Beth's passionate about championing audiences of all backgrounds - in this staff blog, she explains how she connects with our local community, what her favourite Arts Centre memory is, and why she'll always look back fondly on the 2023 Christmas run of The Gruffalo.
About my role
My role as Visitor Experience Manager is to make sure our visitors and audiences have the best possible experience at Warwick Arts Centre.
Our visitors' needs can vary depending upon if they're a student, artist, local community member or staff - and all are as important as each other.
My day-to-day tasks range from reviewing and analysing feedback, to exploring new and exciting opportunities to bring to audiences.
The three things that make for a memorable guest experience
- Being welcoming: The ability to feel welcome and embraced into a space is unmatched by anything else.
- Listening to our visitors: No matter how small or big their comment is, we're here to hear it. We're passionate to show how much we care and are always striving to improve.
- Personalisation goes a long way - we know many of our visitors by face or name. This helps to build a connection with audiences.
Connecting with our local community
We recently invited a local community group to visit us for our 2023 Christmas show, The Gruffalo. It was really important to us that they had a positive experience, especially as it was their first-time ever visiting a theatre - some of the group felt a little daunted.
After the show, we anxiously waited to hear their thoughts, but were delighted to be met with big smiles and children singing the Gruffalo song! It's so rewarding to see how the arts can create such joy and bring people together whether it's your first or 10th time.
Making sure all visitors feel represented
This is so important to us - we want to ensure that anyone and everyone feels both welcome and comfortable in all our spaces.
Our volunteering team in particular consists of individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life, and we want to maintain and amplify this.
Their thoughts and ideas are key to ensure we're listening to future generations and audiences to understand how we can continue to champion representation and an offer for all.
My favourite Arts Centre memory
My fondest memory is from almost 10 years ago, back in 2015, when I visited Warwick Arts Centre for the first time. The whole experience of being in an Arts Centre which oozed creativity on a leading University campus was so eye-opening and magical.
From the performance itself, to the staff on the doors, I still remember that buzzing feeling afterwards and the immediate excitement to come back!
Find out more
Interviewed by Sophie Hannah — Internal Communications Team
