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CHRC Newsletter September 2011

September 19, 2011

Welcome to the
CHRC Newsletter
September 2011

In this issue!


GOING FORWARD
As CHRC members know, in July the Minister of HRSDC announced that core funding and some elements of project funding for the sector council program would end in March 2013. The outpouring of support for CHRC that has come into the secretariat through emails and phone calls from across the country and across the sector is gratifying - and reinforcing! Here is a sampling of what we have heard and read:

"Combien importantes sont les actions du CHRSC pour la communauté
culturelle canadienne et ses travailleurs."

"I was utterly dismayed yesterday when I learned through your news release of the phasing out of funding to sector councils. ... CHRC has done such important work over the years; establishing an impressive inventory of resources and playing a crucial role for our sector!"

"Je voulais, par la présente, vous assurer notre appui moral et surtout vous transmettre notre appréciation des outils que vous développez. Ils sont très pertinents pour nos milieux. Notamment, nous référons souvent l'outil « L'Art de gérer sa carrière » à notre clientèle."

"We will be there for CHRC."

"I'm saddened to hear of the funding news and that the cuts will impact CHRC. You have done so many wonderful things that have positively impacted so many people and companies across the country. If there is anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to call on me."

"This is a real loss to the cultural sector."

"Please let me know how we can work with you to address the challenges ahead."

"Comptez sur nous, pour tous les scénarios à envisager !"

The Board and Executive are already fully engaged in developing strategies to ensure that cultural workers and employers continue to benefit from the rich resources that CHRC has produced in partnership with them over the years. The Board is also determined to ensure that human resource issues including training continue to be high on the cultural sector's agenda.

Over the coming weeks Board members are consulting with the sub-sectors they represent to help determine the best way to proceed. The Board meeting on September 26 will be a very important opportunity to consolidate input from the sector and begin to map out the future. Any ideas, suggestions, comments you may have are most welcome. We are in this together!

Release of Culture 3.0, The Impact of Emerging Digital Technology on HR in the Cultural Sector
The soon-to-be-released Culture 3.0 study is the culmination of months of consultation and research on the impact of emerging digital technologies on the cultural sector. The findings recognize the "profound and varied impacts within and between the sub-sectors... and in the value chain"; and explore the regional, linguistic and demographic perspectives that shape the impact of the digital technologies.

"Indeed, digital technologies are disrupting - positively and negatively - not only all eight cultural sub-sectors, but transforming the traditional function of virtually all elements of the creative chain within each sub-sector."

The recommendations, both cross-sector and sub-sector, are intended to inspire and guide employers, workers and educators alike to navigate the advantages and challenges of emerging digital technologies.

Case studies pepper the study, providing living examples of how the sector is embracing digital technologies. Here are two examples:

  • Case Study: Canadian Media Guild Online Skills Upgrading During the economic recession, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) implemented a training program providing its members who had been laid off with a $500 grant to use towards new training to acquire new broadcasting sub-sector skills. The training was provided through the CMG's American affiliate's- the Communications Workers of America- online training portal CWA/NETT Academy. CWA/NETT Academy offers hundreds of online courses and certifications for communications industry workers.  The CMG's in-career skills upgrading initiatives provide an example of an efficient method of delivering training modules to cultural sector workers. Such a training initiative does not have to be restricted to recently laid-off workers, and could be offered by employers as well as guilds or unions across all sub-sectors.
  • Heritage Case Study: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec Collaborative Production The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Montreal uses digital technology to facilitate its international collaborative projects. Using digital technology, collections can be viewed by all players involved anywhere in the world. Additionally, remote partners can work in real-time to develop projects from their home institutions, unlike in the past when significant travel was required. The experimentation with digital technology has led to more projects with more partners in more countries for the art museum. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec's case provides one example of the positive outcome that can result from allowing employees to experiment and develop new digital approaches to long-standing processes.

Suite of Products for Magazine Publishing
In the coming weeks CHRC will be releasing a suite of products for the magazine industry that it has been working on in close collaboration with Magazines Canada for over a year. These include a Competency Chart and Profile for Magazine Publishing, a complementary Training Gaps Analysis, and four on-line courses on digitization in the areas of editorial, production, advertising and circulation.

These resources were created in direct response to the challenges facing the magazine industry during the economic recession in 2008, and more broadly as a result of the rapid transformative effect of digital technology on every aspect of magazine publishing. It was an industry under siege. But it is a very resourceful industry! And it is emerging with new vigor as magazines in this country reshape and re-present themselves in the new digital universe.

  • The Competency Chart and Profile outline the skills needed in magazine publishing - for educators who want to develop curriculum, for employers who are writing job descriptions and identifying training needs for their workers etc.

  • The Training Gaps Analysis, based on the Competency Chart, includes a training offering survey and a training needs assessment. It also includes the outline for a potential Magazine Publishing 101 survey course.

  • Online courses will be available to training providers to help magazine publishing companies adapt to the advantages of digital technology.

Music Workshops on Rights Management at APEM and Musique Nouveau Brunswick
Following on the heels of the successful Rights Management workshop at North by Northeast in June (and before that the Rights Management workshops offered at the ECMAs, and through Music Manitoba and SaskMusic in the spring), CHRC has engaged rights management expert Diane Lamarre to present a French version of the workshop at the AGM of the Association des professionnels de la chanson et de la musique on September 10 in Ottawa. It will be offered again later in the fall at a Musique NB event.

Workshop on Business Skills for Producers in Toronto
Many small to medium-sized Canadian media companies have been founded by 'creative' people who through a process of growth find themselves managing a company - but without any business training. To help respond to this training gap, CHRC, in collaboration with the Canadian Media Production Association, is presenting a 3-day workshop on Business Skills for Film and Television Producers in Toronto on September 21-23. This workshop is designed for professionals in film and television who are seeking to develop their business into sustainable and growing enterprises. It will provide participants with an understanding of basic business concepts and skills in order to build their capacities in corporate visioning and leadership. The key areas of focus are:

  • Developing the tools to manage their business
  • Exploring business models
  • Short and long term goals for planning a business
  • Marketing and branding
  • Strategic thinking

CHRC will work with RFAVQ to deliver a similar course in Quebec later in the fall.

Production Accounting workshop in Montreal
As announced in the July e-newsletter, CHRC, in collaboration with RFAVQ, will offer a workshop on Comptabilité de production en cinéma et télévision - date and place to be announced.

Pilot workshops on Project Management in the DM industry
CHRC will be offering 4 pilot workshops on Project Management for Digital Media Producers in September and early October (dates and locations to be announced soon). This one day workshop will be supplemented by online resources and will cover two topics:
  1. An overview of general project management with specific examples on Digital Media projects
  2. A overview of Agile methodology

Although the mini-course covers project management elements that can be used by many other cultural and business sectors, it was created to reflect the needs and skills required specifically by Project Managers in the Digital Media industry.

CultureConsultants.ca
The CHRC recently took over the management of the www.cultureconsultants.ca website from the Association of Cultural Executives. The site will continue much as it has as a place where professional consultants specializing in various cultural sectors can be located by those needing skilled help, and a place that Request for Proposals (RFP's) can be posted by agencies, governments and others that want to reach those with a profile on the website.

We invite professional culture consultants to visit the web site and craft a listing of their experience and services.

If you are a cultural organization looking for consultants with expertise in the areas of arts and culture - you will find them here - www.cultureconsultants.ca.

KEEP IN TOUCH!
Susan Annis, Executive Director
Extension 22 - sannis@culturalhrc.ca

Erma Barnett, Finance Officer
Extension 29 - ebarnett@culturalhrc.ca

Lucie M. D'Aoust, Sr. Project Manager
Extension 21 - ldaoust@culturalhrc.ca

Marc-André Girouard, Interim Manager, Communications and Marketing
Extension 31 - mgirouard@culturalhrc.ca

Geneviève Guilmette, Youth Internship Program Coordinator, Project Manager
Extension 28 - gguilmette@culturalhrc.ca

Michael Lechasseur, Web Coordinator
Extension 26 - mlechasseur@culturalhrc.ca

A list of 2011/2012 Board members can be found on CHRC's web site at www.culturalhrc.ca

Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC)
201-17 York Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 9J6
Tel. 613-562-1535   Fax 613-562-2982

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