Down The Rabbit Hole is a series of Alice in Wonderland inspired family events I’m co-producing at Watershed as part of the first nation-wide Family Arts Festival.  These cross-art form events (films + workshops) are exploring how families can engage with the exciting new technologies and ideas being developed at the Pervasive Media Studio.

Watershed regularly programmes children’s workshops, but this is the first programme of family workshops; the difference being that parents will stay with their children.  In researching why families attend family events, the primary reasons include educational value, fun experiences, to spend time quality with their families and to get involved with the community.  Families are unlikely to be aware of the Pervasive Media Studio and so our programme of activity is not about the studio and technology, but it is ‘from the minds of Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio’.  I am encouraging families to get involved by creating playful and curious interactive events, that focus on imagination and exploration.  In coming to our events, families are giving their time and money and so we are developing events that create new experiences for the whole family and also demonstrate value for money.

We are producing three events; Alice in Wonderland + The Mad Hatter’s Magic Tea Party, Rolling Stones Dance Workshop and Spellbinding Story Telling Workshop.  Roseanna, Hannah and Amy are also in the Family Arts Festival team and we have taken on different responsibilities for the series of events.  Hannah and I are leading on The Mad Hatter’s Magic Tea Party; Amy is leading on the Rolling Stones Dance Workshop and Roseanna is leading on the Spellbinding Story Telling Workshop.  The following is in specific reference to Alice in Wonderland + The Mad Hatter’s Magic Tea Party as this is the event that I have taken a lead on.

Alice in Wonderland + The Mad Hatter’s Magic Tea Party will exist as a screening of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland followed by a procession to The Mad Hatter’s Magic Tea Party, which will star Watershed’s magicians in residence and present interactive exhibitions from Pervasive Media Studio residents.  We will need the following resources and facilitators: wonderland decorations, craft materials, round tables, two screens from the Studio, residence magicians Kieron and Stuart, young magician Rishi, Opposable Games with Clockwork Racers, Nicki Pugh and JubJub bird creations, animation station boxes and equipment, Charlotte and Tarim and their miniature cinema, photo booth backdrop, Future Producer volunteers and tea party refreshments.  The costs incurred are primarily covered by our budget from Watershed, however the ticket sales will cover catering and we have also secured an additional £200 from the Pervasive Media Studio to cover our shortfall in paying participating studio residents.

We are marketing the event in a variety of different places.  As part of the Family Arts Festival, all of our events are listed on the festival website and also through the regional Bristol Family Arts Festival cross marketing with the Arnolfini as lead organisation.  I was responsible for listing updated copy on the Family Arts Festival website, listing on such online sites as Mumsnet and Netmums and also sending personalised emails to local arts organisations requesting that they share our event with their networks.  Below is a screenshot of the email I sent to the communications team at Spike Island.

There a quite a few health and safety considerations and here is the risk assessment I have written for the event: Magic Tea Party Risk Assessment

Indicators that we will be looking at to ascertain if the event has been a success will include attendance, enjoyment, confidence of participants engagement with technology, feedback and attendance of future family events.  We will be capturing feedback through three methods: standard feedback forms for parents/guardians, a feedback board with sticky notes to write additional comments and a star sticker chart for children to measure their own enjoyment.

When considering things that could go wrong, I think my main concern is that we might not sell enough tickets to the event.  If this is the case, we’ll reconfigure the room to create a smaller environment and perhaps give away some comp tickets.  As I mentioned earlier, in producing a family event in which the parents participate too, this is an experiment for Watershed and so it will be interesting to see how the event sells.

As for last minute things to do, I need to make two animation sets!