North is a programme of events and activities aimed at inspiring creative professionals to do things differently.

Our aim is to inspire debate about the impact of digital culture on creative workflow and explore its affect on how we create, communicate and collaborate.

The first main event is taking place in South Cumbria and is called Rule of Thirds.

It's a one day gathering of creative thinkers to discuss the impact of digital culture on the creative workflow, and explore the exciting, developing opportunities for how we create, communicate and collaborate.

Our intention is to bring together creative people from a range of disciplines to share, learn and debate. We’re really interested in exploring innovative approaches, creative workflows and new forms of collaboration.

Throughout the day we'll be exploring a challenging array of subjects through speaker presentations, open debate and group exploration.

Format of the day

We have six great speakers lined up to present a diverse range of great subjects. We're breaking from convention and taking a unique approach to each session, breaking them into three different sections -w e call it the Rule of Thirds:

1 = Listen. You'll be all ears for a presentation by each speaker.

2 = Question. Discussion will be opened to all participants for questions and debate.

3 = Explore. Everybody will be free to continue informal discussion or develop ideas, through face-to-face conversation or contributions through video, photos, blogging - whatever you feel comfortable with.

The Venue

We've chosen a really great venue for Rule of Thirds. Lanternhouse is a creation centre in Ulverston which provides the perfect space to let ideas and conversations run free. Our main proceedings will be taking place in The Barn, a traditionally-built crook barn. Refreshments will be provided and we'll even be providing lunch - all you need to do is bring yourself and plenty of enthusiasm.

The speakers

1. Choose your own adventure - Dom Rodwell

Dom is Creative Director at Flame Digital, an interactive agency based in Manchester.

An exploration of how the communication of narrative has fundamentally changed in the age of digital media. And as communication channels become more fragmented, the consistency of narrative becomes ever more important.

What challenges does this raise? And, more importantly, what opportunities? What does it fundamentally mean for companies and organisations – and by extension individuals – who want to communicate a consistent set of values as widely as possible.

Dom will present real-world examples of how existing creative problem-solving skills can be used to gain a competitive advantage, and how applying design thinking to business issues can result in the creation of compelling and engaging customer or audience experiences.

What lessons can we learn? What does this mean for communications and creativity within organisations? What skills and structures do companies need to face up to the undoubted challenges the rapidly changing communications landscape will bring?

2. Bringing theatre to life - Liz Postlethwaite

Liz is a Theatre Maker, Writer and Do’er, currently based in Manchester.

The theatre world has fallen behind when it comes to using digital technology to enhance and support its work. Digital media turns on its head the out-dated vision of theatre that many people still cling on to: one in which information and creativity is controlled by a few people, and drip fed at their whim to the majority.

Through her work as a theatre director, Liz has been investigating how digital media can demystify what theatre practitioners do, how it can be used to engage with audiences and as a method for public participation in art.

The Red Shoes, a production that took place in Manchester in August 2009, included a strand of digital communication running alongside it with a focus on social media such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Liz is developing this further with a participatory performance project to be performed in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in December 2009. She is exploring new ground with the idea that an audience can start to experience your work as soon as they hear about it, and are able to engage with it.

3. Virtual worlds - the next evolution of the web - Terry Thorpe

Terry is a Director of KohdSpace, a media and technology company based in Skipton.

Prepare yourself for a whirlwind tour of the world of 3D Web - the past, the present and the possible futures, and discover how you could have your own world, contained on a USB Flash drive.

Going beyond hypothetical fantasy, we’ll be exploring and demonstrating some of the practical things you can do with the next generation of web technology - not only practical applications like the creation of spaces and environments, but also how you could extend activities and events from the real world into the virtual.

Featuring a stunning live demonstration of 3D avatar technology in action, you’re going to see the future of online interaction hosted by a life-size virtual person.

4. Remaining real in a virtual world - Ross Johnson

Ross is Managing Director of Thomas Cole Internet.

We spend more and more of our lives online, and our use of web applications has become more direct and obvious. But are these utilitarian tools stifling our creativity? If true creativity is born from within, is our online world making us lazy?

But, if we remain mindful of its potential, the online world can provide a wealth of creative opportunities. The Internet should be a catalyst for a more creative world - where people are encouraged to explore and express themselves in their real lives.

Ross takes us on a philosophical journey to explore how the development of the web can facilitate, and even stimulate, real life creativity, with a dancer from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance performing a live interpretation of these ideas - a captivating exploration of how a digital world can be a catalyst for creativity in the real world.

5. Hands-on Information Architecture - Neil Winterburn and John O'Shea

Neil Winterburn and John O'Shea are digital-media artists and Co-directors of Re-Dock, a Community Interest Company, based in Merseyside.

In the context of digital-media art practice, where audience is co-creator, Re-Dock transfer digital-realm metaphors onto physical spaces, using simple material props. Shopping centres, libraries, social clubs and green spaces are transformed into information environments using cardboard cut-outs, sports equipment, old rope and balloons.

Over a variety of education, engagement and consultation projects, Re-dock have facilitated individuals in building collaborative maps and models of psychological and emotional space. Through this process, complex ideas such as 'Tagging', 'Interfaces', 'Open Source' and 'Emergence' are made tangible, visible and negotiable without the glow of digital newness.

Neil and John will take you on a journey to explore their innovative work methods with real-world examples of how they put their processes into practice.

6. Playing new games - Giles Askham

Giles Askham is an Artist and Lecturer. Previously the Director of Peterborough Digital Arts, he is interested in play as a means of engagement and an activator of arts projects.

As we move away from traditional computing paradigms of window, icon, menu and pointing device, to explore haptic, physical and embodied engagements – how has the relationship between people and information technology been altered by these new approaches?

If general computing changed the nature of the office and the work that occurred there, will tangible media have a similar effect on how we play? As the study of Human Computer Interaction takes a phenomenological turn and focuses on the user of IT systems, what will distinguish our relationships with the next generation of embedded technology?

Cubed is Askhams’ latest project. Developed in collaboration with Luke Hastilow and recently commissioned by Folly, Cubed seeks to develop relationships between players and their games. It provides a physical gaming system that is used for the playing, storing and sharing of traditional childrens' playground games. Children are invited to inscribe the rules of their games within a simple tangible system that can be passed on to, played with, and adapted by others.

General Information

North is a project being delivered by We Make Media in partnership with folly as part of the Abandon Normal Devices (AND) Festival.

AND

AND is a new festival presented by folly, FACT and Cornerhouse that welcomes audiences to experience the best in new cinema and media art in a celebration that spills from screens and galleries into the landscape and imaginations of the North West.

The festival will take place in Liverpool and Manchester on alternate years, with an extended programme in Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire. Expect an eclectic array of screenings, installations, online projects, public realm interventions, workshops and live events, with a distinctive emphasis on ideas and discussion.

WE PLAY

AND is part of WE PLAY, the Northwest cultural legacy programme for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. WE PLAY is a Legacy Trust UK project, led by the Arts Council England Northwest, on behalf of a new regional partnership.

http://www.meetnorth.com
http://www.wemakemedia.co.uk
http://www.folly.co.uk
http://www.andfestival.org.uk