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“NORTHERN IRELAND AT THE SMITHSONIAN”

REPORT ON PARTICIPATION IN THE 41ST SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL, 2007

Report by Pat Wilson NI Project Manager

Smithsonian Unit

June 2008

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CONTENTS Page

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 - 36 MAIN REPORT 37 -111 1. INTRODUCTION 38

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival 38

The Rediscover Northern Ireland Programme 38 2. BACKGROUND 40

Memorandum of Understanding 40

Financial Memorandum 41

Budget 42 3. DELIVERY STRUCTURES 45

Steering Groups 45

Leadership Group including VIPs 45

Coordinating Group 45

Curatorial Group 46

Administrative / Coordinating Team 46 4. LOGISTICS 50

Transportation and Freight 50

Flights 52

Accommodation 53

Insurance 54 5. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES 55

Marketplace 55

Food Concession 57

Folkways Recording 60

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Sponsorship 61

6. COMMUNICATIONS 65

Marketing & Public Relations 65

Website 66

Media Handling 68 7. FESTIVAL 69

Political Support 69

Programming Logistics 70

Research 70

Themes for programme content 71

8 December 2006: reveal of outline programme 72

Administration 72

Issue of invitations, recording of acceptance and 73 associated consequentials

Special events prior to attending the Festival 74

Receptions & Events in Washington DC 77

Opening Ceremony 79

8. POST FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES 82

Surveys and evaluation 82

Participants and sponsors’ feedback 82

Smithsonian Survey 82

DCAL survey of participants and sponsors 83

Conclusion of administration matters including 83 payments

Capture and collation of research materials, 84

recordings and filmed materials 9. MONITORING AND MEASURING PERFORMANCE 84

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10. CHALLENGES / LESSONS LEARNED 97/102 11. LEGACY OPPORTUNITIES 103 12. CONCLUSION 110

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank our colleagues in the Smithsonian Institution, Richard Kurin, Diana Parker, Barbara Strickland and especially Nancy Groce who made it possible for Northern Ireland to demonstrate its cultural traditions on the National Mall at the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2007. I would also like to thank my colleagues from Smithsonian Unit who worked tirelessly to ensure this was a success and all those from other public and private sector organisations in Northern Ireland who made their own special contributions to the event. Last, but not least, thanks to our participants whose knowledge and enthusiasm brought Northern Ireland’s distinctive cultural traditions to life at the heart of the United States’ capital. The Festival created special memories for everyone who took part or attended.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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NORTHERN IRELAND AT THE SMITHSONIAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION The Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival (the Festival) is an outdoor, professionally curated exposition of living cultural traditions featuring US states, countries or regions of the world or specialised themes. It takes place annually on the National Mall in Washington DC between the Washington Monument and the Capitol Hill. It lasts for 10 days during June and July and incorporates the Fourth of July Independence Day celebrations. It is a free event that attracts around 1 million visitors per year. 2007 was the 41st annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival. In 2007 from 27 June – 8 July, the programme, “Northern Ireland at the Smithsonian” featured alongside 5 countries from the Mekong River region of SE Asia and the “Roots of Virginia” programme which was the US Commonwealth of Virginia celebrating 400 years of the founding of the settlement at Jamestown. The Rediscover Northern Ireland Programme Participation in the Smithsonian Festival is a prestigious, unique, ‘once in a lifetime opportunity. In order to optimise this opportunity, Northern Ireland devised and mounted a coherent series of events that showed many additional facets of Northern Ireland’s life outside the confines of the Festival. A programme of events took place across a sustained period from March until August 2008, depicting the social and economic life of Northern Ireland. This programme was conceived and delivered through the work of the members of the Leadership and Coordinating Groups. Members of the Coordinating Group agreed a strategy for the key messages it would deliver in Washington DC. The overarching strategic message was “To present Northern Ireland as a creative, confident, outward looking region and to develop further strong relationships with the United States that would be mutually beneficial”. These events leading up to, and including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival placed Northern Ireland at the centre of attention at the heart of the US capital on the National Mall. It provided a unique opportunity to demonstrate the transformation taking place in Northern Ireland society. The programme produced an unprecedented partnership between government departments, public agencies and the corporate sector both in Northern Ireland and in the United States.

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The programme was branded Rediscover Northern Ireland and a logo and strap line See, Feel, Discover was devised under which all of Northern Ireland’s diverse stakeholders could operate. Rediscover Northern Ireland had five core themes:

The vibrancy of Northern Ireland’s arts and culture was demonstrated at more than 60 arts and cultural events and residencies in venues such as the Library of Congress and the National Geographic;

The quality of Northern Ireland’s food and drink was promoted and

sampled at receptions, gala gourmet master-classes and at the Festival itself;

Northern Ireland’s world class universities were promoted through Higher

Education events, such as poetry and at visual art exhibitions;

The significant opportunity to trade, invest and do business with the US was further explored through trade shows and other high level business networking events;

Northern Ireland’s tourism potential was promoted throughout the

programme, including at Washington’s iconic Union Station, with an exhibition on the Titanic – ‘Titanic, Made in Belfast’.

The programme was designed to commence during St Patrick’s week in Washington in 2007 and create a crescendo of interest in the five core themes, culminating in the grand finale of the Smithsonian Festival. The Rediscover Northern Ireland programme was of a magnitude never previously seen in Washington DC in association with any preceding festivals. Northern Ireland’s final programme was diverse, complex and set the bar high for any future participating country attempting to replicate it. 2. BACKGROUND The opportunity to participate in the Smithsonian Festival and develop Rediscover NI arose as an outcome from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure’s International Strategy for showcasing arts and culture. On identifying the opportunity it was researched and visits to the Smithsonian were made at Ministerial and very senior official level to gauge the potential. This work resulted in an announcement by the Secretary of State in Washington on St Patrick’s Day 2005 and the subsequent signing of Memoranda of Understanding between Northern Ireland and the Smithsonian in May and September 2005.

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Budget and Finance The project initially concerned financing Northern Ireland’s participation at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival only, mounting a minimum programme of 80 participants. AYear 1 budget of £100k for 05-06 was achieved by technical transfers from other Departments. As the scope of the full Rediscover Northern Ireland opportunity became apparent, budgets for Years 2 (06-07) and 3 (07-08) were achieved through a combination of in- year bids and further technical transfers from other Departments. The working budgets were:

Year 05-06 06-07 07-08 Total Budget £100k £498k £970k £1,568k

It became clear that there was excellent potential for the involvement of Northern Ireland’s corporate and business sector and by November 2006 a concerted sponsorship drive got underway. However, as sponsorship was being accumulated, plans needed to be finalised with both the Smithsonian Institution and the Washington venues where all the key Rediscover NI events would take place. It was crucial therefore that sufficient public funding was in place to underwrite the costs of both programmes in order to mitigate the two key risks which were sponsorship not materialising and an unfavourable exchange rate during the period between planning and delivery. The total cost of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was £1,046m which represented contributions to the value of £622k from DCAL’s budget and £424k from the Smithsonian Institution. The Rediscover NI Arts and Culture programme cost a total of £512k which was a combination of separate DCAL funding from its existing international showcasing budget - £320k and additional contribution of £192k from the Arts Council. The cost of the Titanic exhibit at Union Station was £402k and was funded through a combination of corporate sponsorship, DCAL funds, and additional contributions from Tourism Ireland and Belfast City Council. Corporate Sponsorship exceeded all expectations and at £426k in cash donations went way beyond the original target of £250k. In addition to cash, a very diverse range of sponsors and organisations provided additional in kind support in terms of product, services, support for employees appearing at the festival and senior staff time engaging in Rediscover NI activities or providing support and advice. In kind sponsorship has been estimated to be of the value of £155,760. Sponsorship enabled Northern Ireland to enhance its programmes in terms of numbers of participants taking part, ability to show more facets of NI life and better exhibits to tell the story.

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Washington partners also provided in kind support such as: providing arts venues either at reduced rates or free: inclusion of RNI events in their publicity and marketing; ticketing and booking arrangements; security and ushering. This has not been quantified but it is important that their generous contribution to our programmes is acknowledged. Marketing and publicity materials and the services of a Washington based PR company cost £237k. However, news and media stories in the US reached television audiences of 112 million alone. Print media through newspapers such as the Washington Post would have extended the audience reach further. Actual Costs Totals £ 000s Rediscover Northern Ireland Arts and Culture Programme (DCAL & ACNI)

512

Titanic Exhibition Union Station 402 Smithsonian Folklife Festival (DCAL & Smithsonian)

1,046

Administration – DCAL Smithsonian Unit

258

Marketing 237 Total 2,455 Income Totals £ 000s Corporate Sponsorship (Cash) 426 Public funds including DCAL, ACNI & government departments

1,605

Smithsonian Institution 424 Total Cash Income 2,455 Additional sponsorship in the form of in-kind support and services valued at

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3. DELIVERY STRUCTURES Steering Groups The MOU with the Smithsonian required Northern Ireland to put appropriate arrangements in place to steer and manage the process of putting on a festival programme at the Smithsonian. In order to meet both Northern Ireland’s governance and accountability requirements and the expectations of the Smithsonian, the following steering groups were created to guide and manage the different aspects of the process of delivering a successful festival on the Mall and the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme beyond the Festival.

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The Leadership Group including the VIP Group The Leadership Group was formed to lever private sector support and raise corporate sponsorship; provide advice and guidance on keeping public and private sector activities consistent and focussed. It was Co-Chaired by the Head of the NI Civil Service and the Chair of the Ulster Bank. Membership consisted of members of the business community and officials from DCAL with responsibility for the different strands of the programmes. A subset of the Leadership Group was a group of VIP supporters. They were a virtual group who never met but lent their support to the programmes and spoke positively about Northern Ireland. They lent their names to documentation; websites and marketing materials. Two performed at events in Washington DC and one attended the Festival’s Opening Ceremony and other receptions. The VIP supporters were Senator George Mitchell; Sir James Galway; Barry Douglas; Kenneth Branagh; Brian Friel; Brian Kennedy; Geraldine Hughes. The Co-ordinating Group The Co-ordinating Group was formed from senior government and public stakeholders whose organisations were contributing to and participating in events in Washington DC. The purpose of the Co-ordinating Group was to provide governance and accountability and to direct communications channels both internally and externally. Membership of the group increased as more events were embraced towards the end of the planning process. The Curatorial Group The Curatorial Group was constituted from representatives of public and voluntary organisations that maintain aspects of cultural policy and funding. Its initial role was to consider the cultural possibilities for NI in participating in the festival. In its early stages it produced recommendations of people and organisations for the Smithsonian Curator to contact in the pursuit of information about NI’s cultural traditions and also for potential consideration as participants. The Curatorial Group was convened on each occasion that the Smithsonian Curator visited Northern Ireland and provided advice as requested at each stage of the process. Six broad themes as the basis for research and programme content were agreed between the Curator and the Group. These were:

Crafts Food and drink culture History and Heritage

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Sports and Childrens’ games Occupational Traditions Traditional performing arts

It was agreed that the Smithsonian Curator would receive local voluntary support from Co- Curators drawn locally from relevant members of the Curatorial Group. This would form part of their organisations’ in kind contribution to the Folklife Festival and provided an avenue for direct guidance and advice for the Smithsonian Curator in the relevant field. Administrative / Coordinating Team In order to deliver both the Smithsonian Festival and the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme in Washington DC, a team of fourteen specialists and administrators was created specifically for this task. It was a flexible group drawn from a variety of sources some of whom were seconded to DCAL for the duration of the projects. It should be stressed that the team grew incrementally over a period of two years as each of the tasks were required. It only achieved full strength in the last eight months preceding the Festival and of the final fourteen staff, at least two had obligations to other duties unconnected with Washington. Five members of the team were either on secondment or loan from other organisations until the conclusion of the project. The Team was headed up at Director level by the Head of DCAL’s Sports, Museums and Recreation Division and day to day management and coordination was provided by the Head of Smithsonian & Olympics Unit who was also NI’s Project Manager for the Smithsonian Festival. The Rediscover Northern Ireland Arts and Culture Programme was devised and delivered by a Director of the Arts Council who was seconded to DCAL to act as Creative Director. Sponsorship was sought and managed by the Business Links Manager who had been seconded from Business in the Community to develop the level of corporate sponsorship for these programmes. At the next management level were five managers, each responsible for a different aspect of the programmes. Administration and Finance Manager: oversaw budgets and payments; management of the internal administration team. Provided support to other managers with special events and receptions. Communications Manager: one of the learning points from Scotland’s experiences in 2003 was that they felt they had missed out on media opportunities by not dedicating a full time resource to the Smithsonian Festival. To avoid this pitfall, NI appointed a press officer to manage day to day communications and public relations in respect of the Smithsonian

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Festival and Rediscover NI. The Communications Manager oversaw the production of marketing materials and liaised with the appointed advertising agency. The Communications Manager also had the advice and support of the management structure within the Executive Information Service to draw on and at key points Press Officers from other departments and agencies were mobilised as required. Events Manager: the Project Manager for the 2012 Olympics doubled up as events manager when by November 2006 as it became clear that a number of special events and receptions in respect of the Washington programmes would be required. Logistics Manager: the role of this manager was to ensure that all participants for the Festival, their equipment for demonstration and goods for sale at the Festival were delivered safely to Washington and returned to Northern Ireland after the Festival. Marketplace Coordinator: the role of the Marketplace Coordinator was to manage all aspects of offering NI’s craft goods for sale in the Smithsonian’s Festival Marketplace which included identification of suitable goods and producers; advice on pricing, display and packaging; arrangements for collation and labelling of goods for transportation; liaison with Smithsonian on a variety of queries i.r.o. of goods; management of NI’s section of the Marketplace; liaison with Smithsonian post festival about sales and payments; dealing with unsold goods returned to NI. The Marketplace Coordinator was a freelance craft consultant employed on a project basis by CraftNI and seconded to DCAL for the Marketplace project. Office Manager: Two Executive Officers, in addition to their routine administrative responsibilities for payments, information management, assisting with the organisation of events had specialist roles of Freight Support and Participant Coordinator. Freight Support involved supporting the Logistics Manager with liaison with the appointed freight forwarding company and the preparation of documentation to describe the goods or equipment being transported. Participant Coordinator issued invitations on behalf of the Smithsonian and was the first point of contact for participants thereafter through issuing and recording a series of documentation to travelling to Washington DC to provide local support to participants and assist DCAL’s management team with the delivery of other events and receptions. To provide basic administrative support to the entire team, two temporary administrative assistants were engaged from the Department’s employment services contractor.

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The main team travelled to Washington to conduct duties related to Rediscover NI events and the Smithsonian Festival. while a small team of four staff remained in NI to run the office and respond to queries and requests for assistance from the Washington team. In addition to the core DCAL team, assistance was provided in various forms by other stakeholders and volunteers. It should be noted that Smithsonian Unit was very grateful for this help in all its forms as the amount of manpower required to service the multitude of simultaneous activities in Washington prior to and during the first week of the Festival was infinite. These were: The member of the Leadership Group who provided advice and assistance

with craft goods for sale in the Marketplace; the Chief Executive of CraftNI who took time away from his exhibition to assist also. Many other staff helped with stock control and sales in the Marketplace in between other tasks.

The Communications Manager received support on the ground during the

Festival from an Information Officer from DCAL’s Press Office and another Senior Information Officer from DETI. Both the Director and Deputy Director of the Executive Information Service each attended for one week and were available to provide support to the Communications Manager.

The Traditional Arts Officer from the Arts Council was present during the

Festival as a presenter MC’ing concerts and was also available to look after the needs of the performers.

A Folklorist from National Museums also acted as a moderator of

discussions on the narrative stage. In between her own presenting schedule she was able to liaise with participants and assist the SI Curator with practical jobs around the exhibits at opening and closure of the site each day.

The Department of Employment and Learning loaned the services of a

Deputy Principal for the first week to assist the Business Links Manager to service the needs of the eleven corporate sponsors who were in attendance.

The NI Tourist Board and Tourism Ireland worked independently of the

DCAL team and provided their own staff to manage the tourism section in the Marketplace tent and to manage the distribution of the promotional fans to the public on the site plus staffing any Smithsonian Associates events that were taking place during the Festival period. Other tourism managers had responsibilities in relation to the opening of the Titanic exhibit in Union Station and the associated tourism lunch.

In addition to the forms of assistance outlined above, Northern Ireland was fortunate in that both Co Chairs of the Leadership Group were present at the Festival’s Opening Ceremony and a series of high profile events attended by

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US opinion formers. Each had their own commitments to different events in the light of their own roles in respect of looking after Ministers and the Corporate Sponsors. 4. LOGISTICS Transporting a large party of people and their equipment to Washington and back is a major logistical exercise. This work was divided between Smithsonian and DCAL with Smithsonian arranging flights and accommodation and insurance for participants. DCAL looked after its own personnel and arranged the return freighting and transportation of participants’ equipment and materials for demonstration. This involved the acquisition of a freight forwarding company. The work involved very detailed tripartite negotiations between DCAL, the freight forwarders and the Smithsonian about the nature of the goods to be shipped and the shipping deadlines in order to reach the Mall in time. Once the goods arrived in the US there were further detailed negotiations with US Customs and the Food and Drug Administration which were conducted by the Customs Agent retained by the Smithsonian. This often involved further research on goods with their owners or producers that had to be relayed in detail to the Customs agent in order to secure the release of the goods. There were remarkably few problems with goods considering the volume, variety and unusual nature of some of them. One piece of equipment and a consignment of goods for the Marketplace experienced severe delays in customs and were impounded and only released with hours to spare before the Festival opened. Fortunately, damage and breakages were minimal and confined to inexpensive items. After cash sponsorship for freight was deducted, the final cost of freight (including sea and air) was £13,543.63. 5. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES The Smithsonian Festival is not per se a commercial opportunity. However, Northern Ireland’s craft producers and musicians achieved sales of $81,000. An Irish run restaurant from Bethesda, MD ran the NI Food Concession and achieved food and beverage sales of at least $221,000. Some of the companies whose occupational traditions and workers were featured in the NI exhibit on the Mall, although not able to sell products on the Mall achieved additional sales either through a presence in the Marketplace or sales through their websites at home. These companies and the corporate sponsors all had the opportunity to raise their profile at home and in the US through association with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Rediscover Northern Ireland. Festival Marketplace Associated with every Festival is an opportunity for participants to exhibit and sell goods associated with their exhibit on the Mall. As no sales are permitted on the National Mall due to National Park Service rules, the Smithsonian erects a temporary marquee on land adjacent to one of its museum

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properties. In 2007 it was located outside the Freer Gallery and opposite Smithsonian Metro, an excellent location for footfall. In earlier years of the Festival, producers would have brought and presented their goods to the Smithsonian on arrival and be paid by them on departure. This is still possible, but with the involvement of more developed, strategically oriented nations, the system has been changed to deal with produce coming on consignment from the sponsoring nations. This has necessitated more modern procedures of stock control and accounting for goods and sales. Northern Ireland appointed a temporary Marketplace Coordinator to manage the process of identifying and acquiring a range of craft and artisan goods for sale in the Marketplace to supplement any produce sold by participants appearing on the Mall. The Marketplace Coordinator working with a sub group for the Leadership Team identified 13 categories of goods that would be representative of NI’s craft and gift output. These were: Jewellery; Ceramics; Books; Linen; Music CDs; Candles/Soap; Bog Oak; Willow; Giftware; Sports wares; Paper Goods; Consumables; Glass. Sales figures for NI’s contribution to the Marketplace were as follows: Consigned goods shipped $76,000 Total sales $81,000 The discrepancy between goods shipped and actual sales arises from two companies providing goods direct from their US distributors which were not accounted for in figures for goods supplied but are accounted for in sales. Additionally, a small number of participants submitted items on arrival but their sales, also included, were quite modest. Not all goods were sold at the festival and the unsold items were shipped back to NI for return to their owners. Northern Ireland’s goods in the Marketplace were popular and some lines sold out completely, while others enjoyed very good sales figures. It is worth commenting that performance in the Marketplace is relative to the goods on offer from the other programmes. NI’s textile goods which were of very high quality could not compete for price against the textiles from SE Asia which sold for considerably less. NI’s music CDs were good sellers but in order to compete with US prices, suppliers were asked to accept less than the £/$ exchange rate would suggest. On the advice of Smithsonian, NI tried to supply goods that fell within price points between $10 - $25. This ruled out a number of potential suppliers from the outset, as quality crafts from NI would tend to be valued outside this range. However, as a strategy for pricing goods for the US it contributed to a healthy sales outcome. Participation in the Marketplace needs to be viewed as an activity to raise the cultural profile of a region and provide a rounded visitor experience. It is not a

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commercial opportunity except for occasional individual producers with low overheads who achieve good sales at the festival. NI Food Concession At every Festival each separate programme has its own food concession. This serves the practical purpose of refreshing the visitors to the Mall and keeps them on site longer by not wandering off in search of food elsewhere. More importantly it enhances the Festival experience by providing an opportunity to sample foods and cooking styles that are being demonstrated on the Mall at the food demonstration kitchens where food cannot be sampled. The food concessions can either be run by local restaurants that bid to the Smithsonian for the chance to run a concession – often their owners or food style has a relationship with the programme – or, if the participating nation feels they have sufficient resources and expertise to do so, they can install a catering provider of their own choosing. Taking the latter course is a high risk activity as bringing caterers from outside the US would not have been commercially viable and the risks (due to adverse weather conditions) would be significant and borne by the caterers. A local restaurant from Bethesda, MD, Flanagan’s Harp and Fiddle were confirmed as the concessionaires. To ensure that Northern Irish accents were heard at the service counters, DARD, DEL, and ANIC worked on the acquisition of the interns with the result that Newry Institute, sponsored by DCAL, brought 8 catering interns to Washington in the company of a hospitality lecturer. Their role was to assist Flanagan’s with preparation and to mainly provide the front of house service. A small number also assisted the chefs in the demonstration kitchen on the Tastes of Ulster Stage. There were four food concessions at this year’s Festival. One Thai, one Vietnamese, one representing Virginia and Kent and Northern Ireland. The NI Food Concession had the second highest sales at the festival after the Thai concession. NI’s sales at its food concession are among the top ten sales figures in Festival history. The sales figures indicate that it was a very popular concession in relation to the 2007 and previous festivals. The Pub and the Session Musicians Northern Ireland’s food concession incorporated a feature that was new to presentations on the Mall and the first time that the Smithsonian had attempted anything like it. NI had noted on visiting the festival in 2006 that visitors had limited scope for seating and sheltering out of the sun. Building on Northern Ireland’s very strong musical programme which was being used as a “hook” to draw visitors to the Mall, it was decided by the Curator and NI that we would dedicate a performance stage to the food concession which would feature the tradition of session music and would be realised to look like an Irish pub. A large open

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sided marquee had ample space and provided for comfortable dining plus non-stop entertainment featuring audience participation for anyone who had an instrument and was good enough. At weekends this was advertised for Washingtonians to come down and play. Special sessions were arranged for children and young people. In Washington’s climate, shaded seating will always be an attractive proposition. The painted backdrop of the stage which was intriguing and attractive and the lively sounds of the music drew the curious to this stage at all times of the day and evening. The other benefit which should not be underestimated was that it provided a space to consume the beers that were on sale at the food concession and meet National Park rules that only allow limited servings per adult customer to consumed within the confines of the food concession. Needless to say this became a focal point for musicians, participants, stage technicians, visitors and not surprisingly the other programmes. Total sales of food and beverages at the NI Food Concession are summarised below. Beer sales $79,790 Sodas and waters * $20,790 Food Sales $120,769 Total sales $221,349 * Unable to obtain figure for hot beverages e.g. coffee Folkways Recording The Smithsonian Institution has its own prestigious in-house record label, Folkways Recordings. This label is dedicated to the recording and thus preservation of folk, traditional or indigenous styles of music and is an archive in its own right. As well as being a traditional recording label that promotes and sells albums there is also an adjunct, Smithsonian Globalsound which is an MP3 site for downloading music on a pay per track basis. Folkways has a worldwide following and has a track record of being nominated for or winning Grammys with some of its output. At an early stage it was decided that part of NI’s overall association with the Festival and the Smithsonian would be to leave a lasting legacy of musical output from Northern Ireland in the production of a Folkways Recording. Work on this was started early, even before Festival participants were finally selected. Bearing in mind that Folkways is a world class label, only those performances that were at a world class standard could be included for the recording to have integrity and to be of interest to Folkways’ buyers. This meant that some performers who are quite popular within NI but would not appeal so much to an international audience could not be included.

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The theme of the recording was a sense of place, so whether the track is vocal or instrumental it refers to either a place in or the landscape of Northern Ireland. The intention of this was to give a listener who has never visited NI to acquire some sense of the region. The recordings were accompanied by a very authoritative but lively set of sleeve notes which really brought each track to life. To create a bright and interesting cover for the CD, a local, but not currently well known artist was selected on the basis of a painting held in the Arts Council’s collection. It featured traditional musicians and the artist gave his permission for an amended version to be used for the CD cover. The recording was launched at a special concert during the Folklife Festival. Northern Ireland provided funding of $29,700 towards the production costs of the recording as a promotional tool to raise the profile of Irish traditional music from Northern Ireland internationally. Folkways provided the staff, the equipment and the promotional activities and the sales facilities for the recording. Sales of a recording are a long term proposition. Once a recording has been made it is available in perpetuity from Folkways. In the event of selling out of stock, provision has been made to produce a further consignment. Downloadable mp3 tracks are always available. Total value of sales from July to November 2007 are listed below. Figures from December 2007 onwards are not yet available. WHOLESALE VALUE OF

SALES No Units sold retail 831

$8,468.25

No Units sold mail order 1,823

$14,290.70

No. digital downloads Dec 07

7 $49.00

No Units issued for Promotional purposes

2,715

NIL

TOTAL NOS. SOLD 2,661 $22,807.95

Sponsorship Direct advertising is not permitted on the National Mall by the National Park Service nor is it permitted by the Smithsonian within the featured programme (a) because it could compromise arrangements with the Smithsonian’s own corporate sponsors in the form of ambush marketing and (b) because it could damage the integrity of what is a serious outdoor museum exhibit by turning it into a trade show. This caused confusion and irritation to potential sponsors initially who found this a difficult concept and wondered about the point of

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becoming involved. It would have been much easier to attract sponsors if the exhibition had allowed for greater commercial involvement and freedom and undoubtedly there would have been greater numbers of sponsors involved. Fortunately however, there were a number of factors at play that contributed to a healthy level of support from sponsors who were willing to take a leap of faith. Factors that encouraged sponsors to assist with the Festival were as follows:

Opportunity for companies with indigenous occupational traditions to feature shop floor employees as participants on the Mall;

A sense of social responsibility to the locality where the business is located;

Advertising to their NI customer base their support for projects that promote NI internationally;

An opportunity to raise the profile of their company or product in the US without resorting to the costs of direct advertising;

An understanding that helping to create a more positive international profile of NI abroad indirectly creates a better business environment in which NI businesses are better received and regarded when trying to do business.

Sponsorship opportunities for Rediscover NI and the Smithsonian festival were outlined to prospective, local sponsors in November 2006. Respondents were aware that sponsorship of the Festival itself would preclude direct advertising, this was perceived as an altruistic form of support and a healthy number of companies were keen to support this aspect. In addition to this there were two Lead Sponsors each providing support of a minimum of £50k; 6 sectoral sponsors and a number of others providing support at £20k, £15k and £10k. Many companies provided in kind support either instead of cash or in some cases in addition to cash. A total of £580,760 cash and in kind support was received from corporate sponsors in Northern Ireland towards these programmes. A survey of sponsors post festival indicated a willingness to consider involvement in supporting other cultural programmes that promoted Northern Ireland as a region. It would be fair to say that in the future that sponsors would wish to see a greater degree of co-branding in future projects and a higher profile for themselves. They were all aware that sponsoring these events to have a greater impact in Washington played a part in altering perceptions and creating a better environment in which to do business in the future. 6. COMMUNICATIONS The objective of participation and the Smithsonian Festival and the creation of the associated Rediscover Northern Ireland programme was to raise a positive profile of Northern Ireland and show the United States the transformation that had already taken place and was continuing. Northern Ireland decided to maximise all media opportunities by appointing a dedicated Communications Manager to look after press contact, marketing and public

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relations. In addition to this a Washington based public relations company was appointed to work with DCAL’s Communications Manager and the stakeholders of the other Rediscover NI events. The work of the Communications Manager was supplemented with additional input from Departmental and Agency press officers in relation to their own events and activities of their Ministers. This strategy enabled comprehensive earned media coverage both in Northern Ireland and the US. Northern Ireland’s press coverage in the US was 96% positive. More than a year before NI went to the Festival, the Rediscover Northern Ireland brand and logo was created. The brand tied all aspects of all programmes together and was an umbrella under which individual stakeholders could still express their own brand identity. The brand appeared on all written publications and marketing materials; websites; the participants’ and staffs’ rucksacks; baseball caps; chefs & catering interns’ aprons; water bottles and fans. The DCAL Team, some of the Press Officers and also the Minister wore white shirts embroidered with the RediscoverNI logo. This was not imposed on participants as they were already carrying the rucksacks and many of them wore the caps. Uniform shirts for participants would have been considered a step too far both by them and the Smithsonian. It was important for participants to retain their individuality as it was not a trade show or exhibit where a corporate appearance would have been appropriate. As a rule, overt branding is not allowed by the Smithsonian as it interferes with their own brand which takes supremacy. A lot of effort was put in with the Smithsonian prior to the Festival with regard to being allowed to use the brand in a subtle and low key way around the site. It was not ambush marketing, there were no surprises and the approach was respectful to the Smithsonian brand. Website It was agreed by both the Leadership and Coordinating Groups at an early stage that a website would be designed that could work in conjunction with the RediscoverNI brand. The primary objective of the Rediscover NI website was to provide a portal through which the public could access a range of information pertaining to Northern Ireland’s involvement at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and its programme of RediscoverNI events between St Patrick’s Day and the conclusion at the end of August 2007.

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The associated objectives of the website were to: • provide information about Northern Ireland, its culture, business, tourism and

resource capabilities;

• provide the availability of an events programme;

• provide the facility for business staff to easily enter and approve web site content;

• to provide a monitoring solution to record the number of ‘hits’ on the website;

• have a site populated in advance with all necessary data;

• have a site that could be easily updated and or amended as the business need dictated.

As the website was a portal it was always intended that it would be a gateway for entering the more comprehensively developed sites of our stakeholders, therefore the stakeholders’ pages were not especially detailed. Almost 88,000 people accessed the RediscoverNI website. Post festival there was a variety of traffic to the website’s e mail inbox raising a variety of cultural enquiries about information, services and goods. All bona fide enquiries were researched and supplied with an answer. The Smithsonian provides its own website for the Festival which features details of all the programmes in the Festival and contains information about the featured region; the programme content; names and biographies of participants; the Festival programme book; the layout of the site; references to sponsors; links to the Folkways recording; web casts of selected concerts at the Festival; a link to the Flickr photos page featuring photos taken by the public at the Festival and posted to this site; there were also photos taken by interns and volunteers for a project about the Festival. The Smithsonian’s website has a retrospective feature so readers can look at information from previous programmes. Website statistics Rediscover NI website 22.6 million page views by

87,929 visitors November 2006 – May 2008 Visit duration 14-19 minutes 78% visits made by an international audience the rest mainly from the UK & Ireland

Smithsonian Folklife Festival website 40,719,219 millions hits May – July 2007 Included other related websites such as Smithsonian Globalsound These were highest website figures in the history of the Festival

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Media Handling before and during the Smithsonian Festival Media Handling was carried out by the Smithsonian’s own Press Office plus two Press Officers from DCAL and another on loan for the duration of the Festival from Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. As well as their responsibilities to the Festival, they had other commitments to their own Ministers while they were in Washington and to other events in the wider Rediscover NI programme. A total of 386 cuttings were taken from US and NI media1. There was also extensive radio coverage with officials, Smithsonian curators and participants frequently providing interviews for US radio stations but this has not been captured. One relatively small station that ran a series of interviews prior to the Festival had an estimated listener ship of 1 million. Summary of Media Coverage PRESS ARTICLES No. of cuttings NI 259 No. of cuttings US 127 Positive press coverage NI 90% Positive press coverage US 96% Negative coverage NI 3% Negative coverage US 2% TV coverage NI 37mins

45secs TV coverage US 26

mins 32secs

Estimated audience figures for TV in the US

112 million

7. FESTIVAL More than 145 participants from Northern Ireland exhibited, performed and talked about 6 cross cutting themes on traditional/indigenous activities: Traditional crafts; food and drink culture; heritage; occupational traditions and workers’ culture; sports; traditional performing arts. Northern Ireland’s festival site featured one large performance stage with a dance floor for the audience – the Lagan Stage; one small stage – the Foyle Stage; a narrative stage for discussions – the Bann Stage; a stage for cooking demonstrations – the Tastes of Ulster Stage; a stage attached to the food concession for session musicians– the Lough Erne Inn.

1 This does not include the Smithsonian’s cuttings which included references to the NI programme.

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Northern Ireland’s site on the Mall featured a sports pitch marked out for Gaelic games, rugby and football. Special built features on the Mall included examples of heritage stonework complete with window arches and a double sided gable end wall for the mural artists to produce two different murals. Other props loaned for the Festival were a willow harvester, an energy cabin, a Ferguson tractor, a rally car and racing bike, a section of the Carrick a Rede Rope bridge, a whiskey still and an original model of the Titanic. Musically there was a focus on the piping and drumming traditions of Northern Ireland showing both how the instruments are made then subsequently performed by virtuosos. Folk drama expressed through mumming traditions and community dancing so audiences could join in which brought colour and life to the stages. Northern Ireland’s food culture was demonstrated by chefs and cooks from varied walks of life. Overall, 1,006,195 visitors came to the National Mall and a further 40 million hits on the Smithsonian’s Festival related websites ensured that Northern Ireland exposed record numbers to its culture. The Festival’s programme book containing articles about Northern Ireland was completely sold out during the Festival. 8. POST FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES Although the Festival concluded on 8 July, a number of post festival winding down activities remained to be completed. These included completion of all payments to participants and the Smithsonian and reconciliation of budgets; return of equipment to participants; return of unsold Marketplace goods to producers; the gathering of evidence and information for evaluation; the collection and collation of research materials, photos, audio and film recordings taken at the Festival and their return to NI for archiving. The archive materials included in excess of 1,000 digital photos; 70 hours of filmed material; hundreds of hours of audio recordings of discussions and performances. 9. MONITORING AND MEASURING PERFORMANCE

Measuring Success, Monitoring Performance A Strategic Plan was agreed by Leadership and Coordinating Groups in September 2005, signed off by key stakeholders. This set out the key strategic aims and measures of success: Aim Measure Outcome We will raise Northern Ireland’s profile through showcases, exchanges, exhibitions and events.

Increased and improved media coverage (at home and internationally)

145+ Northern Irish cultural experts and performers demonstrated our traditions on the National Mall for 2

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We will present Northern Ireland’s diverse culture to promote a new strategic message about the new Northern Ireland

weeks. 27 Northern Irish organisations partnered with 21 Washington organisations to deliver the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme $175,000 in-kind support from Washington partners in support of the programme 200,000 audience from Washington DC and Maryland & Virginia communities 186,953 total number of visitors at the CraftNI: Made in Northern Ireland Exhibition in the S. Dillon Ripley Center. 1,006,195 visitors attended the 10 day Festival 97% of visitors rated their experience of visiting the Festival as excellent, superior or good 58% of visitors said they might want to visit Northern Ireland while a further 22% indicated maybe they would consider it, only 7% said they would not want to visit. These were the best visitor potential figures of the Festival with Mekong Region scoring the closest with 39% and 24% stating they might want or maybe visit the region and 20% stating they would not want to visit.

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71% of visitors stated that they learned a lot or something about Northern Ireland from the Festival. This figure was the highest of the three programmes at the Festival. 40,719,219 hits on the Smithsonian’s Festival related websites including Smithsonian Global Sound which included webcasts from the Festival 4,269,550 page views 1,476,238 website visits These were the highest website figures in the history of the Festival 22.6 million page views by a total of 87,929 visitors to the site.

Northern Ireland’s economic vision and strategy for innovation is a clear reflection of the transformation that has taken place and is indicative of Northern Ireland’s position as a confident, capable and innovative region. This event will also reflect Northern Ireland’s historic role in the culture of innovation, creativity and pioneering spirit.

R&D Investment by US Companies, profiling NI technology in the US specialist media, technology missions to NI

15 companies attended FOSE Fairfax County Trade Mission held during Smithsonian Festival 10 companies accompanied the Minister £5,000,000 actual and potential sales reported to date

Today, Northern Ireland is an internationally competitive region. Our universities and education system are driving a knowledge based

Increase opportunities to promote research and study in Northern Ireland to US students. Promote opportunities for

20 NI artists’ work featured in the visual arts exhibition 300 alumni and honorary graduates in the US informed of this

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economy, generating successful businesses with an international focus and wanting to do business with US organisations.

collaborative research between NI and US universities

event 80 alumni & guests attended launch of exhibition New relationship formed with a private sponsor from NI introduced through the RediscoverNI programme Contact re-established with 800 alumni across the US 140 alumni & friends of UU attended event including graduates from Florida, Texas, & New York 385 people attended the Poetry event in the National Geographic and 150 Alumni and other invited VIPs attended the associated reception. These events established and increased communication between QUB and other parties in Washington DC that are still ongoing. QUB hosted the Mitchell Conference 22-23 May 2008 to be attended by the President of Georgetown University and 15 academics.

Northern Ireland is a growing region where America likes to do business. So far 130 American firms have located in Northern Ireland as part of their strategic plans to develop European

Number of new lead contacts for Invest NI

Mini trade mission around the two Dept. of Agriculture food events £500,000 sales in the US over next 2 years predicted by one participating food company

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markets. Access to European markets has been an important strategic factor for these businesses but so too has been the desire to benefit from our exceptional research and technical skills.

3 other NI companies have returned to the US to further develop their contacts with the US market

More businesses from Northern Ireland trading in the US, forming partnerships and transferring technology, particularly focussed in activities associated with the Smithsonian related events.

Increased business activity and trade. Trade missions to Northern Ireland

80 US Companies sent 100 representatives of “blue chip” companies to attend the Investment Conference.

In tourism, there has been a great upsurge in visitor numbers to Northern Ireland and in 2004 over two million people made the journey to Northern Ireland, the highest number ever. There were over 100,000 visitors from the US alone. The tourism industry is also recognising the quality of the tourist facilities and Belfast is a popular conference destination; and Belfast the most popular weekend tourist destination in the UK.

Increased Tourism from US, opening up new markets

100,000 branded NITB fans distributed during the Festival drawing attention to Tourism websites 60,000 footfall through marquee where TIL/NITB presentation stand was located 7,000 each of NI visitor guides & NI DVDs handed out 5 lectures /events delivered 710 people attended these lectures 85,000 circulation of SI Associates Magazine that received issue promoting NI $1,091,658 of positive coverage for Northern Ireland (STG £551,714) through the PR programme Preliminary forecasts for 2007 show an increase of 14% for visitors from North America. 6 US travel writers attended Smithsonian

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events 8 press visits to NI taken place in 2007 2 confirmed for 2008. 3 US TV companies researching/filming episodes for series on NI in 2007/2008. 13 appointments completed with key travel media publications in New York 19 story ideas targeted to media

Northern Ireland has an immense wealth of talent, a strong economic, social and cultural base which has gone from strength to strength over the past few years.

Sales of Cultural merchandise, increased opportunities to market, sell or perform for artists and creative businesses

$81,030.43 sales of NI craft goods, giftware, books & recordings sold from the Festival’s Marketplace during the Festival. This exceeded the sales achieved by Scotland in 2003 by one third. Top selling goods were Ceramics, CDs, Jewellery & Giftware

When people see what we have achieved they will be pleasantly surprised. Virtually every aspect of life is changing for the better and even more positive days lie ahead.

Positive targeted Media Coverage

96% of all media coverage in the US was positive, only 2% was negative 41 news releases, advisories & fact sheets issued to the US media on RNI & SFF. 127 cuttings taken from US newspapers/internet sources such as Washington Post, Washington Times, Irish Voice, Irish Echo, International Herald 112 million audience of Fox News Live, CBS,

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CNN, Channel 9, Channel 5. 26m 32 secs total US airtime.

Conscious of the government’s commitment to ensure effective use of public funds and to achieve value for money, a monitoring process was created. This drew on feedback reports from the Smithsonian Institution; the key stakeholder bodies and a post-event survey was carried out by DCAL which included the experiences of the corporate sponsors, Festival participants and artists and performers . 10. CHALLENGES / LESSONS LEARNED There is no rehearsal for participation in the Smithsonian Festival therefore there is just one chance to get it right. Many lessons were learned along the way mostly centring round issues of partnership working with other bodies and with another culture; communicating the concepts and managing expectations; managing and making effective use of new technology. Engaging with another organisation that has a different work culture One of the challenges that NI faced (and probably vice versa for the Smithsonian) were cultural differences in working practices that had to be understood and accommodated. There were also differences in staffing levels on both sides at key timeline points that had to be accommodated. Both NI and US staff had other calls on their time. In NI we had our responsibilities to the RediscoverNI programme in general, plus all the events and receptions we needed to service. On the US side, all the Smithsonian’s staff, with the exception of the very small numbers dedicated specifically to a programme, had to deal with the two other programmes featured on the Mall as well as NI. For NI, pushing a large volume of unfamiliar work and deadlines into a relatively short timescale was akin to pouring a gallon into a pint pot but it was done due to the prestige of the event, it’s temporary nature and the goodwill and pragmatic attitude of the NI team. Communicating the concept of the Folklife Festival to others Initially, communicating the concept of the Folklife Festival to others was quite challenging and more often involved articulating the things that it wasn’t, i.e. a festival in the more commonly understood form, a tourism showcase, a trade show. In order to get this point across we repeatedly borrowed the Smithsonian’s own description “a professionally curated, outdoor museum exhibit of contemporary, cultural traditions” and used it repeatedly verbally in meetings and written into briefings and media articles. The announcement of NI’s participants put a bit more flesh on it when it became apparent the types of people that had been selected and the themes started to emerge. This was assisted by the media running press articles and TV slots about some of the

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participants and from this a visual picture that an audience could understand began to emerge. Some of the public sector stakeholders although not directly involved in culture in their corporate objectives, could see the value of furthering their own objectives by association with cultural activities, this was particularly true of tourism and food and drink. Other public sector stakeholders could not initially relate to the value in it for their organisations. However, they did concede the point that it would be useful to show a different, more positive aspect of NI to the US media and that this in turn should create a more positive and accepting environment in which they could pursue their own business objectives. Managing expectation and “irrational enthusiasm” This dimension applied only to the prospect of participation in the Festival itself. It refers to individuals or specific organisations that believed that no Festival in the US could possibly take place without their input. The skills of negotiation and communication were used to the full to let them down gently with their pride in tact. There were some unusual propositions from those who really did not understand the concept but were eager to be part of it. In preparing for a Festival, there is a lot of negotiating to be done with powerful or influential organisations that are guardians of aspects of a nation’s culture and who want to be part of the Festival but think they are going to do it entirely on their own terms or that they will alter the concept of the Festival to match their needs. Serious work had to be done by the Curator and the DCAL senior team to ensure that such organisations understood that NI and the Smithsonian valued and wanted their contribution but that it had to follow the accepted form or their representatives would not be invited to participate. Fortunately, after intense effort and reassurance was invested in this, all of these representatives of culture agreed to take part and ensure that a broad perspective on NI’s culture was shown to the US media and public. It is worth commenting that those who conceded this was an opportunity to good too miss were well rewarded in terms of the interest and approbation of the work of their organisations and many new good quality contacts were made. Website Staff from Smithsonian Unit were provided with a two hour briefing in the use of Livelink. In practice this proved to be insufficient to operate the site effectively. Given that all staff in the team were already overextended with their own duties, servicing the website with such minimal training and experience became unrealistic. The technicality of running a website that was to contain interactive calendars, photos, video clips and podcasts was far beyond the technical ability of the team and there was no time to obtain and attend more comprehensive training.

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The website was to be NI’s shop window and so it was unsatisfactory to be unable to maintain the website. To rectify this matter we tried on three occasions prior to the Festival to acquire experienced or qualified temporary staff from agencies and other areas of government but nobody would accept the challenge. Eventually, we received an offer of assistance from an IT section in another area of government and while initially helpful in dealing with some backlog of material before the Festival it did not work well during or after the Festival due to the problems we encountered with computers in the Smithsonian and the NI Bureau which could not handle the material we were trying to upload. The increasing sophistication of websites and the needs of consumers dictates that websites now have a level of professionalism that does not exist for people for whom it is only a minor aspect of their job role. Our compromise was to keep our Smithsonian pages populated with information and to upload arts and cultural information that was content managed and submitted to DCAL by the Culture Northern Ireland website. Budget Initially, defining the budget was a challenge because the Smithsonian’s sample budget was based on a minimum sized festival - 80 participants and assumed separate components for public funding and corporate funding. During the early stages, while realising that 80 participants would not be sufficiently large to articulate the diversity of Northern Irish culture, it was too early to be sure what would be affordable. In addition to this, these considerations were taking place at a time long before the Leadership Group was formed to lever private funding or before commitments to sponsorship had been made. Once the decision to aim for 120 participants was made, the next step was to bid for public funding to underwrite the full costs of the Festival to ensure that it could take place pending the securing of sponsorship. Once sponsorship commitments had been made by 31 March 2007 the affordability of enhancements to the Festival in terms of the final number of participants and the production of the Titanic exhibit for RediscoverNI were made possible. The other challenge, but a good one was that the exchange rate altered favourably several times during the planning stages which added to the overall affordability. By the time the final large invoices were paid post festival, the exchange rate was just over $2.00/£1. It goes without saying that had it altered unfavourably that NI would have been much more constrained in what it could deliver. Managing Ministers at the Opening Ceremony An area for which DCAL had planned and the team had prepared was the management of Ministers at the Opening Ceremony. The DCAL team had a plan, had rehearsed it and had invited Press Officers to walk through it the previous afternoon. The reason for this was that the Smithsonian had very precise timings for the Opening Ceremony and the following Partners’ Luncheon. Punctuality at each stage was highly valued by the Smithsonian as

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it impacted on protocol and courtesy. Despite these preparations, even before Ministers’ transport arrived, the timetable was beginning to slip and a mismatch of aspiration crept in. Ministers and their Press Officers were concentrating on media interviews at points in time when the Smithsonian needed to keep aligned with their own timetable. This mismatch led to difficult situations where parts of the ceremony or luncheon could not proceed because Ministers were difficult to locate. The extensive outdoor nature of the site exacerbated matters as it was very difficult to locate people. Another challenge when working on the site at any time, but very problematical during the Opening Ceremony, was the frequent loss of phone signal on the Mall. It was a conundrum that any time it was imperative that someone be contacted by phone that the signal failed. Even when successful in making contact, there is an ambient noise on the Mall that makes hearing difficult at all times. Telecommunications in Washington DCAL staff travelling regularly to Washington DC prior to the Festival used tri band mobiles supplied by the Department. Prior to the Festival, US pay as you go phones were rented for the duration of the Festival for staff not normally issued with a departmental mobile. However, when we arrived in Washington for the Festival, the Smithsonian insisted on the purchase of two additional basic US PAYGO phones for staff with their own UK phones as international dialling was barred on the temporary landlines on site and the mobiles provided to Smithsonian staff. Therefore the issue was not about our ability to contact Smithsonian staff by phone, but their ability to contact us in an emergency. Setting up and Striking of the site At the setting up and striking stages, despite having brought a fairly substantial team each with their own functions and roles plus a requirement to address any ad hoc tasks arising, there never seemed to be sufficient staff. The Marketplace versus the exhibit versus servicing the locations of the Rediscover events and receptions formed numerous, shifting pressure points during the first week and again during the last two days when the site was dismantled. There is a limit to how many staff can be justified and with the cost of airfares in the Summer the saving on hotel accommodation does not justify the cost of bringing additional staff to and from the US at the pressure points. Unfortunately, there are no dress rehearsals before the Festival and no amount of visiting previous festivals gives any sense of what conditions will be like on the ground when it is your turn. Nothing prepared us for the speed with which the Smithsonian dismantled the Marketplace and the computer systems on the site and at the hotel. This made completion of the return manifests for freight very challenging as they need to be accurate and reflect all changes in content in order to make the return journey without question. Lessons Learned

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Have separate marketing and public relations functions because there is a tipping point in the preparation process where this becomes a key issue and outstrips the ability to service all the tasks that need to be addressed in a short and pressurised space of time.

Don’t mix marketing and PR with the government press function because

marketing and PR responsibilities will be subordinated to the need to ensure the best media coverage for the Minister.

Include a dedicated website and content manager function within the

managing team ensuring they have sufficient technical expertise to create and maintain a professional, cutting edge website.

Obtain portable communications technology fit for purpose. Greater use of

wireless notebooks and Blackberries should have been insisted upon. Devise strategies for addressing problems caused by staff external to the

production team who do not adhere to the plans communicated prior to the event.

Engage local US students solely as interns to the managing team as an

additional resource to address pressure points.

Prepare for striking of the site by bringing own laptops to complete manifests and labels. Include extra packing materials in the outgoing shipments and store it in the programme’s container until it is needed.

Purchase inexpensive US pay as you go mobiles for staff travelling

frequently to Washington for planning visits and charge them up with plenty of credit in readiness for the Festival.

11. LEGACY OPPORTUNITIES Legacy opportunities are emerging and these can be categorised in three ways:

Single “one off” opportunities or ongoing relationships for organisations or individuals

Opportunities that drive forward DCAL’s strategic aims or those of public bodies within the “DCAL family”

Opportunities that are in line with the concept and ethos of RediscoverNI that would be cross departmental and promote a positive image of Northern Ireland internationally

Three specific events in the next few years present opportunities for showcasing Northern Ireland Shanghai Expo 2010, London 2012 (particularly the four year long Cultural Olympiad) and the World Police and Fire Games to be hosted in Northern Ireland in 2013.

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12. CONCLUSION This unusual and unique opportunity has enabled Northern Ireland to showcase itself, cast away outdated stereotypes, be seen in a very positive light and demonstrate many different facets of its best qualities to the US public, media and decision makers. Northern Ireland worked hard and coherently to make the best of this chance and the outcome has been very positive demonstrated by extensive media coverage in the US and a state of goodwill towards the region. It has altered perceptions of Northern Ireland from victim to potential partner. It was a very inclusive process which inspired and incorporated participation on an unprecedented scale from Ministers, US politicians, VIPs from Northern Ireland, business leaders, public servants of all levels, cultural experts, academics, artists and performers, chefs, journalists, craft workers, poets, researchers and students. The Northern Ireland public got behind it because even if they weren’t attending in person, many people knew someone who was. Northern Ireland’s participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was trailed from the outset as a unique and prestigious opportunity, and so it proved to be. The development of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme delivered key strategic messages about Northern Ireland and completed a fuller picture by showing aspects of life not covered in the Festival. It provided Northern Ireland with an exceptional opportunity to present many facets of its life and capabilities to the US. Although each stakeholder was presenting its own key messages, all of them benefited from pressing home the overarching message that Northern Ireland is a confident, creative, outward looking and is indeed a transformed society. This combination of events and programmes each with their own unique business focus altered perceptions dramatically and transformed the US’ stereotyped view of Northern Ireland forever. The added bonus of the restoration of devolution and the opportunity for Ministers from the Executive to travel to Washington DC and New York presenting a united front, completed the public relations activity by providing political focus. The level of positive media coverage in the US supports this view. Two powerful moments were created and recorded on the National Mall at the Opening Ceremony, one was the deputy First Minister declaring to the audience that “the war is over” and the second was the Finance Minister’s reminder to Americans of their heritage and the linkages of so many of their Presidents to this region. These events provided a platform for Northern Ireland’s politicians to re-introduce themselves to the United States in a different light, addressing very different issues from those they had to in the past. This united, cohesive appearance in Washington DC at such a seminal moment in Northern Ireland’s history appears to have been welcomed and appreciated by senior US decision makers and opinion formers. Northern Ireland is only in the early stages of evaluating measurable outcomes from the Festival and Rediscover NI. New relationships and projects formed from these events will take time to mature and materialise.

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Tourism figures for US visitors will not be available until after the 2008 tourist season. However, the success of participation in the Smithsonian’s Annual Folklife Festival can be measured by the sum of its parts rather than by any individual element. A combination of the Smithsonian’s own visitor survey, DCAL’s survey of participants and an assessment of media coverage already provide indications that Northern Ireland has already met or exceeded the targets it set itself on a number of fronts. Participation in the Festival has demonstrated beyond doubt the role that Culture can play in showing the best of what this region has to offer and the fact that it is an important vehicle for delivering a range of strategic messages. Although Northern Ireland will never be able to travel this particular road again there are many other international opportunities on the horizon where culture can join forces with business and tourism to raise the international profile of Northern Ireland on a world stage. In order to harness these opportunities and do this more effectively in the future, dedicated resources would have to be found in the form budgets and staff. The other nations of the UK have External Affairs Divisions to deliver their contributions to world events. Colleagues in Wales and Scotland attend a Foreign Office working group about these opportunities but Northern Ireland does not appear to have a delegate on this group. The Rediscover Northern Ireland programme was an example of “joined up” government in action and while no-one pretends it was easy to work with others whose objectives and values were very different, we all reached the end point successfully and showed what can be achieved when resources are pooled and everyone, no matter what their individual goals, are all working towards the same high level objective. The unprecedented partnership of the Corporate Sector with the public sector underlined the value of everyone working towards a mutually beneficial single objective. As far as the Festival was concerned, there was very little direct benefit to individual sponsors in the form of advertising their services or products. The insightful sponsors however had identified early on the benefits that could be derived from Northern Ireland promoting itself more positively and thereby creating a better environment in which to conduct business and create confidence. The destruction of the old stereotypes about instability and conflict which constrained business development in the past are a feature of Northern Ireland’s work in Washington in 2007 that should not be undervalued. Finally, there exists substantial anecdotal evidence that demonstrates that participation in the Festival and the Rediscover Northern Ireland programmes has played a valuable role in increasing the confidence of participants about how they view and value their own cultural activities and how they view the work of others and other traditions in the cultural field.

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For officials administering these programmes, it presented a unique development opportunity to work internationally and deliver programmes and events that were visibly beneficial to Northern Ireland’s international status and improvement of its image. Without the Smithsonian Institution providing the opportunity for Northern Ireland to be part of its 41st Folklife Festival and subsequently the history of the Festival, none of the achievements of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme would have been possible. The willingness with which Washington’s finest venues and institutions welcomed our Rediscover Northern Programme made everything possible. Finally, the generous and enthusiastic support of Northern Ireland’s Corporate Sponsors enhanced and added value to Northern Ireland’s overall showcase.

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MAIN REPORT

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1. INTRODUCTION The Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival (the Festival) is an outdoor, professionally curated exposition of living cultural traditions featuring US states, countries or regions of the world or specialised themes. It takes place annually on the National Mall in Washington DC between the Washington Monument and the Capitol Hill. It lasts for 10 days during June and July and incorporates the Fourth of July Independence Day celebrations. It is a free event that attracts around 1 million visitors per year. 2007 was the 41st annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival. In 2007 the programme, “Northern Ireland at the Smithsonian” featured alongside 5 countries from the Mekong River region of SE Asia and the “Roots of Virginia” programme which was the US Commonwealth of Virginia celebrating 400 years of the founding of the settlement at Jamestown. In 2004 when we were researching the possibility of Northern Ireland becoming a featured programme in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival we attempted to research it with previous participating countries hopeful that we would learn something from their rationale and outcomes. None of the countries contacted could offer any rational reason for their participation, the only theme they had in common was that they felt demonstrating their culture to the world was a good thing to do. We found Scotland to be no different in this respect. Their officials could offer no clear, evidence based argument for their own participation, although unlike previous participants, they made a conscious effort to measure tourism figures after the event and wrote at some length about their experiences at the Festival. On their own admission they made no effort to maximise the media and public relations opportunities associated with participation and it was from this key learning point that Northern Ireland took the view that it would use participation in the Festival to create a public relations vehicle on many fronts on a scale never achieved before by Northern Ireland. It was from this that the beginnings of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme were born. The Rediscover Northern Ireland Programme Participation in the Smithsonian Festival is a prestigious, unique, ‘once in a lifetime opportunity. In order to optimise this opportunity, it was suggested by the Smithsonian that Northern Ireland may wish to consider the possibility of developing what they termed an ancillary programme. They cited previous examples of participating countries that had put on a week of programmes in Washington DC at the start of the Festival. Following a proposal to the Coordinating Group and presentation to the Permanent Secretaries, it was agreed that Northern Ireland would devise and mount a coherent series of events that would showcase many additional facets of Northern Ireland’s life outside the confines of the Festival. This programme was delivered through the work of the members of the Leadership

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and Coordinating Groups. Members of the Coordinating Group agreed a strategy for the key messages it would deliver in Washington DC. The Northern Ireland strategy is attached at Annex A. The overarching strategic message was “To present Northern Ireland as a creative, confident, outward looking region and to develop further strong relationships with the United States that would be mutually beneficial”. These events leading up to, and including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival were to place Northern Ireland at the centre of attention at the heart of the US capital on the National Mall. It provided a unique opportunity to demonstrate the transformation taking place in Northern Ireland society. The programme produced an unprecedented partnership between government departments, public agencies and the corporate sector both in Northern Ireland and in the United States. Following a tendering process and proposals for branding, this programme was branded Rediscover Northern Ireland with a strap line “See, Feel, Discover” under which all of Northern Ireland’s diverse stakeholders and activities could operate. Rediscover Northern Ireland had five core themes:

The vibrancy of Northern Ireland’s arts and culture was demonstrated at more than 60 arts and cultural events and residencies in venues such as the Library of Congress and the National Geographic;

The quality of Northern Ireland’s food and drink was promoted and

sampled at receptions, gala gourmet master-classes and at the Festival itself;

Northern Ireland’s world class universities were promoted through Higher

Education events, such as poetry and at visual art exhibitions;

The significant opportunity to trade, invest and do business with the US was further explored through trade shows and other high level business networking events;

Northern Ireland’s tourism potential was promoted throughout the

programme, including at Washington’s iconic Union Station, with an exhibition on the Titanic – ‘Titanic, Made in Belfast’.

The programme was designed to commence during St Patrick’s week in Washington in 2007 and create a crescendo of interest in the five core themes, culminating in the grand finale of the Smithsonian Festival. The subsequent Rediscover Northern Ireland programme ran until 31 August 2007.

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The Rediscover Northern Ireland programme was of a magnitude never previously seen in Washington DC in association with any preceding festivals. Northern Ireland’s final programme was diverse, complex and set the bar high for any future participating country attempting to replicate it. This report mainly deals with matters in connection with the preparation, delivery and legacy of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. However, as the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme was the umbrella vehicle under which all Northern Ireland’s activities in Washington DC were delivered, there are areas of overlap and these are addressed in this report. Additionally, each stakeholder has produced their own evaluation of their participation in the Rediscover Northern Ireland Programme. 2. BACKGROUND In January 2003, under the International strand of the Face to Face initiative, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) appointed on a pilot basis a locally engaged Cultural Affairs Officer (CAO). Her first task was to design a strategy for showcasing NI arts and culture in the United States. She produced a document which contained short, medium and long term goals. Among the long term goals was a suggestion that Northern Ireland seek to be a featured programme in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival around 2009/10. The CAO while building a relationship between NI and the Smithsonian was able to recount that there was sufficient interest emanating from senior staff in the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH) that in 2004 there were a series of visits from DCAL senior staff, the Head of the Civil Service (HOCS) and DCAL’s Minister. Subsequent research and a fact finding visit to Scotland convinced Northern Ireland that it should embark on the process of persuading direct rule ministers of the value in participating and to start bidding for a budget to fund the project. On St Patrick’s Day 2005 in Washington DC, the Secretary of State, Paul Murphy announced NI’s intention to participate in the Smithsonian Festival in 2007. In May 2005 DCAL, on behalf of Northern Ireland, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Smithsonian. This was followed up by a Financial Memorandum between DCAL, Smithsonian and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in September 2005 to create the mechanism for making payments to the Smithsonian. CFCH appointed Dr Nancy Groce to be the Senior Curator for the Northern Ireland programme at the Festival. Dr Groce had previously featured programmes for Scotland and New York on the National Mall and was at the time working on a programme for the Canadian Province of Alberta in 2006. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) In order to become an official programme at the Festival, the featured region must agree and sign an MOU with CFCH. The MOU lays down the ground rules on how the parties will operate with each other, addresses the objectives

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of participation, outlines the roles and responsibilities for tasks and aspects of the programme while it is in preparation and during the Festival itself and provides an outline budget for the amount that will be required from the sponsoring region in order to put on a basic, minimum sized festival. The signing of the MOU provides the CFCH with assurance that budget will be procured for the creation of a basic festival. It also provides reassurance that governance structures will also be put in place to ensure leadership and management of the project. CFCH make suggestions about the type of structures that in previous programmes have been successful in delivering a programme. The region can structure these as they think fit as long as they are confident they will provide accountability for themselves and deliver the right outcomes. MOU attached at Annex B. Financial Memorandum A secondary, Financial Memorandum was also required to direct the relationship and responsibilities for payments. The Financial MOU was made between the CFCH, DCAL and the Arts Council for Northern Ireland (ACNI). The Financial MOU makes provision for funding from the participating region to be paid via another organisation, which, for Northern Ireland’s purposes was ACNI. The Smithsonian Institution is a 501(c) charitable trust. At the time Northern Ireland was working with the Smithsonian preparing for the festival, the policy was to charge an administration fee for work done to US state government and foreign governments. However, at that time, work done for Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) did not have an administration fee applied. This policy extended to foreign organisations that would have been considered analogous to an NGO. Hence, the Arts Council handled all direct payments to the Smithsonian on the authorisation of DCAL which had the responsibility for managing the probity of the payments. There were a number of key dates during the life of the MOU when payment of funding would be required to be passed through to SI, September 2005, September 2006 and end of March 2007. In addition to payments transferring to the US, DCAL decided that it would be advisable that where possible, funding would be expended in sterling within NI rather than SI expend it and charge it back to NI – examples of this were participants’ honoraria and curators’ costs when visiting NI. This reduced the amount of payments and the necessity for foreign currency transactions. The Financial MOU was a living document that could be amended to take account of changes, subject to the agreement and signature of all three parties. The FMOU had two further modifications. The first modification altered one payment date to be a better fit with the UK financial year to allow payments to dovetail more effectively with our budgeting process and the

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second made provision for the payment towards the Folkways Recording to be channelled through ACNI and also a clarification of the final payment by capping the maximum amount that could be paid at the end of the financial transactions. The Financial MOU is attached at Annex C. Budget In preparation for the signing of the main MOU, Dr Kurin produced an outline budget based on the experiences of recent festivals to indicate how much a festival consisting of 80 participants, providing standard stages and exhibit tents would cost. This formed the basis for the affordability of the festival. The outline budget also categorised the costs into those that Smithsonian would fund and those that were to be funded by Northern Ireland. The NI costs were divided by Smithsonian into two strands – those funded by public sector and those provided through corporate sponsorship. Although Northern Ireland intended to raise corporate sponsorship, it was, as yet, unclear whether this would be possible, or clear as to how much. Therefore, for budgetary purposes, it was assumed that the public sector would underwrite all costs. The purpose of this was to manage the risk of corporate sponsorship not being offered. In this event public funding would be needed to underwrite the entire event. This costing formed the basis of the subsequent bidding process to ensure that the full costs would be available if necessary. At a very early stage it was decided by the Coordinating Group that if NI was to make an impact in Washington, that the minimum of 80 participants (as outlined in the SI’s draft budget) would be insufficient to portray NI comprehensively and that our costings and bids should be made on the basis of a minimum of 120 participants in order to demonstrate the breadth and diversity of NI’s culture. It was decided that in the event of sponsorship forthcoming to support the NI programme at the festival, it would be used towards enhancements to the exhibits and/or additional participants. In the event, a combination of generous sponsorship both in kind and in cash and an increasingly favourable exchange rate £/$, enabled NI to achieve both. Following a Permanent Secretaries’ Group meeting on 11 October 2005, it was confirmed that the presence of Northern Ireland on the National Mall in the US was an opportunity too good to be missed and that DCAL and other interested departments and agencies would build a series of associated programmes of events around it in order to maximise the impact of the new face of Northern Ireland in Washington DC and to show many more facets of contemporary NI life that could be portrayed at the Smithsonian Festival which focuses specifically on cultural traditions as practised in a contemporary society. Coincidentally and contemporaneously with these activities, the Head of the Civil Service had indicated to Permanent Secretaries that NI departments should, in the future work together as a group on large scale, multi disciplinary, multi layered projects. It was by chance that the first project fitting this description was the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the associated Rediscover Northern Ireland programme. This became the first opportunity for

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Northern Ireland departments to deliver a multi disciplinary, multi layered, interdepartmental project. All the NI departments (including those with no direct involvement in either the Festival or Rediscover NI agreed to the top slicing of budgets to provide the public funding for the festival and the central core of communications and marketing for the RediscoverNI programme. The project initially concerned financing Northern Ireland’s participation at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival only, mounting a minimum programme of 80 participants. AYear 1 budget of £100k for 05-06 was achieved by technical transfers from other Departments. As the scope of the full Rediscover Northern Ireland opportunity became apparent, budgets for Years 2 (06-07) and 3 (07-08) were achieved through a combination of in- year bids and further technical transfers from other Departments. The working budgets were:

Year 05-06 06-07 07-08 Total Budget £100k £498k £970k £1,568k

It became clear that there was excellent potential for the involvement of Northern Ireland’s corporate and business sector and by November 2006 a concerted sponsorship drive got underway. However, as sponsorship was being accumulated, plans needed to be finalised with both the Smithsonian Institution and the Washington venues where all the key Rediscover NI events would take place. It was crucial therefore that sufficient public funding was in place to underwrite the costs of both programmes in order to mitigate the two key risks which were sponsorship not materialising and an unfavourable exchange rate during the period between planning and delivery. The total cost of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was £1,046m which represented contributions to the value of £622k from DCAL’s budget and £424k from the Smithsonian Institution. The Rediscover NI Arts and Culture programme cost a total of £512k which was a combination of separate DCAL funding from its existing international showcasing budget - £320k and additional contribution of £192k from the Arts Council. The cost of the Titanic exhibit at Union Station was £402k and was funded through a combination of corporate sponsorship, DCAL funds, and additional contributions from Tourism Ireland and Belfast City Council. Corporate Sponsorship exceeded all expectations and at £426k in cash donations went way beyond the original target of £250k. In addition to cash, a very diverse range of sponsors and organisations provided additional in kind support in terms of product, services, support for employees appearing at the festival and senior staff time engaging in Rediscover NI activities or providing support and advice. In kind sponsorship has been estimated to be of the value of £155,760.

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Sponsorship enabled Northern Ireland to enhance its programmes in terms of numbers of participants taking part, ability to show more facets of NI life and better exhibits to tell the story. Washington partners also provided in kind support such as: providing arts venues either at reduced rates or free: inclusion of RNI events in their publicity and marketing; ticketing and booking arrangements; security and ushering. This has not been quantified but it is important that their generous contribution to our programmes is acknowledged. Marketing and publicity materials and the services of a Washington based PR company cost £237k. However, news and media stories in the US reached television audiences of 112 million alone. Print media through newspapers such as the Washington Post would have extended the audience reach further. Actual Costs Totals £ 000s Rediscover Northern Ireland Arts and Culture Programme (DCAL & ACNI)

512

Titanic Exhibition Union Station 402 Smithsonian Folklife Festival (DCAL & Smithsonian)

1,046

Administration – DCAL Smithsonian Unit

258

Marketing 237 Total 2,455 Income Totals £ 000s Corporate Sponsorship (Cash) 426 Public funds including DCAL, ACNI & government departments

1,605

Smithsonian Institution 424 Total Cash Income 2,455 Additional sponsorship in the form of in-kind support and services valued at

156

Budget documentation attached at Annex D.

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3. DELIVERY STRUCTURES Steering Groups The MOU with the Smithsonian required Northern Ireland to put appropriate arrangements in place to steer and manage the process of putting on a festival programme at the Smithsonian. In order to meet both Northern Ireland’s governance and accountability requirements and the expectations of the Smithsonian the following steering groups were created to guide and manage the different aspects of the process of delivering a successful festival on the Mall and ancillary programming beyond the Festival. The Leadership Group including the VIP Group The Leadership Group was formed to lever private sector support for NI’s activities in Washington DC; raise corporate sponsorship; provide advice and guidance on keeping public and private sector activities consistent and focussed. It was Co-Chaired by the Head of the NI Civil Service and the Chair of the Ulster Bank. Membership consisted of members of the business community and officials from DCAL with responsibility for the different strands of the programmes. Terms of Reference for the Leadership Group and membership are at Annexes E and F. A subset of the Leadership Group was a group of VIP supporters. They were a virtual group who never met but who agreed to support the programmes and to speak positively about Northern Ireland in the event of being asked. They lent their names to letterheads; websites; programme books; publicity materials; calls for sponsorship. In terms of practical assistance, two performed at events in Washington DC; one attended the Festival’s Opening Ceremony and other receptions in Washington during the first week of the Festival; another provided a written forward to be used in programmes and a fund raising prospectus. VIP supporters are listed at Annex G. The Co-ordinating Group The Co-ordinating Group was formed from senior government and public stakeholders whose organisations were contributing to and participating in events in Washington DC. The purpose of the Co-ordinating Group was to provide governance and accountability and to direct communications channels both internally and externally. Membership of the group increased as more events were embraced towards the end of the planning process. The final membership is listed at Annexe . Terms of Reference and membership for the Co-ordinating Group are at Annex H.

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The Curatorial Group The Curatorial Group was the first steering group to be formed in May 2005 and was constituted from representatives of public and voluntary organisations that maintain a variety of aspects of cultural policy and its funding. Its initial role was to consider the cultural possibilities for NI in participating in the festival. In its early stages it produced a list of over 400 recommendations of people and organisations that the Smithsonian Curator may wish to contact in the pursuit of information about NI’s cultural traditions and also for potential consideration as participants. The Curatorial Group was convened on each occasion that the Smithsonian Curator visited Northern Ireland and would provide advice as requested at the next stage of the process. Six broad themes as the basis for research and programme content were agreed between the Curator and the Group. These were:

Crafts Food and drink culture History and Heritage Sports and Childrens’ games Occupational Traditions Traditional performing arts

It was agreed that the Smithsonian Curator would receive voluntary support from Co- Curators drawn locally from relevant members of the Curatorial Group. This would form part of their organisations’ in kind contribution to the Folklife Festival and provided an avenue for direct guidance and advice for the Smithsonian Curator in the relevant field. Terms of Reference and Membership of the Curatorial Group attached at Annexes I and J. Administrative / Coordinating Team In order to deliver both the Smithsonian Festival and the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme in Washington DC, a team of fourteen specialists and administrators was created specifically for this task. It was a flexible group drawn from a variety of sources and who were seconded to DCAL for the duration of the projects. It should be stressed that the team grew incrementally over a period of two years as each of the tasks were required. It only achieved full strength in the last eight months preceding the Festival and of the final fourteen staff, at least two had obligations to other duties unconnected with Washington. Five members of the team were either on secondment or loan from other organisations until the conclusion of the project. The Team was headed up at Director level by the Head of DCAL’s Sports, Museums and Recreation Division - Mick Cory and day to day management

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and coordination was provided by the Head of Smithsonian & Olympics Unit – Pat Wilson who was also NI’s Project Manager for the Smithsonian Festival. The Rediscover Northern Ireland Arts and Culture Programme was devised and delivered by a Director of the Arts Council – Dr Philip Hammond who was seconded to DCAL to act as Creative Director. Sponsorship was sought and managed by the Business Links Manager – Ryan Williams who had been seconded from Business in the Community to develop the level of corporate sponsorship for these programmes. At the next management level were five managers, each responsible for a different aspect of the programmes. Administration and Finance Manager – Rosemary Petrie : oversaw budgets and payments; management of the internal administration team. Provided support to other managers with special events and receptions. Communications Manager – Joanne Eland : one of the learning points from Scotland’s experiences in 2003 was that they felt they had missed out on media opportunities by not dedicating a full time resource to the Smithsonian Festival. To avoid this pitfall, the Executive Information Service ran a trawl to appoint an existing government press officer to manage day to day communications and public relations in respect of the Smithsonian Festival and Rediscover NI. The Communications Manager also oversaw the production of marketing materials and liaised with the appointed advertising agency. The Communications Manager also had the advice and support of the management structure within EIS to draw on and at key points Press Officers from other departments and agencies were mobilised as required. Logistics Manager - Marian Kelly: the role of this manager was to ensure that all participants for the Festival, their equipment for demonstration and goods for sale at the Festival were delivered safely to Washington and returned to Northern Ireland after the Festival. Marketplace Coordinator – Janice Stevenson: the role of the Marketplace Coordinator was to manage all aspects of offering NI’s craft goods for sale in the Smithsonian’s Festival Marketplace which included identification of suitable goods and producers; advice on pricing, display and packaging; arrangements for collation and labelling of goods for transportation; liaison with Smithsonian on a variety of queries i.r.o. of goods; management of NI’s section of the Marketplace; liaison with Smithsonian post festival about sales and payments; dealing with unsold goods returned to NI. The Marketplace Coordinator was a freelance craft consultant employed on a project basis by CraftNI and seconded to DCAL for the Marketplace project. Events Manager - Julie Steen : By November 2006 as it became clear that a number of special events and receptions in respect of the Washington programmes would be required including liaising with Smithsonian in respect of the Opening Ceremony.

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Office Manager: Kerry Savage managed the staff and day to day administration of the general office, taking care of accountability matters and providing support to the Business Links Manager. Kerry managed the Belfast team while the Washington team attended the Festival. Two Executive Officers, in addition to their routine administrative responsibilities for payments, information management, assisting with the organisation of events had specialist roles of Freight Support – Kevin Loy and Participant Coordinator – Orla McCarthy. Freight Support involved supporting the Logistics Manager with liaison with the appointed freight forwarding company and the preparation of documentation to describe the goods or equipment being transported. Participant Coordinator issued invitations on behalf of the Smithsonian and was the first point of contact for participants thereafter through issuing and recording a series of documentation to travelling to Washington DC to provide local support to participants and assist DCAL’s management team with the delivery of other events and receptions. To provide basic administrative support to the entire team, two temporary administrative assistants were engaged from the Department’s employment services contractor. An organisation chart is attached at Annex K. In order to support the Smithsonian at the Festival and to deliver specific Rediscover NI receptions and events in Washington DC during the first week of the Festival, part of the team travelled to Washington for all or part of the duration. The team was supplemented by the loan of staff from other organisations plus members of the Leadership Group who volunteered their services during the first week of the Festival. The main team travelled to Washington to conduct a range of duties as shown in the table attached at Annex L. While a small team of four staff remained in NI to run the office and respond to queries and requests for assistance from the Washington team. In addition to the core DCAL team, assistance was provided in various forms by the following, and it should be noted that Smithsonian Unit was very grateful for this help in all its forms as the amount of manpower required to service the multitude of simultaneous activities in Washington prior to and during the first week should not be underestimated by anyone contemplating participating in the Festival in the future. The member of the Leadership Group who provided advice and guidance on the placement of craft goods for sale in the Marketplace attended prior to the Festival, rolled up his sleeves and assisted with setting up NI’s Marketplace section. Also present both to oversee the opening of his organisation’s

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Rediscover NI exhibition and to provide some support to the Marketplace was the Chief Executive of CraftNI. The Creative Director of Rediscover NI’s Arts and Culture programme having lived in Washington for the preceding 4 months remained to provide support at Rediscover NI events and also to the Marketplace in the form of selling high value goods. The Communications Manager received support on the ground during the Festival from an Information Officer from DCAL’s Press Office and another Senior Information Officer from DETI. Both the Director and Deputy Director of the Executive Information Service each attended for one week in Washington in their official capacity supporting Ministers and the NI Bureau and were both available to the Communications Manager should she require support or advice with media handling issues. The Traditional Arts Officer from the Arts Council was present during the Festival at the invitation of the Smithsonian as a presenter and had a full schedule of concerts to MC and was also available to look after the needs of the musicians and to provide additional practical support on the site to the Smithsonian Curator. Similarly, a Folklorist from National Museums was also invited as a presenter to moderate discussions on the Bann narrative stage. In between her own presenting schedule she was able to liaise with participants and assist the SI Curator with practical jobs around the exhibits at opening and closure of the site each day. The Department of Employment and Learning loaned the services of a Deputy Principal for the first week to assist the Business Links Manager to service the needs of the eleven corporate sponsors who were in attendance and to provide other general support at receptions as required. The NI Tourist Board and Tourism Ireland worked independently of the DCAL team and provided their own staff to manage the tourism section in the Marketplace tent and to manage the distribution of the promotional fans to the public on the site plus staffing any Smithsonian Associates events that were taking place during the Festival period. Other tourism managers had responsibilities in relation to the opening of the Titanic exhibit in Union Station and the associated tourism lunch. In addition to the forms of assistance outlined above, Northern Ireland was fortunate in that both Co Chairs of the Leadership Group were present at the Festival’s Opening Ceremony and a series of high profile events attended by US opinion formers. Each had their own commitments to different events in the light of their own roles in respect of looking after Ministers and the Corporate Sponsors.

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4. LOGISTICS Transportation and Freight Acquisition of Freight Forwarding Services Initially it was believed that local sponsorship in the form of assistance with freight might be achievable. Despite approaches to potential sponsors this was not forthcoming. Finally, Belleek Potteries, one of the companies whose workers would be featured as participants in the Festival made an offer of assistance with freight. The original suggestion would have involved transporting all goods and equipment to Belleek, assembling them there and DCAL staff travelling to Fermanagh to assist the company’s freight forwarding department with the documentation. Once DCAL and Belleek had considered fully what this would involve, it was decided that a much simpler solution would be that Belleek would offer financial assistance for the cost of transporting a 40 foot container to the US which was £1,800. Belleek recommended their own contractor, Harbourside Logistics as a particularly efficient and keenly priced provider of this service. As the total costs of freight were estimated to be less than £20k and there were no freight providers on the government’s lists of pre-tendered services, three other freight companies were contacted and asked to provide quotations for the same level of service. These included companies used by InvestNI and NITB for transporting exhibits and publicity materials to the US. Harbourside was confirmed as the keenest price and additionally the cost of its service was fully inclusive, whereas some of the other providers added the same services as extras to the basic price of a container in order to achieve the same level of service that Harbourside was offering. Planning for transportation of freight Planning for the freight requirements and estimating its costs was complicated by the process whereby DCAL was not notified of the precise nature of the freight until relatively late in the preparations for the Festival. From the Smithsonian’s point of view, participants needed to be invited and confirmed before detailed discussions were undertaken between participants and curators about the items required to populate their exhibit. Successful freighting is dependent on knowing the precise detail of dimensions, weight and most importantly for US Customs and other agencies such as the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), the precise nature of the content and materials involved. The Smithsonian retains its own customs agent in the US, John S Connors, a firm with extensive experience of getting unusual goods and materials through US customs. Unusual items derived from plant or animal materials – green wood for basketry, animal skins for drum making were checked out by Smithsonian curatorial or production staff for acceptability prior to freighting. A detailed manifest was drawn up containing all these details and identifying the goods as consumables for demonstration during the Festival or goods for

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exhibition that would be returned to Northern Ireland after the Festival. A third category were goods intended for sale in the Marketplace which were freighted in a separate container as they weren’t required until closer to the start of the festival and to avoid delaying the exhibition goods in the event of detailed inspections being required by US Customs. For the return journey the same manifests were used and adjusted to take into account and provide explanations for missing items e.g. Consumable or goods gifted to the museum or visitors. Any additional items such as unused promotional items or signage from the Mall had to be added on to the manifest and explained. Northern Ireland’s sea freight arrived in the US at Richmond, Virginia which avoided the delays that can be experienced at larger, busier ports. From there it was transported in its containers by road by a haulage firm organised by the Smithsonian. Costs of Freight The total cost of NI’s freight to Washington DC and back was £ £15,343.63. After the cash sponsorship from Belleek was deducted, the final cost of freight was £13,543.63. Transportation of craft goods for the Marketplace accounted for £3,763.10 of the total figure. Although the bulk of the freight was transported by sea container, £3,575 of the total costs was attributed to air freight which was used in circumstances when the owner could not afford to be parted from their equipment for more than a few days as it formed part of their living e.g. musical instruments or tools, or when items were valuable or delicate. Particularly valuable items such as laptops were taken on the plane by their owner and if necessary, excess baggage was allowed. At the end of the festival, in kind sponsorship of return freight for unsold Marketplace goods was provided by Bushmills who allowed the use of free space in the container returning their exhibition equipment. It should be recorded that Harbourside Logistics provided an excellent service throughout and appropriate, good quality advice was provided at all times to staff that were unfamiliar with freighting and customs practices. From all the goods transported there were only three reports of damage – none of which were the fault of the freight company. One instance was the result of customs opening a container and failing to re-pack it properly; a second either happened on the Mall while awaiting collection or was the result of an intervention by US Customs; the third involved damage by airport security to a musical instrument in transit with its owner. None of the goods for exhibition were detained at customs for further inspection with the exception of one item, the Energy Cabin which the SI Curator had not requested be included with the NI freight transported by Harbourside Logistics. It travelled to the US by an entirely different route and experienced a variety of delays and inspections in US Customs. Following x rays and other inspections, the Smithsonian eventually had to make a

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payment to have it released from demurrage. It was delivered to the site just in time for the opening of the Festival. Similarly, all the goods for sale in the Marketplace were held up by the FDA in Customs due only to one category of item – the jams and chutneys. Prior to departure from NI, increasingly detailed lists of ingredients had to be supplied by the Marketplace Coordinator, none of which seemed to satisfy the authorities. Both Smithsonian’s Finance Director and JS Connors’ staff worked tirelessly on the release of the goods. Finally, they re-submitted the consignment afresh after recalling that this had worked for them on the occasion of a difficulty with another nation. This worked and finally, the container arrived on the National Mall just after midnight on the morning of the day that NI was due to unpack its container and check them into the Marketplace. When the container was unpacked, its contents had been disturbed by the customs inspections and a substantial part of the consignment closest to the doors fell from a height on to staff below. This resulted in a surprisingly small number of breakages and was testament to the value of careful packing prior to transportation. NI was very fortunate that out of the hundreds of valuable and unusual items that were transported to the Festival there were only two items that were delayed in Customs. However, the eventual release of both was a little too close for comfort having caused much consternation until their appearance on the Mall. Accommodation and flights Accommodation and flights for participants were arranged by the Smithsonian. Flights The booking of flights is an activity that can be undertaken either by the Smithsonian or the sponsoring region, dependent on who can obtain the best price. NI had received advice from Alberta in 2006 that this was an activity that the Smithsonian handled very well. Initially, there had been some indications that sponsorship from an airline might be forthcoming, but again, this did not materialise. As the Smithsonian team in DCAL were not resourced to devote time to flight bookings, which is a very fiddly task, and the pound was becoming increasingly strong against the dollar, NI opted for the flight bookings to be made by the Smithsonian. This was a good decision as the Smithsonian staff negotiated individually with participants about their airport choices – Belfast, London and Dublin were used; made arrangements for participants who wished to remain in the US for holidays post festival and collected monies from them for flights home for the differences in cost from airports away from Washington; all alterations and cancellations to itineraries were also dealt with by the Smithsonian. Some of the participants were uncomfortable with the fact that they did not know their flight itineraries as soon as they would have liked to and anecdotally, the DCAL team would have been aware that a very small number of participants did not ease the Smithsonian’s task. Given that Northern Ireland has no direct flights to Washington from its own airports and that everyone had to either travel to

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London or Dublin for a direct flight or travel from Belfast and transfer within the US, this mammoth task was discharged very effectively indeed. Even better given that it was organised by interns and volunteers without experience of the travel industry. Given that the participants were not chaperoned on the different legs of their journeys they managed extremely well at negotiating the security and routings through the different airports. The DCAL team put this success down to the fact that air travel, the security and immigration issues were covered in detail in the participants’ handbook prior to travel. The Continental flight from Belfast to Reagan National via Newark, NJ was described in detail in the handbook as this was the most used route and also NI had requested to the Smithsonian that participants who were older, less mobile, had young families or were less well travelled be placed on the Continental flight where possible. The Rediscover NI rucksacks provided by sponsorship and handed out to as many participants as possible at pre-festival briefing events and receptions also played their part in assisting participants at airports. The rucksacks provided them with spacious hand baggage and a means of recognising other participants at airports and meeting points. It wasn’t compulsory to use them but we found that most participants were pleased and proud to carry them and it really helped to break the ice among strangers and ensured that participants who were unsure what to do next at the airport could identify another festival attendee to help them. It also helped the Smithsonian’s volunteers spot the NI group and spare rucksacks were much sought after souvenirs of NI’s visit to Washington. Northern Ireland left behind a few walking advertisements in the form of young Washingtonians. Accommodation For many years, the Smithsonian has used the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, Virginia and negotiates a special contract price for bulk accommodation. This price is also available to officials accompanying participants. It is a comfortable spacious hotel which is fairly close to the National Mall using the festival transportation or by taxi. It is a brisk walk to the nearest Metro station to access other parts of the city. Georgetown is only a short walk across the bridge. The Key Bridge is used not only for its competitive pricing, but also having 600 rooms it can accommodate all the Festival participants in one location. Accommodating participants from three very different programmes, their officials and their guests is a major logistical exercise. In addition to this are the specific challenges that cultural and linguistic differences bring to the occasion. Those elements that enrich the experience are also somewhat more challenging to address in practical terms. This has to be coordinated in a very intensive period by volunteer interns, some of whom would be having their first experience of this challenging task. All of the transportation to and from the Festival site, the Kennedy Center, the three airports and any other venues that participants attend as a group are arranged by the Smithsonian

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interns and volunteers at the hotel. They would also attend to hospital admissions or medical appointments if required. The slight downside is that in order to secure the best price for accommodation and to keep down the costs charged to the sponsoring region, participants are expected to share rooms. This can mostly be achieved by participants indicating who they would be prepared to share with from the outset. In some cases, participants had to share with strangers from their own region and in a very small number of instances with strangers from other festival programmes. Mostly this worked out reasonably well and there were not as many complaints as might have been anticipated from sophisticated participants more used to having privacy in hotels. However, due to pressure on accommodation in the hotel at the beginning of the festival there were two instances of participants sleeping on roll out beds for several days. Due to participants’ discretion this fact did not emerge quickly enough and when it did, it could have been handled better by the interns in charge of looking after guests at the hotel. Once it was drawn to the attention of senior Smithsonian managers it was resolved very quickly and satisfactorily. The most common recurring complaint from participants about the hotel concerned the food which was served as a buffet in the ballroom. It was reported to be very basic, monotonous and not of high quality. It was frequently reported to the interns and the Smithsonian team that the food offered was a negative experience for participants coming from a region that takes pride in its food. More affluent participants began purchasing breakfasts in the hotel’s public dining room and many of them visited restaurants in Arlington and Georgetown in the evenings. Northern Ireland, Virginia and Kent ate their meals together but the Mekong Countries, due to the large numbers in their programme and cultural differences in their diet were accommodated at mealtimes in a different function room. However, once dinner was cleared away all Festival programmes congregated in the main ballroom for social gatherings and musical interludes. It was at these gatherings that the strength of being housed in a single location really came into its own. All hotel arrangements, bookings, allocation of rooms were undertaken by Smithsonian interns and paid for by DCAL through the financial memorandum. Insurance The Smithsonian carries its own insurance against damage to participants’ property while exhibited or stored on the Mall during the Festival. This insurance carries a $2,000 excess. The only item that was damaged on the Mall fell well below the excess and following a risk assessment the Smithsonian decided to negotiate reparation directly with the participant. In addition to this, the Smithsonian organised on behalf of Northern Ireland and paid through the MOU for the following insurance.

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Public liability against incidents caused by NI participants to visitors to the Mall.

Health insurance for participants. Flight and travel insurance against loss of property, delays and

airline accidents. Only one participant had cause to receive medical assistance for a minor problem through the entire Festival. The only participant to experience damage to property caused by an airline, failed to report it at the time and only alerted DCAL staff some months later at which point it was too late to invoke insurance. Government staff attending the Festival or Rediscover NI events on official business, were covered through Crown Indemnity in the event of health or travel problems. 5. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES Marketplace Associated with every Festival is an opportunity for participants to exhibit and sell goods associated with their exhibit on the Mall. The background to this is that it has enabled visiting artisans or performers to make some extra money through the sales of crafts or recordings. Historically, this was an important facility to visitors from developing countries. In more recent times, the popularity of the Marketplace has been such that participating regions/countries have been invited to supplement participants’ goods with items from non-participating producers. This has provided an opportunity for the region to showcase other aspects of its craft and musical output by presenting a broader picture of what is available at home and raising the profile to potential visitors to the region. As no sales are permitted on the National Mall due to National Park Service rules, the Smithsonian erects a temporary marquee on land adjacent to one of its museum properties. For the last 2 years this has been outside the Freer Gallery and opposite Smithsonian Metro, an excellent location for footfall. In earlier years of the Festival, producers would have brought and presented their goods to the Smithsonian on arrival and be paid by them on departure. This is still possible, but with the involvement of more developed, strategically oriented nations, the system has been changed to deal with produce coming on consignment from the sponsoring nations. This has necessitated more modern procedures of stock control and accounting for goods and sales. It is fair to say that this is still evolving and while Northern Ireland had a fairly positive experience with the Marketplace there is still room for improvement. However, it has to be noted that setting up a full retail operation with unfamiliar stock staffed by temps and volunteers for 2 weeks is not an easy undertaking. Northern Ireland appointed a temporary Marketplace Coordinator to manage the process of identifying and acquiring a range of craft and artisan goods for sale in the Marketplace to supplement any produce sold by participants appearing on the Mall.

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The Marketplace Coordinator working with a sub group for the Leadership Team identified 13 categories of goods that would be representative of NI’s craft and gift output. These were: Jewellery; Ceramics; Books; Linen; Music CDs; Candles/Soap; Bog Oak; Willow; Giftware; Sports wares; Paper Goods; Consumables; Glass. Sales figures for NI’s contribution to the Marketplace were as follows: Consigned goods shipped $76,000 Total sales $81,000 The discrepancy between goods shipped and actual sales arises from two companies providing goods direct from their US distributors which were not accounted for in figures for goods supplied but are accounted for in sales. Additionally, a small number of participants submitted items on arrival but their sales, also included, were quite modest. Not all goods were sold at the festival and the unsold items were shipped back to NI for return to their owners. Northern Ireland’s goods in the Marketplace were popular and some lines sold out completely while others enjoyed very good sales figures. It is worth commenting that performance in the Marketplace is relative to the goods on offer from the other programmes. NI’s textile goods which were of very high quality could not compete for price against the textiles from SE Asia which were of acceptable quality for considerably less cost. NI’s music CDs were good sellers but in order to compete with US prices, suppliers were asked to accept less than the £/$ exchange rate would suggest. On the advice of Smithsonian, NI tried to supply goods that fell within price points between $10 - $25. This ruled out a number of potential suppliers from the outset as quality crafts from NI would tend to be valued outside this range. However, as a strategy for pricing goods for the US it probably contributed to a healthy sales outcome. Music CDs were pitched at $15 even though they would tend to be priced between £10 - £15 at home. A minority of goods, mostly jewellery, specific ceramics and high end linen goods with retail price points between $ 50.00 and $150.00 were offered but these did not perform so well as they appealed to a more limited audience and a marquee outdoors is not the right outlet for high value goods unless they are of a type appealing to collectors of artisan, ethnic goods. Participation in the Marketplace needs to be viewed as an activity to raise the cultural profile of a region and provide a rounded visitor experience. It is not a commercial opportunity except for occasional individual producers with low overheads who achieve good sales at the festival. The reason for making this observation is that from a commercial standpoint it is not a realistic or viable exercise. There are transportation, freighting, management and staffing costs that are not picked up by the producer, they are paid from the budget set aside for the various infrastructural costs of

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mounting the Festival and its associated components. This effectively demonstrates why it is almost impossible for small craft producers to export goods to the US in their own right because the costs of transportation etc would far outweigh the amount they could charge for their work. However, the DCAL Team were under no illusion that this would be a commercial success or financial bonanza for those participating. Goods in the Marketplace were present to support the public relations effort, being another method of raising NI’s profile to potential tourists and in the media. It was an important part of the full visitor experience at the Festival: visitors talked to the exhibitors, listened to the music, tried out the sports, ate the food, and bought a souvenir to remind them of their favourite part of the festival. Some shoppers are office workers from nearby buildings who just know that for 2 weeks a year it is possible to buy different goods not found in shops in the City. Unfortunately, they could not buy and wear the T shirt because this is one item that the Smithsonian does not allow the programmes to sell. Every member of the DCAL team could have sold their staff shirts with the logo on many times over as visitors approached them to enquire where they could buy the shirt. Unfortunately, apart from the Marketplace there is no alternative location from where a programme could sell shirts without contravening National Park or City regulations. The full report and executive summary for the Marketplace is attached at Annexes M and N. NI Food Concession At every Festival each separate programme has its own food concession. This serves the practical purpose of refreshing the visitors to the Mall and keeps them on site longer by not wandering off in search of food elsewhere. More importantly it enhances the Festival experience by providing an opportunity to sample foods and cooking styles that are being demonstrated on the Mall at the food demonstration kitchens where food cannot be sampled. The food concessions can either be run by local restaurants that bid to the Smithsonian for the chance to run a concession – often their owners or food style has a relationship with the programme – or, if the participating nation feels they have sufficient resources and expertise to do so, they can install a catering provider of their own choosing. Initially, NI’s Leadership Group was very keen to provide its own food concession. As it was made clear that to bring caterers from NI would not be commercially viable and that the risks (due to adverse weather conditions) would be significant and borne by the caterers it was decided by the Leadership Group to trawl for interest in catering firms that operate locally in NI but have a US presence or HQ. After contacting and presenting to 3 companies only one showed an interest. NI was very hopeful that this

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company would have taken the challenge on board as they were large enough to absorb any risks and write them off for the public relations value. They also had an existing relationship with other parts of the Smithsonian through providing catering services in some of its buildings. However, when the Smithsonian tried to work with them, the local manager in Washington made demands on the Smithsonian that could have been considered unreasonable or anti-competitive. This was perceived as an alternative method of saying ‘no’. Unfortunately, this happened at a very late stage before the Festival, which left the Smithsonian with insufficient time to go through a complete tendering procedure. They were left with 2-3 local companies who had contacted them expressing an interest when the announcement of NI’s participation was made. Following discussions between the Smithsonian’s Finance Director and the restaurant’s owners to explain what the Smithsonian’s stringent requirements were in relation to the running of a food concession on the Mall and some further interventions and background research by colleagues from DARD and the NI Bureau, a restaurant from Bethesda, Flanagan’s Harp and Fiddle were confirmed as the concessionaires. From observations at the previous festival in 2006, featuring Alberta, it had long been the intention and ambition of Northern Ireland to ensure that whoever operated the concession, that Northern Irish accents would be heard at the service counters. DARD worked on this with DEL, Newry Institute and ANIC and this resulted in 8 catering interns from Newry Institute going to Washington in the company of a hospitality lecturer. Their role was to assist Flanagan’s with preparation and to mainly provide the front of house service. A small number also assisted the chefs in the demonstration kitchen on the Tastes of Ulster Stage. Originally it was intended that their presence would be sponsored through a combination of corporate sponsorship and some additional assistance from the other three partners. After the conclusion of the festival, due to the strength of the pound and the generosity of corporate sponsorship it was possible to make the internships a wholly sponsored programme. Although they were volunteer interns, for practical purposes, the Smithsonian treated them as though they were full participants which provided the convenience of the Smithsonian arranging flights, hotel and insurance which was very beneficial to all concerned. There were four food concessions at this year’s Festival. One Thai, one Vietnamese, one representing Virginia and Kent and Northern Ireland. The NI Food Concession had the second highest sales at the festival after the Thai concession. NI’s sales at its food concession are among the top ten sales figures in Festival history. The sales figures indicate that it was a very popular concession in relation to the 2007 and previous festivals. In DCAL’s post festival survey of participants, the Food Concession received similar criticism from participants as the hotel. Again, this was likely to be the fact that they were used to more sophisticated fare at home and did not

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appreciate the constraints of mass catering out of doors in harsh and unpredictable weather conditions. The NI participants were also dining off the gourmet fare produced in the demonstration kitchen by the chefs and ensuring that “it wasn’t wasted”. The superiority of these dishes were bound to draw unfavourable comparison with other food on offer. The Pub and the Session Musicians Northern Ireland’s food concession incorporated a feature that was new to presentations on the Mall and the first time that the Smithsonian had attempted anything similar. NI had noted on visiting the festival in 2006 that visitors had limited scope for seating and sheltering out of the sun – just picnic benches some partly under a canopy. Building on Northern Ireland’s very strong musical programme which was being used as a “hook” to draw visitors to the Mall, it was decided by the Curator and NI that we would dedicate a performance stage to the food concession which would feature the tradition of session music and would be realised to look like an Irish pub. This stage was given the fictitious name of the Lough Erne Inn. This large open sided marquee had ample space and provided for lots of tables and chairs and comfortable dining plus first rate non-stop entertainment which featured audience participation for anyone who had an instrument and was good enough. At weekends this was advertised for Washingtonians to come down and play. Special sessions were arranged for children and young people. More traditional, picnic table dining was still available at the opposite side of the food concession. Without counting actual seats, visually the seating capacity appeared to have been increased by at least 200-300%. In Washington’s climate, shaded seating will always be an attractive proposition. The painted backdrop of the stage which was intriguing and attractive and the lively sounds of the music drew the curious to this stage at all times of the day and evening. The other benefit which should not be underestimated is that it provided a space to consume the beers that were on sale at the food concession. National Park rules only allow concessions to sell 2 types of alcoholic beverages and then only 2 servings per adult customer which they must consume within the confines of the food concession’s footprint on the Mall. As part of their contribution, Flanagan’s constructed a bar at the side of the food service counter. Needless to say this became a focal point for musicians, participants, stage technicians, visitors and not surprisingly the other programmes. Total sales of food and beverages at the NI Food Concession are summarised below. Beer sales $79,790 Sodas and waters * $20,790 Food Sales $120,769 Total sales $221,349

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* Unable to obtain figure for hot beverages e.g. coffee A more detailed breakdown of sales is attached at Annex O. . Folkways Recording The Smithsonian Institution has its own prestigious in-house record label, Folkways Recordings. This label is dedicated to the recording and thus preservation of folk, traditional or indigenous styles of music and is an archive in its own right. As well as being a traditional recording label that promotes and sells albums there is also an adjunct, Smithsonian Globalsound which is an MP3 site for downloading music on a pay per track basis. Folkways has a worldwide following and has a track record of being nominated for or winning Emmys with some of its output. At an early stage it was decided that part of NI’s overall association with the Festival and the Smithsonian would be to leave a lasting legacy of musical output from Northern Ireland in the production of a Folkways Recording. Work on this was started early, even before Festival participants were finally selected. In conjunction with the Traditional Music Officer from the Arts Council, a very long list of possibilities was drawn up. Gradually this was whittled down to a short list from which final selections were made. Bearing in mind that Folkways is a world class label, only those performances that were at a world class standard could be included for the recording to have integrity and to be of interest to Folkways’ buyers. This meant that some performers who are quite popular within NI but would not appeal so much to an international audience could not be included. The theme of the recording was a sense of place, so whether the track is vocal or instrumental it refers to either a place in or the landscape of Northern Ireland. The intention of this was to give a listener who has never visited NI to acquire some sense of the region. The recordings were accompanied by a very authoritative but lively set of sleeve notes by Colum Sands which really brought each track to life. The NI Music Industry Commission was asked to provide the administration and legalities on the UK side and obtain permission from the artists’ management to use the tracks in a limited and specified way. All artists receive royalties from sales. Folkways staff were very complementary about NIMIC’s handling of the documentation and the process. To create a bright and interesting cover for the CD, a local, but not currently well known artist was selected on the basis of a painting held in the Arts Council’s collection. It featured traditional musicians playing in a pub. For the CD cover the artist gave his permission to the original being cropped to highlight the musicians. Since allowing his art work to be used he has been able to maximise the publicity and increase interest in his work in the gallery where he shows his work. The recording was launched at a special concert during the Folklife Festival.

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Northern Ireland provided funding of $29,700 towards the production costs of the recording as a promotional tool to raise the profile of Irish traditional music from Northern Ireland internationally. Folkways provided the staff, the equipment and the promotional activities and the sales facilities for the recording. Sales of the NI recording is a long term proposition and at the time of writing it is still early days to comment on how it is performing. Once a recording has been made it is available in perpetuity from Folkways. In the event of selling out of CDs, provision has been made to produce a further consignment. Downloadable mp3 tracks are always available. Total value of sales from July 2007 to March 2008 are listed below. WHOLESALE VALUE OF

SALES No Units sold retail 831

$8,468.25

No Units sold mail order 1,823

$14,290.70

No. digital downloads Dec 07

7 $49.00

No Units issued for Promotional purposes

2,715

NIL

TOTAL NOS. SOLD 2,661 $22,807.95

Copy of Folkways Recording at Annex P. Sponsorship Direct advertising is not permitted on the National Mall by the National Park Service nor is it permitted by the Smithsonian within the featured programme (a) because it could compromise arrangements with the Smithsonian’s own corporate sponsors in the form of ambush marketing and (b) because it could damage the integrity of what is a serious outdoor museum exhibit by turning it into a trade show. This caused confusion and irritation to potential sponsors initially who found this a difficult concept and wondered about the point of becoming involved. It would have been much easier to attract sponsors if the exhibition had allowed for greater commercial involvement and freedom and undoubtedly there would have been greater numbers of sponsors involved. Fortunately however, there were a number of factors at play that contributed to a healthy level of support from sponsors who were willing to take a leap of faith and sample involvement in an event that was just a little different to the kind of events they might usually involve themselves in. Factors that encouraged sponsors to assist with the Festival were as follows:

Opportunity for companies with indigenous occupational traditions to feature shop floor employees as participants on the Mall;

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A sense of social responsibility to the locality where the business is located;

Advertising to their NI customer base their support for projects that promote NI internationally;

An opportunity to raise the profile of their company or product in the US without resorting to the costs of direct advertising;

An understanding that helping to create a more positive international profile of NI abroad indirectly creates a better business environment in which NI businesses are better received and regarded when trying to do business.

At a business dinner in November 2006 to explain the opportunities presented by future events in Washington DC and solicit support from corporate sponsors, guests were asked to complete a form indicating their areas of sponsorship interest. A surprising number of respondents indicated that they wanted to contribute towards sponsoring participants to the Festival. As respondents were aware that sponsorship of the Festival itself would preclude direct advertising, this was perceived as an altruistic form of support. Coincidentally, it was the least expensive sponsorship option at £15k and provided a more affordable form of sponsorship and involvement for smaller companies or those that do not trade directly in the United States. It was clear that successful sponsorship requires a range of options, some of which are sufficiently modest to encourage involvement but large enough to be meaningful. In addition to the range of sponsorship options provided in the sponsorship prospectus, some individuals felt it a sufficiently inspiring proposition to send in smaller, private cheques for £3 – 5k to mark their personal support. Full details of the sponsorship prospectus outlining the different levels of sponsorship and what sponsors could expect in return is attached at Annex Q. The executive summary of the report on corporate sponsorship is also attached at Annex R. In terms of the Smithsonian Festival, sponsors received the following profile: On the National Mall 6 companies’ occupational traditions were represented by their workforce at exhibits on the Mall:- Belleek Potteries: celebrating 150 years of production in Belleek demonstrated the tradition of producing delicate, fine parian china. Belleek china is popular in the US and is stocked by department stores and gift shops. Its traditional range is more popular in the US than its contemporary designs. Belleek’s US distributor kept the Marketplace supplied with small, modestly priced items from this range. A vase that was being demonstrated on the Mall could be purchased from the Marketplace and if taken back to the exhibit on the Mall, would be signed by the painter.

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Bushmills Distillery: as the world’s oldest whiskey distiller in continuous, legal production celebrating its 400th anniversary in 2008, the Smithsonian Curator was pushing at an open door when she indicated to the company that she would be interested in featuring the traditions associated with whiskey production at the Festival. As a relatively recent acquisition to Diageo’s portfolio it provided an opportunity to profile its products to a US audience as a change in ownership had altered its relationship with other Irish whiskies from stable mate in the same portfolio to competitors in the same line. Bushmills’ products could not be tasted on the Mall nor sold in Food Concession or the Marketplace but the Smithsonian was happy to stock a range of small giftware from the company’s visitor centre bearing the Bushmills logo. This proved to be a popular range enabling visitors to take away a small souvenir of their visit to this exhibit. As the preservation of the Causeway Coast and the Carrick a Rede rope bridge were also featured at the Festival, these souvenirs also provided a link to vacation suggestions as visitors to the Causeway Coast exhibit were able to see the landscape of the area in which the Distillery is located. Diageo was an enthusiastic sponsor of Rediscover NI and provided refreshments at receptions and also VIP gifts when appropriate. Ferguson’s Irish Linen: represented the linen industry and explained the traditional process in the production of linen and also the changes that global markets have brought to this industry. Ferguson’s declined to provide stock for the Marketplace other than hankies and linen shopping bags. This was a pity as there would have been a customer demand for a wider range of small linen products, especially the “Bare Bears” the linen teddies that decorated the bed linen in the exhibit. The reasoning behind this was that their core business derived from orders through their website for bespoke items such as tablecloths made to customers’ specific measurements. The DCAL team purchased a stock of the linen shoppers during the Festival to hold brochures and CDs that were distributed to guests at official receptions. As the bags carried the web address of the company, these provided discreet walking advertisements in Washington and as they were received by influential, affluent guests there was always the potential that curiosity might take them to the website with a view to a purchase. During the two weeks of the Festival, Ferguson’s’ participants reported that orders worth £10,000 had been received from visitors at the Festival via their website. Harland and Wolff: represented NI’s heavy engineering traditions. Their role was not only to relate the story of heavy engineering and shipbuilding in Belfast but they were also able to link the Folklife Festival to the Titanic exhibit at Union Station by ensuring that visitors to the Festival understood that they were the builders of the Titanic. They also exhibited an original scale model of the Titanic. The other part of the story was demonstrated that NI is an innovative region that when one door closes has the capability to open other doors. They demonstrated their versatility and innovation through their involvement with the design and building of devices that contribute to sustainable renewable energy. This also linked neatly to the Titanic exhibit at Union Station which through telling the story of the social history at the time of

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the launch of the ship was an opportunity to tell the US public about the regeneration of the birthplace of the Titanic and the investment opportunities available. Again, the Marketplace was able to stock souvenir gifts from Harland and Wolff’s visitor centre to remind visitors of the day they met the company that built the Titanic. Ulster Carpets: represented carpet manufacture. This product had a resonance for Americans as many of them had seen and walked on the products in airports and hotels without realising where they were made. Ulster Carpets business in the US in centred entirely on the commercial market. It provides no products for domestic customers. As part of their exhibit they had swatches of domestic carpet samples to demonstrate how the patterns are designed. Their discussions with the visitors revealed that Americans were unfamiliar with the designs and styles but were very interested and enthused by them. This piece of information was going to be relayed to the marketing team back in NI in case it identified a new avenue for market research. By the nature of the product Ulster Carpets had no opportunity to provide products at receptions or to the Marketplace. Northbrook Technologies: was also featured at the Festival. Its inclusion was somewhat of a wild card. It was not an indigenous, traditional NI company. It is a US owned call centre company that has located in the North West of Northern Ireland. The concept behind the Smithsonian featuring it at the Festival was to show that where indigenous industries die away through global competition, such as the shirt making industries that had sustained the North West through the 20th century, economically depressed urban and rural areas can be invigorated through investment in new technologies. This exhibit was about the spoken word and exemplified the training and communication skills that are necessary for staff possessing a relatively strong regional accent and dialect to make the adaptations to their speech that are necessary to deal effectively with customers living in the United States. Due to their inclusion in the Festival as participants, this company was keen to provide corporate sponsorship. Like some of the other companies it was unable to offer any product for sale but again it was raising its profile and countering some of the more negative perceptions associated with call centres. Smithsonian publications The Smithsonian ensured that all of Northern Ireland’s corporate sponsors were featured in printed material about the Festival. They were listed in full in the pre-festival brochure advertising the 2007 festival. Their contribution was also fully acknowledged in the Programme Book for the 41st Smithsonian Festival. Website Sponsors had their own page on the Rediscover NI website and each logo linked to their own company websites.

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Public announcements on the Mall All sponsors are acknowledged from the stages at the Festival. The first occasion this occurs is at the Opening Ceremony attended by VIPs and participants. The sponsors are also referred to again at the VIP luncheon that follows the opening ceremony. Subsequently at the opening of each performance or discussion, the MCs read out a list of Northern Ireland’s sponsors. NI had 4 stages each featuring 6 performances per day, therefore this amounted to a minimum of 24 mentions per day over a 10 day period. Therefore a sponsor’s name was likely to be mentioned on 240 occasions. The Mall was visited by in excess of 1 million visitors during the Festival and it is reasonable to assume that thousands of visitors heard these announcements. Realistically they may not have heard of smaller local companies but it was good for the profile of better known companies to be associated with a prestigious event. Attendance at events in Washington Out of 26 companies sponsoring the Festival and Rediscover NI, 11 of them opted to attend the ceremonies and events in Washington and see how their sponsorship had been expended. This provided them with access to people and venues they might not ordinarily have been involved with. 6. COMMUNICATIONS Marketing and Public Relations More than a year before NI went to the Festival a brand for Northern Ireland was created as below.

The brand tied all aspects of all programmes together and was an umbrella under which individual stakeholders could still express their own brand identity. The brand appeared on all written publications and marketing materials; websites; the participants’ and staffs’ rucksacks; baseball caps; chefs & catering interns’ aprons; water bottles and fans. The DCAL Team, some of the Press Officers and also the Minister wore practical white shirts for the humidity printed or embroidered with the RediscoverNI logo. This was not

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imposed on participants as they were already carrying the rucksacks and many of them wore the caps and uniform shirts would have been considered a step too far for both them and the Smithsonian. It was important for participants to retain their individuality as it was not a trade show or exhibit where a corporate appearance would have been appropriate. As a rule, overt branding is not allowed by the Smithsonian as it interferes with their own brand which takes supremacy.

However, many of the participants wore some kind of shirt with a logo representing their company or an organisation they belonged to. The Smithsonian appeared to be quite relaxed about this as long as it was discreet and there weren’t posters on display or other marketing materials being handed out. Examples of shirts with logos were Bushmills, Harland and Wolff, all of the sporting organisations. A lot of effort was put in with the Smithsonian prior to the Festival with regard to being allowed to use the brand in a subtle and low key way around the site. It was not ambush marketing, there were no surprises and the approach was respectful to the Smithsonian brand. Website It was agreed by both the Leadership and Coordinating Groups at an early stage that a website would be designed that could work in conjunction with the RediscoverNI brand. There was much debate on the subject of whether the website should be designed and managed externally with NICS or internally or some compromise of the two. One of the major issues in the development of a new website in government is accessibility and all new websites have to undergo stringent testing for accessibility by government IT staff irrespective of where the site has been designed and constructed. Each site’s accessibility has to be approved and signed off by the Deputy Director of the Executive Information Service. Previous experiences of others had indicated that externally designed sites often encountered major delays in obtaining sign off on accessibility and, as RediscoverNI was working towards an immoveable deadline it was decided to take the route that would minimise the risk of delay in production of the website. The design of the website was put out to tender but the construction of the website was kept in-house and was completed by IT staff in the Department of Regional Development which manages DCAL’s IT business. Content management of the website was the responsibility of the DCAL administration team. Through lack of previous website experience this proved to be problematical and this is addressed in the chapter of this report referring to challenges and lessons learned.

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The primary objective of a Rediscover NI Web Site was to provide a portal through which the public could access a range of information pertaining to Northern Ireland’s involvement at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. A comprehensive programme of events, known as “Rediscover Northern Ireland”, took place from the launch of the RediscoverNI in Washington on St Patrick’s Day 2007 to its conclusion in July 2007. The associated objectives were to:

• provide information about Northern Ireland, its culture, business, tourism and resource capabilities;

• provide the availability of an events programme;

• provide the facility for business staff to easily enter and approve web site content;

• to provide a monitoring solution to record the number of ‘hits’ on the website;

• have a site populated in advance with all necessary data;

• have a site that could be easily updated and or amended as the business need dictated.

As the website was a portal it was always intended that it would be a gateway for entering the more comprehensively developed sites of our stakeholders, therefore the stakeholders’ pages were not especially detailed. However, stakeholders were reluctant to provide any new detail especially with the RediscoverNI site in mind which was a disappointment and a lost opportunity as they could have made more reference to the events they were sponsoring in Washington as part of the programme. However, despite all of the technical and staffing problems we still concentrated on the areas of the site for which we had responsibility. There were four areas of the site that we managed to populate: the Smithsonian Festival; RediscoverNI arts and culture programme; the media section; the sponsors’ section. The arts and culture section was populated by content devised and supplied by another site, Culture Northern Ireland with input to our own site by whoever was available at the time. With respect to the associated objectives for the website above, they were all met but in a more limited form than had been intended. With more dedicated attention from staff with better technical skills the website could have performed much better than it did. From November 2006 to May 2008, 87,929 visitors accessed the website resulting in 22.6 million page views. Visit duration ranged from 14 to 19 minutes. 78% of the visits were made by an international audience. Post festival there was a variety of traffic to the website’s e mail inbox raising a variety of cultural enquiries about information, services and goods. All bona fide enquiries were researched and supplied with an answer. The Smithsonian provides its own website for the Festival which features details of all the programmes in the Festival and contains information about the featured region; the programme content; names and biographies of

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participants; the Festival programme book; the layout of the site; references to sponsors; links to the Folkways recording; web casts of selected concerts at the Festival; a link to the Flickr photos page featuring photos taken by the public at the Festival and posted to this site; there were also photos taken by interns and volunteers for a project about the Festival. The Smithsonian’s website has a retrospective feature so readers can look at information from previous programmes. Website statistics Rediscover NI website 22.6 million page views November

2006 – May 2008 87,929 visitors to the website

Smithsonian Folklife Festival website 44 millions hits Details of the traffic to the site are provided in the Media Analysis report at Annex S. Media Handling before and during the Smithsonian Festival Media Handling was carried out by the Smithsonian’s own Press Office plus two Press Officers from DCAL and another on loan for the duration of the Festival from Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. As well as their responsibilities to the Festival, they had other commitments to their own Ministers while they were in Washington and to other events in the wider Rediscover NI programme. A total of 386 cuttings were taken from US and NI media2. There was also extensive radio coverage with officials, Smithsonian curators and participants frequently providing interviews for US radio stations but this has not been captured. One relatively small station that ran a series of interviews prior to the Festival had an estimated listener ship of 1 million. Summary of Media Coverage PRESS ARTICLES No. of cuttings NI 259 No. of cuttings US 127 Positive press coverage NI 90% Positive press coverage US 96% Negative coverage NI 3% Negative coverage US 2% TV coverage NI 37mins

45secs TV coverage US 26

mins 32secs

Estimated audience figures for TV in the US

112 million

A detailed media analysis is attached at Annex T. 2 This does not include the Smithsonian’s cuttings which included references to the NI programme.

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7. FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

“Northern Ireland at the Smithsonian” Political Support It was paramount from the inception of this project that it had political support throughout all of its stages. At the time that the idea was first conceived, Northern Ireland was under Direct Rule and the early stages of approval were obtained through a series of Ministers, Angela Smith, Barry Gardiner, David Hanson, Maria Eagle and Secretary of State, Paul Murphy. Paul Murphy publicly announced Northern Ireland’s forthcoming participation in the Festival in Washington DC on St Patrick’s Day 2005. Ministers Smith and Eagle made courtesy visits to the Smithsonian during St Patrick’s Week in 2005 and 2007 and David Hanson received Dr Richard Kurin and his team in May 2005 during their first official visit to Northern Ireland to meet stakeholders . During this May 2005 visit, although direct rule was still in place, local party leaders were notified in writing of this event and party cultural spokespersons were invited to attend a presentation on the Festival and the following consultation with stakeholders about Northern Ireland’s cultural offering. Representatives of Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Sinn Fein (SF) and Alliance (All) attended. In the Spring of 2006, DCAL wrote again to political parties and invited party special advisers and/or cultural spokespersons to come to Interpoint individually and receive a more detailed update on progress with the Folklife Festival and to outline the concept of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme. On this occasion parties were represented by two cultural spokespersons and one special adviser. The parties availing of this invitation were DUP, SF and Official Unionists. In late 2006, when the Assembly had returned to operate in “shadow” mode, the DCAL team, through the Speaker’s Office, arranged to visit Parliament Buildings to offer a presentation to any MLAs who wished to learn more about the forthcoming programmes in Washington DC. Again, there was a very small but very interested turnout. Following this meeting, a full copy of the presentation about Rediscover NI and the Smithsonian Festival was sent by post to every MLA. Finally, once the Smithsonian had outlined its draft Festival Programme in December 2006, the Cultural Spokespersons of the DUP and SF were invited to come to Interpoint in person and hear on an in confidence basis from the Smithsonian Curator and the NI Project Manager the outline details of the programme content for the Festival. The reason that these two particular individuals were invited to share this information was that they had been constant in their attendance at meetings since 2005, had expressed genuine interest in the programmes and offered credible suggestions and advice. They expressed satisfaction in the final shape the programme was taking even

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though at that stage it was too early to know the names of the final participants. Once the Assembly was fully restored, Ministers were invited to any appropriate events or receptions involving Festival Participants or Rediscover NI. It is important to note that at no stage in the three years it took from conceiving the concept to delivering the Festival in Washington there was no political dissension or criticism from either direct rule or local politicians about Northern Ireland’s actions in promoting itself in the United States through the vehicles of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival or the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme. Early briefings to Ministers and Permanent Secretaries’ Group always contained at the end of the rationale for participating, a line to the effect that in the event of the restoration of devolution, this would provide an excellent opportunity for NI politicians to re-establish themselves in the United States and cast Northern Ireland in a new light. In the event, devolution was restored in the last couple of months before the Festival and NI politicians were able to attend the Opening Ceremony as an all party group. The current Director of the Northern Ireland Bureau has commented that “There is no doubt that the Festival was a major public relations coup for the NI Bureau and that it created a backdrop which enhanced the Bureau's role and raised a positive profile of Northern Ireland in Washington. That positive image has been harnessed by the Bureau in its work promoting the Investment Conference”. The US Investment Conference took place in Belfast on 7-9 May 2008 and was attended by 100 US Executives representing 80 US companies. Political involvement in the Festival is covered in more detail on the section about the Opening Ceremony. Programming Logistics

Research The Smithsonian’s decisions on programme content are based in research and fieldwork. In Northern Ireland there is a wealth of material already in the public record which was one of the attractions to the Smithsonian of working with Northern Ireland. In addition to the existing research documentation, the Curator compiled a lot of fieldwork herself and was also assisted by graduate students from the universities and also by a professional folklorist from the National Museums of NI. Graduate students received a small fee as recommended by the university per satisfactorily completed report. In the areas of craft and innovation, independent, specialist consultants were asked to scope the field and produce short reports on the cultural possibilities with recommendations. These recommendations were given full consideration and some of them turned into festival exhibits.

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Themes for Programme Content In order to marshal the vast and diverse cultural possibilities available in Northern Ireland and to provide a more focussed perspective to the festival programme in terms of what is important in Northern Ireland it was decided in discussion with the Curatorial Group to develop six very broad themes under which all possibilities would be brigaded. These themes developed into the programme that was featured on the National Mall. These were: Crafts: either indigenous by tradition or more contemporary but utilising indigenous methods or materials; traditional crafts also demonstrate linkages to other themes such as making musical instruments, dancing, sporting equipment, fishing and farming, mural painting and banner painting. Culinary traditions: incorporating both ingredients and styles of cooking that were rooted in specific traditions; again demonstrating linkages to agriculture, fishing and rural life. History and heritage: by far the largest range of cultural activities fell under this heading including preservation of the landscape and environment and historic buildings, links to occupational traditions and their historical impact of the social and economic life of the region, family history and genealogy, the singing and storytelling through which history is portrayed, the historical events portrayed through murals and banners, ritual and tradition, folk drama and legend. More detailed explanations of Northern Ireland’s history and heritage were provided in the essays written for the programme book, website and signage on the Mall. Occupational Traditions: sadly, many of the occupational traditions that were the region’s strength until the late 20th century are no longer in operation such as shipbuilding and the linen industry. However, some of these companies were invited to the Mall with a two fold purpose. One was under the history and heritage theme to explain the conditions and characteristics that had once prevailed to make the region an industrial powerhouse of invention and innovation and secondly, to show that industry can respond to changes in the global economy by adapting and innovating. Two of the companies were demonstrating the linkage between artisan crafts and industrial production and the importance of indigenous industry to social wellbeing of a rural area. In addition to industrial activity, agriculture and eel fishing were also represented. There was also a small section that looked at different aspects of innovation and these included claymation film animators, call centre trainers and renewable energy technology. The companies that were invited to bring their workers to the Mall are listed under the Sponsorship section on page [ insert]. Sporting Traditions: sporting traditions are as important to the region as musical traditions. To provide an insight into sporting life, ball sports, wheeled sports and children’s’ games were selected as key sporting themes. Ball sports and children’s’ games also provided linkages back to other themes such as history and heritage and crafts. Traditional Performing Arts: this very large and broad section covered singing, song writing, instrumental musicianship, the traditions of session

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music, oral history through storytelling, performances of Ireland’s indigenous musical instruments the uillean pipes and the Lambeg drums, styles of community dancing, folk drama in the form of two different styles of mumming, visual arts through mural painting. The crafts of musical instrument making – highland and uillean pipes, bodrhan and lambegs – were brought to the festival to show how the instruments used by the performers were made. Mumming is also associated with the crafts of basketry and straw work in the making of the masks worn by the performers. The song, dance, mural painting and piping and drumming traditions of Northern Ireland provided a way of exploring the two different cultural traditions of Northern Ireland, explaining them and looking at differences and similarities.

Reveal of outline programme On 7 December 2006 the Smithsonian Team visited Northern Ireland to meet members of the steering groups and unveil the outline, recommended programme content for the Festival. Members of all the steering groups attended the presentation and were able to engage in a comprehensive discussion about the detail of the proposals. It was a very useful and reassuring exercise as it demonstrated a high level of acceptance for the proposals. There were discussions about additional programming that members would have liked to be considered but there were no complaints about the content nor recommendations for the removal of anything. At this stage it was the inclusion of specific aspects of culture that were being considered rather than the actual naming of the participants. The outline programme mirrored the themes above that were used for research and the final programme featured on the Mall expanded the themes in detail. The correct identification of the key themes at an early stage ensured that the programme retained a clear focus throughout, it clarified decision making about individual segments of content and created an internal robustness to the programme. Once the outline programme was accepted by steering group members, the Smithsonian was free to start identifying and inviting participants as individuals or groups. Full list of participants attached at Annex U. Administration Administration of the various stages and processes in the delivery of the Festival was a joint effort between DCAL’s Smithsonian Unit and staff from CFCH with each taking responsibility for different aspects. In September 2006 the NI Smithsonian Team, because its members were drawn from different backgrounds and organisations attended a two day team building and planning session. The Smithsonian’s Curator for NI and the Cultural Affairs Officer from the NI Bureau also attended. In October 2006 the Smithsonian Unit and the Curator produced an initial timeline of tasks and deadlines on the road to production and delivery of the Festival. This was further refined by the

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issue of a more detailed timeline by the Festival’s Production Director at the end of 2006. At the end of 2006/ beginning of 2007, as the invitations were starting to issue, the DCAL team and the Curator on a few occasions reviewed all the documentation used by the Smithsonian and the sequencing of it. Responsibilities were divided up with respect with who would issue certain documents, methods and deadlines for returning and recording them, how information would be shared and transmitted between NI and Washington. With Smithsonian agreement, DCAL made adjustments to some of the documentation to better suit local conditions. Issue of invitations, recording of acceptance and associated consequentials Once the overall design of the programme content had been agreed at the presentation to the steering groups in December, the Curator was able to start considering which participants would best deliver each theme and exhibit. From January to March 2007 invitations from the Smithsonian began to be issued. These were transmitted from CFCH by e mail to Smithsonian Unit where they were checked for detail and accuracy and subsequently printed and issued in the NI post. Posting the invites locally on Smithsonian headed paper reduced the length of time they were in the post and avoided uncertainties with air mail. The process commenced with a phone call from the Curator from the US “sounding” out each prospective participant to their willingness and availability to be included in the programme. Participants varied from those that knew about NI’s forthcoming participation in the Festival and who were hopeful of the possibility of an invite, to those to whom the invitation came as a big surprise. Unsurprisingly, it was commonplace for people in the latter group to imagine that the phone call and invite were a hoax or elaborate prank by their friends. These phone calls prior to the issue of the invitation substantially reduced the attrition rate of people not responding or changing their minds because they had time to discuss the opportunity with the Curator and have their questions answered. It also provided a point of contact for subsequent questions. There were also NI points of contact contained in the invite letters. The issue of the invitation letter triggered a large scale rolling programme of sequential documentation passing on between Smithsonian Unit and the participants on paper and electronically between Smithsonian Unit and CFCH. This ensured full documentation was available in NI and the US. On acceptance of the offer, participants would typically have to complete forms gathering a range of information from them. There were exchanges of information about obtaining passports and the situations in which US visas are required. Participants signed rights and permissions forms concerning the use of their name, images and intellectual property in respect of the festival. Those providing equipment from NI also had to complete loan agreements.

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Following confirmation of participation, the Smithsonian’s Assistant Curator engaged in direct discussions with participants about the nature of their exposition and the equipment and materials that would be required as props to help them tell their story. Some of these discussions were protracted leading to uncertainty for a while about the exact nature of the freight. As each batch of exhibition equipment and materials were decided and confirmed, a schedule was passed to DCAL’s Logistics Manager to enable her to start working with the freight forwarder on arrangements for documentation, collection and consolidation. This was done on the basis of dealing with information as it became available rather than waiting until it was complete, as to do so would have involved a highly pressured piece of work at a stage too close to the final date for shipment than would have been wise or comfortable. From April – May onwards participants were contacted by the Smithsonian regarding their individual travel arrangements. The DCAL team did not take part in these proceedings but would have been made aware either by participants or the Smithsonian of any instances that were problematical. Samples of documentation contained at Annex V. Special events prior to attending the Festival A number of important events and receptions took place prior to attending the Festival. These were as follows: Events taking place in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Public and Media Launch On 20 February 2007 – Northern Ireland’s public and media launch of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme and participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This was held in the Harbour Commissioners’ Offices. The event was aimed at informing the public and the media about Northern Ireland’s forthcoming activities in the United States. Guests included members of all steering groups, senior officials of stakeholder organisations, the corporate sector, and the media. The event was MC’d by Mark Carruthers and included speeches by the US Consul to Belfast, Dean Pittman, and the Deputy Secretary of the Smithsonian, Sheila Burke and the Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Gioia. One of the VIP Leadership Group supporters attended, Barry Douglas. Some participants for the Festival and representatives of arts organisations were in attendance and provided exhibits for the guests to mingle and gain a sense of the arts and cultural activities that would be portrayed in Washington. The event was extremely well received, in particular the very sincere and inspiring speeches from the three American guest speakers who all made it very clear that Northern Ireland would receive a very warm and enthusiastic welcome in the United States. Fast forwarding to when the events actually took place in Washington,

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all of their predictions about the level of interest and warmth of welcome for Northern Ireland came true. This event spawned a lot of media coverage at the time and sustained media interest and coverage throughout the Festival. Copy of Rediscover NI programme book and launch invitation at Annex W. US Public and Media Launch This took place in Washington DC as part of the Northern Ireland Bureau’s activities during St Patrick’s Week. The Co Chairs of the Leadership Group were in attendance and Dr Gillespie had the opportunity to make a speech. The end of St Patrick’s Week in Washington was marked by a gala concert in the Library of Congress by Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland and a trade and investment reception prior to the concert hosted by Invest Northern Ireland which provided them with a high profile opportunity to network with key business contacts in the US. The audience at the concert was comprised of a mixture of Invest NI’s guests from their reception and the concert going public of Washington DC. Participant’s Induction Seminars During the first week in May 2007 the Smithsonian Curator and the DCAL team conducted three seminars in Armagh, Londonderry and Belfast to which all participants were invited. These seminars served several purposes:

Introduced the participants, the Curator and the DCAL staff to each other for the first time.

Outlined the participants’ part in the wider Rediscover NI programme through their attendance at the Festival and described their role as Cultural Ambassadors for Northern Ireland.

Provided detailed information about what to expect, what would be asked of them, travel arrangements, how freight and goods for sale would be handled.

Covered standards of conduct expected of them. Provided guidance on how to engage effectively with the media. Enabled the issue of Participants’ Handbooks covering all aspects of their

travel and participation in much greater detail. Enabled the distribution and signing of agreement forms. Enabled the distribution of the sponsored goods which were Rediscover NI

rucksacks filled with useful items to keep them comfortable in transit and on the Mall - notebook, pen, lip salve, fan, rain poncho, water bottle, alarm clock, sun hat, all tastefully embellished with the Rediscover NI logo.

Gave an opportunity to advertise their invitation to future events. Provided opportunities for reassurance and queries.

These proved to be very positive and worthwhile meetings. They set a friendly but business like tone for what was to follow when we reached Washington. By providing reassurance and an atmosphere of trust at the outset and answering a wide range of queries, issues that could have become problems

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never arose and the time invested in these meetings contributed largely to the smooth ride NI enjoyed to and from Washington and during the Festival itself. Copy of the Participants’ Guide is attached at Annex X. Orange Order Reception for Ulster Scots participants The Orange Order held a reception in honour of all the participants who had Ulster Scots roots or had been invited to demonstrate aspects of Ulster Scots culture at the Festival. Also in attendance were the DCAL Minister, the Permanent Secretary of DCAL and other senior officials involved with the Smithsonian in the mounting of the NI programme at the festival. Gaelic Athletic Association Launch of their participants On 19 June, the GAA held a launch to announce and honour their participants at the Festival and their pleasure at receiving an invitation. Ulster Bank Reception and Farewell On 15 June 2007, one of the two major sponsors, the Ulster Bank led by Dr Alan Gillespie, Co Chair of the Leadership Group hosted a reception for Festival participants to wish them ‘Bon Voyage’ for Washington. This provided another social opportunity for participants to meet again prior to the Festival. The Chief Executive of the Ulster Bank gave all participants a surprise gift of three George Best £5 commemorative notes. The purpose of this was that each participant should keep one note for themselves and when they were in Washington they were to identify two Americans who had been particularly helpful to them in some way or were especially interested in Northern Ireland and to pass on the other two notes to them by way of a souvenir / thank you. (After the participants returned to NI they were provided with details for contacting the CEO of the Ulster Bank to tell him how they had used the notes and many of them sent in interesting stories of what they did). Musical accompaniment was provided at this event but rather than ask musician participants to “sing for their supper” which would have detracted from their status as honoured guests, young musicians of the future who were too young to have been selected for the Festival were asked to entertain the guests. Music was provided by the Francis McPeake School of Traditional Music due to its close links with the Library of Congress’ traditional music archive and highland piping prodigy and the youngest Arts Council awardee Bradley Parker, amazed the guests with his piping prowess. The new DCAL Minister, Edwin Poots addressed the guests in the first of many speeches about Rediscover Northern Ireland and the event was attended by other ministers from the new Assembly.

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Events and receptions for Festival Participants in Washington DC before and during the Festival Name of Event Location of Event Date and Time of Event Reception for Key US Arts & Cultural Partners #

Cosmos Club Monday June 25, 2007 at 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm

Titanic Built in Belfast – Launch of Exhibition *

Union Station, Washington, DC

Tuesday June 26, 2007 at 11.00 am

Tourism Lunch Columbus Club, Union Station, Washington, DC

Tuesday June 26, 2007 at 12.30 pm

Reception to celebrate NI’s Participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival *

UK Ambassador’s Residence

Tuesday June 26, 2007 at 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm

Reception to celebrate NI’s Participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Irish Embassy Tuesday June 26, 2007 at 8.00 pm to 10.00 pm

Titanic Quarter Reception and Dinner #

The Capital Wine Room, ‘America’ restaurant, Union Station

Tuesday June 26, 2007-06-15 at 8.00 pm

Opening Ceremony of 41st Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival *

Mountain Laurel Stage in the Roots of Virginia Culture program National Mall in front of Smithsonian Castle, Washington, DC

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 10.30 am – 12 noon 27 June – 8 July 2007

Smithsonian Festival Partnership VIP Luncheon *

Smithsonian Institution Castle

Wednesday June 27, 2007 at 12.45 pm to 2.00 pm

InvestNI Business Networking Event

Fairfax County Wednesday June 27, 2007 at 6.00 pm

NI Sponsors Dinner – hosted by Head of NI Civil Service #

The Gold Room, Cosmos Club,

Wednesday June 27, 2007 at 7.00 pm

FEI Alumni Association Presentation by Nigel Hamilton *

Department of Agriculture

Thursday June 28, 2007 at 4.00 pm to 5.30 pm

FEI Alumni Association

The Mall Thursday June 28, 2007 at 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm

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Attendance at Festival (inc refreshments) # A Business Networking Event *

Columbus Club, Union Station, Washington, DC

Thursday June 28, 2007 at 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm

Reception for Alumni and Friends of University of Ulster and NI Bureau *

NI Bureau, 601 Thirteenth Street NW, Washington DC

Friday June 29, 2007-06-15 at 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm

Ceilidh event featuring music & dance of Ireland, Scotland & Appalachia – NI Bureau, Irish Embassy, Scottish Affairs Office *

The University Club

Tuesday 3 July 2007 7.00 – 9.30pm

Key: # events organised and serviced by DCAL’s Smithsonian Unit * events to which DCAL staff had to contribute to e.g. provision of guest lists and/or attend Reception for Washington Partners at the Cosmos Club This was a private event for the DCAL Minister to meet and thank all the Washington based partners and venues who had contributed to the success of NI’s Rediscover Arts and Culture programme over a four month period in Washington DC. They had all worked closely with NI’s Creative Director and provided generous in kind contributions that had enabled these events to take place. The event also laid the foundations for ongoing cultural exchange between NI and DC. British Ambassador’s Reception The British Ambassador to the United States, Sir David Manning hosted a formal reception at the residence for participants, sponsors and officials from Northern Ireland and Kent (who were part of the Virginia programme). After the Ambassador addressed the guests, the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness and Finance Minister, Peter Robinson spoke at the reception. Irish Embassy Reception The visit to the British Embassy was immediately followed by another less formal reception in the Irish Embassy. There were no formal speeches but the outgoing Irish Ambassador made a few comments wishing everyone well during their stay in Washington.

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The Smithsonian arranged for transportation by coach to and from both of these events. Participants who attended both these events came away very impressed at this unique opportunity to visit two major embassies in a single evening. Launch of the Titanic Exhibition at Union Station The sight of a ship appearing to sail through the middle of a railway station is an arresting sight anywhere. On closer inspection, when the prow revealed it to be the Titanic, Washington commuters could be forgiven for thinking they shouldn’t have had that extra shot of expresso. This striking exhibition was another event in the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme. It was an exhibition combining social history, urban regeneration and tourism and was launched in Union Station on the day before the Smithsonian Festival opened. It attracted a lot of attention at the launch event and throughout its tenure in the Union Station provided an intriguing diversion for travellers to view high definition photography of the variety and beauty of Northern Ireland’s landscape. Those Americans, and they are legion who are still intrigued by the glamour and sadness of the Titanic story were able to see digitised film archive footage of the ship, its builders and passengers. In the adjacent Postal Museum documentation from the Titanic could be viewed. Following the launch event, Tourism Ireland hosted a luncheon event for travel writers and others from the tourist industry. Opening Ceremony of the Folklife Festival The Opening Ceremony of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is a very important part of the Festival and is planned months in advance with considerable attention to detail. The ceremonies bring together all programmes featured in the Festival and their political leaders. Held outdoors under the largest marquee on the site it is a melting pot of cultures and is a very inspiring occasion that sets the tone for the Festival. The ceremony was introduced by Christian Samper the Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian and the Master of Ceremonies was Dr Richard Kurin, Director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Each programme’s political representation spoke to the gathering in strict order of protocol according to their status and rank. The programmes are also ranked by order of country, region, US state. The Northern Ireland section formed the middle section of the ceremony and followed speakers representing Vietnam, The People’s Republic of China, Thailand and Cambodia.

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Northern Ireland was introduced by Democratic Congressman for Massachusetts, the Hon. Richard Neal. Speaking for Northern Ireland were the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness and Minister for Finance and Personnel, Peter Robinson. The Northern Ireland section was opened and closed by two young piping virtuosos, first, Jarlath Henderson playing the Uillean pipes and Robert Watt playing the Highland pipes. The Roots of Virginia programme was presented by the Governor of Virginia and the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Kent. Copy of Opening Ceremony Programme attached at Annex Y. Copy of dFM and Finance Ministers’ speeches at Annex Z. Smithsonian Partners Luncheon The opening ceremony was immediately followed by the partners’ luncheon in the Commons at the Smithsonian Castle. Guests were drawn from the speakers from the opening ceremony, other political dignitaries such as ministers, mayors; senior official from the sponsoring regions; the Smithsonian’s own corporate sponsors; each programme’s own major sponsors; heads of National Park Service and other museums with an interest in the Festival programme. Following the luncheon, DCAL’s Minister made a presentation of a contemporary linen wall hanging commissioned by DCAL from the Art and Design Department of the University of Ulster to commemorate Northern Ireland’s participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The material was decorated by a combination of textile techniques, appliqué, embroidery, painting, with the words of Michael Longley’s poem “The Linen Industry”. This echoed a souvenir for each guest in the form of custom made linen napkin also printed with the words of the poem. The words of the poem are attached at Annex A1. On leaving the luncheon as well as collecting the complimentary Folkways recordings that Smithsonian always provides for its guests, Northern Ireland provided gift bags for each guest containing complimentary promotional recordings of music from Northern Ireland (traditional, contemporary and classical); Bushmills generously provided whiskey miniatures as souvenirs. These gifts were packed in Ferguson’s’ Irish linen bags. Political attendance at the Opening Ceremony and Partners’ Luncheon The restoration of full devolution on 8 May 2007 was the final piece of the jigsaw as far as arrangements for NI’s participation in the Festival were concerned. It provided for the first time the possibility that NI politicians could be in attendance at the Festival’s Opening Ceremony and build on this opportunity to engage in other business meetings. For some politicians it was an opportunity to re-introduce themselves to Washington cast in a different light, yet for others it was a chance to introduce themselves for the first time on an international platform in their new, Ministerial roles.

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A total of seven Ministers visited Washington DC during the first week of the Festival. Six of these were able to attend the Opening Ceremony. Additionally, Belfast’s Lord Mayor also attended. Those that attended the Opening Ceremony had also attended the Launch of the Titanic Exhibition in Union Station on the preceding day. As already noted, Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson had the honour of speaking at the Opening Ceremony. The other four Ministers were Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Edwin Poots , Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Nigel Dodds, Minister for Social Development, Margaret Ritchie and Junior Minister from the Office of the First and deputy First Minister, Gerry Kelly. The Minister for Employment and Learning, Sir Reg Empey was engaged on business elsewhere in neighbouring states during the Opening of the Festival but was able to join at the end of the first week and took a tour of all the exhibits, especially those relevant to the remit of his Department. He was also able to attend and speak at the University of Ulster’s Alumni event. Also in attendance at the Opening ceremony was the Chair of the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee, Barry McElduff. Jeffrey Donaldson, MLA visited the festival on its first afternoon and took a very comprehensive tour of all the NI exhibits. There was some negative media generated in Northern Ireland by the Leader of the Alliance Party who questioned the value of so many Ministers being absent in Washington during one week. Although initially causing some provocation, this mini media storm served the purpose of highlighting the Ministers’ real aims for the visit which were to renew and to make high level contacts with decision makers and opinion formers in Washington and New York and to reinforce the transformation that had taken place and underline that Northern Ireland was back in business and ready to work in partnership with organisations from the US. It also emphasised that with the exception of the Alliance Party, that this was the first all party, international delegation from the new Assembly. The first outcome of the visit was early confirmation of an international investment conference to take place in Northern Ireland in Spring 2008. Calendar of events, meetings and media interviews is attached at Annex B1. University of Ulster Alumni Event The University of Ulster in recognition of NI’s participation in Rediscover NI and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival held an alumni event for former graduates of the university now residing and working in the United States. The event took the form of an early evening reception in the foyer of the Homer Building where the NI Bureau is located. The guest speaker at the reception was Minister for Employment and Learning, Sir Reg Empey. One participant requested to speak at this reception on behalf of all the participants to thank everyone concerned for bringing them to Washington and giving them the opportunity to speak to Americans about life in Northern Ireland. As well as being an enjoyable social event it enabled the University of Ulster to re-establish contact with influential alumni now resident in the US. This worked not only with those able to attend but also re-established contact with

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invitees who had to decline. 140 alumni attended and contact was re-established with a further 660. NI Bureau Ceilidh The Northern Ireland Bureau in conjunction with the Irish Embassy and the Scottish Affairs Office held a Ceilidh featuring Irish, Scottish and Appalachian music and dance at The University Club for participants to celebrate their visit to Washington. This took place in the two day break from the Festival for participants during which the Smithsonian made available sightseeing tours and shopping trips around Washington. The Ceilidh provided the participants with an evening social function and gave them a chance to relax and have fun away from the pressures of presenting in the heat on the Mall. Those that attended the Ceilidh reported a very enjoyable evening. Farewell last night party at the participants’ hotel Traditionally, participants from all programmes descend on the ballroom of the Key Bridge Marriott on the final night of the Festival. There is a programme of entertainment and dancing provided by musicians from all of the programmes and refreshments are laid on by the Friends of the Festival. It is a wonderful international affair where all the cultures collide in the best possible way. Exhausted after 2 weeks of the festival and the ensuing party, most participants start to make their way to the airports the following morning. 8. POST FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES Surveys and Evaluation Participants’ and Sponsors’ Feedback As soon as the Festival had concluded and for a few weeks afterwards, the Smithsonian’s Curator and the DCAL team received numerous unsolicited e mails and written communications commenting very favourably on the Festival and the arrangements and opportunities. Smithsonian Survey The Smithsonian conducts a random survey of visitors’ opinions at different entry points on the Mall during the Festival. As well as this survey, the Smithsonian provides other factual information at the end of the Festival such as visitor numbers, Marketplace and Food Concession sales. The total numbers of visitors to the Festival were 1,006,195 which met the target of more than 1 million. Poor weather on 4 July contributed to a reduction in visitor numbers. The overall approval rating of the Festival by visitors was on a par with the best Smithsonian museums with 73% rating the experience as excellent or superior. In responding to a question about which was the best programme at the 2007 Festival, 29% of visitors responded that it was the Mekong Region, 27% thought the Northern Ireland programme was the best compared to 11% choosing Virginia. Before the Festival, 14% of visitors

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indicated that they knew a lot about Northern Ireland. After visiting the programme, 23% indicated that they knew a lot and almost 50% stated that they knew something. 58% of participants stated that they might want to visit Northern Ireland for Mekong and Virginia this figure was 39% and 46% respectively. Copy of questionnaire and analysis of the survey are attached at Annex C1. DCAL survey of participants and sponsors In addition to the Smithsonian’s survey of visitors to the Mall, DCAL devised a survey of participants’ and sponsors’ attitudes to NI’s participation in Washington. It also surveyed the artists/arts organisations that participated in the RediscoverNI Arts and Culture programme. The survey was issued during the weeks following return from Washington, it was administered and analysed by DCAL’s Research and Statistics Branch and was confidential. 82.5% of Festival participants responded, 46% of sponsors responded. 93% of respondents stated that they fully or partially reached their target audience. 64% stated that there were indications of increased interest in their work/business since attending. Increased interest mainly took the form of new contacts made, requests for further information and requests to perform. 96.5% rated the success of the event they participated in a either excellent or good. Overall, 93.7% of respondents thought it important to showcase Northern Ireland in all its aspects to an international audience. Copy of questionnaire, analysis of survey results and respondents’ comments are attached at Annex D1. Conclusion of administration matters including payments Once the Festival was over there remained a number of administrative activities in order to conclude the process. These included the payment of travel expenses for travel to and from airports, the payment of any outstanding honoraria or performance fees and the payment of cheques from the Smithsonian to craft producers. There were a very small number of individual queries which were resolved satisfactorily. At the same time, work commenced on data collection for evaluation in the forms of questionnaires, analysis of survey material and the collection and collation of reports from external stakeholders. A list was submitted to Smithsonian of the archive material collected through the Festival that was to be captured and returned to Northern Ireland. By the end of September, DCAL and the Smithsonian were in a position to hold a “wash up” session by audio conference between Washington and Belfast. This included updates on expenditure against the MOU, summaries of the outturns in the food concession and the Marketplace and a general discussion about aspects that went well and issues that had been

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problematic. The meeting concluded with a short list of actions to be completed during the Autumn. The largest task remaining was for the Smithsonian to conclude all of its own payments for which it would seek recoupment from DCAL through the final payment on the MOU. The final payment was made by the end of November 2007 and broke even with only a few hundred dollars overspent for which Smithsonian did not seek recoupment. Capture and collation of research materials, recordings and filmed materials DCAL submitted a list of materials it wished the Smithsonian to capture, collate, record and send to Northern Ireland. These included all analogue and digital sound recordings taken from stages; digital photos, field research reports and all filmed material. Everything on the list was quite straightforward with the exception of the filmed material which was the source of a number of problems. This is addressed below in the chapter on challenges. The intention is that master copies of the materials will be archived with an appropriate public body and kept for research and educational material, preferably made accessible to the public. Materials collected from the Festival can only be used for the purposes of research, information and education and while they can be reproduced extensively for these purposes if necessary, they must not be released or used for commercial purposes. 9. MANAGING AND MONITORING PERFORMANCE The Strategic Plan (Introduction and Annexe A) was agreed by the Leadership and Coordinating Groups in September 2005 and signed off by key stakeholders. This set out the key strategic aims and measures of success: To assess Northern Ireland’s performance in delivering its programmes we have revisited the performance measures table and inserted the outcomes known so far. Aim Measure Outcome We will raise Northern Ireland’s profile through showcases, exchanges, exhibitions and events. We will present Northern Ireland’s diverse culture to promote a new strategic message about the new

Increased and improved media coverage (at home and internationally)

145+ Northern Irish cultural experts and performers demonstrated our traditions on the National Mall for 2 weeks. 27 Northern Irish organisations partnered with 21

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Northern Ireland Washington organisations to deliver the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme $175,000 in-kind support from Washington partners in support of the programme 200,000 audience from Washington DC and Maryland & Virginia communities 186,953 total number of visitors at the CraftNI: Made in Northern Ireland Exhibition in the S. Dillon Ripley Center. 1,006,195 visitors attended the 10 day Festival 97% of visitors rated their experience of visiting the Festival as excellent, superior or good 58% of visitors said they might want to visit Northern Ireland while a further 22% indicated maybe they would consider it, only 7% said they would not want to visit. These were the best visitor potential figures of the Festival with Mekong Region scoring the closest with 39% and 24% stating they might want or maybe visit the region and 20% stating they would not want to visit. 71% of visitors stated that they learned a lot or something about Northern Ireland from

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the Festival. This figure was the highest of the three programmes at the Festival. 40,719,219 hits on the Smithsonian’s Festival related websites including Smithsonian Global Sound which included webcasts from the Festival 4,269,550 page views 1,476,238 website visits These were the highest website figures in the history of the Festival 22.6 million page views by a total of 87,929 visitors to the site.

Northern Ireland’s economic vision and strategy for innovation is a clear reflection of the transformation that has taken place and is indicative of Northern Ireland’s position as a confident, capable and innovative region. This event will also reflect Northern Ireland’s historic role in the culture of innovation, creativity and pioneering spirit.

R&D Investment by US Companies, profiling NI technology in the US specialist media, technology missions to NI

15 companies attended FOSE Fairfax County Trade Mission held during Smithsonian Festival 10 companies accompanied the Minister £5,000,000 actual and potential sales reported to date

Today, Northern Ireland is an internationally competitive region. Our universities and education system are driving a knowledge based economy, generating successful businesses with an international focus and wanting to do business with

Increase opportunities to promote research and study in Northern Ireland to US students. Promote opportunities for collaborative research between NI and US universities

20 NI artists’ work featured in the exhibition 300 alumni and honorary graduates in the US informed of this event 80 alumni & guests attended launch of exhibition

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US organisations.

New relationship formed with a private sponsor from NI introduced through the RediscoverNI programme Contact re-established with 800 alumni across the US 140 alumni & friends of UU attended event including graduates from Florida, Texas, & New York 385 people attended the Poetry event in the National Geographic and 150 Alumni and other invited VIPs attended the associated reception. These events established and increased communication between QUB and other parties in Washington DC that are still ongoing. QUB hosted the Mitchell Conference 22-23 May 2008 to be attended by the President of Georgetown University and 15 academics.

Northern Ireland is a growing region where America likes to do business. So far 130 American firms have located in Northern Ireland as part of their strategic plans to develop European markets. Access to European markets has been an important strategic factor for these businesses

Number of new lead contacts for Invest NI

Mini trade mission around the two Dept. of Agriculture food events £500,000 sales in the US over next 2 years predicted by one participating food company 3 other NI companies have returned to the US to further develop their contacts with the

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but so too has been the desire to benefit from our exceptional research and technical skills.

US market

More businesses from Northern Ireland trading in the US, forming partnerships and transferring technology, particularly focussed in activities associated with the Smithsonian related events.

Increased business activity and trade. Trade missions to Northern Ireland

80 US Companies sent 100 representatives of “blue chip” companies to attend the Investment Conference.

In tourism, there has been a great upsurge in visitor numbers to Northern Ireland and last year over two million people made the journey to Northern Ireland, the highest number ever. There were over 100,000 visitors from the US alone. The tourism industry is also recognising the quality of the tourist facilities and Belfast is a popular conference destination; and Belfast the most popular weekend tourist destination in the UK.

Increased Tourism from US, opening up new markets

100,000 branded NITB fans distributed during the Festival drawing attention to Tourism websites 60,000 footfall through marquee where TIL/NITB presentation stand was located 7,000 each of NI visitor guides & NI DVDs handed out 5 lectures /events delivered 710 people attended these lectures 85,000 circulation of SI Associates Magazine that received issue promoting NI $1,091,658 of positive coverage for Northern Ireland (STG £551,714) through the PR programme Preliminary forecasts for 2007 show an increase of 14% for visitors from North America. 6 US travel writers attended Smithsonian events 8 press visits to NI taken place in 2007 2 confirmed for 2008.

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3 US TV companies researching/filming episodes for series on NI in 2007/2008. 13 appointments completed with key travel media publications in New York 19 story ideas targeted to media

Northern Ireland has an immense wealth of talent, a strong economic, social and cultural base which has gone from strength to strength over the past few years.

Sales of Cultural merchandise, increased opportunities to market, sell or perform for artists and creative businesses

$81,030.43 sales of NI craft goods, giftware, books & recordings sold from the Festival’s Marketplace during the Festival. This exceeded the sales achieved by Scotland in 2003 by one third. Top selling goods were Ceramics, CDs, Jewellery & Giftware

When people see what we have achieved they will be pleasantly surprised. Virtually every aspect of life is changing for the better and even more positive days lie ahead.

Positive targeted Media Coverage

96% of all media coverage in the US was positive, only 2% was negative 41 news releases, advisories & fact sheets issued to the US media on RNI & SFF. 127 cuttings taken from US newspapers/internet sources such as Washington Post, Washington Times, Irish Voice, Irish Echo, International Herald 112 million audience of Fox News Live, CBS, CNN, Channel 9, Channel 5. 26m 32 secs total US airtime.

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One of the challenges of evaluating the outcomes and successes both for Festival participants and the overall Rediscover Northern Ireland programme has been the variety of information to be captured and measured. There are multiple, diverse outcomes from a small success achieved by an individual participant to major outcomes attached to public organisations. The success of the Festival and the Rediscover NI programme needs to be considered overall in the sum of its parts. The following table captures and quantifies a wide variety of outcomes reported by participants and organisations in the months following the Festival. It is a dynamic process and requires regular updating in order to follow the maturation of post Festival developments. Headline Figures and Outcomes for the Rediscover Northern Ireland Programme and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival EVENT OUTTURN FIGURES SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL Visitor numbers Festival Survey – approval ratings Website statistics Smithsonian websites

1,006,195 visitors attended the 10 day Festival 97% of visitors rated their experience of visiting the Festival as excellent, superior or good 58% of visitors said they might want to visit Northern Ireland while a further 22% indicated maybe they would consider it, only 7% said they would not want to visit. These were the best visitor potential figures of the Festival with Mekong Region scoring the closest with 39% and 24% stating they might want or maybe visit the region and 20% stating they would not want to visit. 71% of visitors stated that they learned a lot or something about Northern Ireland from the Festival. This figure was the highest of the three programmes at the Festival. 40,719,219 hits on the Smithsonian’s Festival related websites including Smithsonian Global Sound which included webcasts from the Festival 4,269,550 page views 1,476,238 website visits These were the highest website

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RediscoverNI website NI Food Concession at the Festival NI’s Folkways CD recording of traditional music performers Sales of craft goods

figures in the history of the Festival 22.6 million page views by a total of 87,929 visitors to the site. $269,000 of meals and drinks were sold at NI’s Food Concession. The second highest food sales of the 2007 Festival and in the top 10 of the Festival’s history. 2,661 copies of NI’s Folkways Recording “Sound Neighbours” sold between July 2007 – March 2008. $81,030.43 sales of NI craft goods, giftware, books & recordings sold from the Festival’s Marketplace during the Festival. This exceed the sales achieved by Scotland in 2003 by one third. Top selling goods were Ceramics, CDs, Jewellery & Giftware

Individual outcomes for Festival Participants

15 new Gaelic Athletic coaches accredited in Washington during Festival £10,000 orders for one company’s products ordered through website during the 2 weeks of festival. $10,000 worth of product sold by one company through the Festival Marketplace in Washington. $4,597 of CD sales by the top selling band at the Festival 3 enquiries at the Festival how to register to compete at the North West 200 at the Festival 18 parties of visitors visited the Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge between July & October as a direct result of visiting the Festival. 2nd place in the top 10 sites to visit in Britain – The Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge 1st place in the Blackpool heat and a place in the final of a major Hospitality Industry Skills competition won by 3 of the Catering Interns from Newry at the Festival.

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A high level delegation from the US coming to visit NI’s biomass technology in March 2008.

Political developments Investment Conference in Belfast in May 2008.

7 Ministers from the new devolved administration used their attendance at the Opening Ceremony to show the US media that NI was transformed and back in business and to engage in meetings with US opinion formers in Washington DC including meetings with Senator Hillary Clinton, and US State Department official Paula Dobriansky. Deputy First Minister used his speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Smithsonian Festival to announce unequivocally that “the war is over”. Visits to New York and Washington by FM/dFM December 2007. 80 US Companies sent 100 representatives of “blue chip” companies to attend the Investment Conference.

Media Penetration and Reaction In the United States Press Coverage Television Coverage In Northern Ireland

96% of all media coverage in the US was positive, only 2% was negative 41 news releases, advisories & fact sheets issued to the US media on RNI & SFF. 127 cuttings taken from US newspapers/internet sources such as Washington Post, Washington Times, Irish Voice, Irish Echo, International Herald 112 million audience of Fox News Live, CBS, CNN, Channel 9, Channel 5. 26m 32 secs total US airtime.

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Press Coverage Television Coverage Marketing Materials

90% of all media coverage in NI was positive. 3% was negative. 51 news releases issues to NI media 259 cuttings were taken from dailys & weeklys covering both RNI & SFF programmes 37m 47 sec airtime for Smithsonian Festival broadcast by UTV and BBC during first 5 days of the Festival as well as other features in the months preceding the Festival 34 distinctive items of marketing & publicity material all bearing the Rediscover NI brand were created and disseminated through events in Washington. Includes brochures, stands, promotional items, invites, media packs.

SPONSORSHIP £581,501 total sponsorship from NI’s Corporate Sector including cash donations and in-kind support (products, services, staff resources)

REDISCOVER NORTHERN IRELAND PROGRAMME Arts and Culture March – July 2007 Venues across Washington DC including Library of Congress, National Geographic, Katzen Center, Phillips Collection, Anacostia, Georgetown University Hospital, National Press Club, CraftNI: Made in Northern Ireland Exhibition S. Dillon Ripley Center

66 individual arts events 147 artists & arts administrators visited Washington DC with their programme 27 Northern Irish organisations partnered with 21 Washington organisations to deliver the programme 39 DC based artists participated in NI’s programmes as performers $175,000 in-kind support from Washington partners in support of the programme 200,000 audience from Washington DC and Maryland & Virginia communities. 186,953 total number of visitors at the Craft exhibition

Food and Drink: 4 Chefs from NI promoted NI

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Department of Agriculture, InvestNI and NI Tourist Board Two events aimed at connecting with key influencers in food and travel trade, political influencers & the media. Both events reached full capacity. Smithsonian Folklife Festival

produce at Masterclass Gala Dinner for 70 key influencers 175 guests at UK Embassy (4 chefs, 1 musician from NI) 7 NI private sector sponsors supported both events 8 students from Southern Regional College, Newry attended the Smithsonian Festival as Catering Interns 3 of the students that were at the festival as catering interns won first prize in the Blackpool heat of a hospitality industry competition. They competed in the final at the Hotel Olympia and won the Silver medal. 2 cookery books for Washington produced by SRC ‘Canapes fior Caterers’ for use by US caterers at Rediscover NI events and ‘Food Reflections of Northern Ireland’ for sale in the Smithsonian’s Festival Marketplace. 4 NI cooks & chefs demonstrating produce and cooking styles in the demonstration kitchen on the Mall.

Higher Education: University of Ulster Promoted the work of the School of Art and Design through an art exhibition at the Katzen Center Held an alumni event in the NI Bureau

20 NI artists’ work featured in the exhibition 300 alumni and honorary graduates in the US informed of this event 80 alumni & guests attended launch of exhibition New relationship formed with a private sponsor from NI introduced through the RediscoverNI programme Contact re-established with 800 alumni across the US

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140 alumni & friends of UU attended event including graduates from Florida, Texas, & New York

Queen’s University, Belfast

385 people attended the Poetry event in the National Geographic and 150 Alumni and other invited VIPs attended the associated reception. These events established and increased communication between QUB and other parties in Washington DC that are still ongoing. QUB will host the Mitchell Conference 22-23 May 2008 to be attended by the President of Georgetown University and 15 academics.

Tourism At the Smithsonian Festival Smithsonian Associates lectures: Contemporary Craft Programme A Taste of NI Food Event An Evening with Phil coulter The Landscape of NI The Big House Tradition

100,000 branded NITB fans distributed during the Festival drawing attention to Tourism websites 60,000 footfall through marquee where TIL/NITB presentation stand was located 7,000 each of NI visitor guides & NI DVDs handed out 5 lectures /events delivered 710 people attended these lectures 85,000 circulation of SI Associates Magazine that received issue promoting NI $1,091,658 of positive coverage for Northern Ireland (STG £551,714) through the PR programme Preliminary forecasts for 2007 show an increase of 14% for visitors from North America. 6 US travel writers attended Smithsonian events 8 press visits to NI taken place in 2007 2 confirmed for 2008. 3 US TV companies researching/filming episodes for series on NI in 2007/2008. 13 appointments completed with key travel media publications in New York

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19 story ideas targeted to media Trade and Business: FOSE Exhibition (government IT procurement) Mini trade mission around the two Dept. of Agriculture food events Fairfax County Trade Mission held during Smithsonian Festival

15 companies attended FOSE £500,000 sales in the US over next 2 years predicted by one participating food company 3 other NI companies have returned to the US to further develop their contacts with the US market 10 companies accompanied the Minister £5,000,000 actual and potential sales reported to date

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10. CHALLENGES /LESSONS LEARNED Challenges Engaging with another organisation that has a different work culture One of the challenges that NI faced (and probably vice versa for the Smithsonian) were cultural differences in working practices that had to be understood and accommodated. The most difficult one to accommodate was that civil servants are permanently employed year round and therefore were available from an early stage for planning and preparation work. The Smithsonian Unit in DCAL would have liked to have been able to work on some aspects of Festival preparation at a much earlier stage so that the work would be evenly spread and paced. The Smithsonian however, has a very small core of permanent staff and engages on temporary contract, specialist managers to lead aspects of the work and later on, around May, a cadre of interns. Latterly there will be the Smithsonian Volunteers who staff the actual Festival. Even the Curator responsible for the NI programme did not obtain her Assistant Curator until March 2007 or her interns until May. Similarly, the Marketplace Coordinator was not fully available until around April 2007. This meant that with decisions to be made and deadlines to be met there was a mismatch of availability and expectation. Smithsonian staff work all hours and weekends for a very intensive 3-4 month period and then either reach the end of their contract or, if permanent take a substantial time off in lieu (which was also problematical for NI when trying to contact staff post festival during the wind down period when trying to finalise payments and loose ends). There appeared on occasion on the Smithsonian’s part to be some sense of frustration that NI was not working a similar level of hours in the period prior to the Festival. Again this was a mismatch of expectation as the method the CFCH uses to reduce staff costs i.e. employ them intensively over a very short period would be extremely costly for a government department who would have to pay prolonged overtime if it were to match US expectations. As it was, staff had to be requested to minimise leave requests during the first six months of 2007 in order to meet forthcoming deadlines. For NI, pushing a large volume of unfamiliar work and deadlines into a relatively short timescale was akin to pouring a gallon into a pint pot but it was done due to the prestige of the event, it’s temporary nature and the goodwill and pragmatic attitude of the NI team. Both NI and US staff had other calls on their time. In NI we had our responsibilities to the RediscoverNI programme in general, plus all the events and receptions we needed to service. On the US side, all the CFCH staff, with the exception of the very small numbers dedicated specifically to a programme, had to deal with the two other programmes featured on the Mall as well as NI. Communicating the concept of the Folklife Festival to others Initially, communicating the concept of the Folklife Festival to others was quite challenging and more often involved articulating all the things that it wasn’t,

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i.e. a festival in the more commonly understood form, a tourism showcase, a trade show. In order to get this point across we repeatedly borrowed the Smithsonian’s own description “a professionally curated, outdoor museum exhibit of contemporary, cultural traditions” and used it repeatedly verbally in meetings and written into briefings and media articles. While this eventually steered some people away from their own stereotypical concepts it was still hard to convey and it was only when we took photos of Alberta at the 2006 Festival and showed stakeholders their DVD that a few more people began to grasp it. The announcement of NI’s participants put a bit more flesh on it when it became apparent the types of people that had been selected and the themes started to emerge. This was assisted by the media running press articles and TV slots about some of the participants and from this a visual picture that an audience could understand began to emerge. Traditional companies who were selected to explain their work on the basis of it forming an indigenous tradition and part of the cultural landscape probably took the most persuading as they were being asked to perform an alien function – they were not able to employ slick PR nor were they allowed to sell products directly or indirectly. Closer to the Festival after more discussions with the Curator and briefings from DCAL this category of participants seemed to better understand what would be asked of them. Once they arrived at the Festival and overcame their “stage fright” they all settled into it with great gusto and gave an excellent account of their work, their homeland and their culture. Given that everyone spends so much of their time at work it underlined the point that workers’ culture is an important part of people’s lives and is worth sharing with others. Some of the public sector stakeholders although not directly involved in culture in their corporate objectives, could see the value of furthering their own objectives by association with cultural activities, this was particularly true of tourism and food and drink. Other public sector stakeholders could not relate to the value in it for their organisations at all and expressed little interest in it initially. However, they did concede the point that it would be useful to show a different, more positive aspect of NI to the US media and that this in turn should create a more positive and accepting environment in which they could pursue their own business objectives. Managing expectation and “irrational enthusiasm” This dimension applied only to the prospect of participation in the Festival itself. It refers to individuals or specific organisations that believed that no Festival in the US could possibly take place without their input. This is where the skills of negotiation and communication came into play in order to let them down gently with their pride in tact. It led to some unusual propositions from individuals who really did not understand the concept but were nonetheless very eager to be part of it. On a more serious note, there is a lot of negotiating to be done with powerful or influential organisations that are guardians of aspects of a nation’s culture and who want to be part of the Festival but think they are going to do it

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entirely on their own terms or that they will alter the concept of the Festival to match their needs. Serious work had to be done by the Curator and the DCAL senior team to ensure that such organisations understood that NI and the Smithsonian valued and wanted their contribution but that it had to follow the accepted form or their representatives would not be invited to participate. Fortunately, after intense effort and reassurance was invested in this, all of these representatives of culture agreed to take part and ensure that a broad perspective on NI’s culture was shown to the US media and public. It is worth commenting that those who conceded this was an opportunity to good too miss were well rewarded in terms of the interest and approbation of the work of their organisations and many new good quality contacts were made. Website Staff from Smithsonian Unit were provided with training in the use of Livelink through a two hour briefing session which involved looking at examples on screen and following them in a handbook. There was no opportunity to work through actual examples of work to be placed on the site such as editorial and photos which was very disappointing. To cut a long story short, 2 hours of briefing proved to be insufficient to be able to operate the site effectively. Out of all the staff that received the briefing, only three managed to complete any input to the site and two of these were managers who were also content managers i.e. their role was to sign off content as opposed to inputting it. The technicality of running a website was way beyond the technical ability of most staff with so little opportunity to practice and to learn the more advanced features of content management. Of the three staff who could manage more advanced techniques, manipulating photos to the correct size, creating new pages were all very hit and miss in results and inputting pod casts was an impossibility. As two of these staff were managers in charge of sections of the work, time to do this work was a major issue. As the opening of the Festival drew nearer, the requests to service more events that were being planned at relatively short notice both in NI and in Washington, increased dramatically and hard choices had to be made in terms of what could realistically be delivered. The website was the loser in this eventuality. The website was to be NI’s shop window and so it was not satisfactory to be unable to maintain the website. To rectify this matter we tried on three separate occasions prior to the Festival to acquire experienced or qualified temporary staff from agencies and other areas of government but nobody was willing to take the task on. Eventually, we received an offer of assistance from an IT section in another area of government and while initially helpful in dealing with some backlog of material before the Festival it did not work well during or after the Festival when the offer of services was withdrawn due to what was felt to be excessive demands on it. By this stage we had a wealth of pod casts and video that no-one had the expertise to deal with. There is an insistence within government circles that staff in branches should maintain their own web inputs irrespective or whether they have the training, expertise, or more pertinently, the time to do so. The increasing sophistication

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of websites and the needs of consumers dictates that websites have a level of professionalism that does not exist for people for whom it is only a minor aspect of their job role. This raises another issue with the website. Because of issues of security it would have been impossible to operate the website in a fully interactive manner befitting the nature of the project. For example, RSS feeds were blocked and only eventually with some pressure was the site moved to an extranet so that approved staff could access it from outside the Departmental network. The ability to access the website via the extranet proved to be a pyrrhic victory as the computers that we had access to in the US, at the Smithsonian’s temporary offices and at the NI Bureau were crashing each time we tried to access the website and were not java enabled anyway so even text couldn’t be edited. Budget Initially, defining the budget was a challenge because the Smithsonian’s sample budget was based on a minimum sized festival - 80 participants and assumed separate components for public funding and corporate funding. During the early stages, while realising that 80 participants would not be sufficiently large to articulate the diversity of Northern Irish culture, it was too early to be sure what would be affordable. In addition to this, these considerations were taking place at a time long before the Leadership Group was formed to lever private funding or before commitments to sponsorship had been made. Once the decision to aim for 120 participants was made, the next step was to bid for public funding to underwrite the full costs of the Festival to ensure that it could take place pending the securing of sponsorship. Once sponsorship commitments had been made by 31 March 2007 the affordability of enhancements to the Festival in terms of the final number of participants and the production of the Titanic exhibit for RediscoverNI were made possible. The other challenge, but a good one was that the exchange rate altered favourably several times during the planning stages which added to the overall affordability. By the time the final large invoices were paid post festival the exchange rate was just over $2.00/£1. It goes without saying that had it altered unfavourably that NI would have been much more constrained in what it could deliver. Managing Ministers at the Opening Ceremony An area for which DCAL had planned and the team had prepared was the management of Ministers at the Opening Ceremony. The DCAL team had a plan, had rehearsed it and had invited Press Officers to walk through it the previous afternoon. The reason for this was that the Smithsonian had very precise timings for the Opening Ceremony and the following Partners’ Luncheon. Punctuality at each stage was highly valued by the Smithsonian as it impacted on protocol and courtesy. Despite these preparations, even before Ministers’ transport arrived, the timetable was beginning to slip and a

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mismatch of aspiration crept in. Ministers and their Press Officers were concentrating on media interviews at points in time when the Smithsonian needed to keep aligned with their own timetable. This mismatch led to difficult situations where parts of the ceremony or luncheon could not proceed because Ministers were difficult to locate. In the worst example of this, one Minister was almost half an hour late delaying proceedings to the point of embarrassment. The extensive outdoor nature of the site exacerbated matters as it was very difficult to locate people. Another challenge when working on the site at any time, but very problematical during the Opening Ceremony, was the frequent loss of phone signal on the Mall. It was a conundrum that any time it was imperative that someone be contacted by phone that the signal failed. Even when successful in making contact, there is an ambient noise on the Mall that makes hearing difficult at all times. Telecommunications in Washington DCAL staff travelling regularly to Washington DC prior to the Festival used tri band mobiles supplied by the Department. Prior to the Festival, US pay as you go phones were rented for the duration of the Festival for staff not normally issued with a departmental mobile. However, when we arrived in Washington for the Festival, the Smithsonian would not accept our use of UK issued mobiles. Unfortunately, it had not occurred to anyone to mention this to us until we arrived. The issue related to the fact that international dialling was barred on the temporary landlines installed in the administration compound on site and for the mobiles provided to curators and interns by the Smithsonian’s telecommunications sponsor. Therefore the issue was not about our ability to contact Smithsonian staff by phone, but their ability to contact us in an emergency. Two $20 pay as you go US mobiles were purchased for the Director and the Project Manager which received heavy call traffic during the first week of the Festival and particularly during the opening ceremony. Setting up and Striking of the site At the setting up and striking stages, despite having brought a fairly substantial team each with their own functions and roles plus a requirement to address any ad hoc tasks arising, there never seemed to be sufficient staff. The Marketplace versus the exhibit versus servicing the locations of the Rediscover events and receptions formed numerous, shifting pressure points during the first week and again during the last two days when the site was dismantled. There is a limit to how many staff can be justified and with the cost of airfares in the Summer the saving on hotel accommodation does not justify the cost of bringing additional staff to and from the US at the pressure points. Unfortunately, there are no dress rehearsals before the Festival and no amount of visiting previous festivals gives any sense of what conditions will be like on the ground when it is your turn. Some packing materials were in short supply at the end, and not all materials promised by the interns materialised. The Smithsonian dismantled the site much more quickly than it had indicated which meant that no time for stocktaking in the Marketplace was allowed for and unless the Marketplace

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Coordinator can beat the SI volunteers to the Marquee, stock will be wrapped and packed but not necessarily put away in a logical fashion. This took more work at home to unravel as every box needed to unpacked, stock checked against sales lists, checked for breakages and repacked before it could be returned to producers. Completing all the manifests for return shipping was extremely challenging for staff as they believed they would have the use of Smithsonian computers to complete the labels and forms. However, the IT staff removed the computers from the hotel very quickly and the numbers available in the office were reducing also. One member of staff was reduced to using the business centre in the hotel and when that ceased to function had to beg the hotel to use a computer in their office. The Marketplace Coordinator had a personal laptop and was able to make use of it for manifests and labels. Copying and transferring the filmed material proved to be problematical for the following reasons: firstly it was the first time a programme had attempted to take possession of its filmed material and therefore some of the problems that subsequently arose were not foreseen by the Smithsonian. The main problem centred around the fact that the Smithsonian believed it was sufficient to transfer the film tape to tape. However, they had not taken into account the difference in the US and UK standards: NTSC – PAL. Receiving the tapes in NTSC format was not an option for Northern Ireland as it would involve further expense having it transferred to PAL and there would also be a consequent loss of quality. The solution preferred by DCAL and taken on the advice of a number of peers who work with film was to have the digitised film transferred to a hard drive in a format that would leave the film open to further editing (transfer to DVD closes it off and while it can be viewed, it cannot be edited again). Even this proposed solution caused a debate within NI about whether to capture the film in Quicktime – the industry standard for film companies or AVI – preferred by museum staff who do not have such high specification editing suites. The proposed solution far from solving the matter raised more problems when it emerged that the Smithsonian was unwilling to tie up its only computer in the video section for the real time transfer of 70 hours of material. There was also a query about whether they had the software to deal with it. The only tenable solution was to have the work done externally to the Smithsonian. Lessons Learned

Have separate marketing and public relations functions because there is a tipping point in the preparation process where this becomes a key issue and simultaneously becomes extremely busy and outstrips the ability to service all the tasks that need to be addressed in a short and pressurised space of time.

Don’t mix marketing and PR with the government press function because

once Ministers are involved, marketing and PR responsibilities are subordinated to the need to ensure the best media coverage for the Minister.

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Include a dedicated website and content manager function within the managing team ensuring they have sufficient technical expertise to create and maintain a professional, cutting edge website.

Obtain portable communications technology fit for purpose. Greater use of

wireless notebooks and Blackberries should have been insisted upon instead of acceding to the prevailing views of IT managers who are not confronted with the reality of trying to manage workload while abroad and communicating across time zones.

Devise strategies for addressing problems caused by staff from outside

the Team who do not adhere to the plans communicated prior to the event. They will still deviate from plans no matter how much they are briefed, but by understanding this, the managing team can respond better to such instances.

Engage local US students solely as interns to the managing team in

addition to the Smithsonian interns. This would provide an inexpensive resource that would not require flights or hotels and could be directed to tasks at the pressure points as required.

Prepare for striking of the site by having own laptops available to complete

the manifests and labels and not rely on usage elsewhere. Put extra packing materials in with the outgoing shipments and store it in the programme’s container until it is needed.

Purchase inexpensive US pay as you go mobiles for staff travelling

frequently to Washington for planning visits and have them in place and charged up with plenty of credit in readiness for the Festival as US paygos are not as easy to top up as UK ones.

11. SMITHSONIAN LEGACY AND BEYOND Although post festival some legacy opportunities were already emerging on an individual basis, it is vital that DCAL’s and the NI government’s response is strategised, focussed on specific audiences and outcomes, and is supported by realistic budgets and appropriate resources to obtain an effective outcome. The outcome of the evaluation will inform not only the value and benefits of what has been achieved but will provide the basis for future strategic planning and budget allocation.

Opportunities following on from both Rediscover NI and the Smithsonian Festival will be at three levels:

Single “one off” opportunities or ongoing relationships for organisations or individuals

Opportunities that drive forward DCAL’s strategic aims or those of public bodies within the “DCAL family”

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Opportunities that are in line with the concept and ethos of RediscoverNI that would be cross departmental and promote a positive image of Northern Ireland internationally

IMMEDIATE LEGACY ISSUES Individual performers and bands were receiving offers to perform at other festivals in the US from promoters visiting the Festival. Opportunities so far that have emerged for participants during or post festival are: Ulster Scots participants at the Festival made contact with a variety of organisations in surrounding states with whom they could develop mutual interests. This is being followed up by the Ulster Scots Agency and the Orange Order. During the Festival, the Gaelic Athletic Association trained and accredited 15 new coaches in Washington DC. They left behind their equipment to assist a newly formed club in Washington. On their return they included an insert about their US visit in a programme for a major match in Belfast. This programme was bought by about 6,000 spectators at the match. Ferguson’s Irish Linen received a £3,000 (Stg.) order through their website during the first week at the Festival. Other enquiries were materialising during the second week. Some custom orders have been made for people from the US who visited the exhibit. The total value of sales during the 2 weeks of the Festival through website and telephone orders was £10,000. The North Antrim and Causeway Coast was represented at the festival by participant Billy Stirling a warden with the National Trust. Within 6 weeks of returning from the Festival, the Carrick –a - Rede rope bridge, a section of which was featured on the Mall, was voted No2 in the top 10 must see sights in Britain (higher than Buckingham Palace). Billy did some TV and radio work about the bridge. He also recorded two slots for the national television series “Hidden Heritage”. Within 4 weeks of his return he encountered 5 parties of US visitors to the North Coast whom he had met with and spoken to at the festival and by the end of the October this had risen to 18 parties, mostly couples but also including a party of seven. Anecdotally, many of these parties had booked to go to ROI only but having attended the Festival and spoken to participants they were reassured sufficiently to venture North. On a personal level, Mr Stirling has been promoted by the National Trust and been moved from a temporary to a permanent contract of employment in recognition of his work in promoting this tourist attraction. Belleek Pottery, 2007 celebrated Belleek’s 150th anniversary in production. Their giftware was the highest selling product in the Festival Marketplace with over $10,000 worth of goods sold. The US distributors saw a marked increase of sales of Belleek in the US during 2007 which they partly attribute to

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exposure at the Festival. This is leading to the planning of a number of promotional events in retail stores in the US. Eamon Maguire, bodhran maker received commissions at the festival to be made on his return home to Belfast. One of this bodhrans from the festival was sought as a formal gift for a Congressman. Ulster Carpets, manufacture carpet for the commercial sector in the US, particularly hotels. However, they received feedback from the visitors to their exhibit that there is nothing similar in the US to their range of domestic carpeting and there was considerable interest. This piece of information was to be reflected back to the sales and marketing team in Portadown for further consideration. Roisin White, who is a collector and singer of traditional songs was given special access to the collections in the Library of Congress and will now be able to add new songs to her repertoire. Tommy Sands, singer, broadcaster and a veteran of music festivals observed that this was a very different festival because it was all about people and incorporated a much broader picture of life in Northern Ireland. He particularly liked the incorporation of crafts and occupational and sporting traditions. On 10 October 2007, Tommy and his family put on a concert in the Great Hall Downpatrick with two performers from the Smithsonian Festival as his guests. Mark Wilson guested on percussion and Robert Watt guested on pipes. It was a version of one of the concerts seen in Washington and featured a line up of musicians never previously seen together in Northern Ireland. Joe McDonald of the Ulster Farmers Union, representing agriculture and family farming was able to have meetings with officials in the US Department of Agriculture to discuss issues of mutual interest. Belleek Pottery sold well in the Marketplace shop and some styles sold out completely. Hugh Browne, Lecturer in Hospitality and Tourism, Southern Regional College, Newry felt positive that he had managed to promote Northern Ireland’s food as a cultural tourist opportunity through his cooking demonstrations, sales of the cookery book and through his descriptions of the Mournes. He was delighted that the festival afforded a training development opportunity to 8 catering students who worked as catering interns during the duration of the festival both at the food sales concession and in the demonstration kitchen. On 17 January 2008, 3 of the students that were at the festival as catering interns won first prize in the Blackpool heat of a hospitality industry competition. They will compete in the final at the Hotel Olympia. Hugh attributes their success to the considerable gains in self confidence and experience they made through their stay in Washington.

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The college created two recipes books one for US caterers of RediscoverNI events and one for home cooks called “Food Reflections”. At the Festival 200 were sold and this has risen to 600 since returning home. Brian Gardiner, 2 Wheeled motor sports received an enquiry at the Festival from 3 US motor cycle racers who wished to register to compete in the NW 200 and Tandragee. William Magowan, Banner Painter received a lot of interest from organisations in the US that use banners in parades, such as the Fire Service and Orange Order and has contact details to promote his art work to them but with a waiting list of 2 years for his work any new clients will have to be patient. He painted a banner especially for the Festival featuring President Andrew Jackson that he presented to the Smithsonian’s collection. William has been discussing ideas with one of the mural painters at the Festival for a future exhibition about their work. The Low Country Boys, an amateur bluegrass, gospel group had, at one point, the highest sales of NI CDs in the Marketplace shop outstripping better known bands and the Smithsonian’s own Folkways recordings. Trevor Erskine, Irish Football Association, made a significant number of contacts in Washington for the promotion of soccer and was very satisfied with this. The Centre for Migration Studies, have had a number of visitors to the Centre who were aware of NI’s participation at the Smithsonian Festival including some who had visited the genealogy exhibit at the Festival. One of the Smithsonian’s interns brought a party of American student to the Centre from the Institute of Irish Studies Summer School. Playboard met people from Australia who are trying to promote a similar ethos there and were provisionally invited to consider exhibiting at a cultural festival in Australia. Gavin Duffy, Hurling Stick maker was approached by the promoters of the Milwaukee Irish Fest to exhibit at this year’s festival. He was pleased to be invited, and if he receives a written invite will agree to do the Irish Fest in 2008 as he needs to return to his business this summer. Since the Festival, John Gilliland biomass technology and renewable energy, has been in conversation with the State University of New York (SUNY) about the possibility of developing a join venture company to bring innovative ideas from NI to the large US market. As a consequence, SUNY have been talking to a private US company who would be interested in developing projects in the US. They are bringing a high level delegation to NI to view the technology in action in the first week of March 2008. There is interest from Alpha Retail to stock craft goods from Northern Ireland in their airport shops. DCAL and CraftNI are co-producing a “Meet the Buyer” event for Alpha Retail to engage with small craft producers. DCAL is also

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exploring with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings a mechanism for Alpha to purchase the Sound Neighbours recording wholesale in the event that they would be interested in stocking this recording. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, indicated to the DCAL Minister at a meeting that she would like a play from Northern Ireland to be put on in Buffalo. “A Night in November” was considered the most suitable. The NI Bureau are to progress this. This will not happen quickly as mounting a production involves obtaining rights and permissions, finding a production company, acquisition of funding etc. Following the conclusion of the festival, the Business Links Manager who looked after the corporate sponsorship for the festival and RediscoverNI identified a methodology for building on the lessons learned from these events about sponsorship for culture and arts and proposed ways of maintaining the momentum that had been gained through these events. His full report forms part of the evaluation of the Rediscover NI Programme. Mini-Fest: “Over Here”, a cultural exchange programme organised by the Arts Council in which some of the US arts partners from Washington DC will visit Northern Ireland 10 – 14 March 2008. During the Festival, the DCAL Minister had a number of opportunities to engage informally with the Gaelic Athletic Association. The Minister subsequently became the first Unionist politician to attend a GAA Conference (October 2007) and also the first to attend a Gaelic football match (January 2008). This represented significant progress in one area of political development and community relations. FUTURE LEGACY ISSUES On the horizon are a number of international opportunities for cultural showcasing that Northern Ireland could participate in resources permitting. Library of Congress There are always ongoing opportunities to showcase NI’s arts and culture at the Library of Congress provided there is funding available. There is a wealth of subject matter that could be mutually explored and this prestigious location receives large numbers of US and international visitors daily. Due to the success of the Rediscover NI programme in the Library of Congress and the excellent professional relationships between NI and LOC staff arising directly from the process of preparing for the Smithsonian festival, NI is highly regarded by the Library and this relationship should be maintained. National Archives During the Festival, the DCAL Minister visited the National Archives and it is clear that due to NI’s shared history with the US that there are lot of projects to be explored with this institution, again, resources permitting.

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Cultural Exchange Opportunities with Alberta, Canada In 2006, the DCAL team visited the Smithsonian Festival in preparation for its own contribution in 2007. We worked very closely with the Albertan Coordinator due to similarities in the programmes and mutually sharing the same Smithsonian curator. The legacy of having developed this relationship is that Alberta is extremely keen to work with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland on residencies and artists’ exchange projects. Alberta has a very vibrant arts and culture scene and this would be an excellent outlet for NI’s artistic talent. Again, the ability to deliver on this opportunity is dependent on the availability of resources. Milwaukee Irish Fest (annual event) The Milwaukee Irish Fest and the NI Bureau has been exhorting DCAL for some years to take a showcase and its Minister to the Festival. The Milwaukee promoters were advised that this could not happen until after the conclusion of the Smithsonian Festival. Milwaukee is a focal point for Irish America and it would be useful to devise a comprehensive but small and balanced showcase using some of the festival participants and based around the expositions they provided in Washington. There are resource issues around budget to pay for performers’ fees, travel & subsistence and staff to organise it from Northern Ireland. UK Pavilion, Beijing 2008 The Pavilion will provide opportunities for the nations to hold business or tourism events or showcase artists. Shanghai Expo, Shanghai 2010 Shanghai Expo will run for six months, from May to October 2010. It will be on a vast scale – the biggest Expo ever - with 143 countries represented and 70 million visitors anticipated. The UK pavilion will be 6000sq meters in size and hopes to attract 10 million visitors over the duration of the Expo. The theme of the Expo is ‘Better City, Better Life’. The UK Government has formally accepted China’s invitation to participate at the Expo and the UK pavilion will focus on sustainable development including renewable energy, urban regeneration, climate change and technology and science. The UK pavilion will also promote tourism, inward investment, financial and education services. Simply to participate, NI will have to contribute £500k to part offset the total UK cost. If it wants to showcase its goods services and culture for one week, this will be an additional liability over and over the original contribution. World Skills Games, London 2011 The Department of Employment of Learning is coordinating NI’s participation in this event. They are keen that DCAL will provide some form of artistic showcasing in London in support of the event.

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Olympic and Paralympic Games, London 2012 NI along with the other UK nations and regions has the opportunity to participate in the UK wide cultural Olympiad commencing in September 2008. The capacity to develop a programme of events and participate meaningfully is heavily dependent on the availability of a dedicated resource and budget. World Police and Fire Games, Northern Ireland 2013 Belfast won the bid for the Games, an event that it is expected to bring around10,000 competitors and 60+ countries to Northern Ireland, plus an estimated 25,000 visitors. Although Belfast is the host, by using sporting facilities outside Belfast for some events it would be possible to show a wider NI to these visitors. Re-Staging the Smithsonian Festival in Northern Ireland Regarding future opportunities, consideration of a re-staging of a local version of the Festival could be made. Many countries/regions/states having participated in the Festival eventually re-stage it at home. Sometimes this is in the year following the festival and for some countries it has been as late as 12 years post festival. An event re-staged relatively close to the original could draw heavily on the original programme content and participants, but the further away, the greater the need to start from basics. One surprising comment that was made repeatedly by the participants in 2007, given that they were all cultural experts in their own field, was how little they knew about each other’s cultural activities or other aspects of culture taking place in Northern Ireland. To some extent, how little they knew about the similarities between the two main cultural traditions. There is clearly an educational and community relations opportunity for Northern Ireland simply by re-staging the cultural programme solely for the benefit of a local audience. However, this event has great tourist potential provided it were to be staged at the right time of year and strongly marketed in the UK, the US and Northern Europe. It could be specifically marketed to expats or those with ancestry from the region. Re-staging in Northern Ireland should have considerable potential to attract local sponsorship because it would not suffer from the same type of constraints imposed by the National Parks or the Smithsonian. Within reason, a much more flexible approach to sponsorship banners, the sale of goods or the handing out of promotional materials could be allowed which should make it a much more attractive proposition for local companies to interact with potential customers. It would be very important however, to retain the original ethos of the cultural programme because this is what makes it distinctive from any other festival or trade show. Such a programme, handled properly could contribute significantly to tourism, the economy, the arts, the food industry and the good relations duty all in a single event.

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12. CONCLUSION Northern Ireland’s participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was trailed from the outset as a unique and prestigious opportunity, and so it proved to be. The development of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme delivered key strategic messages about Northern Ireland and completed a fuller picture by showing aspects of life not covered in the Festival. It provided Northern Ireland with an exceptional opportunity to present many facets of its life and capabilities to the US. Although each stakeholder was presenting its own key messages, all of them benefited from pressing home the overarching message that Northern Ireland is confident, creative, outward looking and is indeed a transformed society. This combination of events and programmes each with their own unique business focus altered perceptions dramatically and transformed the US’ stereotyped view of Northern Ireland forever. The added bonus of the restoration of devolution and the opportunity for Ministers from the Executive to travel to Washington DC and New York presenting a united front, completed the public relations activity by providing political focus. The level of positive media coverage in the US supports this view. Two powerful moments were created and recorded on the National Mall at the Opening Ceremony, one was the deputy First Minister declaring to the audience that “the war is over” and the second was the Finance Minister’s reminder to Americans of their heritage and the linkages of so many of their Presidents to this region. These events provided a platform for Northern Ireland’s politicians to re-introduce themselves to the United States in a different light, addressing very different issues from those they had to in the past. This united, cohesive appearance in Washington DC at such a seminal moment in Northern Ireland’s history appears to have been welcomed and appreciated by senior US decision makers and opinion formers. Northern Ireland is only in the early stages of evaluating measurable outcomes from the Festival and Rediscover NI. New relationships and projects formed from these events will take time to mature and materialise. Tourism figures for US visitors will not be available until after the 2008 tourist season. However, the success of participation in the Smithsonian’s Annual Folklife Festival can be measured by the sum of its parts rather than by any individual element. A combination of the Smithsonian’s own visitor survey, DCAL’s survey of participants and an assessment of media coverage already provide indications that Northern Ireland has already met or exceeded the targets it set itself on a number of fronts. Many of these outcomes have already been referred to in Chapters 6, 8 and 10 of this report. A more comprehensive summary incorporating some known outcomes of the Rediscover NI programmes is attached at Annex E1. Participation in the Festival has demonstrated beyond doubt the role that Culture can play in showing the best of what this region has to offer and the fact that it is an important vehicle for delivering a range of strategic messages.

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Although Northern Ireland will never be able to travel this particular road again there are many other opportunities (Chapter 11) on the horizon where culture can join forces with business and tourism to raise the international profile of Northern Ireland on a world stage. In order to harness these opportunities and do this more effectively in the future, dedicated resources would have to be found in the form budgets and staff. The other nations of the UK have External Affairs Divisions to deliver their contributions to world events. Colleagues in Wales and Scotland that I have met through the Smithsonian and London 2012 and who attend a Foreign Office working group about these opportunities advise that Northern Ireland does not appear to have a delegate on this group. The Rediscover Northern Ireland programme was an example of “joined up” government in action and while no-one pretends it was easy to work with others whose objectives and values were very different, we all reached the end point successfully and showed what can be achieved when resources are pooled and everyone, no matter what their individual goals, are all working towards the same high level objective. The unprecedented partnership of the Corporate Sector with the public sector underlined the value of everyone working towards a mutually beneficial single objective. As far as the Festival was concerned, there was very little direct benefit to individual sponsors in the form of advertising their services or products. The insightful sponsors however had identified early on the benefits that could be derived from Northern Ireland promoting itself more positively and thereby creating a better environment in which to conduct business and create confidence. The destruction of the old stereotypes about instability and conflict which constrained business development in the past are a feature of Northern Ireland’s work in Washington in 2007 that should not be undervalued. Finally, there is substantial anecdotal evidence attached at Annex F1 which demonstrates that participation in the Festival and the Rediscover Northern Ireland programmes has played a valuable role in increasing the confidence of participants about how they view and value their own cultural activities and how they view the work of others and other traditions in the cultural field. For officials administering these programmes, it presented a unique development opportunity to work internationally and deliver programmes and events that were visibly beneficial to Northern Ireland’s international status and improvement of its image.