Claim OwnershipDigital Works Podcast
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© 2024 Digital Works Podcast
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Talking about all the different things that 'digital' means in the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Tales of success and failure, interrogating the shiny new things and looking at what works (or not) and why, Interviews with digital folks working across the sector and beyond, in-house, consultants, funders, and more.
Join us at the first Digital Works Conference in Leeds, UK on the 24th-25th April 2024.
48 Episodes
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A conversation with Dr Brett Ashley Crawford and Paul Hansen. Their new book (Raising the Curtain. Technology Success Stories from Performing Arts Leaders and Artists) looks at how performing arts organisations and artists are successfully using technology in a variety of different contexts.We talked about how the pandemic became a catalyst for innovation, we look at examples of organisations that have embedded technology across all their work. We discussed how digital transformation is not just about adopting new tools, but rather a revolution in connecting with audiences and empowering artists.Brett and Paul share lots of specific, tangible examples of organisations that have successfully adopted new, more digitally-enabled ways of working across a huge diversity of areas. They also share their insights and observations about the common traits of organisations that enjoy the most success with adopting and executing these new ways of thinking and working.You can find more info about the book, and order a copy, on the Wiley website.Dr Brett Ashley Crawford is an Associate Teaching Professor of Arts Management at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and is the Faculty Chair of the Masters of Arts and Entertainment Management Programmes.Paul Hansen is a marketing, creative and PR consultant, primarily working with the performing arts. As marketing director for Dance Kaleidoscope, a medium-sized company in Indianapolis, Paul navigated the challenges of using technology in new ways for nearly 12 years. Raising the Curtain was published by Wiley in March 2024.
I chatted with Hilary Knight, Seb Chan, and Aled John to hear a bit more about what they'll be talking about at this month's Digital Works Conference as well as what they're looking forward to.We looked at the potential of informal networking, discussing how tea break chats can lead to new ideas and fortify the cultural community. The lessons that the Financial Times' strategic pivot to digital could hold for the cultural sector, and the value of international collaboration and discussion.
In this episode Ash chats to Michal Čudrnák Head of Digital Collections & Services at the Slovak National Gallery.We talk about the history of the gallery, and how the Digital team has grown and evolved over recent years. We talk about the interesting and somewhat unique role that the Slovak National Gallery plays in supporting the wider Slovak cultural sector with digital tools and expertise. We look at the role of digital in supporting in-person attendance, and how designing for this context is very different from 'fully remote' experiences. Michal explains of the different ways that his team works with other organisations, on collaborative projects with the cultural sector in Slovakia and further afield, and we explore some examples of public-private relationships that they are exploring.You can see some of the work that Michal and his team have delivered:The SNG website: https://sng.sk/The Atlas product: https://atlas.sng.sk/The Web Umenia (Web of Art) product: https://www.webumenia.sk/
The seventh in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie discuss 3 things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on February 26th.We talk about:The launch of OpenAI's new text-to-video product, Sora. The apparent meltdown that ChatGPT had last week, and the BBC's AI PrinciplesWe also talk about YouTube CEO Neal Mohan's predictions for 2024And last but not least we'll look at an article in Engadget about the Browser Company's new product, titled "Who makes money when AI reads the internet for us?"I realise that's more than three things, but broadly it's AI news, YouTube predictions, and considerations about how the web is monetised.You can sign up for the newsletter at thedigital.works.
1A great conversation about immersive experiences with VIVE Arts' Head of Programme, Samantha King.We talked about a LOT including: the conditions required for new ways of thinking and working to take root; the importance of sharing knowledge and collaboration; the operational and financial realities of creating immersive work.We returned to a long-running topic, namely how useful the word 'digital' actually is. Sam pointed to the importance of leadership buy-in (or at least an active curiosity about what might be possible). We looked at the importance of having people who are able to interpret between traditional cultural practitioners and technologists (something that I've discussed on previous podcast episodes with Annette Mees, and Eva Liparova)And, helpfully, Sam cited a number of specific institutions and projects that might be useful reference points as inspiration.Related links:VIVE Arts websiteVIVE Arts and Musée d'Orsay collaborationDigital Works Podcast Episode 023 with Annette Mees about creating an opera in hyper-realityDigital Works Podcast Episode 018 with Eva Liparova about working with remote creative teams, and the translation required between creative technologists and traditional cultural practitioners
The sixth in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie discuss 3 things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on January 29th.We talk about:Hugh Wallace asking 'is it time to shake up your social media', the Association of Cultural Enterprises leaving X, and X being flooded with offensive AI fakes of Taylor Swift (the AI assistant in our podcast platform wanted to title this episode "Explore the ethical battlefield of digital platforms" which I think neatly sums up the tone of our discussion!).The work the National Gallery is doing on social media (particularly on Threads and Tiktok) and why it's working.A great long read about the failed collaboration between immersive theatre company, Punchdrunk, and games company, Niantic.You can sign up for the newsletter at thedigital.works.
We catch up with Sydney Opera House's Head of Screen, Stuart Buchanan. We talk about Stuart's new job title, how digital teams are structured at SOH, and the unhelpfully vague nature of the word 'digital'. Stuart shares how digital artistic programmes have enabled the Sydney Opera House to work with new artists, in new ways. The issues and challenges around rights, and reaching agreements with artists (and the value of having a track record that you can point to in these conversations).We discuss the many experimental strands to the work of Stuart's team, and the potential uses of generative AI in that context.And lots more!
Our last episode of 2023 is a conversation with Haydn Corrodus. Haydn is a social media and digital marketing consultant who was previously an Arts Council England Tech Champion as part of the Digital Culture NetworkHaydn brings rich insights into the fragmented and ever-evolving world of social media, and its potential for storytelling, connecting and engaging with audiences in the cultural sector.
In the last podcast episode of the year, Katie and Ash reflect on 2023 - picking a few of the most notable articles, podcasts, research reports, and new stories of the year.We discuss digital overload and the impact it's had on our attention spans. Exploring whether our cultural institutions could become havens of focus and relaxation in the blizzard of digital distractions.We look at the wild frontier of AI technology and its impact on our search engines and content creation. Considering the difficulty of distinguishing between human and algorithm-generated content, we also explore how AI could be our ally in boosting creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Meanwhile, social media has also undergone massive fragmentation, we discuss the fall of Twitter and the moral implications of who we engage with on these platforms. We also gaze into the crystal ball and try to predict what 2024 might hold for us.We discussed:New York Times - "Beyond the ‘Matrix’ Theory of the Mind"National Gallery of Art - "How to Recharge at the National Gallery this Holiday Season"Hard Fork podcast - "What's Next for OpenAI, Binance Is Binanceled and AI is Eating the InternetManifesto For Now - Essay #4: AI is faster than you (or can we be more like the turtle)Ofcom - Online Nation 2023RTS Cambridge Convention 2023 - Speech by Alex Mahon, Chief Executive, Channel 4: Too Much to WatchWeAreSocial - Digital 2023Bloomberg - The Moral Case For No Longer Engaging With Elon Musk's Twitter
A conversation with Dr Carrie Goucher. Carrie helps people transform meetings and meeting culture. She has redesigned how we meet for the collaborative era, crafting meetings that are honest, focused, supportive and energising. Carrie’s PhD created an evidence-based framework for what underpins meeting success (spoiler alert: it’s not having an agenda) and her research was described as 'game changing for meeting science’.Links:Article: three scaffolds to sharpen any meetingSign up to Carrie's newsletter and get a collaboration idea every Thursday: https://www.fewerfasterbolder.com/frictionfreeRecommended reading:Kim Scott, Radical CandourNancy Klein, Time to ThinkHenri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless, The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures
The fourth in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie discuss 3 (actually 4) things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on November 10th.We talk about:Internet ArtifactsThis TechCrunch article "App Store for AI: OpenAI’s GPT Store lets you build (and monetize) your own GPT" An essay from journalist, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist, Om Malik, "The Social Internet Is Dead, Get Used To It"A piece in The Verge from Amanda Chicago Lewis, "The people who ruined the internet"You can sign up for the newsletter at thedigital.works.
A chat with Zoe Williams, the Head of Communications and Fundraising at the Vagina Museum in London. We discuss their successful recent crowdfunding campaign, we also explore how they've harnessed the power of digital platforms to reach a global audience, built a robust community online, and how they’ve carved out their niche in the digital sphere.As ever this work isn't without its challenges, and Zoe doesn't shy away from discussing these. From discussing the effects of social media censorship to unearthing their content strategy for overcoming these hurdles. to dealing with trolls and more negative online engagement.A really fascinating, frank, and funny conversation.You can find the Vagina Museum online via their website https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk
The third in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie discuss 3 things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on October 20th.We talk about:"The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging With Elon Musk’s X" by Dave LeeChatGPT can now see, hear, and speakThe release this month of version 2.2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines When we discuss ChatGPT we also touched on this piece from Kevin Roose in the New York Times, and this speech from Mo Gawdat at the Nordic Business Forum.You can sign up for the newsletter at thedigital.works.
The second in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie discuss 3 things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on September 22nd.We talk about:The End of the Googleverse - Ryan BroderickSkyrim Mod Uses AI to Give NPCs Memories - Marc KeeverHow to understand your current digital costs (Budgeting for digital, Part 1 of 3) - Cat AinsworthYou can sign up for the newsletter at substrakt.com/digitalworks.
A conversation with George Montagu, Head of Insights at FT Strategies. FT Strategies is the consulting arm of the Financial Times. George and I talk about the shift from print to digital at the Financial Times and the related shift from ad to subscriber revenue, how leadership at the FT galvanised the entire organisation around a single goal (getting to 1 million paid subscribers in 3 years), changes in journalist workflows, the 'creative enabler' effect of digital working, the role of data and insights at the FT and creating meaningful blended metrics (and taking inspiration from Tesco Clubcard), and the work FT Strategies did with the National Theatre on the NT At Home platform.George's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgemontagu/More about FT Strategies - https://www.ftstrategies.com/en-gb/about-us/More about FT Strategies work with the National Theatre - https://www.ftstrategies.com/en-gb/case-studies/supporting-the-growth-of-the-national-theatres-new-on-demand-streaming-platform/More about NT at Home - https://www.ntathome.com/
The first in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie will be discussing 3 things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on August 29th.We talk about:'How to Blow Up a Timeline' - Eugene Wei ' We need to tell people ChatGPT will lie to them, not debate linguistics' - Simon Willson'Social, Behind the screens' - GWI and 'ABC exiting Twitter: Australia’s national broadcaster shuts down almost all accounts on Elon Musk’s X' - The GuardianYou can sign up for the newsletter at substrakt.com/digitalworks.
A conversation with Fran Sanderson, Director of Arts Programmes and Investments at Nesta (which was originally set up in 1998 as the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts).Fran is in the process of exploring a major shift in the way Nesta goes about making investments in the arts.We discuss the funding landscape for culture in the UK and the changes that need to happen. We explore what effective funding for digital projects might look like, how the cultural sector could think differently about value, risk appetite, new business and investment models, how the sector views popularity, learning in the open, and loads more.Here is more information about some of the programmes and schemes that we mentioned.The RSC Rothschild Foundation Digital FellowshipsAudience of the FutureNesta Digital R&D Fund for the ArtsNesta Digital Culture SurveyAnd here is the trailer for David Byrne's American Utopia.
An incredibly wide-ranging conversation with Seb Chan, CEO and Director of ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image).Seb talks about his background in community radio, 'looking under the hood' of the early internet, the importance of experience-focused roles in museums, the power of cultural leaders developing a 'digital imagination', understanding the importance of capital in predicting where the future is heading, and loads more.Prior to joining ACMI as their first Chief Experience Office (CXO) in 2015, Seb led digital change projects at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum of Design in New York. Seb is Adjunct Professor, School of Media and Communications, in the College of Design and Social Context at RMIT, an international advisory board member of Art Science Museum (Singapore) and board member of the National Communications Museum (Melbourne). He is an alumnus of the Getty Leadership Institute, Salzburg Global Seminar and UNSW.
A conversation with CEO and Creative Director of The Space, Fiona Morris. The Space was founded in 2013 by Arts Council England and the BBC and is now an independent not-for-profit organisation. The Space's primary goal is to enable the arts, culture and heritage sector to engage audiences using digital and broadcast content and platforms. Over the last 6 years The Space has commissioned 300+ digital projects from arts organisations around the UK. Fiona and I discuss what makes a successful digital project, how digital programming requires a shift in thinking, the importance digital skills, rethinking value propositions, investment, and the meaninglessness of the word 'digital'.
A chat with Maaike Verberk, Managing Director of DEN, the Dutch Knowledge Institute for Culture & Digital Transformation. We talked about digital transformation, the importance of being open to new ideas, the value of really understanding your audiences, the traits of organisations where good digital stuff is happening, and loads more.
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