Bristol Digital

Thanks to the Internet, new and easier ways of organising change are now possible: unpaid volunteers can build an encyclopaedia together, and one man with a laptop can raise an army to recover a stolen phone.

Fifty years ago a lecture by C.P. Snow on 'The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution', deploring the gulf between artistic intellectuals and natural scientists, sparked a fierce debate about the 'Two Cultures'.

Bringing together contributions from educationalists, artists, technologists and theorists, the day expands on themes in the Supertoys exhibition: play, affective machines and object relations.

Many thanks to those who took part in the Media Sandbox Ideas Lab last Monday. We hope you found it a useful and inspiring afternoon. For those of you who were unable to attend, the afternoon agenda ran as
follows:

1. Welcome and introduction
2. Project case study from 2008
3. Domain definition:  The Five Golden Rules (for delivering a multi-platform project);  what are they?
4. Project case study from 2008
5. Rapid group idea lab sessions at tables: Groups self-organised to
provide collaborative answers to the questions posted on the pre-event network.
6. Telling the stories: Groups presented their answers to each other, in the form of a story about a user experience
7. Overview and next steps
8. End and drinks

Material collected from the event is now online in the following places:

The event network is still online at: http://www.pathable.com/events/media-sandbox-2009/
If you want to contact anyone you met at the event, you can use the network to message them:
1. Go to the above link.
2. Find the person you want to message by browsing attendees or using the search box.
3. Click on the attendee. Underneath their profile box you will see an envelope icon and the word message, click this link and follow theonscreen instructions.

Photos are in the Media Sandbox Flickr group pool. Please join the pool and add your own photos.

The Five Golden Rules (for delivering a multi-platform project) have been written up by Ed and are discussed here.

The interviews and videos recorded during the event by Social Reporter David Wilcox can be found at these two locations: youtube and qik.

And finally, the recordings of the stories made by the groups, can be found on our blip.tv channel.

Full details about the scheme and how to apply are at www.mediasandbox.co.uk

The 2009 Media Innovation Awards are now open for entries. Creative industries practitioners in the South West are invited to put their work forward in a bid to win one of the prestigious awards.

Web Mission 09 is open for entrants! Last year we took 20 UK Web 2.0 companies to San Francisco to explore new opportunities for growth with key people in Silicon Valley. In 2009 we’re following the same format but with one key difference, in 2009 we’re particularly interested in Enterprise 2.0 companies.

Do you or your organisation have a question about how to use digital communication technologies that you would like a room full of experts to workshop for free?

Are there people you feel you could engage with in new ways with these new technologies? A campaign you want to support? A service you wish to provide? An idea you can envisage? A change you want to encourage?

On December 15th, iShed is launching Media Sandbox 2009, its second R&D commissioning scheme supporting research into emerging technologies. We will have a room full of experienced programmers, designers, academics, project and business managers, artists, writers, innovation people, gamers and other digital media types.

We need some real issues to work on and want to apply ourselves to regional questions. That’s where you come in.

Can you think of something you would like to be ‘workshopped’ on December 15th? For free? Maybe it could become a commissioned project.

A couple of (very high level) examples:

1. How can we design a campaign to engage our target demographic with our message in an innovative way?
2. Our association needs to reach out to a wider group using a mix of technologies. What’s the best way to do it?

We are collecting questions from as wide a range of organisations as possible on our online network in advance of the event. Attendees will be able to see the questions and who they are from and will decide which ones to workshop on the day. We can’t promise your question will be chosen, but it’s worth a try.

You are welcome to pose a question to the group whether you come to the event or not – you are welcome to come to the event naturally, but we understand if you don’t have time (the event is between 2pm and 6pm on December 15th).

To pose a question for the group to work on:

1. Sign up to the Media Sandbox event network:
   http://pathable.com/events/media-sandbox-2009

2. Fill in your profile information – the more the better

3. Post a message to the group by clicking on ‘Messages’

4. Click on ‘Compose’

5. Type ‘question’ into the ‘To’ field

6. Add a brief title in the ‘Subject’ field

7. Add a synoposis of your question in the ‘Message’ field. Please provide
   as much background as possible, a clear question and desirable
   outcomes.

If you wish to come to the event, you need to register on our formal registration page: http://www.mediasandbox.eventbrite.com/

To find out more about Media Sandbox 2009 visit: http://www.mediasandbox.co.uk/

Do you or your organisation have a question about how to use digital communication technologies, that you would like a room full of experts to workshop for free?

How will product design change as computing power becomes stronger, smaller and cheaper?   Supertoys already integrate themselves tightly into society. They speak secret languages, play games, seek praise, form relationships, and seamlessly become ‘the perfect friend’ – but how will they develop in the future?

The SXSW Interactive Festival (13 – 17 March 2009) takes place in Austin, Texas and celebrates the creativity and passion behind the coolest new media technologies. Panel sessions cover everything from web design to bootstrapping to social networks, and industry giants like Google host the parties.

If this sounds up your street and you have brilliant digital content or services to show off, read on: South West Screen and iShed are looking to support a group of digital media companies to take Texas by storm. Find out more at http://www.swscreen.co.uk/WhatWeFund/209.aspx

Bringing together leading technology, artistic and media talent, Media Sandbox is iShed's commissioning scheme to support South West companies / organisations to research emerging possibilities in digital media. In 2009, awards will be made to six research projects exploring innovative multi-platform content. Media Sandbox 09 will be launched at an ideas lab on 15 December 2009, 2-6pm at Watershed, Bristol.

For more information and to book a place, visit www.mediasandbox.co.uk

South West Screen and iShed are looking to support a group of digital media companies to take Texas by storm.

Bringing together leading technology, artistic and media talent, Media Sandbox is a commissioning scheme to support South West companies / organisations to research emerging possibilities in digital media. Image from BDH and Plot's Happy Towns, Media Sandbox 2008

Bristol Media are running 3 indispensable seminars for business owners.

Withers & Rogers, a firm of patent and trademark attorneys in Bristol is holding an intellectual property seminar at Bristol City FC on 7th November which will be looking at creating value from innovation.  The Seminar is free to all CTN members ...

Six workshops will take place at the Arnolfini, to teach participants to use Arduino boards and some basic and easy programming - providing enough information for participants to start making their own interactive projects using sensors and motors.

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Marion Gillet will be running 3 workshops in Bristol this season at Spike Design. These sessions are open to all creative entrepreneurs and creative professionals from any creative backgrounds. They are ideal for small business owners and staff that have been trading for around 2 years and need to sharpen their business skills.