Cultural PR Conference 2013: Speaker biographies

Chair: Tracy JonesTracy Jones’ varied more than 20 year career across the media and arts has seen her working as a journalist for ITN Radio, programme controlling radio stations and as the Business Development Manager for two theatres. Today Tracy is Head of Press (job share) at the National Gallery, London where she has worked for 7 years. She also runs her own PR and Marketing agency Brera (www.brera-london.com) which represents a wide variety of clients from airports to theme parks, from the Van Gogh Museum and Oxford University Press to global cinema arts events, Cultural Olympiad projects and restaurants. At the weekends she is also presenter on Southend Radio 105.1 and Chelmsford Radio 107.7. And yes, if you are thinking you recognise her– she was a contestant on Come Dine With Me. After losing by just one point she maintains to this day she was robbed…. Tracy.jones@ng-london.org.uk

Journalists Panel: Meet the NEWS journalists

Will Gompertz has been the BBC Arts Editor since 2009. Before that, he was a director at the Tate Gallery for seven years, where he was responsible for the award-winning Tate Online, the UK's most popular art website, and Tate Etc, the UK's highest circulation art magazine. He was voted one of the world's top 50 creative thinkers by the New York-based Creativity Magazine. In 2009 Will wrote and performed a sell-out one-man show at the Edinburgh Fringe called, Double Art History. Will has recently published a new book - What Are You Looking At?: 150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye – a detailed and entertaining history of Modern Art, from Delacroix to Damien Hirst. @WillGompertzBBC

Lucy Cotter is the Sky News Arts & Entertainment Correspondent. Lucy covers all the major award ceremonies and red carpet events including the Oscars, EMMYs and BAFTAs, and secures exclusive sit-down interviews with the world’s most influential artists. She also reports live from the Sky News studio in West London on the latest breaking entertainment stories, offering background expertise, insight and analysis. Lucy joined Sky News from ITV where she was the Entertainment Correspondent for London Tonight as well as a regular studio presenter for the programme. Before joining ITV, Lucy worked for Sky Arts on its first Hay-on-Sky series with Mariella Frostrup, presenting highlights from the literary festival. She has also worked for Granada, as a reporter and presenter of their news bulletins, and as a political reporter for their North West political programme. @lucycottersky

Jonathan Derbyshire is Culture Editor of the New Statesman. His literary journalism has also appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, New York Sun, Prospect, Times Literary Supplement and Time Out. In 2007, he edited Time Out: 1000 Books to change your life. He has also written reviews for The Philosophers’ Magazine and New Humanist. Jonathan was formerly a Contributing Editor of Granta and Reviews Editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine. @Jderbyshire

Nick Clark is the arts correspondent at The Independent. He joined the newspaper in June 2007, initially reporting on the stock markets. He has covered beats including the City, and technology, media and telecoms and made the switch to arts in December 2011. He has also contributed articles to the sports section. Prior to joining The Independent Nick reported on financial markets at weekly magazine Financial News. @MrNickClark

Jack Malvern has returned to his roots as the arts correspondent at The Times, where he was formerly a general news reporter, arts reporter and editor of the occasionally missed Diary column. He reports on arts, history and things that (hopefully) make readers laugh. @jackmalvern Breakout Sessions 1

International media engagement

Chair: Margot Senior. I worked for many years as International Media Officer in the press office of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, arranging visits and briefings for London-based foreign journalists to promote positive stories about the UK in the overseas media. These journalists represent leading publications, TV and radio stations and news agencies from all over the world and report on all aspects of life in this country.   Since leaving the Foreign Office five years ago I have continued doing similar work on a freelance basis. I have maintained my strong relationship with the London-based foreign press and now concentrate on informing them about cultural-related events, which they greatly appreciate since the FCO is no longer devoting resources to promoting Britain’s culture. My list of correspondents who write regularly on culture comprises around 600 international journalists. My projects last year included inviting London-based foreign journalists to the re-opening of Kensington Palace and the Cutty

Sark, as well as promoting numerous events in the London 2012 Festival. The global media coverage resulting from the foreign journalists’ participation in such briefings is worth many thousands of pounds. margotsenior@blueyonder.co.uk

Richard Holledge, freelance. Previously, Executive Editor (and Arts Editor) at The Times; Weekend section editor at The Independent and The Eye, daily lifestyle and arts section; Features Editor, Daily Mirror; Editor éLAN, the European culture section; Editor Wales on Sunday; various executive jobs at Today, Daily and Sunday Mirror. Author of The Scattered historical fiction about British ethnic cleansing of local inhabitants in 18th century Nova Scotia. Freelance writer for the International Herald Tribune and The Times as well as Apollo, Gulf News and the Wall Street Journal. @RichardHolledg1 richard.holledge@btinternet.com

Paul Levy, PhD, FRSL, visual and performing arts correspondent for the Wall Street Journal since early 1990s; food and wine ed; The Observer 1980-91; co-executor estate of Lytton Strachey; chair, Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery. paullevy@paullevy.com

Paul Rasmussen, BBC’s Corporate Communications Manager for Global News. I worked in newspapers and for Scotland's inward investment agency before working for the BBC on the Frontline Scotland investigative programme.   I managed press relations for BBC political programmes - Andrew Marr, Question Time and Andrew Neil and the 2010 election debates.   I looked after media relations and publicity for Panorama on investigations including Care Homes Undercover and FIFA.   I currently work at the World Service on Corporate Communications. @razbbc paul.rasmussen@bbc.co.uk

Alexander Menden, Arts Correspondent for Süddeutsche Zeitung. Born 1972, studied Modern Literature & Philosophy in Bonn & Oxford. Graduate studies in cultural journalism in Munich. Started journalistic career in 1995 as a local reporter for the General-Anzeiger (Bonn). Later joined the Münchner Merkur (Munich) as a freelancer & then, in 2001, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany's leading broadsheet. I have been the SZ's UK arts correspondent since 2004. I cover all kinds of arts & ideas-related stories, theatre, exhibitions, music, film, but also education and politics. I also contribute regularly to the German editions of Vogue and Architectural Digest (mainly interviews, portraits). alexander.menden@sueddeutsche.de  What I’d Tell My Younger PR Self…

Chair: Catharine Braithwaite has over 20 years experience in arts marketing communications, mainly working in the visual arts and museums sector. For full biog see the Conference Team section.

Roberta Doyle is a graduate in Business Administration and has held senior management roles in marketing, communications, education and fundraising within Scotland’s largest cultural organisations. She is currently Director of External Affairs with the National Theatre of Scotland, having previously held the same role for Scottish Opera and the post of Director of Public Affairs with the National Galleries of Scotland. Roberta has also worked in the dance and drama sectors as Director of Marketing with Scottish Ballet, Marketing and Press Manager with the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow and with Glasgow City Council’s Department of Performing Arts and Venues, as Head of Marketing and Press, in the run-up to Glasgow’s reign as European City of Culture 1990.  She is a Governor of Glasgow School of Art and a former Vice-Chair of the Tron Theatre. Roberta was a member of the Scottish Arts Council’s Implementation Steering Group for the creation of the National Theatre of Scotland.

Andrew Marcus is PR Manager at the Museum of London. Andrew was recently voted one of PR Week's top industry professionals under 29. In his current role, Andrew is responsible for the Museum of London's reputation management and all of the organisation's interactions with the media, managing a busy press office team. In addition, he leads on the Museum's crisis management, social media strategy and public affairs. Prior to working at the Museum of London, Andrew has worked at communications agencies Porter Novelli and Bell Pottinger as well as in-house at the Science Museum and Habitat. Andrew holds a Masters in Advertising and Marketing from Leeds University Business School and a Diploma in PR from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, of which he is a member. Follow him on twitter at @andrewmarcus. amarcus@museumoflondon.org.uk  Amy Riley is a Communications Officer for Arts Council England in the South East office. Over the past four years, she’s handled press, content creation and social media for projects such as the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and regional arts and culture. She is a published writer, journalist and literature promoter. Her writing has appeared in national and international publications and websites. amy.riley@artscouncil.org.uk 01273 763064 @miss_scribbler

Breakout Sessions 2

Keeping up with social media

Chair: Tim Powell is Digital Media Manager for Historic Royal Palaces - the independent charity that looks after the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace and Banqueting House - helping everyone explore their incredible stories through social media, digital content and collaborations with interesting partners. Tim is fascinated with digital’s storytelling powers, as a tool for time travel, and is happiest when practising digital grave-robbery – having put Henry VIII on Twitter, blogged as an 18th century feral child, and given love-life advice as Charles II’s “Pimp Master General”. He wears a MASSIVE ruff on Twitter. @TCP1980

Lena Zimmer, Digital Marketing Officer, National Theatre. Lena is a passionate digital arts marketeer currently working at the National Theatre in London. Before joining the National, she worked at the British Museum, building and managing their social media channels. Lena holds a degree in business management and has a MA from King’s College London in Cultural and Creative Industries. Her main interests are in digital communications, audience development, and finding creative ways to engage people with arts and culture digitally. @Lena214

Mar Dixon, Digital Social Activist/Trouble Maker. Passionate about culture. Social media & audience development consultant in cultural & creative fields. Lecturer. Founder of CultureThemes, Museum Camp & Teens in Museums. MuseoMixer. Reviewer. Saving Libraries. Sharing knowledge. @MarDixon

Tom Chapman, Business Development Director, Headstream. Tom has worked for Lawton Communications Group since 2009, starting out as a Planner and Account Director at LCG’s social specialist agency Headstream, and more recently as Head of Social for integrated agency Five by Five, working with brands including GAP, Activision, McLaren Automotive and the BBC. Tom rejoined Headstream as Business Development Director in late 2012 and continues to work with LCG’s other agencies to develop strategic frameworks, new service propositions and work with teams to continually evolve with emerging trends. Tom started out in the New Media team for OTC (now Lastminute.com). He also founded ClickExpo, an online trade show, and co-founded SpydaRadio, an Internet radio station and LOGO, a free music magazine. tom.chapman@lawtoncommsgroup.com

How to make a media partnership work for you

Chair: Tracy Jones

Richard J Thompson is head of strategic marketing partnerships and he has worked at Guardian News and Media Ltd for twelve years. In his current role he is responsible for marketing partnerships, media sponsorship and events. He has worked on a diverse range of projects and collaborations such as the Observer Food Monthly awards, media partnerships with festivals such as Glastonbury and Edinburgh International Book festival, and content partnerships with brands such as The New York Times and Spotify. He has also devised marketing partnerships with many large well known brands including the National Trust, Tate galleries, Sony Pictures and Universal music amongst others. Previously to his currently role, Richard launched the Guardian’s readers club, Guardian Extra and, was commercial manager of Guardian Weekly, the international weekly newspaper from Guardian News & Media Ltd. Richard’s career started in the Technology sector working for Sony (UK) Limited, a role that would see him develop new commercial partnerships with both businesses and broadcasters alike who were looking to benefit from the emerging technology of transmitting video over the internet.

Jane Ellison is Commissioning Editor, General Factual Programmes for Radio 4. She works to the Controller with responsibility for features and documentaries, narrative history and non-fiction readings. She also focuses on Food and Farming output and business coverage for the network. Jane was the Project Lead for A History of the World, the BBC’s major partnership with the British Museum. She has focused on partnership working across Audio and Music, supporting editorial collaborations with outside partners for all the Radio Networks and their associated digital activities. Jane started her career as a BBC trainee working in News and Current Affairs Television, including Newsnight where she was a producer for five years. In 1987 she moved to the BBC New York office as a producer. The following year she left the BBC to join a new satellite channel, the European Business Channel (EBC) in Switzerland. She returned to the UK as Deputy Editor of The Money Programme on BBC2 and become the first woman to edit The Money Programme on BBC 2 in 1993.

Kate Rosser Frost, Press & Communications Manager at the British Academy for the humanities and social sciences. For full biog see the Conference Team section.

Jamie Crawford is the Communications and Publications Manager for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) - Scotland's National Collection of Architecture and Archaeology. He is the author of Above Scotland: The National Collection of Aerial Photography, Above Scotland – Cities, and Victorian Scotland. His latest book, Scotland's Landscapes was published in October 2012, and has been turned into an exhibition at the Lighthouse Museum in Glasgow, Scotland's centre for architecture and design. He was recently commissioned by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland to write and design-manage Telling Scotland’s Story, a popular guide to Scottish archaeology which was  launched by Scotland's Minister for Culture in January 2013. From 2002-08 he worked as a literary agent in London, representing a select list of writers and broadcasters, and he has also previously worked as a radio broadcast journalist.

Sarah Watson is the Festival Manager of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival - one of the biggest events in the city’s live entertainment calendar and the largest event of its kind in Europe. Now in its eleventh year the 2013 GICF takes place from 14th – 31st March and features some of the UK’s top comics and well as acclaimed performers from across the world. Sarah has worked for the GICF since its inception and now oversees every aspect of the festival which this year includes stand up, theatre, exhibitions and film with nearly 105,000 tickets available for 411 shows in 46 venues over 18 days. @GICFSarah

Journalists Panel: Meet the COMMISSIONING EDITORS

Chair: Tracy Jones

Nancy Groves is editor of the Culture Professionals Network, the Guardian's online community for everyone working in arts, culture and heritage. As an arts journalist of ten years standing, she also sees herself as a PR by stealth – just don't tell anyone... nancy.groves@guardian.co.uk twitter.com/nancyarts www.guardian.co.uk/culture-professionals-network

Ossian Ward is Visual Arts Editor for Time Out London and a writer and spokesperson on art and visual culture. Formerly editor of ArtReview and the V&A magazine he has worked at The Art Newspaper and also edited The Artists’ Yearbook from 2005-2010, a biennial publication by Thames & Hudson. He has contributed to numerous other publications as a freelance writer – including Art in America, the Guardian, The Times, World of Interiors and the Independent – and is publishing a book on contemporary art to be published by Laurence King in 2014. @TimeOutArt

Matthew Dodd is Head of Speech Programmes and Presentation at BBC Radio 3, where he oversees programmes such as the nightly discussion programme Night Waves, The Essay, Drama on 3, The Verb, Free Thinking - Radio 3's annual festival of ideas, and the New Generation Thinkers scheme, a partnership between the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find new academic talent for broadcasting.

Ria Higgins is commissioning editor of the Sunday Times Magazine

Conference Team

Kate Rosser Frost is Press & Communications Manager at the British Academy for the humanities and social sciences. Her first dabble in PR was pitching herself into the 'Best Friends' column in the oh-so-famous-with-eight-year-olds Bunty magazine. Kate was previously the Senior Press Officer at Museum of London, where amongst other projects, she launched the major exhibition Dickens and London and the highly successful Streetmuseum apps, as well as helping launch the Galleries of Modern London in 2010. Previously Kate was at two PR agencies in Shanghai and London and preceding this, she worked for the British Red Cross where she spent time working in communications at the UN General Assembly in 2005. Kate has worked across the charity and commercial sectors in PR, for a range of organisations including Neal’s Yard, Lush and Patrick Cox. She has an MA in the Cultural and Creative Industries and also helps manage the PR for her local operatic society – whilst attempting to sing. Kate doesn't like the word 'no' - and refuses to acknowledge its existence. k.rosserfrost@britac.ac.uk

Claire Coveney is a failed cartoonist masquerading as the Press Assistant at the British Museum. She enjoys drawing naked people (otherwise known as ‘figure drawing’ to those with delicate dispositions) and writing art/film reviews for various publications. Proudest achievements include winning first prize at a Michael Jackson dancing competition aged 8, and sticking to her professional guns by never working outside of the cultural sector since graduating from her MA in Visual Culture in 2006, beginning her career at the Manchester Art Gallery as a Curator’s Assistant. CCoveney@britishmuseum.org

Jenny Stewart is a Press Officer at Royal Museums Greenwich. Currently juggling campaigns ranging from contemporary textile art to space photography to very old naval uniforms, she spends a lot of time hoping no one will notice how confused she is in meetings. Recent highlights include: being insulted by Jedward, being called ‘mummy’ by a notable historian and accidentally shouting at a respected museum trustee. jstewart@rmg.co.uk

Clea Relly is part time Press and PR Manager at the Museum of London, recovering perfectionist and Mother Superior to the graceful (but frantically paddling) tireless volunteers who organise this conference each year. Originally from South Africa, her childhood crush on London took her to Westminster and The National Archives before she found herself at the Museum of London eight years ago. Clea claims to be motivated by a desire to support colleagues in the cultural sector, but underneath that kindly exterior is a woman determined to make you network. Famous for enthusiastically introducing herself to people she's already met, she’s going to keep on introducing herself to you until you introduce yourselves to each other. Resistance is futile. crelly@museumoflondon.org.uk / 079 327 323 96 @CleaRelly

Sheryl Twigg is Press & PR Manager at Royal Museums Greenwich, London. She manages the media campaigns for the Museum's ever growing number of sites (National Maritime Museum, Queen's House, Royal Observatory Greenwich, Peter Harrison Planetarium and Cutty Sark) and tries to keep the tireless press office team’s energy levels sustained with bacon baps and pastries from the aptly-named Trafalgar Café. Never quite able to decide exactly what she wanted to do she studied art, science and history (some may call this indecisive, she calls it all-embracing) before making the move to RMG in 2000, a place encompassing all of these subjects, and where she could be a logical geek, creative storyteller and history bore. After 12 years she now has brain teeming with innumerable weird and wonderful astronomical and maritime facts - mainly weird - although nowadays she spends most of her time writing strategies, reports and talking to directors about the complexities of press, rather than talking about the complexities of longitude, white dwarfs and exoplanets, and the fact that Nelson did not wear an eye-patch. stwigg@rmg.co.uk

Katrina Whenham is a failed stand-up comic. After realising that her deeply sarcastic and disturbing sense of humour would not integrate her into mainstream society and that propping up a bar is not going to pay the bills, she decided to get a serious job in a museum. Starting out helping the semi-retired and cataloguing Assyrian stamp seals, she began supervising a documentary film crew and her PR career “blossomed” from there. Katrina is now Media and PR Manager at Historic Royal Palaces and spends most of her time travelling between palaces, sticking cameras in people's faces and avoiding calls from American entertainment channels asking ridiculous questions about the Duchess of Cambridge's growing baby bump – no, I’m not the right person to ask about filming the birth! Outside of work, she spends most of her free time with her dog Smudge and is living the suburban dream of house renovation in Harrow. Life doesn’t get much more rock and roll. Katrina.whenham@hrp.org.uk

Olivia Rickman is Press and PR Manager at the British Museum. She is proudly Scottish without an accent; an occasional volunteer at the National Trust’s Sutton House; and an Airbnb host which mean travellers from around the world stay in her spare room. Recent guests include a German Philosopher and an American writer who completed his novella during his visit. Olivia has done stints at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Fleming Collection, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Foundling Museum before moving to the British Museum. All of this pales into insignificance, however, beside her crowning achievement of featuring in the much loved Guardian Blind Date column: http://bit.ly/g0akPZ. *SPOILER ALERT* they are the first Blind Date couple to live together happily ever after! ORickman@britishmuseum.org

Emma Russell is most often found in a theatre, bar or dramatic scrape and currently earns her keep at the BBC. She works as a publicist for Radio 4 specialising in arts and cultural programming, with an avid side-line in celeb spotting thanks to the glass lifts in New Broadcasting House. She was previously a Senior Advocacy Officer, working on the wonderful five-ring circus that was the Cultural Olympiad, pulling together the various strands of communications - from public affairs to media and stakeholder – for the wealth of cultural events taking place in celebration of London 2012. Before this, she cut her teeth and had a baptism of fire into the arts world at Arts Council England’s national press office; advocating for public investment in the arts to the national media, and protecting the reputation of the Arts Council and the organisations it invests in. Her background is in arts and charity PR.

Jenny Orton recently joined the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine as Communications Officer, and is busy getting to grips with public health policy and malarial mosquitoes. Before that she spent over two years as Press Officer at Royal Museums Greenwich, delivering media campaigns for Cutty Sark and the Royal Observatory, and becoming a massive space geek in the process. She did a course and everything. She has also spent two years working at a London PR agency, adding waxworks, crocodiles, castles and Teletubbies to her rather random selection of PR projects. jenny.orton@lshtm.ac.uk

Catharine Braithwaite Having been told by the nuns at her convent school that talking in class was never going to deliver her dream job, it was pretty much her destiny that Catharine Braithwaite would eventually find her way into PR and marketing. Still incredulous that reading magazines and newspapers, listening to Radio 4 and watching TV is part of the essential research process and that meeting journalists for a cuppa is a good way to go about business; after 20 plus years this is still pretty much her ideal career. Manchester Art Gallery and Tate Liverpool gave her the confidence to go freelance where she has been lucky enough to have clients as varied and glamorous as Manchester International Festival, Liverpool Biennial, Manchester Museums Consortium as well as a number of museums and galleries across the North. Oh and she still loves to talk… cat@we-r-lethal.com @catharinebee 07947 644 110