Culture Counts - Measure and communicate your value. Culture Counts is a web-app developed to help cultural organisations measure feedback from the public, their peers, and themselves, and aid in communicating their value. We recently participated in the APACA conference in Hobart and discussed the problems with measurement in the arts sector - including a lack of consistent definitions, and the current high cost of surveying. This presentation outlines the above as well as providing an outline of the Culture Counts system and how it can benefit a range of parties including funding bodies, organisations and the public.

4. The
Problem.
No consistent definitions
Artists and funders speaking different languages
Difficult to control for variation in responses
More subjectivity in assessments

5. The
Problem.
Usability issues
Lack of real time data
High cost of surveying
Difficult to monitor performance over time
Inability to make evidence-based decisions

7. Culture Counts in Action

9. Photo: Mariana
Gomes de Fontou
Culture Counts
How the System Works

10. Collect Data

11. Report on
Instrumental Data

12. Manage
and Create

13. Dynamic Dashboards

15. Benefits for peers
 Convenience and ease of online assessments
 Lower cost for greater inputs
 Increased rigour
 Greater range and number of peers
 Centralised records and reporting

16. Benefits for government/funders
 Streamlined, efficient assessment system, linked to KPIs
 Standard set of transparent intrinsic impact dimensions
 Balanced feedback from artists and peer groups
 Before and after assessment compares expectations with reality
 Direct & continuous public input into measurement of public value
 Single repository for intrinsic, instrumental and institutional data

17. Benefits for artists and arts organisations
 A rich descriptive language for ‘quality’ and ‘reach’
 Consistent use of terms for artistic assessments
 Ability to compare impacts over time
 Ability to compare outcomes with expectations
 Combined intrinsic and instrumental impacts in a single system
 Ability to run public value metrics alongside market research initiatives

19. Benefits for the public
 Simple, easy to use, online platform
 Direct and instant public feedback
 Capture of critical intrinsic value criteria
 Opportunity to compare opinions and have ongoing conversations online
 Ability to check which cultural events are running at any point in time

21. Manchester Pilot Project

22. Manchester Quality Metrics Pilot

23. The
Solution.
Culture Counts delivers:
 Consistent public value definitions
 Metrics co-created with arts sector
 New data model and databases
 Reporting capabilities (company, funder, policy)
 Technology for direct public input at near zero marginal cost
 Alignment of framework with policy goals

24. PVMF commissioned by:
Supported by:

25. Thank you.
Register your interest at
www.culturecounts.cc