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Manchester Science Festival: 25 October – 2 November 2008 Promoting science, technology and engineering at venues across Greater Manchester We are currently seeking two freelance workers to fulfil our 2008 programming and operational brief: o Festival Co-ordinator o Evaluation Consultant More details on the festival past and present, and the two required contracts, are below. The 2007 festival Manchester Science Festival is a large-scale public festival with the vision of inspiring and engaging people in science, technology and engineering. It promotes and showcases the region’s rich heritage of past achievements and endeavours, whilst showcasing and highlighting the region’s innovative science, technology and engineering research and practice. Addiction, robots, champagne, built environment, genetics, junk music, singing sand, and Doctor Who are among the topics featured. The festival ran for the first time in 2007. The festival is an annual nine-day, multi-venue festival, and its intention is to host and promote a broad and engaging public science programme. We expect it to contribute towards the drive to get more schoolchildren studying science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, and also to increase levels of understanding of science issues within the general public and to help them to see the relevance of science in their everyday lives. The festival is organised by a unique alliance, including leaders from business, culture, education, local government and healthcare. It is a high-profile, high-impact festival, which will inspire the next generation of innovators in the North West. In 2007, Manchester Science Festival: o Promoted 248 events during October 2007, reaching an audience of 50,000+ people o Delivered a hands-on schools programme in 10 Greater Manchester areas, working with 48 schools and nearly 2000 teenagers o Worked in 31 key venues across Greater Manchester, presenting a diversity of activities, from walks and demonstrations to exhibitions and films o Worked with 25+ cultural, scientific and business partner organisations to develop the festival The festival takes place primarily in venues across Manchester city centre, also utilising the five Greater Manchester universities (Manchester, Salford, Bolton, MMU and RNCM), as well as unexpected public places and other cultural and science venues across the city-region. The programme includes a wide range of activities and events, including workshops, exhibitions, talks, tours, and more. There is a significant online presence. During the 2007 festival, you could have gone on a city walk, made music, played with robots, debated controversial issues, seen special film screenings, and more! All the events were related to six themes: o ‘Manchesticity' - the city's endeavours, achievements, people, places and ideas o Mind & Body - activities and topics about our brains and brawn o Planet - exploring our impact on and use of the earth, and looking into space o Extra-Ordinary - the science, technology and engineering of the everyday o Past, Present, Future - looking forward and back in time o Lifestyle - the science of all things fun - food, shopping, sport, music, and more! Manchester Science Festival is based on the view that NW England needs a platform dedicated to promoting science, technology and engineering to inspire and inform the innovative future workforce. The aim is to create an inclusive, accessible, popular science programme for everyone. Festival partners include the Museum of Science and Industry, NWDA, Manchester: Knowledge Capital, The BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science), Nowgen, The Manchester Museum, The Universities of Manchester, Salford and Bolton and Manchester Metropolitan University, SETPOINT Greater Manchester, STEMNET, Institute of Physics, and more. The Museum of Science and Industry acts as the banker for the project. Financial and resourcing support comes from a wide range of public and private funders (including NWDA and MOSI), with thousands of pounds of in kind support from our partners and venues. See www.manchestersciencefestival.com <http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com/> for more information on the festival. To supplement the current team, we are now seeking people to undertake the following freelance contracts: FESTIVAL CO-ORDINATOR We require a highly-skilled and self-motivated Festival Co-ordinator to support the Festival Director and partners in both the strategic and day-to-day administration and running of the festival. Fee for work (to include all expenses): £5,000 (fixed term from June until November 2008) Job description: The Festival Co-ordinator will be expected to: o Work with the Festival Director and partners to support the development and delivery of the 2008 festival, according to the current project plan o Take responsibility for the festival administration, and for some project and event management if appropriate (for instance, at events during the festival or for certain elements of projects/ the programme) o Be a first point of contact for the festival, and supply accurate and appropriate information as required to contributors, partners, venues, attendees, and the general public on request o Manage mail outs/ lists for partners, stakeholders and the public, undertaking communication by email, phone and fax, and manage financial tasks/ reporting o Keep accurate financial records, reconciling income/ expenditure to the overall budget, and communicating with MOSI finance department regarding payments, purchase orders, etc o Collate information from partners and other organisations to feed into the production of the programme listings (both in print and on the web) o Liaise with the designers and FD to maintain the website with event data entry, regular news items, etc o Co-ordinate the organisation of the festival’s meeting schedule, including taking and circulating minutes o Work closely with the Festival Director and those delivering the education programme to support that element (co-ordination, admin, bookings, etc as required) o Report on day-to-day basis to the Festival Director and when necessary, to the MOSI Director (as the lead organisation issuing the contract) o Undertake other project management, admin and support functions consistent with the contract Requirements: o There is an option to work from home, at a desk in MOSI or the FD’s office, or from your own premises, but it is anticipated that some work/ regular tasks will be delivered from offices in central Manchester o Meetings are generally held in central Manchester, but some travel in Greater Manchester will be expected o Other skills and abilities include excellent communication and organisation, close attention to detail, working both independently and as part of a small, focused team, and good working knowledge of standard software such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook EVALUATION CONSULTANT After undertaking an evaluation consultancy for the inaugural festival in 2007, we are seeking an independent, external Evaluation Consultant to assist us in documenting, monitoring and evaluating all aspects of the festival. Last year helped us establish a baseline for activity at the festival, but in 2008, we’d like to compare that baseline, as well as be more creative in our approaches to evaluation. We feel that there is further value in examining our partnerships and organisational structures, and the festival’s programme. Fee for work (to include all expenses): £4,000 (fixed term from June until December 2008) Job description: The Evaluation Consultant will be expected to: o Monitor and evaluate the festival using an appropriate mix of methods, including reporting on the experiences of the participants/ audience at the festival o Create and deliver a method of measurement for baseline audience/ participation (demographic) figures across venues and events for re-measurement in 2009 and beyond o Review the value of the partnerships, mainly via a partners feedback meeting (Nov 08) o Work directly with the Festival Director in developing an agreed action plan for the duration of the project, for which the Evaluation Consultant will produce and provide all necessary tools for the collection of evaluation data o Pursue the agreed evaluation action plan in a fully independent manner, aided in any way possible by the Festival Director, and other partners o Make appropriate recommendations for the festival in 2009 and beyond o Present an evaluation report to the Festival Director and the Partners Group by the end of December 2008, and assist in the filling in of NWDA forms to report on their funding Requirements: o Must be able to work from their own premises, although some desk space and office resources might be made available in central Manchester o Must be able to travel throughout Greater Manchester, and attend meetings in central Manchester There is a small sub-group of partners who are prepared to offer some support and time as and if required. FOR BOTH CONTRACTS These contracts will be issued by the Museum of Science and Industry. The festival is supported with programming, admin, technical, educational, financial and other expertise from the Museum of Science and Industry and other partner organisations. The festival team that leads the project programming meets every month. There are also partners group (made up by the lead organisations for the festival) meets once every 6 weeks. How to apply: Please submit a letter (no more than two-pages) stating why you are a suitable and experienced candidate for this contract, also enclosing a CV. This can be submitted by post to Laura Drane, Festival Director, Manchester Science Festival, 2nd Floor, 120 Grosvenor St, Manchester, M1 7HL, or by email to [log in to unmask] <mailto:info%40manchestersciencefestival.com> The closing date for applications is 5pm on Thursday 22 May. Short listing will then take place, and interviews/ an appointment is expected to be made by the start of June, with the candidates starting work as soon as possible after that date. Enquiries about this contract, or further information on any aspect of the festival, can be obtained by email to the above address.