ITC’s arts panel leads discussion on social networking

As part of its work to promote the IT profession, the arts panel of the Information Technologists’ Livery Company (IT4Arts) held its quarterly workshop on October 4th looking into the benefit of social networking sites for the arts sector. The workshop attracted attendees from many of the key arts companies such as English National Opera, the Royal Albert Hall and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Focusing on how organisations within the arts sector utilise social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr and Second Life, the workshop evaluated the benefit of these sites for arts organisations and how these can be improved upon.

The workshop included a number of presentations from some of the attendees as well as Roo Reynolds, an IBM world expert in virtual worlds from IBM’s Hursley Laboratories, and Don Morrison, who has built online networks of learners for PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM.

The workshop also introduced many of the organisations to the concept of ‘mashing’, which is where data from more than one information-providing website would be taken dynamically to create a brand new, original webpage for the arts organisation, enriching its own data with information from the feeding websites.

IT4Arts assembled an impressive array of participants from the arts sector for the workshop including: the Hackney Empire, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the London Symphony Orchestra, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre, Soho Theatre, Southbank Centre, St John Smith Square, the Wallace Collection and the Young Vic.

Jo Johnson, Online Marketing Manager at the London Symphony Orchestra, said “I really enjoyed the day – these workshops are a great opportunity to network with peers and to share ideas and experiences, helping us stay leaders in our use of IT to connect with our audience.”

The IT4Arts network was formed four years ago and is the only organisation of its kind in Britain allowing those working in the arts to discuss the effective use of IT within the sector. It has built up a network of arts organisations passionate about the effective use of IT in the arts to connect with their audiences, deliver artistic content and run an efficient and sustainable organisation.

It holds quarterly workshops each focusing on a different aspect of IT applicable in the arts; topics are researched prior to the workshops, where panel members, arts organisations and experts from the commercial world share their knowledge and experience of the chosen subject.

The next workshop will be held in December and will focus on how IT can help the disabled access the arts, both as an audience and as artists. The following meeting will be held in March 2008 and will look at IT for the education department of arts organisations.

Martin Black, chairman of the arts panel and IT4Arts commented, “As the only organisation in the UK facilitating the needs of those with an interest in both arts and IT, we are delighted with the turnout of arts organisations large and small. It is invaluable the way those with big funding share their experience with smaller organisations – the so-called ‘trickle-down effect’ – and the way the true innovators pass on their ideas to the rest of the arts sector.”