2021 roundup
At the end of 2020 wrote a piece called “A year of Zooms”, and 2021 was more of the same in the end. But it felt more normal and streamlined since most people had become comfortable with requirements and etiquette.
The start 2021, which kicked off with 10 weeks of home schooling again, feels like a lifetime ago. And finishing the year with a child with Covid seems like a suitable bookend!
However in between, there were plenty of highs and fulfilling projects, such as:
working alongside two wonderfully passionate teams at Babylon ARTS and Dundee Science Centre on their audience development and marketing approaches
speaking at two virtual international conferences and making new connections (Culture 2.0 from the St. Petersburg International Forum and Audience development theory and practice from the Leibniz Centre of Excellence for Museum Education)
the joy of working with my friend and Museum Freelance partner in crime, Marge Ainsley
providing training on freelancing in the heritage and cultural sectors for a really brilliant cohort of young people on the Norfolk Museums Service’s Kick the Dust project
some lightbulb moments being sparked by mentees on the Mercury Creatives project run by Colchester’s Mercury Theatre (special shoutout to Amy Burrows)
the connections and progress I’ve witnessed being made in online training workshops and programmes I’ve run for clients including AIM, the Arts Marketing Association, Shoreditch Town Hall and many others
managing to get out for regular walks with friends to fill my cup and get those steps in!
2021 also finished with some big change, as Marge and I brought Museum Freelance to a close. It was a difficult decision as it’s brought us a lot of fulfilment and joy, but ultimately it was the right time to step away to make more time for other professional opportunities.
So what will 2022 bring? The first months are kicking off with:
marketing strategy work for The Electric Palace in Harwich
working again with Babylon ARTS to support the audience development and engagement side of their National Portfolio organisation application
data analysis of the digital audiences project I’ve been running with a cohort of museums in the East of England for SHARE Museums East
and running several online training workshops on marketing and freelancing topics for a range of organisations.
I should also be able to announce an incredibly exciting project that I’ve been working on behind the scenes since early 2021…
I am hoping that 2022 will be the year when I get back to some in-person client meetings and site visits, and also make a return to co-working spaces now and again.
We’ve all had to adapt to ongoing uncertainty and it’s hard to predict where the year will take us. So beyond that, who knows?
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash