Whilst grateful to to Arts Council England for the opportunity to network and get 'on message' at their annual, smoothly oiled 'Spring Briefing' this years offering has left me with a gnawing feeling of doubt - are they really listening? Apart from the wonderful food the smorgasbord on offer for our delectation and absorption came under six headings (oh okay, if you must know; work related learning, catalyst for change, creating excellence, outdoor.....) The buzz-words of the day were 'risk' and 'excellence in the arts'. Patrick Sandford (Nuffield Theatre) and Andrew Nairn (Modern Art Oxford) think we should be aiming higher, striving for excellence treading the path of the great masters who have gone before, and that Brian McMasters' paper on 'Excellence' is on the money. However those of us whose work is perhaps less 'product' focussed and more focussed on the process, the journey, the experience - weren't so sure. Simon Fanshaw hosted the day and I loved his plea for Regionally Funded organisations to not sign their Arts Council funding contracts but to draw up their own agreement and reinstate the artistic integrity and aims at the beating heart of the organisation so the contract allowed for more of a dialogue (all very well for him to say perhaps - he's leaving!) but there's plenty of actors' agents and business managers who would agree that a contract is a working dialogue that should be shaped and formed to reach a comfortable state of agreement, a plateau of understanding, if you like.

(see http://ww.artsmonkey.org.uk for more on this article)