Polyglot Puppet Theatre and boutique web development company Web Prophets have joined together for a unique business-arts partnership.

The partnership aims to deliver creative benefits to both organisations, with an approach which is more integrated than a standard sponsorship arrangement.

One of the highlights of the partnership is the creation of this website, designed to be inventive, dynamic and creative, which is designed to be an international showcase vehicle for both companies.  The website is a work in progress, with Stage One launched on Thursday 4 September 2008.  Plans for ongoing development continue with increased global interactivity.

“We enjoy developing the Polyglot website,” says Web Prophets Managing Director, Julia Topliss. “This site will provide us with the opportunity to challenge our creative and technical skills, while contributing to an organisation that is truly original in its creative endeavours and plays such an important role in youth arts.”

At the core of the partnership is the provision of mutual creative thinking sessions, titled THINK BIG! Thunder storm sessions, where the two companies get together to generate new ideas, areas of potential collaboration, throw an idea out there and bounce it around the room. A focus group of children help to keep the ideas in touch with audiences of today and those of tomorrow.

“Polyglot is funded as one of Australia’s most innovative idea generators,” says Polyglot’s General Manager Simon Abrahams, “so we plan to share these skills with Web Prophets to come up with new ideas together. Talk might be about creative process generally, we might look at an idea to develop together, or we might use each other’s brainpower to investigate a new idea for the other party to run with. It’s about collaboration, and feeding our creative souls.”

Other benefits in the unique partnership include joint marketing initiatives, shared business development goals, combined research and development opportunities, and developing artistic content specifically for web-based outcomes. The partnership’s goals and objectives have been agreed at the outset, with key performance indicators measuring its successes clearly for both parties.

"AbaF welcomes this partnership between Web Prophets and Polyglot which makes good sense for both organisations," said Sue Roff, AbaF's national cultural liaison manager. "As a winner of an AbaF Award in 2007, Web Prophets know that partnering the arts helps them promote their brand and build community recognition. For Polyglot, access to cutting edge internet technology will be a perfect way to publicise their unique and fun brand of theatre."

Polyglot Puppet Theatre is one of Australia’s major puppetry theatre companies, creating groundbreaking original theatre and fun interactive events for children and families, working with kids at the core of the creative process, and presenting puppetry in its many forms to an ever-growing audience. Polyglot is energetic, explorative and diverse, offering a wide-ranging program of events that are affordable and accessible. Polyglot’s focus is on creating rich shared experiences for adults and children and working with professional artists to produce events that feed the imaginative lives of young people.

Web Prophets provides design, hosting and internet solutions with a focus on excellent service and quality products. Web Prophets has a long history of sponsoring Melbourne organisations including Fifteen Foundation Australia, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Gasworks Arts & Park, and Kangaroo Karnival (a fundraising initiative for the Melbourne Children’s Hospital).

In 2007, Web Prophets won the National Australia Bank SME Award in the AbaF Awards for its work with Gasworks Arts Park.

For more information on Web Prophets visit www.webprophets.net.au.