Ben,
You’ve raised an interesting question and as someone who is involved with organising smaller scale events, I believe that it’s important that organisers should listen to and try to respond to their ‘audience’.
Like several people about these parts I have tried to canvas views in relation to several ‘audience development’ projects for Newark – with varying degrees of success. Indeed you’ll struggle to get any funding these days without having undertaken such consultation work.
As part of this approach I’ve noticed an interesting trend within the ‘enthusiast’ sector.
That is, enthusiasts normally tend to be very free with their views, expect when they are asked specific questions – then they can often go quiet. That’s not highlighting anyone in particular and doesn’t always hold true; but it’s an anecdotal aside that I have become aware of in the last year or so.
Conversely, the general public or ‘ordinary visitors’ are much more forthcoming when asked specific questions and really seem to want to contribute.
P.S. I’ve responded to your question to disprove my theory! 😀
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