Durban to host BASA Education Programme

Businesses will also be able to take part in the focused activities 11 April by attending a business breakfast also at the KZNSA Gallery.

The business breakfast will include national and regional Business and Arts South Africa representatives and will give insight into a number of initiatives aimed at business. These include the BASA Arts Sponsorship Management Toolkit, which gives South African businesses a tool to navigating the sponsorship cycle and, ultimately, the ability to measure the effectiveness of arts sponsorship as a strategic part of any business.

The Durban workshops are also a chance for businesses and arts practitioners to connect with newly appointed Business and Arts South Africa representative in the region - Sharlene Versfeld of Versfeld & Associates.

Versfeld has been involved professionally in the South African arts sector since 1987 and has a long-standing reputation for her extensive work as an arts marketer most notably with the various festivals hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In 2012 Versfeld undertook research for the British Council, with Nicolette du Plessis of Cultural Radius, on the South African arts landscape in relation to international agencies and collaborations. She is additionally a Board member of the Flatfoot Dance Company and does pro bono marketing for Action in Autism in KwaZulu-Natal.

"This is a challenging chapter in the arts industry in South Africa," Versfeld says of her new tenure.

"Tough as it may be, we truly believe that businesses are looking for new and innovative ways to leverage their brands, whether from a sponsorship point of view or from a meaningful corporate social responsibility perspective.

"The research that BASA has done, the relationships developed with business and the inroads made into professionalising the arts industry provides a solid foundation for the further development of arts and business relationships, and we look forward to being part of a motivated and skilled team to help facilitate this in KZN."

The Durban BASA Education Programme workshops, supported by Etana Insurance, are divided into three sessions and will cover social media, publicity basics (as part of the Back to Basics programme) and fundraising.

Are you all aTwitter and LinkedIn to Facebook? 11am - 12:.30pm

Alma Maxwell of Outsourced Communications will share some insights about Social Media and how arts organisations can use these "versatile free-to-use" platforms to get the conversations going.

Back to Basics 1pm - 2.30pm

Publicity and the Art of getting your message across in a very cluttered media space. Sharlene Versfeld and Kwazi Ngubane of Versfeld & Associates, unpack the basics of publicity and share some useful tips in getting media coverage.

Fundraising 2.45pm - 4pm

From crowd-sourcing to sourcing-crowds of money, a professional fundraiser will look at hints and tips to increase your opportunity of raising funds for your organisation/project.

The BASA Education Programme, supported by Etana Insurance, has seen workshops already held in Johannesburg and Cape Town and upcoming workshops planned for the Eastern Cape as well as Limpopo regions.

To be part of the BASA Education Programme, supported by Etana Insurance, and attend workshops, contact Jessica Dennison at az.oc.asab@acissej or call +27 (0)11 447 2295.