‘Who pays the piper?’

O'Brien, David. 2008. ‘Who pays the piper?’. Project Report. Liverpool City Council, Liverpool. [Report]

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Abstract or Description

This report sets out the findings from research with the organisations acting as sponsors of Liverpool‟s
European Capital of Culture 2008 (ECoC) programme. It was conducted shortly before the official launch in
January 2008. The research explores how the sponsors describe and understand their experience of the
programme and provides a qualitative insight into how they view and engage with the ECoC in the lead up to
the actual event. This report forms part of the longitudinal Impacts08‟s research programme. A follow-up study
will be conducted early in 2009 in order to track the changes in sponsors‟ perceptions after the ECoC has
come to a close.
The research aimed to understand:
 the sponsors‟ involvement with the ECoC, their relationship to the city of Liverpool and their involvement
with Liverpool City Council;
 the working relationship between the sponsors and the Liverpool Culture Company addressing the day-today
relationship with the Culture Company, as well as concerns that have developed during the build up to
2008;
 the sponsors‟ views on the potential legacy of the ECoC on Liverpool;
 the impact sponsoring ECoC has had on their organisations, and their views on the role of culture and
cultural sponsorship in the future.
The key conclusions of this report are summarised as follows:
 All of the ECoC sponsors have a strong link to Liverpool
 The process of getting involved as an ECoC sponsor varied from organisation to organisation
 Sponsors‟ involvement in the ECoC was primarily a business decision
 Culture is a broad concept, and was used differently by each of the sponsors
 The ECoC sponsors have few existing links with cultural organisations
 There were some repeated concerns expressed by sponsors in relation to communication with the Culture
Company in the lead to 2008
 Sponsors expressed concerns about the perceived lack of planning beyond 2008 and the implications for
the legacy of the ECoC
 Sponsors are optimistic about the potential for a positive impact of the ECoC on Liverpool generally

Item Type:

Report (Project Report)

Related URLs:

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Institute for Cultural and Creative Entrepreneurship (ICCE)

Date:

October 2008

Item ID:

12447

Date Deposited:

04 Aug 2015 12:09

Last Modified:

29 Jul 2016 10:43

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/12447

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