1. GLEANINGS from
Voluntary Arts England
New Briefings on nominating for an honour and search engine
optimisation
Voluntary Arts Briefings provide advice and guidance on best practice,
procedures and current legislation, for voluntary arts groups and umbrella
bodies. They are written in plain English and have been well-received
throughout the voluntary arts sector for over fifteen years.
We have just published two new VA Briefings:
153 ? It?s an honour! ? recognising the people that matter to your voluntary
arts group
Did you know that anyone in the UK can be put forward for an honour, and that
anyone can nominate a person they think truly deserves this recognition? It?s
not as difficult as you might think! Honours are given to people from all
walks of life, and all sections of society, who have made a difference to
their community. They recognise the achievements of ordinary people who do
extraordinary things. If you know of colleagues who are making a real
difference within your sector, then the Honours team at the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) wants to know about them!
154 ? Getting your website noticed ? search engine optimisation
?Search engine optimisation? (or SEO) simply means setting up your website in
such a way as to ensure that it appears as near as possible to the top of the
list on search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing. If your voluntary
arts or crafts group has a website, this Briefing will give you some tips on
how you can optimise your site for search engines and promote it on the
internet ? all at no, or very low, cost.
VA Briefings are now part of our new Running Your Group online information
and training service. To access the Briefings, along with a range of other
useful resources, please visit www.voluntaryarts.org/runningyourgroup
and sign up to one of our four subscription levels. Level One ? which gives
you access to all our Briefings ? is completely free.
SEFAN is already
signed up, natch - so if you want to see Briefing/s (maybe you're not
strictly a VA or NfP group) ask me and I'll email across.
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Voluntary Arts
General news:
Try something new at
the 2012 Making Music conference
When: 15 to 16 September
2012
Where: Cardiff
Booking has now opened for Making Music?s conference, ?Joining In ? Making
Music for Everyone?. The conference, situated in the beautiful new building
of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, will focus on participation,
providing delegates with a range of opportunities to get involved with and
learn about various forms of music making.
The first day will consist of participatory workshops focusing on genres
ranging from samba to opera, and brass band to orchestral music. After a
concert that evening, the second day will feature informative sessions on
topics of interest for voluntary music makers, including music education hubs
and concert promotion, as well as a panel discussion on how member groups can
broaden links with their wider musical communities.
Keynote speaker will be Paul Mealor ? famous as the composer of Ubi Caritas,
performed at the Royal Wedding in 2011, and Wherever You Are, taken to the
Christmas number one spot last year by the Mlitary Wives Choir.
Mealor?s work will also feature in the conference concert, which will see the
premiere of his piece Jubilate! Jubilee!, commissioned by Making Music in
honour of the Diamond Jubilee, as well as a performance of Wherever You Are.
Other works in the programme include Gregson?s An Age of Kings, and the
premiere of a new piece by Duncan MacLeod, written for LLandafff Cathedral
Choral Society as part of Making Music?s Adopt a Composer Scheme.
Booking for the event is now open, with tickets priced at ?89 for the weekend
for Making Music members, and ?129 for non-members.
Tickets for individual days and events, as well as for the conference concert
can also be purchased separately.
For more details, visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/conference.
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Two items re
Cultural Olympiad
Bandstand Marathon
is STILL open (it's been a bit of a rolling "deadline" on this one
- so if anyone wants to jump in ?!)
Event Programmers wanted for Cultural Olympiad event
Deadline: 20 July
2012
Bandstand Marathon ? Communities in Tune is a nationwide music event taking
place from 1pm to 5pm on Sunday 9 September to coincide with the closing day
of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Cultural Olympiad.
The aim is to bring local communities together through music to showcase
local talent, celebrate what is good about their local area and encourage
more people to get involved in music.
Over 200 venues have signed up so far across the UK to be part of the largest
closing event of the London 2012 Festival. Organisers are looking for people
to help take the lead at these events working in partnership with music
groups from Superact and Making Music.
For more information and to find out how to sign up visit the Bandstand
Marathon website www.bandstandmarathon.org.uk
Get ready to ring your bell to welcome in the Olympics!
Date: Friday 27 July 2012
At 8.12am on Friday 27 July 2012, thousands of people across the UK will be
joining together to ring in the first day of the London 2012 Olympic and
Paralympic Games. Everyone across the country is invited to take part.
To get involved in ?All The Bells?, visit www.allthebells.com where you can
find out about events taking place near you. But if nothing has been
arranged, you could set something up yourself, or simply ring your doorbell
at the appointed hour!
Turner Prize-winning artist Martin Creed is behind the project, and is
calling the venture ?Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as
quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes?. So grab a bell and take
part in something big and noisy on the opening day of the Olympics.
http://www.allthebells.com/info/
features Wickham Morris who will be dancing Ring O'Bells ... are there
any Sides in our patch doing anything?
(if they can manage Dawn Dance every year - 8am should be a stroll in the
park!)
and lastly - here's a BBC clip of Gemma David morris dancing carrying the
Olympic torch through Barford St Martin in Wiltshire.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18808600
