Apex? What Apex? Who? Where?

Excited by: My first pay packet as a qualifullyfied PR freelancer
Listening to: Kapustin Concert Études (especially 'Pastoral')
Cups of Coffee achieved: 1... bucket


I came back from my regular charity shop rounds of  Bury St Edmunds yesterday feeling extremely proud of my two purchases: Messiaen's 'Catalogue D'Oiseaux' and a good edition of Dido & Aeneas, each for a bargainous £2.99. After parading my purchases to my disinterested parents I spoke to a neighbour (who was round gossiping about some house or another, as neighbours do) about the new venue in Bury St. Edmunds, The Apex. The conversation went something along these lines:

G: So I went and had a look at the new venue in Bury
Neighbour: What venue?
G: The Apex
Neighbour: The what?
G: The Apex, that new 500-seat venue...
Neighbour: what? where? how? (general look of confusion begins to appear)

Bury St Edmunds has been blessed with an incredible new music venue, and the weird thing, no-one outside Bury knows about it. You'd think that £18.6 million, 500-seat venue would invest in some publicity outside of the confines of a small market town, but no. What St Edmundsbury council (who run the venue) have truly failed to do is get the word out there. Working in the media has really made me see how important PR is - apart from a few 'how much is this going to cost the taxpayer' stories, nothing has been said.


I often get annoyed at councils and their inability to promote any kind of cultural activity. My local council, who have to deal with the cultural dive which is Newmarket, employ a full time culture officer. Due to the lack of concerts (i've known about 3 and i've lived here for 22 years) I emailed twice, called and wrote two separate letters offering free recitals, and didn't even get a response. Three cheers for local councils and their great work promoting culture to the youth of today.

So tell everyone about the Apex. I had a long chat to the receptionist yesterday and she told me that locals had been complaining about it. I mean, come on. What is there to complain about? West Suffolk didn't have any kind of performance venue, and if you're going to build one, it might as well be good! Trust Suffolk to complain. Bury St Edmunds truly is, and forgive me for using the phrase, 'up and coming'. And what better way to really push this town forward than build a really impressive venue. As much as councils annoy me for not getting the word out about cultural events and activities, I hope the Apex becomes the success it deserves to be. They've certainly been getting some great acts in, and the Bury Festival later on this year will bring some great names i'm sure.