BAFM NEWS - 1
NEW BAFM 1st VICE-CHAIRMAN - SUSIE DAWSON
When Lesley Taylor felt she was unable to continue as 1st Vice-Chairman and would have to resign, BAFM was lucky enough to be able to appoint Susie Dawson to the post. Susie is no stranger to BAFM having, at one time, served as Co-ordinator for the London Area and she has had a distinguished career working in the Heritage sector. When asked to tell us something about herself, she sent us this.
Australian by birth but resident in England since 1970, I have a Master’s degree in Art and Design History from Middlesex University and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
I taught various under-graduate courses at the University of the West of England in Bristol before joining the staff of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1984 to work with their quite recently formed membership scheme. Over eighteen years and via a series of ground-breaking blockbuster exhibitions, we built the Friends of the Royal Academy into one of the largest schemes in Europe with, by 2002, 85,000 subscribers. I joined the staff of Tate in 2002 as Membership Manager, now Head of Membership. In the seven years since then, Tate membership has grown from 42,000 to 93,000 Members and satisfaction amongst Members has risen to 94%. Tate Members’ contribution, after costs, has grown from half a million pounds in 2001/02 to £5.39 million in 2008/09.
I believe in the museum or gallery as community centre, a meeting place and place for people to go; in breaking down the barriers that might deter people; in removing any sense of exclusiveness; in diversity of age and background; in understanding and delivering what people really want from their association with the gallery or museum as a Member or Friend.
I have a long association with the British Association of Friends of Museums, having travelled to Toronto in the early 1980s with Pat Prestwich and Rosemary Marsh for the WFFM Conference. I also attended conferences in Treviso and Sydney where I chaired a session. I was, for a number of years, an area co-ordinator. My most recent contact with BAFM was last summer, when I facilitated a session on what constitutes success in a membership scheme. I would be honoured to be further involved, which my impending retirement from full-time work makes possible. |