Ottawa Festival and Event Management Masterclass

The Festival and Event Management Masterclass is returning to Ontario. The next few years will be crucial as we look to recover and renew our events after the disruption of Covid. The Festival and Event Management Masterclass is the ideal seminar to help you prepare for the challenges that lie ahead. If you take a look at the feedback from previous participants you will see they comment on the value of the information they have received, how it helped them to develop new ideas but most frequently people comment about how inspiring the Masterclass was for them.

The cost of the course is $395 if booked by 29 September or $475 if purchased after 29 September. The cost is reduced to $295 if more than one person from your organisation attends

The Masterclass is a popular 2 day programme designed to inform and inspire anyone involved in creating, managing and developing festivals and events. It is a highly practical course full of ideas and examples that participants can put into practice immediately to improve their events. The individual sessions are:

Day 1

Festivals and Events in a Post-Covid World

This session considers strategies and options to help face up to the challenges of running festivals and events in a post Covid-19 world

People and Partnerships

Looks at how effective festival organisations manage their teams and staff, their relationships with stakeholders and collaborations with partners.

Programming

The key to the success of any festival is the strength and imagination of the programme. This session explores a number of successful programming strategies.

Sponsorship and Fundraising

This session considers how to approach sponsors and explores other ways of generating valuable income.

Festivals, Tourism and Placemaking

This session considers how festivals can play a crucial role in raising the profile of a destination.

Day 2

Festival Marketing

This session examines a number of successful marketing approaches adopted by leading festivals

Venues and Festival Infrastructure

This session considers how to make the most of the venues available to your festival and the infrastructure required to run events successfully

Working with the Media

Every festival needs good press coverage and this session considers how best to achieve this aim.

Festivals – Impact and Evaluation

This session considers how festivals should look to maximise and evaluate their impact economically, socially and culturally.

The cost of the course is $395 if booked by 29 September or $475 if purchased after 29 September. The cost is reduced to $295 if more than one person from your organisation attends

The Masterclass is presented by Paul Gudgin who has been managing high profile events for 30 years including 8 years as Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Masterclass has run successfully in 20 countries worldwide including Australia, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Singapore, Hong Kong, USA, Ireland and Canada. Details of the organisations that have taken the Masterclass can be found in Who Has Attended section on our website www.festivalmanagers.com

We have run the course successfully in Canada many times. Organisations that have attended include: Vancouver Fringe, Calgary High Performance Rodeo, Banff Centre, Sturgeon County, City of Lethbridge, Edmonton Fringe, Vancouver Pride, Calgary Arts Development, City of Red Deer, City of Edmonton, Tourism Kelowna, Alberta Beer Festivals, Rapid Fire Theatre, Winspear Centre, Flin Flon Arts Council, Edmonton Jazz Festival, Exposure Photography Festival, Town of Stony Plain, Airdrie Festival of Lights, Tourism Medicine Hat, Calgary Stampede, Mount Royal University, City of St. Albert, Sled Island Music and Arts Festival, Vancouver International Wine Festival, Arts Council Ontario, Economic Development Regina, Saskatchewan Festival of Words, Bard on the Beach and many more.

Here are some comments from participants at previous masterclasses. They are taken from the post course survey.

Stockholm The course was a vitamin injection in how to manage a festival and also how to evolve it. In short: The ultimate Crash Course in festival management! City of Sodertalje

Stavanger I found the workshop both interesting, inspiring and helpful. I have gained new ideas for my own festival and also important confirmation of things we have done that seems to be the right thing to do. In short: I loved it! Nordlysfestivalen, Tromsø

Bergen The course was well planned and insightful. Paul has loads of experience, is confident in himself, yet informal and easy to talk with, and great at involving the participants. I would recommend the course both for learning and motivational purposes. Nordland Music Festival

Calgary This was a jam-packed course that provided much information and strengthened learning through such experiential activities as case studies, group work, and the sharing of stories. The two days went very quickly and I enjoyed every moment. Sourdough Raft Race Association

Ghent This course gives a very clear overview about all aspects regarding Festival Management. The content is very to the point and transferred in a dynamic tempo. Two days full of relevant input. Beursschouwburg, Brussels

Melbourne As a local government officer providing support for event organisers in our municipality, this course provided me with a variety of tips and tools that I can pass on as well as giving me the opportunity to look more critically at how we as a council support events and what we can do differently or better. The course was also a great way to meet others working in the events field from across Australia and create new mutually beneficial contacts. Alpine Shire Council

Paul’s Event Management Masterclass was of the upmost value to the projects I am currently undertaking, and to my events in the future. A wealth of experience, he is knowlegable in many aspects of running a successful festival and shared some great little secret tips and tactics to ensure your event is the best it can be. I have attended event seminars before but this masterclass is the one if you take pride in your events and have a genuine drive to make them better and better into the future. The Band Wagon Agency

Göteborg This Masterclass gave me a lot of high energy and fabulous new friends. Thanks Paul for sharing your knowledge and the guidance you gave! Now I know how to increase my festival! Kulturnatta Göteborg

All we talked about I can apply to my own way of thinking when it comes to our event, and I got so many new ideas and also confirmation that what we do is right, which leads me to believe that our dance festival will be even more successful this time around. Thank you Paul for two packed, and inspiring days! Abundance International Dance Festival

Utrecht The two days masterclass really stirred things up in a positive way. And we look forward to showing our audience what we got for them. Festival Mooie Woorden

Great story’s, enormous amount of useful information and I met a lot of interesting people. But above all it has given me a much wider view on (my) events. Smartlappenfestival, Oktoberfest

Copenhagen I’m happy I participated this class. It gave me new energy and inspired me to think about my own events and projects from another perspective – because sometimes you can get stuck in your own way of doing things and then it’s good to get new input. bazART, Center for Arts & Interculture.

Thank you for a lot of important information and a lovely opportunity to rethink my own Salaam Film festivals challenges and possibilities in Denmark. I’ll recommend the course to everyone – high and low in the business. Salaam Filmfestival

Oslo The sky is the limit! The course confirmed in many ways that our little festival is on the right track, and that gives us so much renewed energy. You can’t put a price in that! Sirkusfestivalen, Sarpsborg.

The masterclass on festivals gave food for thought, presented in an inspiring and refreshing way. CODA Oslo International Dance Festival

Helsinki Paul has the amazing ability to coach event management professionals participating in his Masterclass without them even knowing it! He inspires participants to think and connect the dots in a creative way in order to create stronger programmes, partnerships and networks for their festival and events. His passion is contagious Culture Export Management and PR Lounge

Overijssel The masterclass on festivals gave me lots of new insights and ideas. It also gave me the possibility to evaluate the current approach. Furthermore it gave great energy to our group and will lead to a better cooperation in (near) future. A must to for everyone involved with the programming and (collective) promotion of festivals! Festivalbureau Overijssel

Rocky Harbour The Festival & Event Management Masterclass was one of the most useful courses I’ve ever attended, with tons of practical advice and the chance to collaborate with festival organizers throughout the region. Paul led us through multiple exercises that produced some truly inspiring and innovative ideas. Go Western Newfoundland

If you have any questions about the Masterclass email us at info@festivalmanagers.com