Innovation & Design in the Cultural Industries Lecture 4 Applying the Creative Process: generating and evaluating ideas Jenny Flinn

Overview Generation ideas Creative ideas The 5 W’s Concept screening

Generation of Ideas Idea General nature of the event Purpose of the event How it should operate Benefits to participants Concepts

Creative Ideas There are many methods that we can use to kickstart the creative process: Brainstorming Lateral thinking Conceptual combinations Analogies Reversals

The Five W’s Goldblatt (2005) suggests that we should consider the following when developing our event concepts: Why is the event being held? Who will be the stakeholders? When will the event be held? Where will it be staged? What is the event concept or product?

Concept Screening Many ideas or concepts First screen: marketing Second screen: operations Third screen: financial Risk and regulations Fourth screen:

Evaluating Concepts: marketing Environmental scanning Research the target market How can they be reached? Current trends and fashions Who and what is the competition?

Evaluating Concepts: operations Skills and resources required Technical expertise What is available within the team? What will have to be resourced externally and where from?

Evaluating Concepts: finance Does the product/service need to make a profit? Is sponsorship an option? What are the main costs? What are the key sources of income? Ballpark budget

Evaluating Concepts: risk and regulations What are the main risks associated with the product/service? What regulations and legislation impact upon how these risks can be dealt with/overcome?

Remember, a good concept can still be poorly implemented and fail but a bad concept cannot be manipulated to achieve success