## **Association of Performing Arts Collections – Chairs’ Report 2024** ## **Summary** APAC has continued to work with members and the sector to support performing arts heritage by providing training, knowledge exchanges, and networking opportunities for all. 2024 was the start of our new three-year strategic plan, fed into directly by members at the last AGM and beyond. The focus in 2023/2024 for the board has been increasing member engagement, accessibility and inclusivity, prioritising bringing back members who have dropped off the attendance lists, bettering member communication and targeting an increase in student and academic members. We have been successful in exceeding, meeting, or very close to meeting, targets set for the board in 2023-2024. We are very proud to report the following: |**Target 2023/2024:**|**Actual as of May 2024:**||**Legend:**| |---|---|---|---| |2 new members recruited outside of
London|5 new members recruited
outside of London||Exceeds| |Membership makeup reflects 55% outside
of London|54% of membership makeup
reflects those based outside of
London||| |APAC board membership is reflective of a
50/50 split between those based
in/outside London|50% of board members are
based in London
50% of board members are
based outside of London||Meets| |5 new student members join APAC|7 new student members joined
APAC||Not
met| |12 posts on X advertising members
collections,events andjob opportunities|126 posts
140 reposts||| We were 1% off our target for 55% of members representative of outside London which we will continue to work towards next year. A massive thank you to Phil Boot – who more than smashed our social media target for the year on X. We hope members have felt the support given by this platform, as Phil has been hard at work finding member events, news and job alerts to post about. Please do get in contact with us if you would like us to showcase anything on our X account. To increase accessibility and inclusivity at our events and opportunities, APAC has also lifted the two-member cap per organisation on attendance, has put into practice a standard welcome and wrap up to all APAC events explaining who we are and who we are for, as well as committing to hybrid and in person access to our symposium and study days. We have also increased the amount of call for speakers and contributions to our events and meetings, so that all members have a chance to share their practice. The most recent membership round supported by our automated system has gone well - a big thank you to Patricia Underwood for overseeing that so seamlessly. Our trail of offering all- year round membership sign-up has also gone well and APAC has made the decision to continue with this model to increase accessibility and flexibility for its members. Our new travel grant schemes have also seen a rise in member engagement and our SIBMAS conference offer will help 3 members attend in Hong Kong this year, championing and supporting the UK’s place in performing arts expertise. We are continuing to work with the Subject Specialist Networks Consortium and are part of their lobbying efforts with the Arts Council England for funding of these networks in general. We continue conversations with sector bodies, including The National Archives, about how we can work more closely with them and we look forward to more collaborative working. The board has targets to increase the number of sector bodies we work with in 2024/2025. Our website continues to be popular, and this year, in addition to the regular updates to the website, we have been conducting audits and refreshers of pages such as Volunteers and Placements. Thank you to Sarah Harrison and Jennifer Shufflebotham for their work. We are also continuing to answer member enquires and questions through email – with Biddy Hayward being the main point of contact for the APAC info@ email address. Biddy also began to complete a project this year which will see APAC remain GDPR compliant. We want to make sure that all members feel connected to APAC and the work it does. We always welcome input from our members about how we can improve so please do contact us with ideas. We will continue to showcase member’s work on APAC’s X account and our monthly stories, which are published to the website and provide members with an opportunity to advocate for their collections and projects. ## **Events** We have held 4 events this year for members and non-members. On 31[st] of October 2023, APAC, held a hybrid Symposium at the V&A on _Data and Digital: Preservation and Transformation_ . We had a high turnout rate amongst members and nonmembers with 52 individuals attending overall. We heard from those inside and outside of APAC. One of the international speakers being Frederic Julien from the Canadian CAPACOA. We were also treated to an optional morning in _DIVA_ and an afternoon in _The ZiZi Show_ exhibits. On the 30[th] of November 2023 APAC hosted its first student and academic social event in the north – hosted by Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham. With 5 students and academics in attendance the group got to enjoy making new connections, exchanging knowledge and hearing about Nottingham’s student volunteer program. On the 29[th] of February 2024, APAC held the second student and academic social event hosted by the National Theatre’s archives team in the South. We had 11 in attendance, and it proved a great opportunity for chat, networking and hearing about the Black Play’s archive and all the other incredible stuff the NT team does behind the scenes. A massive thank you to Bethany Johnstone for planning and delivering these bespoke events. This year’s study day was held at Clod Ensemble, one of APAC’s new members, on the 24[th] of April, 2024. We had 32 individuals in attendance and were treated to talks and displays from Clod, Rambert, The V&A, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust as well as on-members Adesola Akinleye and Suman Bhuchar. Clod provided a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere in the dance studio – attendees being asked to take off shoes as the dancers would! A huge thank you to all those who have contributed time, expertise, venues and their experience in making this year a bumper one of events! A special thank you to Niamh Kelly as well, for all her time and commitment to organising and keeping us in line and up to date on APAC’s wonderful range of events and meetings. A thank you to Sian Williams and Geogina Donahue as well for their part in helping to organise these events. ## **Meetings** APAC member meetings took place online again this year. We had 3 APAC member meetings: - 24 September, 2023 – the meeting was followed by update presentations from the V&A, Tyne Theatre and Opera House Trust and The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - 7 December, 2023 – we were treated to our annual student showcase after the meeting which saw presentations on student work from Erin Lee, Alice Bloom and Elizabeth Gray. - 8 February, 2024 – update presentations took place from Chichester Festival Theatre, Bristol Theatre Collection and Royal College of Music. ## **Working Groups** APAC has three working groups currently meeting: - Digital Preservation Working Group – the group last met 24 May 2023 but there has been some activity on the email address with members asking a few questions. Meetings have not been scheduled due to work capacity of chairs, but Robyn and Clair to pick up as soon as possible in the new year. - Equity, Diversity, Justice and Inclusion Working Group – this group has met twice in the last year (2 November 2023, 4 April, 2024). The group has been established to share best practice knowledge relating to Equity, Diversity, Justice and Inclusion in the performing arts sector. A space has been set up on the APAC drive where members can contribute to discussions and discuss practice. Outputs from the group will be blogs and resources tracking conversation and findings. - Members Communications Working Group – this group has met 3 times in the past year (16 June 2023, 28 September 2023 and 25 October 2023). The group has been set up to rethink member communications when joining APAC and to develop a leaflet and advertising material to give out to potential members through events, etc. ## **Network Opportunities** APAC facilitated another coffee roulette initiative in February 2024 where a record 20 members took part. These informal opportunities are there for members to have a cup of coffee and a chat with someone in the sector they may otherwise not have met, or had a conversation with. ## **Thank you** Robyn would like to say a huge thank you to all APAC members and the Board who have worked so hard this year to bring so many events, meetings, resources, blog posts to fruition. APAC is fortunate to have such dedicated individuals working to implement the aims of the network. As testament to such a great year, no one has come forward to step down from the board. Instead, three of the longest standing board members have been put forth to the membership for re-election. This includes Biddy Hayward, Patricia Underwood and Phil Boot. Everyone on the Board gives their time voluntarily and their breadth of knowledge and expertise is key to implementing the huge range of work that we have over the past year. **Robyn Greenwood APAC Chair 2/05/2024** ## Treasurer Report 2023/2024 ## Summary As described below, another strong membership year has meant we are in a healthy position for the upcoming year. We started the year with £8,592.33 and ended the year with £9,456.53. ## Bookkeeper report The report for 2023/2024 is as follows: Date: APAC Proflt and Loss Page: T[￿le.. 11.'IH'.36 Froiii: Month I, April 21123 Month 12. Mar(h 2024 Chart of Accounts.. Defauk Layout of Accounts Period Year to Date Sale5 Product Sa 4,466.58 4,466.58 4,466.58 4,466.58 Piir(lia5es Direct Expenses LalM)ur sa￿ Promotx>n mI￿et￿neoUS Expenses 624.23 330.ql I50.￿) 624.23 33U.911 1511.uu Gross ProfltllLoss): Overhead5 Trawellino and Entertainmeni Printw and sratK)nÉ¥y Tdephone and Computer charges Profes￿nal Fee5 Bank (harqes atKI Interest (*T￿ra1 Ex￿n 3,361.45 3,361.45 225.(KJ 225.nn 143.&8 7111.28 143.88 1511.ilu 183.63 1,()84.46 183.63 1,1184.46 2,497.25 2.497.25 Net ProfitllLo551: 864.20 864.211 Date: 1810412024 Time.. 15=15=51 APAC Period Trial Balance Page.. To Period: Month 12, Marth 2024 Narne Bank Current Account Paypal Profit and Loss Account Sales-memberships Sutscontractors Advertisinglwebsite Miscellaneous Expense5 Travel grants Computers & *thare Profe55ional F￿5 8ank Charges Eventbrite (haryes Subxripb"￿S Debit 9.379.05 13.65 Creilit 1200 1231 3200 4000 6002 6201 6900 7400 7552 7604 7901 7905 8201 8,592.33 4,381.58 624.23 330. 150. 225. 840.51 150. 154.95 21.16 1,084.46 12 973.91 Totals: 12 973.91 ## Travel Grants We awarded two travel grants over the last year, amounting to £225. This included the new travel grant allowing members to apply for grants to go to events that are not run by APAC. We have awarded three grants to go to the SIBMAS conference in June, which will be paid after the conference. ## SIBMAS Payments This report shows the payment for 2023’s membership. The payment for 2024’s membership is currently being processed and so will be accounted for in next year’s report. ## Membership Report 2023/2024 ## Summary This year we have had a large increase of members, especially an increase in academics and students. We have also had a slight increase in members outside of London. ## Current membership At the end of the financial year we had 95 paid members. This was an increase of eight on last year. We had 12 new members join this year. This included four new institutions and eight new individuals and students/academics. ## Membership by type We have several different levels of membership currently available, the main difference being those who just subscribe to APAC and those who subscribe to both APAC and SIBMAS. Within those we have Institutional and Individual members. We also have Student members, who only subscribe to APAC. The split between the different options for current members are as follows: ||**APAC**|**APAC and SIBMAS**| |---|---|---| |**Overall**|62|33| |**Institutional**|32|30| |**Individual**|15|3| |**Student**|15|| ## Membership by region Another year in a row, our membership from outside Greater London has increased, from 53% to 54%. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Members by region
London South East Midlands
Yorkshire and the Humber Scotland South West
North East North West Ireland
International Wales
**----- End of picture text -----**
## The numbers break down in more detail as follows: |**Region**|**Number of members**| |---|---| |London|44| |South East|16| |Midlands|10| |Yorkshire and the Humber|5| |Scotland|2| |South West|5| |North East|4| |North West|4| |Ireland|2| |International|1| |Wales|2| More information about our members can be found our website at htps://performingartscollectons.org.uk/our-members/?see-all . Patricia Underwood, APAC Treasurer and Membership Secretary, May 2024 ## **Member Communication Report: AGM 2024** ## **APAC Blog** https://performingartscollections.org.uk/blog/ ## 2023-2024 Blogs Published: - Supporting Environmental Sustainability in Performing Arts Heritage – Part Three - Access requirements specific to performing arts – Part 6 - The National Fairground and Circus Archive: It’s All a Show: Fairground Showmen, Identity and Mental Health Exhibition ## 2024-2025 Blogs Planned: - Blogs submitted by members with stories, collections, research to share. ## Membership Communications Working Group: - The Membership Communications Working Group has created a formal welcome letter that clarifies membership benefits and how new members can involve themselves and their collections in APAC’s activities to encourage engagement from day one of their membership. - We have seen an increase in non-members attending APAC events in 2024. We now have APAC flyers available at events to encourage membership. - 2024-2025 will see APAC encouraging non-member organisations to join APAC through targeted engagement. ## **Twitter** https://twitter.com/apac_ssn ## ● We post/re-post most days and now have almost 1,300 followers. ● Our followers are composed of our paid-up members, academics and academic institutions, theatres and performing arts businesses, specialist researchers, students, theatre directors, writers and designers, authors, other performing arts collection groups, and interested members of the public from all over the world. Philip Boot (APAC Trustee without portfolio) 26/04/2024 ## 1. ## 2. ## 3. **Association of Performing Arts Collections – Student Representative Report 2024** ## 4. 5. In 2023/4 APAC’s student and academic representative has continued to support our academic community throughout the year. This year we focused on the growth of the student and academic community which saw the development of new advertisements to increase student membership, new social events, and the return of the annual student and academic showcase. 6. The primary goal of APAC's student and academic representative this year was to increase the student and academic community through growing its membership. Therefore, two new social events were organised in November 2023 and February 2024 in the Midlands and London, respectively. These events aimed to showcase the benefits of APAC membership to students and academics. In November 2023, APAC hosted its first social event at the Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham Archive, offering Midlands and northern region students and academics the chance to fully experience APAC membership benefits. The event featured a welcome talk, auditorium tour by Heritage Officer Georgina Donohue, and presentations by archive volunteers Karen Turnbull and Amy Bromilow. In February 2024, APAC hosted its second social event at the National Theatre Archive in London, offering London-based students and academics the chance to fully experience APAC membership benefits. The event featured a welcome talk, archive tour by head archivist Erin Lee, and an introduction to the Blacks Plays Archive by coordinator Riana Simons. Both events concluded with a networking session, providing attendees the opportunity to connect with new contacts and learn more about APAC from our Student and Academic representative. Both events were well attended, and we extend our sincere gratitude to Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham and the National Theatre for hosting them. As a result of the social events the student and academic membership has almost doubled. We hope to continue this success and be able to make the social events a part of the APAC student and academic calendar. 7. 8. In December 2023, APAC’s annual student and academic showcase returned. This year, we had the privilege of hosting three exceptional presentations. These presentations delved into the themes of active archiving, information literacy for performing arts students to bolster library and archive support, and participatory research in performing arts museums. They were delivered by students from Central School of Speech and Drama/National Theatre, Wimbledon College of Arts, and University of Leicester. The event achieved huge success and proved immensely beneficial for the researchers and in highlighting how researchers contribute to the broader APAC community. APAC eagerly anticipates next year's student and academic showcase. ## 9. 10. Moving forward, our goal for the year ahead is to build upon the achievements of this year and create more avenues for student and academic members to contribute to the APAC community. We will concentrate on enhancing and highlighting the student and academic community, while also offering new networking opportunities. Finally, I would like to say a huge thanks to Erin and Georgina for their help this year in hosting and to Robyn and the rest of the APAC executive committee who have helped throughout this year to organise events and support all our student members at APAC. 11. 12. Dr Bethany Johnstone 13. APAC Student and Academic Representative. 14. **Website Officer’s report for 2023/24** During my first year as website officer, I have been trying to familiarise myself with how the website works and what needs to be updated to ensure it remains usable and engaging for our members. This includes regularly adding upcoming APAC events to the website, and for future events we are looking at adding the travel grant application form to relevant event pages. We have discussed potential improvements to the volunteers and placements page and will consider what information would be most useful for members and users going forward. All parts of the Digitally Preserving the Performing Arts series are now on the resources section of the website. I have also been working with Patricia Underwood on options for adding membership signup to the website. We have developed a method for processing member sign-up and payments online and this option will be live on the website soon. We have had a few new members this year, whose details are now live on the website where requested. Any members with feedback or updates, please do get in touch! Including if there are any images to add or update on your member profiles. Many thanks to former website officer Clare, as well as Robyn and Patricia for all their help this year as I started to get to grips with the role. Sarah Harrison APAC website officer 27/04/2024 **Website statistics** to be added and circulated after the AGM.