Role: Chief Executive
Company: Audiences NI
Track Record:
TRACK RECORD
Margaret Henry has worked in marketing for more than 20 years across the cultural and broadcast sectors in her native Northern Ireland, London and Manchester. Following graduation from QUB she completed a postgraduate course in management and obtained her CIM Diploma. Margaret has significant experience in managing and leading teams through change and transformation. She is a qualified BBC mentor and creative facilitator and has taught arts marketing on the Belfast Institute of Further & Higher Education HND in Performing Arts. Margaret has held board positions within the voluntary sector and was chair of the Old Museum Arts Centre board.
7am
Get up to start the day. Always try and have some time to focus and reflect on the day ahead. I use the Headspace app to help me do that and it really works!
8.17am
Is the train I usually get from Bangor, where I live with my husband Alan, to City Hospital stop which is across the road from Audiences NI offices in the Carnegie Building on Donegall Road.
8.45am
I’m one of the first in the office and with a cup of tea to hand I check emails and the diary for the day and week ahead.
As I’m only four months in the job and the entire team here at Audiences NI is new we are very much still settling into our routine, but it’s safe to say no two days are the same as we work in such an eclectic and vibrant sector.
10am
Meeting our core funders Arts Council of NI to agree our delivery for them as a strategic partner. We are very conscious that the arts is publicly funded and through our programme of research we can illustrate the value of the arts to the NI economy, which is vital in the debate about how budgets are decided. It’s also important we try and make sure the arts are inclusive of all groups and we work to remove barriers to attendance across all art forms.
11am
It’s important we collaborate across and beyond the arts sector so often I am engaged in meeting organisations who work with different constituencies. One of our most recent new partnerships is with Age NI. The older sector of the population is a growing one with specific needs and we believe we can work with Age NI to help meet some of those needs through participation in and attendance at arts events.
12 noon
Sit down with the team for a project planning meeting focusing on our flagship press and media day event ‘Impact’ which is coming up on the June 25.
The day will bring together our members with key players in the press and media to find out how to gain exposure to audiences, produce relevant content and build relationships with local journalists whether they be in print, broadcast or online. The meeting is a great chance to update the team on confirmed speakers, venue and PR coverage for the event.
I have regular team and individual meetings with the staff here. We are all new and come from a range of backgrounds so we have lots of ideas, as well as wanting to build on the work Audiences NI has done to date.
1pm
I try to take a lunch at about 1pm but sometimes it’s on the run.
1.30pm
A big part of my role is advocacy, both telling people what we do but also telling them about our 117 members and the work they are engaged in across all arts forms, all areas and all audiences.
I do that through talking regularly to key organisations like Visit Belfast or the British Council on how we can work collaboratively to maximise the impact of the arts and cultural sector.
2pm
Make contact with one of our partners, Audiences Europe Network, to discuss plans for the next European visit as part of the Open All Areas Programme. Audiences NI has been a member of this programme since 2013 which involves a European knowledge exchange visits between seven European organisations working in cultural audience development. By visiting other European cities and venues along with our members we are able to share best practice case studies and ideas of how to improve cultural access for everyone.
3pm
I’m trying to meet as many of our members and as often as I can. I’ll try and pack in a few different members meetings if they are located in the one area. Cathedral Quarter is the location for Audiences NI members including The Mac, The Oh Yeah Music Centre, Prime Cut Productions and Tinderbox to name but a few. I try to see members as often as I can so we are really clear about the challenges they face in developing audiences and how we can help them meet those challenges through our training, services and research.
4.30pm
After checking emails again and preparing for the next day I might get the 18:01 train or at least twice a week I try to see some of the work our members are presenting from ‘How Many Miles to Babylon’ at the Lyric Theatre to DU Dance’s film of a recent project they undertook with men and boys using contemporary dance. I also try to travel around NI as we represent members from Londonderry, Armagh, Newtownabbey and, of course, Belfast. So sometimes it’s home about 6ish and sometimes later but the variety and excellence of what there is to see here often tempts me out on quite a few nights.
10.30pm
If I’m home by then it’s off to bed. I try to make time to catch up with Alan and often my stepsons call in for a chat, but I like to get to bed after the news. Sky+ allows me to include my TV watching at a time that suits me. I try to read before bed, often some work papers but also for pleasure I really enjoy crime novels or local writers before lights out.