After Digital at the AMA Conference 2023
After Digital was delighted to attend and sponsor the Arts Marketing Association (AMA) Conference 2023, the largest conference AMA has ever hosted with over 700 delegates, held inside the cultural beacon that is Leeds Playhouse.
The place was buzzing with passion, creativity, and most importantly, audience-oriented innovation, after all, this year’s theme was 'Audiences at the Heart'.
This was a mantra that echoed throughout the conference, and one in which our Digital Producer Soph, and Marketing Manager, Jamie, immersed themselves in; learning, sharing, and working towards creating meaningful connections and experiences with audiences, both virtually and physically.
The event kicked off on Thursday with an air of excitement and anticipation.
The Leeds Playhouse, with its history and grandeur, was abuzz with the industry's leading minds converging under one roof. The heart of the activity was the exhibition hall, transformed into an innovative showcase for numerous arts marketing solutions and services, of which After Digital’s table sat in the centre.
Throughout the conference, our table seemed to have its own magnetic pull, attracting a host of diverse and fascinating industry professionals. Each person brought a new energy, a different perspective and a unique challenge. From arts venues looking to modernise their systems to organisations aiming for the moon with futuristic digital strategies - it was a melting pot of bold ideas and boundless ambitions.
Jamie had the honour of speaking at the conference, running a session titled "Unlocking the Potential of First-Party Data in a Post-Cookie World." In the session, Jamie discussed the challenges of collecting and leveraging first-party data in a world where third-party cookies are being phased out, as well as sharing some tips for arts marketers on how to use first-party data to drive audience growth, improve attribution, and navigate the world of tracking restrictions.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the conference:
The conference was buzzing with rich conversations on arts, digital technology, and audience engagement. What truly stood out this year was a big push towards accessibility, being greener and, of course, a focus on connecting and impacting our audiences, both virtually and physically.
Soph conducted a tonne of demos of our CMS, Peppered. It was great to see the excitement from so many industry professionals. A few gasps and “this is what the industry needs” statements were made, making us proud to offer a truly innovative toolset for the industry.
Soph loved catching up with old friends from other organisations, and had some amazing brainstorming sessions talking about new and exciting integration opportunities for the Peppered CMS. Follow our newsletter [link to Newsletter signup] to stay in the loop!
This was Jamie’s first large AMA conference, and was enthralled by the discussions around data, accessibility and leadership. Jamie also had the opportunity to meet with many other arts marketers and learn about their challenges and successes, as well as to discuss many partnerships and creative opportunities on the horizon.
Cookies were on everyones mind, which is no surprise, as they’re delicious. That’s why it was all the more fitting that Jamie’s talk, "Unlocking the Potential of First-Party Data in a Post-Cookie World", was such a success, almost filling out the 70 seat conference room, with many encouraging and insightful conversations after his talk.
As it turns out, many arts marketers have birthdays during the AMA! Our very own Marketing Manager, Jamie, being one of them.
It was very fun to try (and fail) to get selfies with people through the heart filter. This one was taken with our friend, Lucy Crowe, the UK Sales Director at Activity Stream.
It’s always a pleasure catching up with everyone and hearing the unique approaches of each venue! From working with University Students to create some exciting innovations in closed captioning, to total data-strategy overhauls, there’s always something new coming out of the industry.
Next up, we’re looking forward to Tessitura's Learning & Community Conference (TLCC), in Orlando this weekend.
As proud event sponsors, we can't wait to mingle with the Tessitura professional community, engage in enlightening discussions and share our in-depth expertise in Tessitura web integration for arts and culture organisations.
If you are interested in our Services, learning more about Peppered, or working with After Digital, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We would love to speak about what we could do for your organisation.
