Report on Survey (November 2013)

In order to reflect and improve the service we provide through the China desk and digital platform Cultural Exchange NL-CN, DutchCulture, centre for international cooperation conducted a user/client survey in November 2013. A detailed questionnaire was sent out to the target group as one newsletter item.

Within one-month time, we gratefully received valuable feedbacks from professionals as artist/curator, producer/manager, diplomat and policy maker, as well as enthusiastic viewer/participator of cooperative cultural events between the Netherlands and China. Thereafter, DutchCulture team has been analysing the result of survey and generated the report below, to be published:

• Among all the responded users, 82% have worked directly on cultural/artistic projects and 15% intend to work in between the Netherlands and China. Although most have known DutchCulture’s China Desk and the Cultural Exchange NL-CN digital platform (* below shortened as ‘the website’) from their networks, previous (SICA) events and online resources, still 10% hadn’t heard of the Desk before filling the survey and 20% for the website.
• 2/3 respondents had in the past direct contacts with the China Desk upon events, by email and by phone. 10% also approached us via the website. More than half of the users expect to obtain information and advices from the China Desk about current hot events and news and access info/local contacts and funding possibilities. Besides, 1/3 have also marked the status/overview of their interested field in China or NL. However, practical issues e.g. visa information showed slight importance (7%).

• To improve the Desk’s service, generally our users expect more profound and specific information, more network events/exchange chances, and to explore more of the value from culture itself and less business/market oriented. Some quotes are:

"Development of a data bank on speakers on links in Asian and European arts joint exhibitions of mutual cultural interest study themes for students in art, culture and new media."

"DutchCulture's China Desk should support cultural projects in the best possible way and (sometimes) especially subservient to the project. DutchCulture must be careful that culture is not seen merely as support for economic activities. This has happened in previous years a bit too much. This isn't an intelligent approach and did make culture from the Netherlands slightly weaker instead of stronger. "

• Most of the respondents are positive about the general using experience of the website, but still 1/5 turned to negative (less than satisfactory: 12%, bad: 8%). Related remarks were left mainly on two points: 1) Events and news are quite up-to-dated, but mapping China includes out-dated information, e.g. visual arts. 2) Too much information on the website, sometimes hard to navigate/search specific info.
• According to the recorded data, in 2013, the website received 1937 visitors per month averagely , among which 1/3 are from the Netherlands and 1/6 from China. 1/5 of the survey respondents are frequent visitors and 4/5 visit the website once a month or less when they receive a newsletter or have a specific ‘need’. There are also 15% of respondents visit by chance from social media (weibo/facebook) or by search engines.
• Almost all (90%) of the users find the three categories of website content (namely 1. In-depth knowledge, with a mapping of China/Netherlands in various disciplines 2. Individual and organization index with contact information 3. Updated information of ongoing cultural exchange events and news) very useful or useful. However, as to the website layout, more than half have chosen only ‘satisfactory’ as to the Network (and its user registration function) and the News item, for which we only have 3 pieces of news visible at one time on the homepage.
• Nearly 4/5 of the users receive well our newsletters, in which more than half would read it immediately when they got one. Almost no one finds our newsletter (frequency, information, format) less than satisfactory or bad, but 30% rated the newsletter Information only satisfactory.

• And, the responded users who are interested in China have generally also interests in either Southeast China (Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar) or other so-called important countries like the USA and UK.

We hereby would like to express our gratitude for all the opinions and advices. In 2014, the Cultural Exchange NL-CN website will be gradually integrated into dutchculture.nl. All the knowledge we have learned from the survey will therefore be taken into account and help us optimise our online service. The China Desk will continuously stay in and expand direct contacts to facilitate and join force with our network both in the Netherlands and China in the field of cultural cooperation.