IT4Arts

The digital museum experience: “Decode” at the V&A

Posted on 7 February 2010 by Don Morrison | Be the first to comment

The tag line for the V&A’s Decode exhibition is digital design sensations. Decode is an ambitious showcase of the latest developments in digital and interactive design from small, screen-based graphics to large-scale interactive installations.

Collaborating with onedotzero, a contemporary arts organisation with the aim of promoting innovation across all forms of moving image and interactive arts, the V&A ’s exhibition explores three themes:

• Code uses computer code to create new works that can be programmed to create ever-changing works.
• Interactivity invites visitors to interact with and contribute to the development of exhibits.
• Network comments on and utilises the digital traces left behind by everyday communications and looks at new types of social interaction and mediums of self-expression.

Decode runs at the V&A’s Porter Gallery (and with exhibits throughout the museum) until 11 April.

Learn more here and from the Decode micro site.

In an innovative initiative called Recode Decode, you can access the open source code for Karsten Schmidt’s specially commissioned digital identity (below)—and recode Karsten’s work to create your own original artwork. You do not need to be an expert coder; Karsten has also designed a graphical user interface. The best recoded works will appear on London Underground digital screens to promote the exhibition.

Video capture from Recode by Karsten Schmidt for Decode exhibition identity, 2009. Recode is best viewed in full screen mode.

Photograph copyright onedotzero [c] 2009

The Poetry Book Society joins IT4Arts

Posted on 24 January 2010 by Don Morrison | Be the first to comment

The Poetry Book Society recently became the 83rd arts organisation to join IT4Arts.

This is how the Society describes itself:
“Founded by T S Eliot and friends in 1953, the Poetry Book Society is a unique poetry society, providing information, guidance and discounts on the best contemporary poetry for a wide-ranging community of readers. The PBS is the biggest dedicated poetry bookseller in the UK, and we also run education projects and poetry promotions.

“PBS members are people who love poetry. They are readers, writers, students and teachers of poetry; they are publishers and librarians, artists and academics. All they have in common is their interest in the best new poetry. They also enjoy classic poetry and literary fiction, live literature and contemporary art, music, theatre and cinema. The PBS is a community of like-minded poetry lovers.”

To learn more about IT4Arts’s newest member, visit the Society’s Web site here.

January IT4Arts Workshop—presentations now available

Posted on 24 January 2010 by Don Morrison | Be the first to comment

The presentations from last week’s The Digital Front Line workshop are now available to IT4Arts members. To download them, go to the IT4Arts Members’ Area and follow the link. Remember, pages in the Members’ Area are password protected.

Here are the presentations which are now available:

- Moving to the video domain: Gavin Bayliss, LSO Live
- User-generated digital content: Joanne South, Arts & Business
- Developing digital content: Tobey Coffey, National Theatre
- From Beowulf to the Beatles: Richard Davies, British Library
- Protecting theatres digitally: Fran Birch, The Theatres Trust

Because of the highly visual nature of these presentations, some of the file sizes are unusually large.

Photo by grendal hanks – Creative Commons Licence

January IT4Arts Workshop—updates

Posted on 12 January 2010 by Don Morrison | Be the first to comment

Two more speakers are confirmed for The Digital Front Line workshop on 21 January:

Robert Delamere is a co-founder and Creative Director of Digital Theatre which is partnering with performing arts organisations to capture live performances and make them available for download on a pay-per-view basis. Digital Theatre is currently working with some of Britain’s leading theatres including the Almeida, the English Touring Theatre, the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Young Vic. Robert will share his experience of video production, working with trade unions, and the pay-per-view business model.

The British Library’s main Web site has more than 10,000 pages and provides access to 14 million books, 920,000 journal and newspaper titles, 58 million patents, 3 million sound recordings—and much more. Does any organisation in the UK have more experience working with digital assets? Richard Davies is the Library’s Digital Approvals Manager. He will share the BL’s unique experience with digital projects since 1993—from the digitisation of unique individual manuscripts such as Beowulf, to making millions of newspaper pages available online. Richard will discuss key focus areas for organisations involved in digitisation–including developing a digital strategy, funding, project management, best practice, costing, and lessons learned.

Learn about our four other Workshop speakers here.

There are still a few Workshop places left—so contact Martin Black now to reserve yours.

More workshop news

At the end of the day, there will be a Networking session in The Actors Centre café for anyone who wants an opportunity to share ideas and a complimentary glass of wine with other IT4Arts members. If you’re interested, keep a little time clear in your diary.

The award-winning Play on Words is currently running at the Tristan Bates Theatre next door to The Actors Centre. For any IT4Arts member who would like to attend the 19:30 performance after our Workshop, half-price tickets (£6) are available by phoning (020 7240 6283) or emailing the theatre box and quoting ‘deal’. The discount is not available through online bookings. Thank you to The Actors Centre for arranging this.

Workshop details

Date
Thursday 21 January

Venue
The Actors Centre, 1A Tower Street (just off Cambridge Circus), London WC2H 9NP (map)

Sidebar

Writer-director Stephen Poliakoff’s compelling television film Shooting the Past tells the story of a unique picture library threatened with closure through withdrawal of funding by its new US owners. The library staff find unexpected ways to fight back and save the valuable collection. Was there ever a more relevant case for digitising assets? Enjoy some of the drama and Lindsay Duncan’s mesmerising performance here.

Photo by Whatknot – Creative Commons Licence

January IT4Arts Workshop: The Digital Front Line

Posted on 11 January 2010 by Don Morrison | Be the first to comment

A day of stories from arts pioneers who have embraced digital content. Some bear scars. Some have earned kudos. All have learned lessons.

In the January IT4Arts workshop, you have the opportunity to hear how arts and other organisations have developed their digital strategies, developed and managed new digital content, digitised existing analogue content, marketed, sold and given away digital content.

Instead of re-inventing the wheel, marketing departments, artistic departments, education departments, Web teams can all learn from the experience of their peers and colleagues.

Confirmed speakers

Gavin Bayliss is the Product Manager for LSO Live, the London Symphony Orchestra’s own record label. Embracing the digital marketplace, LSO Live distributes its content via iTunes, eMusic, and Amazon–as well as on CD and SACD (Super Audio CD). Gavin will explain why he believes video plays such a critical role in the digital age—and how the LSO is using its substantial experience in developing audio content to move into the increasingly relevant video domain. He will share his experience of the challenges and opportunities video brings—and how the LSO is managing both. He will also share the story of the LSO’s Channel on YouTube and show some examples of the content available there. (You can download LSO Live’s current catalogue here.)

Toby Coffey is the National Theatre’s Lead Digital Creative. His work is focussed on the development of digital content and methods of communication, distribution and engagement. Toby will share the NT’s approach to the creation of digital assets. He will provide insights into the NT’s Digital Archive and Web site content. Increasingly, Toby is working with short- and long-form documentaries. He will talk about the his experience with Making War Horse, a behind-the-scenes documentary about how the award-winning stage production of Michael Morpurgo’s childrens story transferred to the West End. Finally, Toby will talk briefly about the exciting NT Live initiative which broadcasts live NT performances to cinema screens around the world.

From 2005 to 2007, Fran Birch, The Theatres Trust’s Records Officer, took a lead role in “Information Access”, a project in which around 10,000 images and working files were digitised so they could be integrated with its Theatres Database. The aim was to make the unique resources easily available to professionals, researchers, and the general public. You can see some of the evocative images here. Fran will share some of the issues her team faced in launching the project, lessons learned, successes, and a wish list of things they would, with hindsight, do differently.

And because it’s not just arts organisations who create digital content but their audiences and clients, too, you will learn about Arts & Business’s exploratory paper Arts, brands and user-generated content from Joanne South, Arts & Business’s Research Manager. Joanne will also tell you about a major new programme of research and activity designed to help arts organisations engage with digital technology—with a focus on income generation opportunities and corporate collaboration. But more than learn, you will have the opportunity to guide the direction Arts & Business’s research will take to ensure the issues you face are the ones they address.

Stay tuned—more speakers will be announced soon.

Reserve your place at this critical workshop by contacting Martin Black right now.

Date
Thursday 21 January

Venue
The Actors Centre, 1A Tower Street (just off Cambridge Circus), London WC2H 9NP (map)

Photo by Whatknot – Creative Commons Licence

Are you tapping into ‘crowdsourcing’?

Posted on 4 January 2010 by Don Morrison | Be the first to comment

The “wisdom of crowds” is hardly a new concept—but it is a powerful one that is being increasingly embraced by marketing departments and writers/publishers.

How well are arts organisations tapping their audiences and extended audiences for ideas or help? Do you have a crowdsourcing strategy? Have you run a crowdsourcing pilot?

Read Tim Bradshaw’s FT article “Original ideas prove customer knows best” here, then ask yourself these questions again.

Caveat: The FT might ask you to register before you can read the article. Registration is free, takes only a few seconds, and you only have to do it once—so persevere.

Photo: TwOsE – Creative Commons Licence

New media and research technologies presentations

Posted on 26 November 2009 by Don Morrison | Comments Off

Last week the Market Research Society examined digital consumer behaviour in its New media and research technologies conference 2009.

Presentations from the conference are available for download until 4 December.

In a presentation called Assessing the viability of different digital distribution models in the music, film and gaming markets, IPSOS Media CT presented its research into three digital distribution models (subscription, free to download with ads, and download to own) comparing potential uptake in the film, music and games sectors.

The research revealed there is interest in paying for content that is exclusive or event-based: 43% of Internet users are interested in paying to stream content of a live event. In contrast, perceived value for downloaded music is low though value can be increased with additional ‘event’ value (limited editions, etc,) and unique artwork. The research also found a ‘value gap’ between the price consumers are willing to pay for downloading current films (£3), and current industry charges (£9-£12).

IPSOS believe this value gap is a result of IPTV not being standard—and predict that perceived value of downloaded media content may go up when more people can watch it on their television, creating a more pleasurable experience than watching on a PC or laptop.

Other conference presentations included:

• James Myring, Director Media and Advertising, Continental Research: Video on demand (VOD) may be the next big thing and micropayments are the least rejected payment option by consumers for online content
• Francesco Dorazio, Head of Social Media Insights and Planning, Face: Information about how social media acts as an opinion driver
• Konrad Collao, Associate Partner, Sparkler: Sparkler set up an online community for BBC’s 1Xtra radio station using it to generate insights, test playlists, and generally improve the station’s understanding of its audience’s behaviour and motivations.

These downloads are only available until 4 December, so act quickly.

You can find them here. Look under Related Files in a column running down the middle of the page.

Our thanks to Lucy Hutton, Senior Strategy Officer, Research at the Arts Council for bringing this valuable content to our attention ; )

Photo by new_media_days Creative Commons

Giant screens and web feeds are transforming our experience of live performance

Posted on 26 November 2009 by Don Morrison | Comments Off

This week in The Guardian, Nicholas Kenyon explores the effect of technology on live performance. While media’s role in live performance was once constrained to that of recording device, today it can be dynamic distribution device and/or play a key role in the performance itself.

These developments are not displacing traditional forms of drama or concert—but no longer is technology considered an unwanted guest at live performances.

Read Kenyon’s whole story here.

Understand the physical reality of being inside an orchestra

Posted on 15 November 2009 by Don Morrison | Comments Off

Esa-Pekka Salonen, principal conductor of the Philharmonia, and Richard Slaney, the Philharmonia’s head of digital projects, have developed Re-Rite: Be the Orchestra, an installation-cum-exhibition that offers the chance to understand the physical reality of being inside an orchestra.

Re-Rite allows audience participation. You can join in by “sitting” among the horn players (a camera slots you into the appropriate seat on one of the screens) or by mixing the sound in the capacity of “conductor”

Regulars at IT4Arts workshops will be familiar with Richard Slaney who attends regularly and has presented sessions on a number of occasions.

Find out more about Re-Rite in the Financial Times and in Musbook.com.

Two new IT4Arts members

Posted on 15 September 2009 by Don Morrison | Comments Off

The Barbian Centre and London Sinfonietta have joined IT4Arts bringing the number of participating arts organisations to 80.

The Barbican describes itself as “the largest multi-arts centre in Europe, featuring art, film, music, theatre, dance and education all under one roof and under one creative direction.”

Artistic Director, Graham Sheffield, has an interesting take on the centre’s vision, “If you started again from scratch, you wouldn’t build the Barbican Centre quite like it is, notwithstanding numerous unique and successful features. What you would undoubtedly retain is the vision of ‘all the arts under one roof’, which remains the Barbican’s special attraction. The aesthetic is so strong that it demands to be taken into account in the way the art is presented within it.”

The London Sinfonietta is one of the world’s elite contemporary music ensembles with a reputation built on the virtuosity of its performances and ambitious programming. It is committed to placing new music at the heart of contemporary culture and pushing boundaries; the ensemble regularly undertakes projects with choreographers, video artists, film-makers and collaborations with electronica artists, jazz and folk musicians.

The creation of new music has been at the core of the London Sinfonietta’s work since its foundation in 1968. It has commissioned or premiered over 200 works.

Are You Organisationally Challenged by Digital Projects?

Posted on 13 September 2009 by Martin Black | 1 comment

At the LSO / Paul Hamlyn symposium on Friday about the impact of digital technology on the arts, my breakout group said they were organisationally challenged by digital projects:

• challenged horizontally getting the business departments such as Marketing, Development, Press & PR and Learning to work together, because they don’t normally do shared projects to the extent needed - a good digital project will create something with a holistic balance between enjoying, informing, learning,  involving… 
• challenged vertically because ‘digital’ is now on the agenda of the chief executive and artistic director so they need to be involved
• challenged in a third dimension, getting IT-orientated people and people from the business departments to understand what is important to each other

Bolder and Wiser – Older People and Culture

Posted on 13 September 2009 by Martin Black | Comments Off

Our IT4Arts member organisation Audiences London is holding a symposium on 1st October entitled Bolder and Wiser – Older People and Culture. An ageing society will – and should – change everything. One in three of us is now over 50. There are more people over 65 than under 16. The fastest growing age group is people over 60. What does this mean for the arts and heritage sector?

Online Visitors and Web Statistics: Details of next IT4Arts workshop announced

Posted on 12 September 2009 by Don Morrison | Comments Off

The next IT4Arts workshop will take place on Thursday 8 October at Arts Admin/Toynbee Studios and investigate the very relevant topic of online visitors and web statistics.

Exciting new techniques in website design currently being implemented by arts organisations raise the question of how effective these techniques are in engaging audiences—and whether they really enable organisations to improve their marketing and increase their coverage.

In a thought provoking seminar, experts in the field set out to answer the question.

Lucy Hutton, Senior Research Officer, Arts Council England, presents key findings from a content snapshot exploring the current online offer to arts audiences from the Arts Council’s regularly funded portfolio. She will include examples of how arts organisations are using digital technology to connect with new audiences and develop new artistic experiences with the potential for the arts community to become a new provider of public service content. Lucy currently leads the digital research programme for the Arts Council’s wider digital opportunities programme.

Chris Allen, Senior Developer at Web Technology Group, leads the workshop Beyond the Basics of Google Analytics: Turning Number into Meaning. Google Analytics takes just minutes to set up, but how can arts organisations make sense of Google’s data and extract meaning from the figures? Chris discusses the advanced features of Google Analytics which can visualise data and tailor custom reports. He also looks at other software options that can help convert visitors to customers, make  websites more usable, and merge web analytics data with customer data.

Anwen Cooper and Emma McLean, Audiences London’s Audience Development Manager and Client Services Assistant respectively, discuss Measuring your Organisations’ Online Presence: What’s in a Metric? Based on their work bringing digital metrics together in a benchmark for a group of theatres, Anwen aand Emma will demonstrate how this information can be used and what is useful to collect. They use web analytics, analysis of social media presence and ROI figures to help understand the dynamics between organisations’ online presence, effectiveness of digital marketing and how users engage online. They examine

• Benefits to organisations of collecting different measures
• Benefits of pooling information to establish benchmarks
• Top tips of what information to collect using Google Analytics

Sean Chapman, Royal Opera House’s New Media Producer (Marketing and Campaigns), presents ROH’s work on Increasing audience visits and engagement using Search Engine Optimisation. ROH is working with an external agency to help develop its website as the foremost portal for opera and ballet. The focus is on supporting 18 key works from a learning and sales perspective. The work includes

• Data analysis of their website
• Appropriate Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) copywriting
• Content development
• Link building
• Content syndication

While Sean talks specifically about the work currently going on at Royal Opera House, the principles apply to most arts organisations.

Ian Budden, Managing Director of Mind Unit, will talk about tools for engaging and developing new audiences including

• search engine optimisation (SEO) link building
• content syndication
• content development

Other topics Ian will cover:

• How to create relationships through content—and get maximum mileage out of minimum effort
• Personalities as a tool for creating engagement—and the importance of loss of control
• How to get your artistic director on board

Mind Unit have been developing websites and online marketing campaigns for nine years working with arts organisations such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Globe, the Donmar Warehouse and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Ian’s background is in fine art; this has led to Mind Unit’s unique focus on engagement and expression as a tool for promoting and increasing participation and attendance.

The day starts with coffee from 9.30 to 10.00am. Pressentations begin at 10.00am and end at 4.30pm.

As usual, workshop places are limited, so contact Martin Black soon to reserve your place.

Email martin.black(at)it4arts.org.uk

(Photo Toynbee Studios: Gavin Jackson/arcaid.co.uk)

All Change or Business as Usual? A Symposium on the Impact of Digital Technology on the Arts

Posted on 19 August 2009 by Martin Black | Comments Off

10am – 3pm Friday 11 September 2009, Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s

The London Symphony Orchestra, with the support of The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, is curating a Digital Symposium to look at the opportunities and challenges for Arts organisations brought about by digital technology. The LSO, like many other organisations, has been piloting new initiatives and experimenting with ways in which it can bring the Orchestra and its work to new and wider audiences.

The symposium will build on current wider discussions and innovations around Arts organisations’ approach to digital technology and development across business and the Arts, and aid the dissemination of ideas and best practice. Presenting and chairing the event will be Keith Harris, Director of Performer Affairs at PPL and MusicTank Chairman, and there will also be a special keynote presentation leading into the discussions.  

The symposium will take the form of panels, with guest speakers from the Arts and industry, discussing a number of topical questions in the context of three specific aspects: learning; audiences; and organisational change and development. Throughout the day there will also be opportunities for networking and to put questions to the guest speakers.

Schedule for the symposium:
9.30am                        Arrival: tea, coffee
10am                            Welcome from Kathryn McDowell (LSO Managing Director)
10.10am                      Introduction from Keith Harris (MC)
10.15am                      Keynote presentation (TBC)
10.45am                      ‘Learning’ panel discussion
11.45am                      Break (lunch & refreshments)
12.30pm                      ‘Audiences’ panel discussion
1.35pm                        ‘Organisational change and development’ panel discussion
2.35pm                        Open forum Q&A
3pm                             Refreshments and networking

The LSO would be delighted to welcome you to what will be a stimulating and engaging event. If you are able to join the LSO for this, please get in touch with Harriet Mesher by Tuesday 1 September, harriet.mesher@lso.co.uk or 020 7382 2513, who will be very happy to reserve a place for you.

For any other enquiries about the symposium please contact Brian Moran, brian.moran@lso.co.uk or 02073822531.

Opera Holland Park Friends joins IT4Arts

Posted on 14 August 2009 by Don Morrison | Comments Off

Opera Holland Park Friends has become the 79th member of IT4Arts.

Here is how OHPF describes itself, “Opera Holland Park Friends (OHPF) was founded to broaden the appeal and appreciation of opera. It achieves this by supporting Opera Holland Park’s mission of providing quality, affordable opera to all—and particularly young people. OHPF also strives to build a community of supporters who, through events, volunteering and participating in other ways, contribute to the continuing success of OHP’s work.”

To learn more about Opera Holland Park Friends and where its interests might intersect with yours, visit their website here.

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