Business plan

Flanders Festival Brussels is an organisation with a long tradition. An artistic tradition, but certainly also a tradition in its way of doing business.

Flanders Festival Brussels has always endeavoured to build many partnerships, and will continue to do so in the future. In addition to cultural partnerships, partnerships also with companies, government and the media. Continuing to maintain, renew or expand the various relations with these stakeholders is a very important business aspect, as it is these partners that ensure the revenue of the non-profit organisation. Governments via subsidies, companies via sponsoring, media partners via media channels and, most important of all, the public via ticket revenue.

Flanders Festival Brussels works with various levels of government: the Flemish Community, the Flemish Community Commission in Brussels, the Brussels Region and the European Union. All these partners support the Festival due to the intrinsic quality of the artistic plan, the spotlight it sheds on Flanders and Brussels both in the two regions and abroad, or due to its international contacts.

Flanders Festival Brussels also has a long tradition of working with the private sector. It is true to say that we helped lay the foundations for sponsoring in the cultural sector. Several decades later, this has generated a vast network. The people active in this network are fans of the Festival and ready to seek opportunities for their company among the concerts and other events on offer. On average the Festival works with about 20 companies, with each year the need to identify and approach a number of new companies. A labour intensive but highly rewarding task.

Flanders Festival Brussels is of course proud of its public. A public that with the transformation of the ‘old’ Festival into the new KlaraFestival must be partly reconstituted. It should also be stressed that between 2008 and 2009 the Festival increased its public by 40%, with a further 30% increase for the following year. A result that can only be achieved if the public is happy!

Flanders Festival Brussels originated in the strong vision of Jan Briers Sr. He was a professor in Communication Sciences at Ghent University and director of the former Radio 2 before a classical music broadcaster existed. Radio 2 advertised for Flanders Festival and the Festival incorporated Radio 2 in all its communication. It was as simple as that. Since that time, Flanders Festival Brussels has developed a structured and differentiated approach by seeking win-win situations between the media partners and the Festival.

Clearly one of the primary business goals is to ensure that the organisation remains financially sound. All the partners mentioned above contribute to this. Of course we all know that resources rarely find their own way to culture and that a lot of hard work is involved. In terms of personnel, Flanders Festival Brussels makes a clear investment in this area with two full-time equivalents for government and companies and one part-time for the media partners and another part-time for the general public.

There is one theme that runs throughout the annual reconstruction involved in organising each year’s Festival: professionalism. Principles from the private sector are adapted to the needs of the non-profit cultural organisation and implemented. This applies, for example, to the assessment system for the personnel and an efficient IT system that permits home working, as well as to procedures and systems. Not least of all, to team building and learning opportunities.

Of course none of this is possible without a strong team. Flanders Festival Brussels works –again true to its tradition – primarily with young people. These committed and enthusiastic employees come to the Festival, often as their first job, to gain wide ranging experience. The Festival has always been a springboard for young people. In that respect we could be compared with Proctor & Gamble. Which is a good thing! An important aspect is also to allow the organisation to work so that this experience can be retained internally. This is possible by giving the people every opportunity to grow in their job and acquire more responsibility so that they can remain with the Festival. But this is also possible by sharing experiencing internally with colleagues, with the result that this experience remains even if the people move on after a few years.

The ultimate goal of the business policy is the integration of artistic policy within the greater whole. Finding partners, resources and a public are central and essential, but this business work is also in the service of an artistic concept. A synergy!

Sophie Detremmerie
Business director
Sophie(at)festival.be