A day in the life of… a Research Executive

Our Research Executive, Sam Manning, talks us through a typical day at MHM

What does a usual day look like?

There is no typical day or week at MHM. We work with a wide range of clients who all have different needs and we therefore use a wide range of methods to help them connect with their audiences. Over the past few weeks I’ve written an insight report, presented our research findings to a client, and created an audience survey. Today I am helping a colleague with an upcoming report, attending an insight discussion, meeting with a client and, of course, writing this article.

What do you like most about your work?

Although based in the UK, I mainly work as part of our US division. I enjoy working with international clients and this role has provided a great opportunity to learn more about audiences for arts and cultural organisations in a different national context.

The most satisfying part of my job is turning analysis into insight and providing clients with actionable recommendations on how they can grow their audiences, better interact with them, and become accessible to a wider range of people.

What was your path into this role?

Before arriving at Morris Hargreaves McIntyre in 2022, I completed a PhD exploring post-war cinema attendance in the UK, and then worked in academia on several projects further exploring historical cinema audiences.

I was drawn to my current role by the opportunity to apply my quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills in a new setting and to help arts, heritage and cultural organisations better understand and develop their audiences.