority of interviews were conducted face-to- face. Only two were conducted over the phone. Those interviewed were selected in order to represent a cross-section of people involved in the development and delivery of the Festival. The audio recordings from the interviews were transcribed to generate data for analyses. Qualitative and quantitative feedback from audiences, strategic and business partners, programme presenters and members of the Festival delivery team helped generate the findings presented in this report. An outline of the scope of the data sources relating to each group is provided below. Data collection This section describes the nature and scope of data captured. Event profiles Data relating to the number and type of events and who was involved in their delivery was captured via event profiles. These were completed by event assistants during the Festival. Further data was submitted by partners for inclusion in the data set after the Festival. Data submissions were cross-referenced against the programme master plan and Festival programme guide and website. Audience numbers Data relating to audience numbers was captured via the event profiles and supplied by partners. See Appendix 7.2 for full details about the methods used to collate and calculate audience numbers. Audience feedback Interviews 29 semi-structured interviews (lasting 15-30 minutes each) were conducted with members of the audience by Newcastle University Student Ambassadors during the Festival. These Student Ambassadors (trained by Katherine Pearson and Sally Lockey from Flo- culture) were directed to conduct interviews and collect questionnaires from audience members attending non-ticketed events on each of the Festival days. Consideration was also given to capturing feedback from different types of event taking place at different times during the day. Questionnaires 2,329 audience members who had purchased tickets or booked to attend an event were invited to complete the online questionnaire after the Festival. 587 individuals (25%) submitted a completed questionnaire. This included 54 questionnaires that were completed during the Festival. Feedback was gathered from respondents who attended a range of different events throughout the Festival. See Figures 19 and 20.
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Figure 19| Breakdown of different types of event attended by those who completed the audience questionnaire
Other, 2% Drop-in event, 2% Workshop, 5%
Trip/Tour, 6%
Show/ Demonstration/ Perfomance, 13%
Talk/Debate, 73%
Base: 382 (after the event only)
Figure 20 |Breakdown by day of Festival attendance for those completing the audience questionnaire
121 104 111 87 90 74
Saturday 7th Sunday 8th Monday 9th Tuesday 10th Wednesday 11th Thursday 12th September September September September September September
Base: 587
Strategic & business partners Interviews Semi-structured interviews (each lasting between 20 -40 minutes) were conducted with 10 individuals from nine organisations by members of the Flo-culture team after the Festival. Programme presenters Interviews Semi-structured interviews (each lasting 20-40 minutes) were conducted with eight individuals from three organisations by members of the Flo-culture team after the Festival. Questionnaires
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133 programme presenters were invited to complete the online questionnaire. 29 individuals (22%) did so. See Table 2 for details of the types of job role held by those who completed and returned the questionnaire.
Table 2| Breakdown of respondents by job role
Job role Number of respondents Academic Researchers, Lecturers and Professors 12 Programme Administrators and Managers 11 Educators, Engagement Officers 6 Total 29
Base: 29
59% of the respondents were from Newcastle University. Other responses were from individuals from 12 other organisations. Overall, the views of 36 programme presenters from 14 different organisations were recorded. 19 respondents were female, 17 were male. The data gathered came from programme presenters who were responsible for delivering a wide range of topics via various event types on different days throughout the Festival. See Figures 21, 22 and 23 for details.
Figure 21| Breakdown of subjects covered by programme presenters completing the questionnaire
7
5
3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Base: 29
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Figure 22 | Breakdown by type of event delivered by programme presenters completing the questionnaire
7 6 6 5
3 2
Talk / Debate Workshop Other Drop-in event Show / Trip / Tour Demonstration / Performance
Base: 29
Figure 23 | Dates worked by programme presenters completing the questionnaire
13
10 8 8 7 7
Sat, 7 Sept Sun, 8 Sept Mon, 9 Sept Tue, 10 Sept Wed, 11 Sept Thu, 12 Sept
Base: 29 NB: Some programme presenters worked at more than one event
Festival Delivery Team Interviews Semi-structured interviews (each lasting 20-40 minutes) were conducted with five individuals from four organisations by members of the Flo-culture team after the Festival. Focus group Nine members of Newcastle University, representing Estates (1), Catering (2), Accommodation (1), ISS (2) and Engagement (3) took part in a focus group to reflect on their experiences of the Festival. Questionnaires 130 members the delivery team were invited to complete the online questionnaire. 29 individuals (22%) did so. See Table 3 for details of the types of job role held by those who completed and returned the questionnaire.
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Table 3 |Breakdown of respondents by job role
Job role Number of respondents Operations (including representatives from the box office, grounds, media 13 and PR, IT departments) Festival Assistant 6 Newcastle University Student Ambassador 5 Young People’s Programme Assistant 4 Total 29
Base: 29
20 of the respondents were from Newcastle University, 8 were from the British Science Festival team, and 1 was from Newcastle Science City. Data analysis Data from the online questionnaires was captured from online sources and collated into MS Excel and Word files ready for analysis. The data from the interviews and focus group was analysed using grounded theory methodology. This approach ensures that the views expressed by those interviewed are at the forefront of the data analysis process. All the data from the questionnaires, focus group and interviews was then reviewed and analysed to identify common and different perspectives in relation to established and emergent areas of interest. This information was then prioritised to generate the key findings of the evaluation. Subsequently, these were used to inform the development of associated recommendations for the future. Note of caution It is worth remembering that the information presented in this report is based on data gathered from only a proportion of those who attended the Festival and, as such, is reflective only of their views. Where projections based on questionnaire returns have been presented in this report, specific reference points have been included to help bring an informed perspective to the findings. 7.2 Description of method used to confirm Festival audience numbers Events and exhibitions The final number of audience visits to events and exhibitions was captured via event profiles24 and supplied by delivery partners. • 11,72925 audience visits were captured via event profiles.
24 Event profiles were completed by event assistants during the Festival.
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• 52,420 audience visits were captured from data provided by partners. See Table 4 for breakdown.
Table 4 |Breakdown of audience data from partners
Partner Number of audience visits BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art 8,312 Discovery Museum 4,368 Great North Museum: Hancock 34,489 International Centre for Life 3,617 Tyneside Cinema 1,134 Other 500 Total 52,420
Estimated audience attendances There were 35 event opportunities for which audience data was not available (14% of the total number of event opportunities). In these cases, estimated visit numbers, based on an average of audience visits recorded at similar events, were used. • 2,495 audience visits were estimated (4% of overall event and exhibition audience visit numbers). Young People’s Programme An audience figure of 7,349 (6,650 pupils and 699 accompanying adults) was sourced from the Young People’s Programme Feedback Report. This report was supplied and produced by Sarah McLusky (Sparks Education) and Colin Wilkinson (Corylus Learning). Street Scientists The number of hours worked by Street Scientists during the Festival was based on the timetable of activity supplied by Newcastle University. This gave details of each of the Science Scientists’ timetables of work. 19 Street Scientists each delivered between 10 and 42 hours of science demonstrations throughout the Festival. In total, they delivered over 600 hours of science engagement activities, reaching an audience of some 2,400, based on each of them engaging with 4 members of the public per hour. Footfall During the Festival there were two large events - the ‘Festival Launch in the City’ and the ‘Festival Finale: Good Vibrations’ which each lasted around two hours. These took place in the public space around Grey’s Monument.
25 The original attendance visits figures from event profiles came to 10,887. However, there were gaps and anomalies in the data generated from the event profiles. Therefore, we had to liaise with partners in order to complete the data set. Once complete, the audience number was 11,929.
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It is estimated by Newcastle City Council that footfall in that area is in the region of 24 million per year. Based on this information, we estimate footfall of 65,000 people per day, or 4,500 per hour. As such, we estimate that footfall in the area where the two events took place was about 18,000. This is not an indicator of the number of people who actually engaged with the events, only those who were in the areas where the events took place. For the purposes of this report, we further estimated that 1 in 25 of those in the vicinity of these two events was actively engaged. This gives a footfall audience of 720 for these events. Holding these two events in such high-profile public spaces provided a good platform from which to promote the Festival and potentially engaged large numbers of people. 7.3 Overview of main Festival partners Programmers • British Geological Survey • Newcastle University • British Association for Biological • North of England Institute of Mining Anthropology and Mechanical Engineers • BALTIC Centre for Contemporary • Northumbria University arts (including BALTIC 39) • Northumbrian Water • Bridge Hotel • Nottingham University • British Science Association • Ouseburn Trust • Dance City • Port of Tyne • Department of Business • Ready, Steady, Science Innovation & Skills • Royal Photographic Society • Ernest (café/bar) • Sackler Centre for Consciousness • European Mathematical Society Science • Gateshead Council (Central • The Biscuit Factory Library) • The Globe Gallery • Great North Run Culture • The Literary and Philosophical • Houses of Parliament Society • International Centre for Life • The National Trust • Kielder Observatory • Tyne and Wear Archives and • London Mathematical Society Museums • National Institute for Health • Tyneside Cinema Research • University of Cambridge • Newcastle City Council (City • University of Hull library, CLC, Civic Centre) • University of Edinburgh • Newcastle Science City
Plus numerous others.
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Business Partners • Aesica • Northumbria Water • AkzoNobel • Random House Children’s Publishers • Catapult UK • CPI • Technology Strategy Board • GE Oil and Gas • The Shears Foundation • IP Group plc • Saudi Aramco • NET Park • Science and Technology Facilities Council Media and Publicity Partners • Metro Radio • NE1 Business Improvement District Company • NewcastleGateshead Initiative • The Journal 7.4 Call for proposals Below are details of the ‘call for proposals’ for the British Science Festival 2013. Event organisers must submit proposals via the British Science Association, whose nationwide ‘call for proposals’ opens on 4th July 2012. Depending on the target audience, events can take a number of forms and may take place on or off campus. Main programme (based at Newcastle University): The main programme is where new, cutting-edge research will be presented and talked about, and is largely targeted at an adult, professional audience who will have some knowledge of the topic, or a general interest audience interested in the sociological impacts of research. Typical types of event might include workshops, lectures, demonstrations and debates. Period of accepting proposals for this programme: July 2012 – March 2013. Young People’s Programme (Schools Programme): This is broadly targeted at primary level (ages 8–13) and secondary level (ages 14–19). The Young People’s Programme will also be hosted on-campus at Newcastle University. Events include talks, workshops and hands-on activity. The Young People’s Programme will be coordinated by external providers: Colin Wilkinson, Corylus Learning, and Sarah McLusky, Sparks Education, who will be pleased to discuss any activities you wish to put forward: [email protected]. Period of accepting proposals for this programme: July 2012 – February 2013. City programme: Events take place in venues city-wide, and tend to be weekend/evening based. Types of activity range from hands-on workshops, comedy, exhibitions and pub quizzes to tours of local areas of interest. Evening events are often aimed at a young adult audience, and weekend events at families. Period of accepting proposals for this programme: July 2012 – October 2012. The media: Around 100 leading science journalists come for the duration of the British Science Festival from around the country. A dedicated press centre is set up, with 16 press conferences taking place to present breaking research, and extensive press coverage generated. Event organisers presenting new and cutting-edge research will be invited to submit
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press papers ahead of the Festival, for consideration to take part in one of the press conferences. Further information for event organisers can be found in The British Science Association’s ‘How To’ Guides here: http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/british-science- festival/event-organisers/how-guides
7.5 Feedback on the Young People’s Programme 2013 The Young People’s Programme at the British Science Festival 2013 was managed by Sarah McLusky (Sparks Education) and Colin Wilkinson (Corylus Learning), who were also responsible for producing the feedback report. Key findings from this report are presented below. Headline data • The Young People’s Programme exceeded visitor number targets by 48%, attracting 6,650 young people and 699 adults, a total of 7,349 visitors. • 96 schools and 3 home-educator families attended. • 899 secondary students provided feedback, and 88% rated the overall experience as good or very good (target 80%). • 661 primary students provided feedback, and 97% rated the overall experience as good or very good (target 80%) – none rated it ‘not great’ or ‘bad’. • 61 teachers provided feedback. 75% rated the experience as excellent, 98.4% rated it ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ (target at good/excellent: 75%). Audience data See Table 5 for details of attendance figures associated with the Young People’s Programme.
Table 5 | Breakdown of Young People’s Programme audience figures
Age Group Total number Accompany- Total number of pupils ing adults of visitors KS2 (pupils aged between 7 and 3,310 430 3740 11 years old) KS3 (pupils aged between 11 and 1,541 129 1670 14 years old) KS4 (pupils aged between 14 and 1,188 97 1285 16 years old) Post-16 (pupils aged been 16 and 611 43 654 19 years old Total 6,650 699 7,349
Summary evaluation and conclusions In general, the Young People’s Programme seems to have been extremely well-received by all parties involved. All targets relating to both visitor numbers and quality of feedback have been exceeded.
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What worked well? Event organisation during the Young People’s Programme was almost universally rated ‘excellent’ and numerous teachers and activity providers praised the work of the event organisers and Festival Assistants. The activity programme was well-received, with the more practical and/or engaging sessions given the highest ratings. Teachers reported that their visit to the Festival was beneficial for their students (better engagement with science; understanding science in the real world; careers in science) and for their professional development. The opportunity to visit a university was also considered important for raising aspirations. The general trend for students suggests they are more likely to consider studying science following their visit. What could have been improved? Although some of the suggested improvements are unrealistic or beyond the control of the organisers, some common themes emerged. The timing of the event within the school year was raised a number of times. Even moving the Festival to one or two weeks later in September would have made things easier for the visiting schools, especially post-16s. The most popular activities were those which were either physically or mentally engaging. Case studies of the most successful activities may support future organisers and activity providers to enhance the effectiveness of their activities. Some respondents (both teachers and activity providers) would have liked more information in advance. By far the largest and most frequently underestimated task in the run-up to events of this scale is the cross-checking and marshalling of information. Bookings, school requirements, activity requirements, service provision, staffing and timetabling all have to come together at precisely the right moment in the right location. The challenges of this Sisyphean task certainly limit how far in advance information can be shared, but there is room for improvement. The feedback from both teachers and students suggests that the post-16 programme did not meet some expectations. The timing of the event in early September was particularly difficult for this age group, and creating appropriate activity programmes for subject- specialised students was a challenge. Better integration with the main programme and greater use of university facilities for practical workshops or tours might provide the extra stretch and challenge needed for these students. 7.6 Festival delivery team professional development impacts Festival delivery team staff were asked to reflect on the impact of working on the Festival in terms of their own professional development. The findings are presented in Figures 24 to 27 below.
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Figure 24 | Breakdown of the effectiveness of working on the Festival in helping members of the delivery team to expand knowledge and develop new skills
Extremely Not effective effective 17% 14%
Moderately effective 10% Effective 59%
Base: 29
Figure 25 | Breakdown of the effectiveness of the Festival in helping members of the delivery team to establish new contacts and strengthen existing partnerships
Not effective Extremely effective 10% 10%
Moderately effective Effective 35% 45%
Base: 29
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Figure 26 | Breakdown of the effectiveness of the Festival in helping members of the delivery team to develop team-working or leadership skills
Not effective 7%
Moderately effective 17% Extremely effective 41% Effective 35%
Base: 29
Figure 27 | Breakdown of the effectiveness of the Festival in helping to build the delivery team’s confidence
Not effective 10%
Extremely Moderately effective effective 35% 24%
Effective 31%
Base: 29
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7.7 Media Evaluation report Introduction This Media Evaluation report was written by Nicola Harrison, White Hot Communications, Flo-culture Associate, to be part of the full Evaluation Report. It was produced using data provided by Coralie Young, British Science Association, and Laura White, Newcastle University. Evaluation method Monitoring of coverage External agencies were used to detect the most widely-carried print and broadcast coverage, using keywords such as ‘British Science Festival’ and ‘British Festival of Science’ to identify Festival items. The University used Precise and Google Alerts to collate their coverage, whilst BSF used Kantar and Google Alerts. As such, the findings in this evaluation are based on the collated coverage provided by Newcastle University and the British Science Festival gathered from those sources. A number of stories were not picked up in this monitoring, since those journalists who did not attend the Festival but who wrote up stories on it tended to remove references to the Festival. This may occur for a variety of reasons, including to shorten the story or to make it seem more timely. Furthermore, broadcast monitoring only included a short transcript around the mention of a keyword, so any separate items occurring within the same broadcast without an independent keyword mention were not picked up. Any stories reported without mention of one of the keywords were, in general, missed. Many stories from Festival press conferences generated significant coverage, but these were not picked up in media monitoring, since they did not mention the Festival. However, they often name-checked the relevant institution and others directed people to websites linked to the Festival. Examples included coverage in Vanity Fair, Time Magazine, Huffington Post, BBC Breakfast, Mock the Week, Loose Women and global internet coverage on Yahoo! and MSN. Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) The financial equivalent of all the coverage generated by the Festival (i.e. the cost if advertising space had been purchased) was calculated using the methods employed by monitoring agencies. These calculations give an idea of the financial value that the press operation brings to the profile of the Festival. Where the coverage value was not provided by the monitoring agency, a cost of 1p per person for print AVE, 10p per person for television AVE, and 1p per 4 people for radio AVE was applied - all based on the circulation of the outlet. These rates were applied across media evaluations since 2010. Please note that where advertising value equivalents were calculated for regional broadcast media, they were based on the proportion of the population in that broadcast region, i.e. total viewing figure for station/100 X percentage of UK population in the North East region for that channel. News articles which were repeated on the same day (e.g. on 6 pm and 10 pm news slots) were only included once in the coverage value. Duplicate stories
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Certain papers run identical stories in different geographical editions and in later editions of the same paper. Geographically different articles were counted as separate stories. Later editions were not considered separate stories and not counted more than once. Broadcast stories reported within the same programme were counted as separate items if they were covered at different times during the programme. For example, the ABC Science Show covered a number of separate Festival stories over the course of the programme, so each was classed as a separate incidence of radio coverage. Geographical coverage National UK nationwide media, including Metro (unless news content occurred only in one geographical edition – see ‘Regional’). Regional Local and regional media from the UK, including the Evening Standard, but excluding Metro. Metro has several geographical editions, generally featuring identical news content, and as such it was classed as one national publication, unless the content occurred only in one geographical edition (e.g. regional event information that was included only in the North East edition). International This accounts for all non-UK media. Printed media coverage National The number of national newspapers covering this year's Festival was 25, an increase of 5 on the previous year. Furthermore, there was a rise in the total number of items printed in the national media compared with the previous year. Including magazines, this figure stood at 200, up significantly on the 160 recorded in 2012. In line with previous years, The Daily Mail, The Times and The Daily Telegraph provided the highest levels of coverage, with The Independent and The Guardian maintaining their moderate coverage levels of the previous two years. The most notable dip in interest came from the Financial Times, whose coverage of the Festival fell well below that for 2012. Coverage of the Festival did not begin to gather momentum in earnest until Day 4 of the Festival, with the peak occurring on the final day and the day following the conclusion of the event. The stories that generated the most coverage in national print media were: • Professor Lisa Jardine, President of the British Science Association, claims that the BBC is dumbing down science. • Professor Craig Jackson makes the case that a fitness test for police recruits discriminates against women. • David Attenborough contends that human evolution may be over. • Newcastle University fertility experts advise women to have babies by 35. • Dr Mick Wilkinson of Northumbria University advises parents to buy plimsolls rather than trainers for their children.
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• Leading academics draw up a Doomsday list of existential risks that threaten the planet. • The world's ugliest animals are announced at the British Science Festival.
For some perspective on the figures, one may look at the issues that garnered national press attention during the week of the Festival. These included the conclusion of the trial of Coronation Street star Michael Le Vell, a break-in at Buckingham Palace and the subsequent detention of Prince Andrew in the grounds of the Palace, plus ongoing issues relating to possible military intervention in the civil war in Syria. Statistics Number of national titles (including magazines and other publications) covering the Festival: 37 Number of national newspapers covering the Festival: 25 There were 210 pieces of national print media coverage as follows: • Daily Express: 4 • The News: 1 • Daily Mail: 22 • The People: 2 • Daily Record: 2 • Photo Professional: 1 • The Daily Telegraph: 26 • Prospect: 1 • Financial Times: 4 • Scotland on Sunday: 2 • Focus: 4 • The Scotsman: 14 • Ground Engineering: 1 • Scottish Daily Mail: 12 • The Guardian: 8 • The Scottish Sun: 2 • The Herald: 4 • Shortlist: 3 • How It Works: 3 • Sky at Night Magazine: 2 • i: 2 • The Sun: 2 • Independent Education Today: 1 • Sunday Express: 2 • The Independent: 12 • The Sunday Telegraph: 2 • Irish Times: 5 • The Sunday Times: 4 • Laboratory News: 1 • The Times (Scotland): 3 • Leisure Opportunities: 1 • The Times: 23 • Metro: 8 • The Times (Eire): 11 • Motor Boats Monthly: 1 • Times Higher Education: 2 • News Letter: 2
Regional Coverage in regional newspapers and magazines appears to be slightly down on previous years. The number of articles appearing in regional titles stands at 286, compared to 299 for 2012. However, it is clear that news of the Festival reached all parts of the United Kingdom through regional print media, with articles appearing everywhere from the Belfast Telegraph to the South Wales Argus, the Eastern Daily Press to the Stornoway Gazette. There is strong evidence that newspapers in previous host cities have continued to provide a notable amount of coverage, with the Press and Journal in Aberdeen – host city in 2012 – and the Telegraph & Argus in Bradford – host city in 2011 – featuring a number of articles
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connected to this year's Festival. This may well be due to the maintenance of 'legacy contacts' with key figures in the media each year. Very high levels of coverage were generated in newspapers in the North East, most notably The Journal, The Chronicle and The Northern Echo. Alongside coverage of the key news stories breaking at the Festival, these newspapers provided more family-focused items, running stories that encouraged readers to attend the Festival for 'family fun', where they would find 'something for everyone'. Statistics Number of regional newspapers running article(s) about the Festival: 37 There were 289 pieces of regional print media coverage as follows: • Aberdeen Evening Express: 1 • The Press and Journal, Aberdeen: 18 • Belfast Telegraph: 2 • The Press, York: 1 • Birmingham Mail: 1 • The Herald: 1 • The Bolton News: 2 • RPS Journal: 1 • The Chronicle: 57 • Rutland & Stamford Mercury: 1 • The Daily Echo: 1 • Shropshire Star: 1 • Accent: 1 • South Wales Argus: 1 • The Crack: 10 • South Wales Evening Post: 1 • Eastern Daily Press: 3 • Southern Daily Echo: 1 • Evening Gazette: 2 • Stirling Observer: 1 • Express and Echo: 1 • Stornoway Gazette: 1 • IC Wolverhampton: 1 • The Sunday Post: 1 • The Journal: 119 • Sunderland Echo: 1 • Living North: 5 • Teesdale Mercury: 1 • London Evening Standard: 2 • Telegraph & Argus, Bradford: 8 • North-East Times Magazine: 1 • The Weekly Telegraph: 1 • North-West Evening Mail: 1 • Western Daily Press: 1 • The Northern Echo: 32 • Western Morning News: 1 • Norwich Evening News: 2 • The Western Mail: 2 • Northumberland Gazette: 1 International As in previous years, the Festival reached the pages of international print publications, with coverage ranging from the International New York Times to the Times of India and The Christian Post in the USA, thanks particularly to the announcement of the ugliest animals on the planet – The Christian Post. There were 6 pieces of international coverage. Statistics • International New York Times: 1 • 24 Hours Vancouver: 1 • The Christian Post: 1 • International Herald Tribune: 1 • The Chronicle, Vancouver: 1 • Times of India: 1
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Online media coverage Daily reports from Google News and Alerts were used to monitor online coverage based on various combinations of keywords. Reports were also obtained from the cuttings agencies, and by searching the websites of online national newspaper and broadcast companies. Some coverage was duplicated in print/broadcast, but much was unique. The statistics received so far relate almost entirely to UK websites and for this reason, it would not be appropriate to make comparisons with last year's figures, as those incorporated worldwide results. Online articles relating to the Festival were found predominantly on national and regional news outlet websites. These results reflect the statistics discussed in the section devoted to print media coverage. National newspaper sites were responsible for much online coverage, most notably The Mail Online, Telegraph.co.uk, The Independent Online and Guardian.com. A huge number of regional newspaper websites featured coverage of the Festival, most notably those attached to titles in the North East, such as ChronicleLive.co.uk. However, websites attached to newspapers from throughout the UK carried articles relating to the Festival – from the Brighouse Echo to the Bury Times, the Daventry Express to Dunstable Today, and the Wigan Evening Post to the Worthing Herald. The Festival found a particularly noticeable amount of exposure in the Jersey Evening Post Online. Online TV and radio websites such itv.com, Metro Radio online and Sky Tyne and Wear, provided notable coverage, as did online news sites such as The Huffington Post, Ukwirednews.com and Yahoo! news. The statistics show that the story receiving most attention in the UK online was Professor Craig Jackson's claim that a fitness test for police recruits discriminates against women. This accounted for about one-third of all online articles in the UK relating to the Festival. The Doomsday list of existential threats to the planet and the announcement of the world's ugliest animals also generated particular interest in cyberspace. There were 574 items of online coverage collected as of 20 November 2013. Broadcast coverage Once again this year, TV and radio coverage was monitored using a service offered by partners’ cuttings agencies. Radio and television coverage of the Festival rose this year in comparison with 2012. Radio Radio coverage of this year's Festival showed that 169 pieces of radio coverage were broadcast in comparison with the previous year's 147. BBC Radio Newcastle provided extensive coverage of the event, featuring numerous broadcasts on a daily basis during the Festival. There was interest from BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, and BBC Radio 2, as well as many regional BBC radio stations. Television There was a rise in television coverage compared to the previous year. This year there were 20 pieces of television coverage in comparison with 17 in 2012 and 27 in 2011. These pieces were almost exclusively regional broadcasts in the North East by BBC and ITV, apart from one piece on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch. Social Media coverage Engagement campaigns were run by The British Science Festival across several different
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social networking channels, including campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and a blog. Newcastle University also tweeted through their @EngageNU account. BSA Facebook The total number of ‘likes’ increased consistently during the run-up to the Festival and during the Festival itself, with a 10% increase in the total number of ‘likes’ in the month prior to the Festival and over the Festival, bringing to the total to 2,250. As in previous years, there was an impressive level of engagement, with users interacting by sharing and liking posts. Popular posts were often shared 10-20 times and each seen by over a thousand people. There is a clear spike in activity during the Festival, although the fortnight before the Festival also saw increased levels of activity and interaction in terms of likes, shares and comments. For example, ticket giveaway posts were liked/commented on/shared over 60 times. The Facebook page was successfully used to promote specific events in the run-up to the Festival. This technique is one that should be re-deployed in future years. BSA Twitter In the month prior to the Festival, the Twitter following increased by some 500 people, bringing follower numbers to 7,151 at the end of the Festival. This year, Twitter was used to draw attention to a range of activities taking place at the Festival using photos, reviews and previews of ‘featured events’. This appeared to be successful, and in combination with sharing photos during the Festival itself, focused attention on the range of events offered, leading to hundreds of retweets and comments. The most popular tweets during the Festival were each shared dozens of times. BSA Blog A series of Festival posts was incorporated in the main BSA blog. Contributors included event organisers, speakers, Festival sponsors and people attending events during the week. The blog posts were some of the most viewed pages on the Association’s website during the Festival and helped to drive traffic to Festival events pages.
Conclusions and recommendations
There is certainly positive news about the media coverage of the British Science Festival 2013, with an increase in coverage from the previous year. Radio coverage was greater than the previous year, as was television (see previous figures). The Festival maintained the impressive breadth of coverage it receives in the region and increased its coverage in national print media, with a total of 499 items of coverage in both media combined. Online coverage was extensive, with 574 pieces of coverage picked up to date. Social media proved an invaluable tool, with an increase in both Facebook ‘likes’ and Twitter followers. • Twitter: The number of followers increased by almost 500 during the Festival. • Facebook: The total number of ‘likes’ increased by 10% in the month leading up to the Festival.
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report
The total advertising equivalent ratio of UK print and broadcast as of 11 November 2013 was £1,243,808. There was some confusion as to which methods of data collection were being used by whom, and collated coverage was sometimes quite disparate and delivered from separate sources. This required extensive work in cross-referencing and de-duping. It is extremely important that in future years, consistent systems for the collection and collation of data are adopted by all partners.
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 8. Acknowledgments
This report and the associated evaluation were undertaken by Flo-culture26 on behalf of Newcastle University27 and the British Science Association28. Our thanks go to all the stakeholders, programme presenters, audience members and event staff for the time they spent sharing their thoughts and reflecting on the Festival. Thanks also to our colleague Nicola Harrison, who produced the media report, and to Sarah McLusky (Sparks Education) and Colin Wilkinson (Corylus Learning) for sharing their report on the Young People’s Programme, as well as to members of the Flo-culture team - Sally Lockey (interviews), Hannah Claytor (online questionnaires, data management and initial findings), Sarah Glenton (transcriptions and proofing) and Johnathon Finlay (copy editing). Very special thanks to Kate Hudson, Engagement Manager, Newcastle University for her wholehearted support, thoughtful direction and ongoing advice throughout the process, and to Rose Wu, Newcastle University Festival Co-ordinator for her help in gathering data, as well as to Jo Coleman, British Science Festival Manager, British Science Association for her full commitment and contribution to the process. The British Science Festival evaluation programme and report was produced and written by Katherine Pearson, Director, Flo-culture (December 2013).
26 http://www.flo-culture.com/ 27 http://www.ncl.ac.uk/about/ 28 http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/
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British Science Festival Newcastle 2013 | Evaluation Report 9. Contacts
If you would like to know about the Festival or the evaluation, please contact: Kate Hudson Joanne Coleman University Engagement Manager British Science Festival Manager Public Relations Directorate British Science Association Newcastle University Wellcome Wolfson Building King’s Gate 165 Queen's Gate Newcastle upon Tyne London NE1 7RU SW7 5HD
Tel: 0191 208 8312 / 07834 281 405 Tel: 020 7019 4936 / 07502 424 248 [email protected] [email protected]
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