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Pictures: Management Team and members enjoying the evening at Marle Place near Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

This year the SEOS Annual General Meeting was held at Marle Place, by kind invitation of Lindel Williams. The meeting took place in the oak beamed tea room and was followed by a pond-side barbeque party in the splendid gardens. For once the weather was fine and all enjoyed a relaxed and sociable occasion.

MINUTES OF SOUTH EAST OPEN STUDIOS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held on Friday 13th July 2007 at 7.00pm at Marle Place

In attendance: 

Management Team

Juliet Simpson (Chairman), Sam Cherrill (Treasurer), Charlotte Rice (Guide Distribution), Rosemary Bridgland Colbridge (Guide Editor), Jane Wharrad (Advertisement Editor), Paul Williams (Website Editor), Helen Mayer (Publicity Officer and Open Studio Network), Franny Swann (Area Co-Ordinators Officer), Pat Brown (Minutes Secretary)

Members:  25 members signed the attendance sheet

1  Apologies:

Management Team:  Claire Palastanga (Fundraiser) and Dominique Morgan (Database)

Members:  Adrienne Parker, Margaret Mountfield, Mark Smith, Claudine Cecil, Ruth Dent

2  Minutes:

Minutes of the AGM held on 12th July 2006 had been previously circulated and extra copies were made available at the meeting.  These were agreed to be an accurate record of that meeting and were signed by the Chairman.

3  Chairman’s Report

Juliet gave the following report.

1.  I aim to get through our business as quickly as possible, but please interrupt with questions at any point because the AGM is the time to clear matters up.

2.  First I want to thank Lindel Williams for allowing us to have out AGM here. It has meant we have a record attendance for recent years.

3.  Secondly I must thank the management team which has made being chairman a very cushy job because everyone just not only gets on with their role with great expertise but also offer extra advice and help whenever it is needed.

4.  Claire Palastanga who cannot be here today has sent us the comments from artists. Full copies are………I haven’t printed out visitors’ comments because they are all complimentary and we learn more from criticism. Looking at the figures on the agenda you can see that the overall picture is positive. I will go through them briefly:

PUBLICITY. You will get details from Helen shortly. With such a wide area we cannot cover local areas in detail and we have a very limited budget with which we have to recruit artists in the autumn and publicise the event. We make it clear that it is up to local groups to use their enterprise.

Guides and posters: Many artists complain that most of their visitors come from their efforts and not from the guide. We can only get guides into libraries. It is essential to have somewhere where people can pick them up, but if there are no posters put up telling people where they can get one, they won’t be picked up. An example of good practice is an ACO who had a list of good local places to display the guide and got her artists to deliver them to those places. This is something our publicity team cannot possibly do.

Local publicity: we can send articles to local papers but they are rarely printed. It needs a local person with local contacts to get articles into the local paper. The SEOS publicity team supplies all the necessary guidance on how to do it.  The Sevenoaks area got two huge articles in the local paper and even banners in the car parks. The results were record visitor figures in the area. Again, it is impossible for us to do this over such a vast area.

QUOTE: “Advertising and planning took up a lot of unexpected time. I didn’t realize we had to make our own signs. I feel this should be done and included in the £95 fee!!!” My answer to this is that Open Studio isn’t, and cannot be, handed to you on a plate. It is an opportunity for you to build on. For your money you get exposure in a quality brochure and entry to an excellent website which means if someone puts your name on to Google your details come up. You are also paying the team to do a huge amount of work for a very nominal payment.

FUNDS: this brings me on to the fact that we have serious problems with funds because grants are rapidly disappearing. This is why we are not voting for a fundraiser as the whole subject needs reviewing. If anyone has ideas or can help please contact the new chairman.

THE AREA IS TOO BIG: this comes up every year. It is too big but that is what makes it possible financially. We need over 200 artists to make the guide viable.

STUDIO BLOCKS: We are aware that it is difficult for them because they cannot shut the doors of non-participating artists and the management team is seeking a solution which would enable them to participate.

LESS VISITORS this year .The comments point to more artists having an unsatisfactory experience. It is impossible to pin down the reason, but the weather was certainly unhelpful. But I’d like to emphasise that it is up to all of us to make visiting studios interesting because we probably rely on word of mouth as much as anything.

TWO MAJOR PROBLEMS: I want an AGM decision on these, and whether we should have sanctions.

• First we say that only artists who have paid up should show in an open studio. The vast majority keep to this, but some artists put in other people’s work and even advertise the fact and this is obviously resented by artists who  pay their share and indeed if it was done on a big scale would undermine our fragile financial position even further. Should we have a sanction? We know that some artists have done this deliberately, others have just not read the rules.
• Second are artists who do not turn up at the time they have advertised. This gives Open Studios a very bad name and at the last AGM we said such artists would not be allowed to join again. If the AGM agrees with this decision I’d like it reaffirmed.

I’ve gone over the grumbles. I’d like to end by saying the vast majority of visitors find Open studios a rewarding experience as do most of the artists.

4  Constitution

The meeting noted an amendment to the Constitution.  The wording “accounts are audited” needed correcting to read  “accounts are examined”.  The meeting were in agreement with the change 

5  Treasurer’s Report

The accounts had been made available to the meeting.  The Treasurer noted that grants were higher than expected and membership was up.  Expenses were down since fewer guides had been printed.  An increase in expenditure arose as the result of additional Minutes Secretary post.  Ten bursaries had been awarded this year to mark SEOS’s 10th Anniversary.  The meeting agreed the budget.

6 Area Co-ordinating Officer’s Report

Franny gave the following report.

All ACO’s are required to either submit a written report or attend the AGM in person. Written reports were received from areas D, H, G, I and J this year.

These are available to view in the blue folder.

I would like to thank my ACO’s who have attended. You will be invited to add a précis of your report in a minute.  Please could you add your report to the blue file.

Area Co-Ordinators have the frontline responsibility for the contentment of all of our SEOS artists. Every year I am truly grateful for the calibre and dedication of my ACO’s and 2007 has been no different.

SEOS would not be the success it is without the hard work of my area co-ordinators who phone /e-mail/ and support their new and experienced artists through filling in application forms to reporting back at the end of the year.

Area co-ordinators are also eyes and ears of the committee, reporting back both successes and problems. They are also a constant source of creative ideas when it comes to publicising their own areas.

I have welcomed several new ACO’s this year and even one who stepped in minutes away from the Open Studios weeks to take on responsibility for her group and did it brilliantly.

Following the upheaval of reorganising the areas it was decided to continue with as little disruption as possible this year. Thought was given to reorganising areas N, L, and M who were unhappy last year, but it has so far proved unnecessary.

Area G proved too small to sustain its own ACO this year and was joined to area H temporarily.

Area Q which is the Brighton area continued to be unsustainable with only four artists this year. It may be that with SEOS covering such a large area and Costal Currents Open Studios operating down there that the sensible course of action is to withdraw from here in 2008.

Fanny thanked all the area co-ordinators who had attended and asked those present to report their comments to the meeting.

Most co-ordinators commented on lack of publicity and people not turning up to meetings.  Jane (West Kent) highlighted guides not always being distributed, Paul (Hastings, Battle and Rye) said visitor numbers were down although sales average or above.  Joel (Smarden) wondered how useful were guides and Deborah (Sevenoaks) again highlighted publicity.

7  Guide Production

Rose gave the following report.

This year's guide production hasn't gone quite as smoothly as in previous years but this is partly my own fault for not being stricter about cut-off dates and deadlines. Obviously, in a job of this size there are bound to be one or two hiccups so perhaps I've experienced them all in one go!

35,000 guides were printed by Principal Colour Printers, who have printed the guide for the past 3 years and this year the cost of printing is actually less pro rata than it was 4 years ago.

I have taken on board various comments and suggestions. All suggestions are considered and discussed at committee and either adopted or discarded so please don't feel that if your suggestions hasn't been taken up it hasn't been considered.

Should I be re-elected for a further year as joint guide editor with Jane Wharrad I would suggest the following:

The tube logo remains. It is instantly recognisable as being part of SEOS and there are not many arts and crafts that do not use a tube of some sort. Those of you who have been members for some time will see that the guide is being continually updated and tweaked, year on year and I see no reason to radically change it. How many times have you picked up a guide from another group and have had to study it to see where it comes from? After 11 years the tube is instantly recognisable.

Deadlines will be strictly adhered to and entries returned where the application form is not clear or not properly completed.

We are working towards on-line registration for 2008 which will, of course, change the way these applications are processed – your co-operation in carefully reading the Rules & Guidelines before applying will help this new system go smoothly and we will, hopefully, be able to report it a success at next year's AGM.

I have agreement from my colleagues that entries will not be put up on the website until the guide has been finalised and approved as this year there was some confusion from artists who had assumed that changes to their entry in the guide would automatically be changed on the website.

A pale colour panel be laid behind artists entries where they are showing in the same location.

As the idea of SEOS was for visitors to see an artist or craftsperson at work in their own studio or workshop, there be an indication in the guide as to when that particular member will be giving a demonstration or training session about their work.

Poster wording updated to stress that the event is a day out for all.

I would welcome any other suggestions after the meeting should I be re-elected.

8  Guide Distribution

Charlotte reported she was happy with the collection of guides by the area co-ordinators.  She felt the library distribution went well and intended to use the same system next year.  Some schools had been included in the distribution.  It was suggested at the meeting that not all libraries displayed the guides to advantage and that perhaps other outlets should be sought in addition to the libraries.  She also reported she had now computerised her system which should make distribution even more straightforward next year.

9  Website

Paul reported the new site went live on 1st December 2006 and a number of new features were introduced.

•  An improved search facility – you can now search by category or by browsing images as well as by an artist’s name, number or A – Z search.
• The Interactive Map – allows you to zoom in on any part of our area and then link directly to an artist’s web page.  It is both useful and fun to use!
• The Download page – during the run-up to the event we had 17 separate items available for download.  These included a PDF version of the Guide of which nearly 8000 copies were downloaded.
• The Message Board – is a free to use information exchange for everyone.
• Income – the website now generates an income from banner advertising, extended web pages and keeping pages on line for non-renewing members.  So far this has brought in just under £900.  Our website advertising is effective – one advertiser had 1050 visitors from our website in just one month. Visitors to our site are steadily increasing – during the event we averaged 500 visitors every day (one day we had 732).  Currently it is 400 per day and that's over 140,000 visitors per year.  We also have very good search engine ranking.

Later this year we will be introducing online registration. This will be quicker and easier for applicants and will save time and money in the production of the guide and updating the website.  In the future we plan to introduce an online payment facility.  Non-computer users will still be able to apply by post.

We now have one of the best Open Studio websites in the UK.  This is down to the expertise of our designer/programmer Michael Ball. I’m sure Mike puts in far more time than he charges for, and everything he does is to the highest standard.  On behalf of all of us, I would like to say a very big thanks to Mike for all his hard work in producing such a superb website.

10  Publicity and Open Studio Network

Helen gave the following reports.

Publicity

RECRUITING FOR PARTICIPANTS

As the budget for advertising for 2007 was reduced from £3000 to £1500, it was decided to concentrate the money on promoting the main event itself, and spend more time pursuing free avenues of recruiting participants.  The best value in paid-for advertising space was identified as the Opportunities section of a-n magazine (formerly the Artists’ Newsletter) as this has a very wide circulation both in printed form and online, plus it also has an Opportunities messaging service for subscribers.  All other advertising was in the form of free printed listings, posters to adult education centres and colleges of further education, arts websites and on-line services such as the free Arts Council email service.

ADVERTISING THE EVENT

Paid adverts were placed in the May editions of The Artist magazine and Leisure Painter and we were also permitted a free repeat advert in the June edition of LP.  Ads were place in the Wealden Times and Mid Kent Living, plus two weeks in the What’s On section of the Kent Messenger which is the only county-wide newspaper.  Although 2D media including painting and printmaking represent the predominant media amongst the SEOS artists, an analysis of the participants showed that there was a substantial number of ceramicists taking part, so a small paid listing was also placed in Ceramic Review.  As in previous years, SEOS  and Sevenoaks Summer Festival programme reciprocated their adverts in their brochures.

PUBLICITY FOR THE EVENT.

Press releases were circulated to the media, with links directing editors to the press pack and articles contained on the website.  In order to assist our artists to promote their individual events, a revised press pack was circulated that included a comprehensive listing of media contacts including regional and national magazines, newspapers, radio and TV. 

During this time, South East Open Studio as an organisation received exposure through collaboration with Surrey County Arts and Arts Council England publication Key to Success: Open Studios Best Practice for the South East, published in May (copies on show) and a related article in Arts Professional magazine published on 4 June.

CONTINUING PUBLICITY

With the aim of continuing to raise the profile of SEOS and extend the time that the name is published, magazines were approached with a view to journalists visiting studios whilst they were open to interview and photograph artists in review articles.  Sadly magazines no longer seem to have  resources  for this approach.  However, so far, positive interest in follow-up articles has been expressed by Artist & Illustrators magazine (now under new ownership and being relaunched in October) and Professional Photographer.  Also Leisure Painter have commissioned a ‘how-to’ article on participating in Open Studios which will be published in November to co-incide with our recruitment drive for 2008.

When questioned from the floor if ‘Kent Life’ had been approached Helen confirmed that the  link had been discontinued since they are now under new management.  There would still be possibility for future contact.

Open Studios Network

For those SEOS members who may not be familiar with the national organisation, OSN is a national organisation which is being developed to create a resource for open studio events across the UK.  SEOS is represented on the steering group by Helen Mayer.  This representation incurs no costs for SEOS, as the OSN is grant-aided through Arts Council England.

The organisation’s full aims and objectives are available on the OSN website.  The website, which is currently under design, is intended to provide an access point to enable events across the country to share information, ideas and developments.  The organisation as a whole aims to give the open studio movement a national voice, to promote the importance of local artists to the economic, social and educational  well-being of their communities, and to lobby to make a wide range of agencies aware of open studios and to encourage their support.

The first task undertaken by OSN is to research a comparative study of the various templates for running open studio events, evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of each aspect of management methods.  A comparative study is needed because of course, one size does not fit all.  Unless they are supported at council level, Open Studios usually undergo grass roots development, each one evolving a pattern suited to its own geography and local economy.  The aim of this publication will be provide as wide a resource of information as possible which both emerging and existing events can use to adopt or adapt.

A companion publication will be a Handbook for Participating Artists to encourage participants to get the most out of their open studio experience.

A national conference is planned for March 2008, to be held in a central location, and  open to all open studios events.

11  Nominations and election of Management Team for 2007

• Chairman – Franny Swann, nominated by Debra Barr-Smith and seconded by Liz Garnett, was unanimously elected.
• Publicity Officer – Caroline Winn, nominated by Juliet Simpson and seconded by Jane Wharrad, was unanimously elected.
• Fundraiser – to be appointed at a later date in committee
• Area Co-ordinator’s Officer – Felicity Flutter, nominated by Louisa Crispin and seconded by Paul Williams, was unanimously elected.
• The remaining members of the team were voted back en block.

12  Dates for 2008

• Open studios from Friday 6th June to Sunday 22nd June 2008
• Applications forms to be sent out in mid November 2007
• Dead line for entry would be 31^st January 2008

13  Any Other Business

• Seamus Ryan (Tunbridge Wells) No.220 in the Guide can print large posters.  Paul would supply him with a disc for copies requested.  If the tube logo was to be used any wording must first be approved by the committee. 
• The £50 draw prize was won by Gwen Nabbs of Medway.
• Free entry for next year was won by Janet Aldis (111)
• Block studios – suggestions to the committee please.

The meeting were unanimous in their thanks to Juliet for all the hard work and time she had given to SEOS as Chairman over the past three years.

Meeting closed at 8.20 pm and went out to join the BBQ party.

If you would like to comment about issues raised at the AGM, why not use the message board?