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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 This report presents the findings from a study commissioned by Analytical Services in the Scottish Executive to evaluate Tartan Week 2007. The study was conducted by Scotinform Ltd from March to July 2007.
1.2 It should be noted that since this research was commissioned a new Scottish government has been formed, which means that the report reflects commitments and strategic objectives conceived under the previous administration. The strategies, objectives and commitments referred to in this report should not therefore be treated as current Scottish Government policy.
Scope of evaluation
1.3 Tartan Week 2007 ran from 31 March 2007 to 14 April 2007 and included events managed by 13 event organisers who had received funding from the Scottish Executive.
1.4 This year, Tartan Week covered two weeks due to the decision made by the National Tartan Day New York Committee to hold the Tartan Day Parade on Saturday 14 April rather than 7 April so that it did not conflict with Easter celebrations taking place during that weekend in New York.
1.5 The scope of this evaluation covers only the events funded by the Scottish Executive. Tartan Week included a range of events which are not included in this evaluation: events organised by American-Scottish societies and VisitScotland. It should be noted that VisitScotland conducted their own evaluation of their activities at Tartan Week and that these evaluation documents should both be read to gain an overall sense of the impact of Tartan Week 2007.
Evaluation Objectives
1.6 The overall aim of the study was to evaluate the processes and impacts of the events at Tartan Week 2007 which were funded by the Scottish Executive in order to assist in developing policy and practice for Tartan Week 2008.
1.7 The study objectives were linked with the three key phases of the programme as detailed below:
Phase One: pre-event
- To assess the effectiveness of pre-event planning and co-ordination
- To ascertain how the pre-event planning for 2007 compared with previous Tartan Weeks
- To review existing evaluation criteria at the individual event level and how any gaps may be addressed through the next two phases of the research
- To identify useful reflections and learning points
Phase Two: event
- To assess the effectiveness of the programme in terms of value for money, partnership working and immediate impacts such as media coverage and website activity
- To assess awareness of communications messages and their impact on perceptions of Scotland amongst event attendees
Phase Three: post-event
- To establish the longer-term impacts of the programme of events at Tartan Week 2007
- To compare the findings from the 2007 evaluation with those of the 2005 and 2006 Tartan Week evaluations
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