Mark Walmsley
Specialisms: Personal Branding, branding, marketing, arts and culture, networking, community development.
Mark Walmsley – Speaker on Personal Branding, Marketing, Arts & Culture, Networking & Community Development
Mark Walmsley’s career has been anything but ordinary. He has played the triangle professionally at Carnegie Hall, performed a dangerous live-TV stunt as Batman, and served as Master of Ceremonies for the British Royal Family. Only one of those moments was planned—you’ll have to meet him to discover which.
Today, Mark is best known as the founder of The Arts and Culture Network (ACN), one of the world’s most engaged communities for professionals working in the visual, performing, and literary arts, as well as the GLAM sector (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums).
A lifelong connector and communicator, Mark blends decades of experience in music, event production, digital marketing, branding and storytelling to help individuals and organisations understand—and articulate—what makes them truly distinctive. His speaking topics reflect this breadth, spanning personal branding, branding and marketing strategy, arts and culture, networking, and community-building.
A Global Community Builder
Mark was among the first 100,000 users of LinkedIn and founded ACN on the platform in 2010. What began as a small side project grew organically into a global ecosystem of over 175,000 members across eight LinkedIn groups—making it one of the largest and most active online communities in the cultural sector.
During the Covid lockdown, Mark launched ACN’s randomised speed-networking sessions on Zoom, enabling arts and culture professionals to meet, collaborate and stay inspired at a time of intense isolation. These one-hour sessions proved so valuable that they now run three times a month across global time zones, alongside monthly in-person events at London’s Royal Society of Arts and in New York City, with more cities planned. All are free to attend and have already sparked new jobs, collaborations, startups, and even intercontinental digital exhibitions.
Advocate for Democratic Collective Philanthropy
The Arts and Culture Network is intentionally independent—free from sponsors, advertisers and grant-making bodies.
At current growth rates, ACN is projected to surpass 2,000 full members by the end of the decade, enabling Mark’s long-term vision: transforming ACN into a global arts and culture support foundation. Here, member contributions are pooled and directed toward good causes around the world—what Mark calls democratic collective philanthropy.
He has already begun this work, using membership revenue to support an ACN member undergoing cancer treatment and to help a street dance crew in Kampala whose youngest dancers were homeless orphans.
Branding Strategist & Champion of Creative Distinction
Alongside running ACN with the support of his part-time assistant, Isobel, Mark works as a branding and marketing consultant—helping artists, entrepreneurs, and organisations define what sets them apart.
His approach has helped creatives position themselves in new, differentiated categories:
Rossie became an abstract oceanic artist
Maurizio became a modern medieval portrait painter
Lis became a visual tribute artist
This reframing helps clients powerfully express their identity, attract new audiences, and elevate their visibility. Full ACN members benefit from Mark’s guidance as well as recorded video interviews shared across the Network’s LinkedIn groups, which reach more than 800,000 monthly users.
Looking Ahead
ACN’s future includes plans for an online marketplace for creative work and services, new training programmes, global meet-ups, and expanded opportunities for cultural collaboration. Mark continues to champion the role of community in building sustainable creative careers—and the belief that no one working in the arts should feel alone.
