Winter is here – which, as someone who spends much of my time in Bathurst I have been chillingly aware of – but at Regional Arts NSW our program delivery is heating up. In the coming weeks we will launch this year’s series of Click online workshops in arts business. We will also start a number of new networking groups, run further grant writing workshops and continue our discussion panels through The Country Air. We’ve also got an exciting new state-side program about to start – as soon as we’re allowed to announce it!
Our Click program is in its second year and we’ve made a few tweaks. Aimed at regional arts practitioners, arts workers, organisations and businesses, we are offering ten online sessions. Some of the delivery will be done by us at RANSW, but we are also bringing in a range of experts from across the sector including Arts Law, Monica Davidson at Creative Plus Business, Business HQ, Natalie Bramble from iclick2learn, Finsura and a session that includes presentations from the Aboriginal Regional Arts Alliance, Accessible Arts, and Diversity Arts Australia.
Most sessions are on Wednesday evenings, although we’re still finalising dates with Arts Law who need to do a different time. We start early at 5.30pm and go through for an hour and a half, finishing by 7pm. We need the participants to attend rather that access recordings afterwards. This is because we want our cohort of ‘Clickers’ to be interacting both with the presenters and with each other. The first four sessions, themed as ‘Arts and Regional Practice’ will be delivered in July – yes, really soon so you will need to book in quickly. Then after a two week break we will deliver our next series of three sessions around Marketing and Communication. We will take a four-week break, then delivering three sessions on Marketing Your Business in October.
This is a program that is aimed at regional people, but it is open to everyone. We do need to charge for it, but we have kept the fees as low as possible. While the full price for the ten sessions is $250, we are offering a discount price for members of Regional Arts NSW. Membership for one year costs $25/$50 for individuals, depending on whether you are located in an LGA that already contributes financially to the RANSW RADO Members network or not. If you have an RANSW membership, you will be provided with a code for your Click discount, as well as being offered many other services from RANSW including other training sessions, use of our office and meeting facilities when visiting Sydney, networking sessions and access to our research and resources.
It’s great to be connecting with people from across NSW in this program. It’s important that we all work together to make sure that the regions are given every opportunity to flourish in the arts and to be recognised for the great work that is happening.