Convenor: Catherine Edwards
Participants: Claire, Janet, Johnny, Jill, Bianca, Vanessa, Gareth, James
Notes:
Social media as:
- marketing tool
- audience development
- conversation
- artistic tool
Claire outlined a recent project that had utilised social media. In conjunction with the main performance, they set up a Facebook page to engage a local youth theatre and partner them with a school in Moldova. This, plus an exchange, created a buzz about the show and created a contemporary relevance to the narrative. The show was also live-streamed online.
Challenges – how to integrate this into the show?
How to manage expectations over a relatively long time period? How far does audience engagement affect the show?
Catherine talked about Twitterbug, a social media project conceived as a response to Such Tweet Sorrow – in attempt to create an piece of drama through Twitter. Lessons learned – ethical considerations of blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality. Needed a longer lead-in time to establish characters and audience.
Janet talked about the Twitter feed commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Coventry Blitz, which live-tweeted events of the night of the Coventry bombing.
What would be the perfect social media project?
Blend of reality and ‘other’.
These kind of projects depend on participants having literacy – how to engage people eg with learning disabilities? How to make it accessible?
Janet outlined Instagram – a visual version of Twitter. Potential for narrative – telling stories through pictures. Adopting different perspectives.
Mixture of
- text
- images
- audio
- video
Fragmentary/ non-linear stories.
We discussed how often the first use of a new technology is to record and archive old content. Nostalgia – record of time past. Gather info for creative use.
Can a story be planned, or does it have to be purely reactive?
Does is have to have a resolution?
Quest format – solving a mystery provides an end-point for the audience.
Nostalgia projects:
- photographing things that have been destroyed
- re-imagining things that have been lost
- preservation vs destruction
- indefinite vs transient
- blogs providing a sketchbook/ documentary journey.
Establish framework of the project – important to know the aims
How to involve the audience – hard to design. Open to public – lose creative control? What happens to artistic ownership?
How do you measure engagement?
Devise a framework – audience’s role is to help you reach the end.
How do you get people away from their computer screens? Are they more likely to participate if they remain anonymous?
Turn the model on its head – start with a live performance and invite audience to follow progress.
Actions:
Create a sounding board (website?) for interested parties to talk through ideas and applications.
