Shift Happens - part 3 - Where worlds collide.

Tom Fleming - www.tfconsultancy.co.uk

Take a look at his presentation's slides

Tom Fleming was speaker number 1 a consultant and academic specialising in research, strategy and policy for the cultural and creative economy. Wow! His focus (his biog told) me lies in establishing the climate for creativity, innovation, collaboration, and business growth. Tom has recently completed 'The case for 'mixed art-form and media venues' in the digital age'. An in-depth study to develop a better understanding of the role of 'bricks and mortar' infrastructure at a time of increasing digitisation in the processes of creative production and consumption and at a time when public value-concerns are paramount for policy makers.

Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy works to develop creative policy and infrastructure that is fit for purpose in an age where creativity and innovation, the physical and the virtual, the consumption and the production, the social and the commercial, are increasingly interdependent.

This Tom told us means focusing on the spaces and places that enable creativity to thrive and add value against a range of agendas - from the social to the economic, the intrinsic to the instrumental.

Twittered with my laptop on my lap for this session trying to give the twitter stream an informed account of the session. I am curious to know how twitter can be used for events and progress reporting. With Twitters embeddable widget in a web page is it possible to give a coherent running commentary?

Here are my Twitters on the specially set up Pilot Theatre twitter account

• Tom Flemming our first speaker
• Creative Britain - new talent for the new economy.
• How can there be culture and economy?
• Creative spaces
• Creative infrastructure
• Role of bricks and mortar spaces in the digital age
• Mixed media centres crucial
• Cinema at the core of multi platform shifts
• Transforming venues Mass media to me media
• Welcome new tweeters
• Creative places. Where do the creative people go?
• Connecting with audiences
• Connecting with generations
• "tennantspin" building community beyond buildings
• Physical and digital spaces
• Where does integration take place?
• This is todays event
• ished.net bringing together worlds
• Developed brand, became a meeting place, built reputation and innovation
• What creative practice is at your heart?
• Developing experiences is the notion. Connectivity. Purpose
• Current speaker Tom Fleming http://www.tfconsultancy.co.uk
• Are buildings fit for purpose. Cultural producers in the digital age.

From this experience of applying online channels for live coverage during an event I am rapidly becoming an advocate for a Social Media specialist handling online interaction if they are going to provide a valuable experience for the online audience. As a stagemanager I have operated lights, sound, pyrotechnics, talkback and cue lights to facilitate the seamless operation of a theatre production. Any event running a virtual feed inviting online participation must have an operators full attention.

Shift Happens - part 2 - The Sound Exchange

This is the second post from Pilot Theatre's Shift Happens.

The Sound Exchange has archived digital files to download for ever note on every instrument in the orchestra. Go see... well go listen I guess is more appropriate. This presentation made me think of all my techy audio geeks so this one is for you guys. For those with out the kit to play with digital sound sample Sound Exchange have developed an application on the website so you to can join in the fun.

Richard Slaney as a speaker at this live entertainment industry and converging technologies conference was inspired. Rather than an academic insight to the benefits of Social Media this was a presentation about just how it's being used and incorporated in to the companies business strategy. Its all about bums on seats!

Richard Slaney studied music at King's College London, before freelancing in AV systems and web design. So music is in his blood. He manages the orchestra's education website The Sound Exchange. With the emergance of social media platforms his role expanded to include all of the orchestra's online activity, a monthly video podcast series and bespoke audio digital projects such as the 2006 PLAY.orchestra which appeared outside London's Southbank Centre.

56 plastic cubes and 3 Hotspots were laid out on a full size orchestra stage, each cube containing a light and speaker.

Sitting down on the cubes or standing in the hotspots turned on an individual instrument and with the addition of 58 friends you could hear the full piece.
 
The installation was also Bluetooth enabled - allowing participants to receive a ringtone of the piece they had created as well as other Philharmonia Orchestra ringtones.

Technology and art forms working together, using the emerging technology in creative and innovative way to keep live performance alive.

www.philharmonia.co.uk is the main website

Shift Happens - part 1

As a dyslexic the process of turning mental imagery in to text is one of the hardest challenges I contend with when I work. It is my desire to share experiences, share my discoveries that drives me on to manifest the words from the pictures and mental movies of encounters stored in my mind. On occasions the events and encounters overwhelm my senses leaving me with stuff crammed in my thoughts with out a way out. The two spheres that my working world revolves around is Technology, predominantly the Internet and Theatre. What excites me is the innovation driving them both. So Shift Happens, a conference for the theatre industry reflecting on how technology is converging with performance and creative processes to innovate, drive and mold company futures was an exciting prospect.

Even better I was invited by Artistic Director, Marcus Romer to take part by facilitating a Social Media Surgery of sorts where delegates could find out more about the potential of Web 2 and how the theatre industry can implement and incorporate it into their daily lifes. I discovered that with the use of just a couple of well chosen web 2 tools I know I could help theatre companies very easily create and feed with minimal effort and cost but a tremendous amount of fun, a dynamic live web presence including on the road/on tour coverage streamed live or uploaded to a home page producing video content, generate chat and buzz to promote a companies profile and location around the country, improve communication and the quality of the communication channel between office and company while on the road, build a community for the company and help the performers and creative team keep in touch with their lives and people that matter outside of the current production. All with services available on line for free.

The void between contacts can be frustrating, reconnection with your life after being so immersed in a show can be hard. Social Media approached sensibly and strategically by a theatre company can have enormous benefit for the company business and the companies creative team and performers. Everyone can win. I'm going to tell you how.

But first I want to report back on the amazing speakers who delivered talks at Shift Happens and reflect on Pilot Theatre's vision where performance and technology combine and converge reverberating through the company creating a thriving business and innovative productions. Their mission tag line "Inspiring Creativity" is right on the nail.

Shift Happens and MediaCampLondon - appetiser

Back from the Shift Happens event hosted at York Theatre Royal by Pilot Theatre, the company I develop and maintain a Second Life presence for, I now have the task of reflection and blogging the experience. Before I post my first blog post telling you about the inspirational speakers I listened to in York and at the weekend during MediaCampLondon, including some links to brilliant new Social Media applications I discovered for you to try out, here is the YouTube video of the Walkthrough of the Second Life venue. Part of the Shift Happens event.

Enjoy.

Great content for my website you will agree!