This was very much about Ideas and Innovation as it highlighted the giants of the industrial revolution who made Britain what it is today. This festival, which continued through till July, was organised by the West Midlands Hub as a collaborative event and has been carefully evaluated.

With the help of Susannah Penn, Marketing Manager, West Midlands Hub, and Jane Bevan, PR consultant who worked on the project, we have put together a template of lessons learnt. This takes a step-by-step approach to organising a collaborative event of whatever size. Here are some key starting points for anyone planning something similar for MGM2008.

• The bigger the event, the longer lead-in time.
• Start with a representative group from each of the venues you want to involve.
• Accept that one person will have to take the overall lead.
• Getting buy-in throughout each venue is essential.
• Set clear but not too ambitious objectives for the project – visitor numbers, participation, media coverage, specific audiences
• Set a flexible budget with core costs and allow for additional elements to be added as money becomes available.
• Get any grant application off as quickly as possible.

Ideas and innovation as a theme provides a lot of scope for content. Seek inspiration from your collections, from well-known past and present inventors and artists in you area. Think of good news angles from the beginning. Work with community groups and museum friends groups to access Awards for All lottery grants.

Once the project is under way, retain overall control but ensure good communications to all those involved, regular meetings and shared responsibility for implementation. If the budget allows, involve a local PR company or your regional arts marketing agency to take on the promotion of the event.

And keep MGM informed through emails, as well as registering your event on the MGM database once the dates are confirmed. To access the toolkit, click here.