Thursday 13th February

Today me and Andrew debriefed from the DVAN workshop last night. I felt that it was a great turn out with a variety of people from different age range, cultural background and professionalisms. Most people seemed to be on board with the prospect of DNweekeND, however, there were those few that were quite cautious but warmed to the idea in the end.
In the break-out section of the session, most people were more interested in getting their ideas across rather than for marketing and volunteering. I helped guide the volunteer group; we seemed to have a high energy and the time was used very effectively and productively.
The Mansion House was the best place for this type of workshop as people may have expected a small village hall, but if people are given status then it gives the message that they are the most important people for this project to work.
After the debrief, I typed up the notes taken from last night and completely finalised the database that I was working on yesterday which now includes emails and numbers for all contacts with small notes at the side informing of who people are and the progress made so far. This is the database:

Shop Units Database

ID	Shop Names	Addresses	Contact Numbers	Contact Emails	Contact Names	Notes
1	Waterdale - Area 1
2	Funky Elegant	33-35 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751	Rebecca.Berry@stmodwen.co.uk	Rebecca Berry - Waterdale Centre Manager	Waterdale contacts have been contacted by Mandy
3				rbannister@stmodwen.co.uk	Richard Bannister - Waterdale Developement Manager
4	La Kosa	36 Kingsgate, Town Centre, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751	" "
5	No Name (next to Greggs)	8 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751	" "
6	No Name (next to The City)	6 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751	" "
7	No Name (next to Tracy's Trinkets)	28 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	0113 244 3888	trobertshaw@steadmanbrierley.co.uk	Tom Robertshaw - Managing Director	Best person to contact for 28 Kingsgate is Tom as the shop is his listing
8				tsmith@steadmanbrierley.co.uk	Tim Smith
9	Maplins	29 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751	Rebecca.Berry@stmodwen.co.uk	Rebecca Berry - Waterdale Centre Manager	Waterdale contacts have been contacted by Mandy
10				rbannister@stmodwen.co.uk	Richard Bannister - Waterdale Development Manager
11	Frenchgate - Area 2
12	Burtons	21-27 St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster DN1 1UB	020 7338 4114	paul.abrey@bnpparibas.com	Paul Abrey - Head of Property Management	BNP Paribas also has a contact form on their website if this is useful.
13			020 7484 8170	steve.harber@bnpparibas.com	Steve Harber - Senior Director	Steve Harber seems like the best person to contact for Retail/Shopping Centre Management
14	Inside Out	20 St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster	0113 244 8668	david@central-retail.co.uk	David Rawstron - Frenchgate Retail Units	David Rawstron is the best person to contact for the Frenchgate Shopping Centre empty units to be used
15	Internacionale	14-16 St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster DN1 1SR	0113 244 8668	david@central-retail.co.uk	David Rawstron - Frenchgate Retail Units	" "
16	TJ Hughes	Danum House, St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster DN1 1UB	0113 243 0990	paullancaster@reesdenton.com	Paul Lancaster	"Andrew, I have referred this to my client and I can confirm that your proposal is not of interest to them at the present time. Paul" - Email
17	Old Christmas Shop	1 St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster DN1 1TD	0114 327 7892	info@newbouldcommercial.co.uk	Newbould Commercial
18	Unit 10	Unit 10, Colonnades, Doncaster DN1 3EG	07725799437		Jamie Smyth - Sole Agent	The contact number is for Jamie Smyth is one of the Sole Agents for LWE Commercial Property Advisors
19			07515198715		Jack Smith - Sole Agent	Jack Smith is another Sole Agent for LWE Commercial Property Advisors
20			01302 361445	enquires@LWEstates.com	LWE Commercial Property Advisors	http://www.lwestates.co.uk/documents/files/property/U14%20Colonnades,%20Doncaster%20ref%201640.pdf - The link for the above

Wednesday 12th February

Today, I finalised gathering all my data together for my research. As it was still difficult to find addresses for the empty shops in Waterdale Centre, I found address for open shops, went on location and investigated the area so I would be able to record accurate data into my database.
This is the database I have formed for the other placements in the future:

Shop Units Database

ID	Shop Names	Addresses	Contact Numbers	Contact Emails	Contact Names
1	Waterdale - Area 1
2	Funky Elegant	33-35 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751	Rebecca.Berry@stmodwen.co.uk	Rebecca Berry
3				rbannister@stmodwen.co.uk	Richard Bannister
4	La Kosa	36 Kingsgate, Town Centre, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751
5	No Name (next to Greggs)	8 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751
6	No Name (next to The City)	6 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751
7	No Name (next to Tracy's Trinkets)	28 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	0113 244 3888	trobertshaw@steadmanbrierley.co.uk	Tom Robertshaw
8				tsmith@steadmanbrierley.co.uk	Tim Smith
9	Maplins	29 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3JU	01302 363751		Waterdale Management
10	Frenchgate - Area 2
11	Burtons	21-27 St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster DN1 1UB	0113 242 0044		BNP Paribas Real Estate
12	Inside Out	20 St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster	0113 244 8668	david@central-retail.co.uk	David Rawstron
13	Internacionale	14-16 St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster DN1 1SR	0113 244 8668	david@central-retail.co.uk	David Rawstron
14	TJ Hughes	Danum House, St Sepulchure Gate, Doncaster DN1 1UB	0113 7491 0999		Douglas Stevens
15	Old Christmas Shop		0114 327 7892		Newbould Commercial
16	Unit 10	Unit 10, Colonnades, Doncaster DN1 3EG			Jamie Smyth

There are some blanks that need filling in here but this is owing to not being able to find the correct details for the required fields. However, hopefully I have provided enough information for other people to use as part of this project.
I also compiled all the photos that were taken overall in the project onto a photo album in Powerpoint.
With the draft of the presentation, I overlooked it and felt it was completely fine but I did add some pictures of shop exteriors so there is a mixture of shops and the pedestrian areas that will hopefully be filled with performers during the DNweekeND.


Tonight there is the DVAN workshop which I do feel slightly nervous about as I don't know what to expect because this is the first DVAN workshop I will be attending and having input. Having said this, it should be a very good experience if I want to facilitate after I have achieved my degree.


So far, I have enjoyed my experience at Darts. I will take this experience with me as the research tasks I have been given has made it easier in my mind of how I would represent and sort my data for my dissertation.

Monday 10th February

 

Unfortunately I missed 2 days of placement last week, owing to a 48 hour bug. However, not all is lost as Andrew offered to extend my placement so I won't lose out on any hours or experience.
These extra 2 days will take place on the 24th and 25th February and will be treated as 'wrap up' days so I can pass on my research for DNweekeND to future placement from Sheffield.

Today, Andrew gave me a list of tasks I could be getting on with while he is away tomorrow and Wednesday. The task sheet is as follows:

1) Put inventory together of shops and addresses. Pictures as JPEGS in a seperate folder.

For this, I first put all the information I had into an Excel Spreadsheet as this is the program I feel confident using. However, it didn't seem like a good program to use in terms of layout so then I moved on to Access.
It was difficult to find addresses of shops that didn't have names on or above them. To help me with this, I decided to go back out to the town and take more clear pictures of the empty shop units exteriors as this could help me place the shops on Google Maps; also more pictures of shop exteriors were needed for the database.
These are the pictures I took:

 

 

 

 



With these pictures I felt it would make it easier to find addresses for the shop in Waterdale Centre, but I was wrong. It was still quite difficult as Google Maps haven't been updated for a while and I couldn't get 'street view' because of Waterdale being under a shelter where the satellite can't get to the shops and the computer not having Java.

 

With this in consideration, I decided to work from home as my laptop had Java and thought it would be better to see how far I could see into the Waterdale Centre through 'street view' on Google Maps.

 

 

2) Research landlord details

 

 

      This task is highly linked with the first task as I needed contacts to complete my database.

 

3) RUOS N commission progress chart

 

      I was told to leave this for now as it would involve liasing with the arts supporters, which I may not have time for considering the other task I had in hand as this can be quite time consuming in itself.

 

 

4) Powerpoint for DVAN Workshop

 

 

     For this, Andrew would do a draft and I would look over it and add to it (pictures/text) where I felt appropiate. 

 

Tuesday 4th February

Today started with reading through the Strategy that Andrew wrote 9th December 2013. There was also updates that occurred between the start of the project and now that I have read through. This was to also gain a better understanding, but not of the overall project, only the N strand of the DNweekeND which is very commissioned based so I would need to get my head around it if I am to contact people about the project, to make it possible.
To put this to the test, Andrew asked me how I would summarize both Right Up Our Street and DNweekeND in 2 sentences. I found this quite a challenge as both projects are quite complex so it would be hard to find a certain element of both that would say what they are overall.
So I started to work on it, as I feel it would be better if I wrote a little 'script' so it would be better to communicate over the phone with. This is how I summarized both:

Right Up Our Street

This is a 3 year project running from 2013-2016. It is targeted at people who are not involved in the arts or think that they're not. As part of this there are various projects running over the 3 years, such as DNweekeND.

DNweekeND

It is going to be on the weekend of 9th-11th May this year, starting from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, so it will be daytime only. The location is going to be the centre of Doncaster using shop windows/units to install work of local artists and maybe artists outside of the Doncaster area.

Now that I have summarized both projects, it was time to start my research. The first thing I needed to do was to create an audit of all the empty shops on the route that Andrew highlighted on a map. I was also required to try and find a safe route from Cast to the Frenchgate Shopping Centre without closing down roads as the budget wouldn't hold that.
These are the pictures and contact details that I managed to gather:

Frenchgate Shopping Centre - Shop Units Contact: David Rawstron 0113 244 8668

Other shop units pictures

Monday 3rd February

Today is the first day of my placement so I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I'm pretty sure as I settle in though everything won't seem so alien to me.
I will be helping with a project part of Right Up Our Street, DNweekeND. My main role will be gathering research of empty shop units that could be used to animate the Doncaster Town Centre in a creative way and to make the first contact with landlords of these shop units. This project sounds like a fantastic way to open the Doncaster citizens eyes to the Arts and how much it is actually around us. It is also good for all ages, so it would be a fantastic day out for everyone.
I was introduced to everyone at Darts quite quickly as Andrew invited me to a Headlines meeting, which takes place every Monday morning at 9.30. There was another meeting followed on from Headlines, this is where I met the 5 other supporters of Right Up Our Street. The aim of this meeting was to update everyone on what is DNweekeND. Everyone was very open to the project and was constantly sharing ideas and suggestions of how to connect all the 6 (including Town Centre) together. I will be requited to liase with the other support workers who have ideal locations of empty shop units to fill with installations, live acts, etc.

In the afternoon me and Andrew met with Andy Jupp @ Cast. The aim of this meeting was to see Andy's vision of his project and how it would 'fit in' with the DNweekeND. The project Andy has in mind is called 'The Unmarket' and it set to take place on the August Bank Holiday 2015. Andy sees his project being mainly outdoors setting it up as market stalls and the stage as 'skips' - which I think is a good idea as it has the element of DNweekeND, so Andrew was thinking of The Unmarket being 'mark 2' of the DNweekeND. However, The Unmarket needs a bit more development as Andy is only aiming to use local artists, not expanding outside of the Doncaster area. Having said this, none of this has set in stone yet owing to budgeting and the development of The Unmarket, from my understanding.

Later on in the afternoon I read the business plan for Right Up Our Street so everything would start to make more sense to me and to get a better grasp of what the project actually is.