I can forgive the Communities Secretary for not understanding what an ‘Audience Development Officer’ does. ‘Audience Development’ is probably the least worst shorthand the sector has come up with for working to get more people and a wider range of people engaged in cultural activity. Crucially ‘Audience Development’ is not just about ‘telling people what’s on’, it’s about actively engaging with communities to ensure cultural organisations and funders are providing what people want and find relevant.
While we’re on the subject of names that do not do justice to the importance and complexity of the ideas and intended outcomes behind them, let’s consider ‘The Big Society’. I have the pleasure of talking to a diverse range of intelligent and creative people on a day-to-day basis. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been asking lots of them what they think about ‘The Big Society’. In my unrepresentative but broad sample, I’d say that 8 out of 10 haven’t got a clue.
For that unenlightened 80%, I’d advise you take two minutes and read the document entitled ‘Building the Big Society’ on the Cabinet Office’s website. It’s very short and to the point and has five priorities:
1) Give Communities More Power
This is about empowering local communities and giving them a voice so that they can have public money invested in the services they want. We’d see this as a key aspect of what we already do under the banner of ‘audience development’.
2) Encourage People to take an active role in their Communities
This is all about increasing participation in community based activities as well as increasing the contribution from local people to supporting the services they use and value. We’d see both as key aspects of audience development.
3) Transfer Power from Central to Local Government
This is about devolving power and finance to the most appropriate spatial level. The Audience Development Agency network is structured with less than 1.5% of our staff working on a national basis and the rest engaging with local communities.
4) Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises
This is about providing support to Third Sector organisations, including helping them to become more enterprising and self-sufficient. I’d say that accounts for at least 75% of what Audience Development Agencies do on a day-to-day basis.
5) Publish Government Data
This is about making government data available to the public in a meaningful way. Audience Development Agencies are already experts in translating and making sense of all sorts of data.
Clearly, ‘The Big Society’ is crying out for the skills and experience of Audience Development Officers and Agencies, even if the Communities Secretary and his team at CLG don’t yet realise it.
To ensure I don’t choke on my cornflakes again in the near future when I hear ‘Audience Development’ being pilloried on Radio 4, I’m going to propose that we simply substitute the words ‘Big Society’ for ‘Audience Development’. Those currently enlightened Local Authorities with ‘Audience Development Officers’ should change their name to ‘Big Society Officers’. ‘Audience Development Agencies’ will become ‘Big Society Agencies’. And I am now proud to be the Chief Executive of ‘Big Society UK’.
I’m only half joking.
David Brownlee, Chief Executive, Big Society UK
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