James from Ludus Dance presents a case study of an arts organisation's journey through digital development. He will outline the organisations journey, the results and the lessons learnt. www.ludusdance.org

1. Ludus Dance James Wooldridge
Head of ICT & Marketing
Our Digital Journey james.wooldridge@ludusdance.org
Monday, 16 March 2009

2. Who are Ludus
Dance?
Two Producing Departments.
• Ludus Touring Company
Britain’s Leading Dance in
Education Company
Tour a dance theatre show for
first time dance audiences (8
years plus)
• Dance Development
Team of Dance Artists who
work across Lancashire &
beyond delivering strategic
dance activities.
Monday, 16 March 2009

3. Ludus Facts!
• Founded in 1975.
• Ludus is a co-operative.
• Members of staff are also
the Board.
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4. Ludus Facts!
• Founded in 1975.
• Ludus is a co-operative.
• Members of staff are also
the Board.
Monday, 16 March 2009

5. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin!
• Web Site was launched in 2000
• There is no marketing dept.
• We reduced print and postage
costs by putting our publicity
photos online.
• Within the first year we secured
an international booking
through the site.
• In November 2000 we were
achieving 257 unique users.
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6. The Ludus Dance Cafe
• From the start of the web-site we create a ‘fanzine’ for the Touring Company
• Content created & led by the Touring Dancers due to their interest in the web
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7. Then Myspace / Facebook arrives....
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8. E-Commerce
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9. Changing Roles!
• In 2006 I move into my new role
as Head of ICT & Marketing.
• We re-master all of our back
catalogue touring dance shows
onto DVD.
• We launch the online resource
shop.
• People could previously only
reserve dance classes online.
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10. It’s not as scary as it might first seem!
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11. Our first e-commerce setup
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12. Our first e-commerce setup
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13. Our first e-commerce site
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14. Robbie Coltrane
2000 Barclays Ad with Robbie Coltrane removed
for download version
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15. Online class bookings
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16. Online class bookings
• Spring 2007 we start to offer online
credit card bookings for centre
classes.
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17. Online class bookings
• Spring 2007 we start to offer online
credit card bookings for centre
classes.
• Summer 2007 we start to offer a
20% reduction on term price for
online bookings.
Monday, 16 March 2009

18. Online class bookings
• Spring 2007 we start to offer online
credit card bookings for centre
classes.
• Summer 2007 we start to offer a
20% reduction on term price for
online bookings.
• We start to create demand and sell-
out for certain classes
Monday, 16 March 2009

19. Online class bookings
• Spring 2007 we start to offer online
credit card bookings for centre
classes.
• Summer 2007 we start to offer a
20% reduction on term price for
online bookings.
• We start to create demand and sell-
out for certain classes
• Spring 2008 we rename the 20%
discount to the Early Bird discount,
and allow internet bookings only for
the first week of sales.
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20. Income
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21. Income
• People paying in advance
increases.
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22. Income
• People paying in advance
increases.
• 22% in Autumn 2006 were
paying in advance. In Autumn
2008 55% were paying in
advance.
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23. Income
• People paying in advance
increases.
• 22% in Autumn 2006 were
paying in advance. In Autumn
2008 55% were paying in
advance.
• Our centre classes income has
doubled in two years (between
2006-2008)
Monday, 16 March 2009

24. Income
• People paying in advance
increases.
• 22% in Autumn 2006 were
paying in advance. In Autumn
2008 55% were paying in
advance.
• Our centre classes income has
doubled in two years (between
2006-2008)
• 16.5k income from online sales
already in this financial year.
Monday, 16 March 2009

25. Income
• People paying in advance
increases.
• 22% in Autumn 2006 were
paying in advance. In Autumn
2008 55% were paying in
advance.
• Our centre classes income has
doubled in two years (between
2006-2008)
Merchandise sales treble from
• 16.5k income from online sales
sales in 2005
already in this financial year.
Monday, 16 March 2009

26. Income
• People paying in advance
increases.
• 22% in Autumn 2006 were
paying in advance. In Autumn
2008 55% were paying in
advance.
• Our centre classes income has
doubled in two years (between
2006-2008)
Merchandise sales treble from
• 16.5k income from online sales
sales in 2005
already in this financial year.
Monday, 16 March 2009

27. Lessons Learnt!
1.Created Demand - a lot of our customers (especially for popular classes) know that
they have to book in advance.
2.We know that we can afford to pay for tutors as customers have paid in advance.
3.Eased pressure on all staff during booking period (telephone bookings down, and
reduced queues for booking)
4.Booking happens in quiet periods of the week.
5.We can process the web orders at a time that is suitable for admin staff.
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28. Lessons Learnt (cont...)
5.Don’t expect to get it right - first time. It’ll take a while for you and your customers
to get used to your new pricing schemes.
6.We have to ensure that we have an extra member of staff on during the first week to
speed entry to classes.
7.It's added work load to me, about a days work updating and preparing the web-site.
8.We continually evaluate the classes and modify / add in extra classes.
9.The online shop is not connected to the front desk / paper records. Have to be
careful over overselling.
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29. Technology in
performance
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30. Instant Audience Feedback
www.itagg.com
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31. Lancashire Showcase
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32. Lancashire Showcase
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33. Inbox
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34. Auto Responder
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35. f.city
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36. Using Technology as Part of the Performance
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37. f.city Finale
Video of event removed for download version
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38. Dance and Film
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39. National Computing Centre 2004/5
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40. National Computing Centre 2004/5
• Started us off. Free grant which enabled us to obtain a
Mac desktop and laptop and training in using iMovie.
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41. National Computing Centre 2004/5
• Started us off. Free grant which enabled us to obtain a
Mac desktop and laptop and training in using iMovie.
• The NCC initiated the ‘Our Video’ project to help support
community groups using multimedia and the internet.
The project has produced the ‘Our Video Toolkit’ which
aims to support groups in creating, producing and
distributing their own video work.
Monday, 16 March 2009

42. National Computing Centre 2004/5
• Started us off. Free grant which enabled us to obtain a
Mac desktop and laptop and training in using iMovie.
• The NCC initiated the ‘Our Video’ project to help support
community groups using multimedia and the internet.
The project has produced the ‘Our Video Toolkit’ which
aims to support groups in creating, producing and
distributing their own video work.
• It was Hannah’s interest that made this project happen.
Before this there was no film knowledge or equipment
within the company.
Monday, 16 March 2009

43. National Computing Centre 2004/5
• Started us off. Free grant which enabled us to obtain a
Mac desktop and laptop and training in using iMovie.
• The NCC initiated the ‘Our Video’ project to help support
community groups using multimedia and the internet.
The project has produced the ‘Our Video Toolkit’ which
aims to support groups in creating, producing and
distributing their own video work.
• It was Hannah’s interest that made this project happen.
Before this there was no film knowledge or equipment
within the company.
• www.ourvideo.org
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44. Training
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45. Training
• With this investment in equipment we run in-house training.
• Company away day with training in how to use camera and editing software.
• Stage Manager & Head of ICT and Marketing have advanced editing training.
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46. Training
• With this investment in equipment we run in-house training.
• Company away day with training in how to use camera and editing software.
• Stage Manager & Head of ICT and Marketing have advanced editing training.
Post Appears on
Dance Artist
Production Web or
Records
for WebSite / Promotional
Event
DVD DVD
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47. Rich Content!
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48. Rich Content!
• Giving an insight into the
devising process.
• Explains dance styles.
• Interviews with past members &
Careers Advice.
• Demonstrating breadth of work
the company is involved in.
• Content is then uploaded onto
our web-site and a variety of
social networking sites.
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49. Letting others tell the story
Youth video removed for download version
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50. AmbITion & The Future
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51. AmbITion has enabled Ludus to...
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52. AmbITion has enabled Ludus to...
• Bespoke Database / Customer
Relationship Management
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53. AmbITion has enabled Ludus to...
• Bespoke Database / Customer
Relationship Management
• Employ a P/T Marketing Officer
Monday, 16 March 2009

54. AmbITion has enabled Ludus to...
• Bespoke Database / Customer
Relationship Management
• Employ a P/T Marketing Officer
• Upgrade of IT Equipment and
film training.
Monday, 16 March 2009

55. AmbITion has enabled Ludus to...
• Bespoke Database / Customer
Relationship Management
• Employ a P/T Marketing Officer
• Upgrade of IT Equipment and
film training.
• Professional Filming of Ludus
events.
Monday, 16 March 2009

56. AmbITion has enabled Ludus to...
• Bespoke Database / Customer
Relationship Management
• Employ a P/T Marketing Officer
• Upgrade of IT Equipment and
film training.
• Professional Filming of Ludus
events.
• Bespoke Resources for Touring
Company customers.
Monday, 16 March 2009

57. Questions
• Knowledge transfer, especially important regarding film and editing.
• As the world is shifting how can we use our reputation as 'Britain's
Leading Dance in Education Company' and capture the essence of
Ludus into packages / products that are available online....
• Evaluation phase within the Company. What work do we want to
continue / develop? Some of these projects have stretched the
time limits of the staff - but there was a sense of excitement about
them.
• We need to formally produce an digital marketing strategy.
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58. Useful URLs
Ludus Web Sites
• www.ludusdance.org
• www.youtube.com/ludusdance
• www.twitter.com/ludusdance
• www.ludusdance.org/facebook
ITAGG
• www.itagg.com
Ecommerce
• http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073861197
• www.streamline.com
• www.protx.com
• http://www.actinic.co.uk/products/business-ecommerce-software.htm
• http://www.hostway.co.uk/m2/m2.asp
• www.oneandone.co.uk
Keywords
James Wooldridge
• http://www.ranks.nl/tools/spider.html
Head of ICT & Marketing
• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Ludus Dance
Film Training james.wooldridge@ludusdance.org
• http://www.wfamedia.co.uk/
Film Equipment
• http://www.apple.com/uk/finalcutexpress/
• http://www.apple.com/uk/macbook/
Monday, 16 March 2009