Think up Culture!

Palma, Mallorca was the host city of the Think up Culture! event in January 2017.

Organised by PowerHouse Hub and Balears.t. the event took place on 24-26 January. The programme included speakers and debates about the connection between creativity, culture and tourism.

David gave a speech at Think up Culture! and shared his experience of developing the cultural and creative industries in Liverpool in connection with culture, economic development and tourism.

Liverpool in the UK is a great success story in this regard. As European Capital of Culture in 2008, Liverpool showcased its cultural offerings to Europe and the world. Since then, tourism has boomed, making Liverpool one of the most visited tourist destinations in Europe. In 2014, the Rough Guides put Liverpool in the top three cities in the world to visit.

Culture Liverpool at Liverpool City Council supports the city’s cultural organisations because of their importance to the city: culturally, socially and economically. A recent project was designed to help cultural enterprises become more financially sustainable by adopting entrepreneurial techniques that fit with their artistic mission, values and objectives. This highly successful ‘Fit for the Future’ project was designed and delivered by David Parrish. The initiative helped arts organisations and cultural enterprises to use marketing, organisational structures, collaborations and innovative business models to achieve greater success artistically and economically.

 

David Parrish, speaker at Think up Culture!

He also shared his personal background in the cultural industries and his international experience of helping cultural organisations and creative businesses to find ways to become even more successful by combining their cultural passion with smart business techniques.

David Parrish interview with Ràdio de les Illes Balears at Think up Culture!

David was also interviewed live on air by Ràdio de les Illes Balears (www.ib3radio.com). He explained how the cultural industries can help tourism and how creativity can be used not only in creative enterprises but in all sectors of the economy. He referred to his TEDx Napoli speech about “a-Creativity and i-Creativity” which defines two aspects of creativity we can use to achieve greater success. He also answered questions about the connection between creativity and business, for which he uses the metaphor “T-Shirts and Suits” (or “Camisetas y Corbatas” in Spanish).
(The radio interview is online here and David’s interview is at 24:00 minutes.)

“Enthusiastic, committed, inspiring, good communicator, clear and strategic. David Parrish has all these features. He first analyses carefully and then gives his wise advice guidance to culture and creative professionals to empower them and help them grow in the sector. We contacted him to participate in the Think up Culture! Conferences on Patronage and CCI Funding and it has been a pleasure to work with him, hope we can do it again soon!”
Anna Aguiló. Powerhouse Hub. Mallorca, Spain.
www.powerhousehub.eu

David said: “It was a pleasure to work with Anna and her colleagues to play my part in making this event a great success. Culture and tourism can work hand in hand for mutual benefit. Cultural tourists can be a big part of the tourist economy and it makes sense in terms of economic development as well as tourism to develop the cultural industries. Cultural enterprises can work with tourist agencies and private sector tourism companies to reach new audiences, sell to new markets and strengthen their economic sustainability. If we get it right, it’s a win-win.”

David speaks at conferences and other events about culture, creativity, creative business, cultural tourism, international business, marketing, creative hubs and creative entrepreneurship.

David’s books have been published in Spanish as well as in other languages and several countries worldwide.

#thinkupculture
@davidparrish