Well it looks like only around 300 cards are left from the sale which I think could be said to be a success for the college. That and the money raised from the raffle must mean that the show has brought in around £90,000. Not bad at all and hopefully lots of money for future bursaries. I did feel that the changes didn't all work and will probably post a bit about this when I do my own round up, but once the cards were online and doors opened RCA secret totally worked it's magic on me again.
Still just under 2 days left to go and buy one of the cards remaining which the college have said includes very well known musicians (Damon Albarn maybe?) and other fine artists.
See you on collection day!
6 comments:
I will reserve most of my comments for a full blog post on it but it felt way more commercial this year and, at least to me, seemed to be designed in a way to alienate real RCA Secret fans; too little time in advance, not being able to take cards away and the raffle going up in price.
Obviously I'll still be back for next year though.
I HATED the fact that you made such a big deal when you announced the date about how you were going to be adding cards during the sale week but then dropped that without telling us. I mean, I guess you didn't get as many cards as you were planning on? But I didn't find out until I was in the line that no more cards were going to be added. I agree with Lisa that it felt much more like a sale than like an art event this year, but that was my big peeve- I don't care which you do, just TELL us.
Thanks for your comments. I assume the "you" is directed at the college, please remember this is a fans blog and I don't have anything to do with the college, and certainly don't have any influence on the decisions they make in respect of the sale. I'm sure the college will take your comments into account though :)
Mixed feelings. It was certainly more commercial this year and would tend to agree with Lisa's comment that it seemed like the college is trying to alienate its more dedicated, long term supporters. Has the college ever approached anyone asking their thoughts about proposed changes? I would certainly welcome inclusive attitude from the college with open dialogue and engagement between the supports and the college, it seems we're mostly ignored and this year I just felt a little like a 'cash cow' taken for granted. Perhaps the college may consider some sort of campers/queuers event, a little evening of drinks and engagement with staff (just an off the cuff idea)?
Another idea that occurred to me was, if the college is sticking with the idea of a Secrets Keeper, just a line or two on the back of the card we collected, along with the artists name would be wonderful. I know this would be a lot more work but something as simple as: '...is a graduate of the college and is currently pursuing a carer as...' or '...is an internationally acclaimed artist, further information can be found on the internet.
One last point I'd like to raise, there was an extremely high profile artist who contributed for the first time this year, who's original works sell for many 10's of thousands of pounds. I was perplexed to see no mention of this artist contributing on social media or the college's press releases. Unless, of course for what ever reasons, this lack of publicity was a stipulation of the artist contributing, I think the college missed a huge publicity opportunity. Who knows what reasons were behind it. Strange they would make such a big deal of Damon Albarn contributing but nothing about this artist. Its almost as if the college didn't want anyone to notice.
Well, there's my twopennies worth for the moment. Happy collection day tomorrow!
I agree with Lisa but the point is, the sale and raffle is to raise money. The college tried something new, maybe it didn't work in all aspects for the fans but don't crucify them for trying. I love my cards, I'll definitely be back next year and I'm sure the RCA will be taking constructive criticism on board while making sure that the most money that can be made is made for their students.
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