― My background
I have over 20 years experience in fundraising, digital project management and creative producing. I've built my own creative companies, led consulting agencies and advised on policy development for local, national and international government. Learn more about my clients and projects.
I combine commercial insight with creative flair across all phases of research and development. I was a Resident Entrepreneur for Creative Informatics (AHRC R&D Cluster in Edinburgh), and received an MSc Business Innovation from Birkbeck, University of London and MMus Composition from Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Learn more about my publications and conference presentations.
I'm particularly interested in the application of rapid prototyping, data driven decision-making and design thinking for artistic, commercial and social outcomes.
― CLIENTS & Advisory
Orchestras Live
Supporting business growth and innovation through the development of new products/services and new markets (current)
Citizens of the World Choir
Supporting growth and development through high-value fundraising, operational efficiency and IP exploitation (current)
Academy Group Hospitality / FNB
Supported the design and implementation of a social enterprise business model (Sep 23 to Jan 24)
Camel Projects
Conducted feasibility research for economic development (capital) grants (Oct 23 to Mar 24)
Raad voor Cultuur / Council for Culture
Advised Raad voor Culture (a legal body to advise the Dutch Government on the arts, culture and media) on international trends and UK best practice in digital cultural development. (Jun 22)
Nesta Arts & Culture Finance
Created an immersive website and curated digital artists to showcase multi-media and VR content to a global online audience. (Oct 21 to Jan 2022)
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Advised DCMS and acted as commitment-holder for the Culture Is Digital white paper. (Mar 2018 to Sep 2019)
Nest Collective
Undertook audience and capabilities analysis and created new digital and audience engagement strategies (Apr to Sep 2020)
AAJA Deptford
Secured funding and produced financial modelling for a new online community radio station in response to Covid-19 (Apr to Dec 19)
Royal Opera House
Created an audience typology for new contemporary opera works (Audience Labs) to support sponsorship development (Feb 2018)
British Council
Designed and delivered an international cross-sector skills exchange programme for the cultural/tech sectors in Türkiye (Oct 16 to Mar 17)
Barbican
Developed a propensity algorithm and prediction tool to increase member conversion and reduce churn (Sep 15 to Mar 16)
National Theatre
Developed a topic detection algorithm to analyse social media (Twitter) content trends among theatre audiences, Sep 15 to Mar 16
English National Opera
Developed a product-market analysis tool to identify best fit productions (shows) for their audience segments (Sep 15 to Mar 16)
― FRAN SANDERSON
Director of Arts Programmes and Investments, Nesta
"We were looking to do something radically that presents the material in a new way, and where the medium is the message. Cimeon made a perfect partner, because his whole raison d'etre is finding new ways to engage audiences, and doing this by leaping boldly into the unknown! He was fantastic on both the vision and the implementation, and we couldn't have done the Spotlight without him."
"Cimeon is experienced, inquisitive and hardworking, which is the perfect combination for a researcher and academic."
― DR MARIOS SAMDANIS
Senior Lecturer in Strategy Entrepreneurship and International Management, Brunel University of London
What they say:
― PUBLICATIONS
How can business innovation theory support arts organisations to be more creative, sustainable and impactful?
Ellerton-Kay, C. (2023), Creativity, Culture & Capital (January)
Responding creatively to change
Ellerton-Kay, C. and Hall, N. (2023), Arts Professional (January)
Managing creativity during times of uncertainty
Ellerton-Kay, C. and Hall, N. (2022), Arts Professional (September)
Venues of the Future
Mason, K. and Ellerton-Kay, C. (2022), Substrakt (July)
How to become more dynamic
Ellerton-Kay, C. and Hall, N. (2022), Arts Professional (March)
Open to opportunities
Ellerton, C. (2019), Arts Professional (January)
Toward a data culture in the cultural and creative Industries
Ellerton, C. (2018), in Schiuma, G. and Carlucci, D., 2018. Big data in the arts and humanities: Theory and practice. CRC Press.
Data worlds explored
Ellerton, C (2015), Arts Professional (October)
The reverential gap
Ellerton, C (2015), International Arts Manager (October)
“Entrepreneurs discover opportunities and provide the vision, energy, and sweat to galvanize teams and seize the moment. They are the catalysts for change and improvement.”
- David J Teece
― CONFERENCES
Unexpected Solutions Conference
Queen Mary University of London, October 2023
Investing in Future Cultures
Audience Labs, King's College London , June 2022
A Design Sprint for the Creative Industries Sector Vision
Design Council, March 2022
Visitor & Audience Trends
Scottish Tourism Alliance, September 2019
GHOSTS! Do you know your audience? (keynote)
BARC Scandinavia, Copenhagen, September 2019
Digital Technologies for Audience Development (keynote)
Quartier des Spectacles, Montreal, February 2018
Data-Driven Audience Development (keynote)
British Council, Istanbul, December 2016
Digital R&D for the Arts (speaker)
Nesta, 2015
Let's talk
