Adrian Bossey
Head of Business & Experience Design
Adrian Bossey is Head of Subject at the Cornwall Business School, Falmouth University and a former artist manager whose clients included Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Chumbawumba, Drugstore, My Life Story and The Senseless Things. He worked on 15 UK top forty albums and has both; managed the main stage headline act at Glastonbury Festival (1992) and written a chapter for The Routledge Handbook of Festivals (2018). Adrian has worked in academia for 17 years, leading a range of successful bids, including for the RELAYS Cultural Olympiad Project, and acted as Chair of the South West Music Industry Forum. In 2007, Adrian co-wrote the successful bid to merge Dartington College of Arts and University College Falmouth. As something of a serial entrepreneur, Adrian has set up or run 22 businesses in the UK and 2 in the USA, as well as mentoring over 100 student start-up businesses including Ider and Cheap Date Dance Company.
At Falmouth, Adrian was Executive Producer at AMATA for 6 years; setting up the public programme and working with artists including Cara Dillon, Belarus Free Theatre, Theo Clinkard, Forced Entertainment, Bill Drummond, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, Pussy Riot and Elton John. Adrian wrote and led delivery of courses including MA Creative Events Management (on-line), BA(Hons) Creative Events Management (average NSS score for overall satisfaction over 5 years of 92%). Adrian is currently responsible for all academic delivery across the School, including BSc(Hons) Business & Digital Marketing and MSc Entrepreneurship, which underpins Launchpad. He conceived short on-line courses for the live music industry in partnership with A Greener Festival and Attitude is Everything and oversees the delivery of two courses in partnership with the Eden Project: BA(Hons) Sustainable Tourism Management and BA(Hons) Sustainable Festival Management.
Adrian has won two annual Staff Excellence Awards for Outstanding Innovation in Teaching and led a team which was shortlisted for the International Learning Technologies award Best Online Distance Learning Programme 2017. Adrian is currently Sustainability Champion for Falmouth University and Chair for the Association of Events Management Educators. He is a trustee of Attitude is Everything and Chair of the Point Quay Association. Adrian is a reviewer for the International Journal of Event and Festival Management and Routledge. His research interests include potential digital futures for live performance in the staging and consumption of music festivals. Adrian’s latest published research is ‘Gatekeeper perceptions on adopting environmentally sound Information and Communication Technology enhanced live performances to improve the sustainability of music festivals’ in the International Journal of Event and Festival Management.
Qualifications
Qualifications
| Year | Qualification | Awarding body |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | PGCHE | Falmouth University |
| 1987 | BA (Hons) Modern European Studies | Ealing College of Higher Education |
| 1983 | 3 A Levels | Reigate 6th Form College |
| 1981 | 7 O Levels | City of London Freemans School |
| 2013 | PG Dip | Falmouth University |
| 2014 | MA Creative Education | Falmouth University |
Membership of external committees
RELAYS Operations GroupResearch Interests
Research interests and expertise
Potential digital futures for live performance in the staging and consumption of music festivals
Research Topics
- accessibility
- Authenticity
- Liveness
- Sustainability
Research Outputs
Publications and research outputs
-
Bossey, Adrian
(2022), Gatekeeper perceptions on adopting environmentally sound Information and Communication Technology enhanced live performances to improve the sustainability of music festivals, In: AEME Forum 2022, 6-7 July 2022, AEME Forum 2022, Item availability may be restricted. -
Bossey, Adrian
(2022), Perceptions on adopting Information and Communication Technology enhanced live performances to improve the accessibility and sustainability of music festivals, In: Leisure Studies Association Conference 2022, 12-14 july 2022, Falmouth University -
Bossey, Adrian
(2021), Accessibility All Areas? UK live music industry perceptions of current practice and Information and Communication Technology improvements to accessibility for music festival attendees who are Deaf or disabled., In: AEME Forum, 1st July 2021, On-Line Conference -
Bossey, Adrian
(2020), Accessibility All Areas? UK live music industry perceptions of current practice regarding accessibility for music festival and event attendees who are Deaf or disabled, In: AGF Green Event Innovations 2020, n/a, n/a, ISSN: n/a -
Bossey, Adrian
(2019), Do graduating Events Management students perceive transformative benefits from experiential learning opportunities on a university’s public events programme?, In: AEME Conference 2019, 3rd July 2019, AEME Forum 2019, University of Hertfordshire -
Bossey, Adrian
(2019), Digital futures for ethically informed specialist training in the live music industry, In: REBOOT 2019, 12 June 2019, ICMP -
Bossey, Adrian
(2019), Digital futures for specialist training in the live events industry, In: Green Events & Innovation 2019, 5th March 2019, GEI Conference 2019, Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington High Street, London. -
Bossey, Adrian
(2018), Industry perceptions on potential digital futures for live performance in the staging and consumption of ‘music’ festivals., In: Events Education & Research: Coming of Age, the AEME 15th Events Management Educators Forum, 4-5 July 2018, AEME Forum 2018 in Leeds -
Bossey, Adrian, Randell, James and Adrian Bossey
(2017), How can a professional box office system be utilised as a learning vehicle for events management students?, In: AEME Conference 2017, 4th July 2017, AEME Conference 2017 at Cardiff School of Management, Cardiff Metropolitan University -
Bossey, Adrian
(2015), How do the personal backgrounds, experiences, attributes and entrepreneurial motivations of students and graduates from Falmouth University influence their decision to engage in entrepreneurial activity?, In: AEME 12th Annual Conference, 15 & 16 July 2015, AMATA, Falmouth University, (Unpublished), Item availability may be restricted. -
Simmons, Marcus
Bossey, Adrian, (2022), Engaging Students as Entrepreneurs in local communities, In: Student Engagement in Knowledge Exchange for Civic Good Conference, 8th July 2022, University of Portsmouth, via MS Teams
-
Bossey, Adrian
(2020), Accessibility All Areas? UK live music industry perceptions of current practice and Information and Communication Technology improvements to accessibility for music festival attendees who are Deaf or disabled., In: International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Emerald Publishing, USA, 11 (1), pp. 6-25, ISSN: 1758-2954 -
Bossey, Adrian
(2022), Gatekeeper perceptions on adopting environmentally sound Information and Communication Technology enhanced live performances to improve the sustainability of music festivals. International Journal of Event and festival management., Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing, Volume 13. Issue 3
-
Bossey, Adrian
(2018), Industry perceptions of potential digital futures for live performance in the staging and consumption of music festivals., In: The Routledge Handbook of Festivals, Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 406-416, ISBN: 9781138735811
Teaching
Areas of teaching
- Business
- Event & Festival Management
- Music Industry
- Tourism
- Sustainability
- Accessibility
Courses taught
- BA(Hons) Creative Events Management
- BA(Hons) Sustainable Festival Management
- BA(Hons) Sustainable Tourism Management
- MA Creative Events Management
CPD delivered
AGF on-line short course
AiE on-line short course
Policy engagement within Cornwall
Engagement with organisations which contribute to the development of educational, cultural or socio-economic policies in Cornwall
Current/previous engagement with organisations which contribute to the development of educational, cultural or socio-economic policies in Cornwall has included:
Arts Centre Trust - Previous board representative for UCF
Carn to Cove/Cornwall Music Industry Forum
The Eden Project
Visit Cornwall
Additionally, Adrian is currently Chair of the Point Quay Association
Business Engagement
Business start ups
Adrian has set up or run 22 UK based businesses and two small US Corporations. Adrian led the Graduate Pre-Incubation Programme at Falmouth University, from 2011-2015 which supported 61 student start-up businesses in Cornwall. Adrian is Head of Subject for the MSc Entrepreneurship course which underpins Launchpad
Business engagement case studies
The Graduate Pre-Incubation Programme at Falmouth University supported Falmouth graduates who want to start a business in Cornwall. Successful applicants who provide a compelling business plan received 12 months of business support including £2,500 of funding, access to facilities and expert advice. This competitive award supported 61 graduate start-up companies from theatre companies to surfboard designers, digital media production companies to jewellery designers. The award was delivered by AMATA from 2011-2015 and supported by HEIF5 funding to deliver Convergence outputs.
Professional Engagement
Independent professional practice
As an artist manager in the music industry; Adrian's clients included Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Chumbawumba, Drugstore, My Life Story and The Senseless Things. He built their international careers and delivered 15 UK top forty albums. More recently, Adrian was Executive Producer at AMATA for 6 years; setting up the public programme and working with artists including Cara Dillon, Belarus Free Theatre, Theo Clinkard, Forced Entertainment, Bill Drummond, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, Pussy Riot and Elton John. www.amata.org.uk
Social, community and cultural engagement
Adrian regularly presents at a range of events including the AGF Green Events Innovation Conference. He is a Trustee of Attitude is Everything and Chair of the Point Quay Association.
Engagement with professional associations and societies
Adrian is currently Chair of the Association for Events Management Education
Professional esteem indicators
| Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Falmouth University Staff Excellence Awards: Shortlisted for Best Partnership |
| 2016 | Falmouth University Staff Excellence Awards: Received team award for Outstanding Innovation in Teaching |
| 2015 | Falmouth University Staff Excellence Awards: Received individual award for Outstanding Innovation in Teaching |
| 2014 | Falmouth University Staff Excellence Awards: Shortlisted Best Team |
