When it comes to all things digital I’m definitely in the remedial class. Twitter I can just about manage – though one of my digitally savvy colleagues announced the other day that he was working on a Twitter Lite app simply so he could filter out the one in thirty he generously admitted were potentially interesting, then he might think of following me again. Seems I can’t even get that right. So I openly admit, I’m digitally dense.
That was one of the reasons I went along to the meeting last Thursday about Leeds Digital Festival. Anything containing the words “Leeds” and “Festival” and I’m there. And it was in The Cross Keys too, so I could satisfy my curiosity over a pint or two of Sierra Nevada.
I’d read all the brouhaha on Twitter and really just wondered what the fuss was about. I honestly couldn’t see what people were getting so worked up about (yes, I genuinely am that naive) and was hoping for a bit of enlightenment. There certainly was a lot of talking . . . digital folk aren’t backwards at coming forwards, are they! And there was a really good feeling in the room (once the obligatory chest beating was dispensed with.) But I didn’t really understand some of the arguments and references – I’d never heard of The DADI Awards for instance, and a lot of the stories about Freeserve went Whoosh, right over my head – but what came across loud and clear was the passion and pride about Leeds and the conviction that the city had a great digital future. Or could have. Everyone seemed to be saying Leeds had a distinct digital identity that made it special, but that we were also losing ground somehow .
There were obviously tensions in the room, divisions, demarcations and some very obvious drawing of lines ; agency against agency, boss against staff, freelancer against agency, everyone against the Council . . . but that’s just normal in any competitive industry or sector. And there was a certain amount of “been here before, tried that, already been done” kind of cynicism niggling away in the background that I picked up on a few times. But there was a definite feeling though that a “conversation” was needed, and not just about the next Leeds Digital Festival. The “C” word came up again and again. Everyone seemed to have something to say but apparently there was a conversational deficit. It did make me wonder. ‘Appen I’m D Minus digitally, but I do know a thing or two about conversations.
So, I had the idea of maybe setting up a Digital Conversation during the Leeds Digital Festival, along the lines of the Cultural Conversations that Culture Vultures has been hosting regularly in The Round Foundry since last summer. These have been playful, imaginative, amusing events, getting people together that wouldn’t normally get a chance to talk for no other reason than, well, conversation. . . there’s no particular agenda (we make it up as we go along) and it’s not about berating, badgering, or browbeating anyone, it’s about genuinely being open to new ideas, perspectives, experiences. Mostly people just share stories. It did occur to me that the digital crowd were very good at talking amongst themselves (often over each other!) but if their story wasn’t even reaching me (and I do consider myself a fairly well informed citizen of Leeds) then there’s a bit of a problem. Some of the things I’d like to talk about are questions such as; what and who exactly counts as the digital sector, why is it important, and why should the rest of us care? How does it relate to what the rest of us in the cultural/creative industries are up to? What is the digital story? And why Leeds? What is it about Leeds that makes it an attractive place to be a digital worker?
I know it sounds a bit blunt, but there it is. What do people think? Is it worth a shot? Or am I just talking twaddle, as usual. I’m up for organising a digital conversation, but who would come? I know plenty of people outside the digital sector would be interested in having the conversation, and I do think there’s some value in having the conversation hosted by a complete outsider, a total innocent, an absolute beginner . . . but would anyone from the digital sector in Leeds agree?
There’s another Leeds Digital Festival meeting in The Cross Keys tonight at 6pm. Perhaps I’ll find out.
Hi Phil,
really like this post and the idea.. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with a lot of your points (hands up to most of them!)
I think we wouLD really benefit from your perspective.. we’re passionate about what we do and I think you couLD be a good calming and possibly neutral influence upon us.. if we do form a decision making body I cant help but feel you’d make an ideal chairperson..
now look what you’ve started 😉
I’ve never been a calming influence on anyone . . . and I used to be a therapist! But I did get the feeling from the last meeting that someone who wasn’t partisan or personally involved might be helpful in finding some kind of unified voice for the Leeds Digital sector. Anyway, we’ll have a natter tonight.
Sir – are you capitalising the letters ‘LD’ (such as ‘couLD’ and ‘wouLD’) in support of Leeds Digital? Bravo for such clever (and subliminal) advertising…
Personally, I feel that part of the problem lies within the very definition of a ‘digital festival’… it implies a prerequisite of technical competency and suggests that boundaries exist between ‘digital’ and other arts – making it inaccessible to those who may otherwise have been interested.
I would opt to include ‘digital’ as a flavour of a larger ‘Leeds Arts Festival’. Increasing the number of creatives that participate would lead to cross-media projects that would demonstrate the skills of all parties involved – and it would allow folk who work in digital (and often only interact with “digital types”) to meet and work on interesting projects with a broader range of people.
Personally I think the reason this Leeds digital sub society hasn’t reached you Phil is something you’ve hinted at in your post; it’s full of people who only talk to each other, are very inwardly focused and have made no effort to connect with the rest of the ‘offline’ business world in Leeds (other than to sell them ‘internet stuff’).
From the discussion in the Midnight Bell yesterday I think people are willing to move away from that – there was talk of doing things to connect this festival to people not living their lives online, but realistically I think it’s going to be next year before we can make the rest of Leeds aware of this event.
As such I think a digital conversation would definitely help if it isn’t just full of the usual suspects from agencies/freelancers. I think the questions you’ve raised are excellent ones that need discussion but how would you suggest attracting non-digital types to it?
What is a ‘non digital’ type? Are we digital? I see events/opps focused at the digital industries, yet I feel they aren’t for ‘me’
Yet since 2005 I’ve blogged, been an early adopter of social media technologies as a means to reach people, engage, get bums on seats, have conversations etc. Ultimately as a means to bring different communities of interest together and break down barriers and assumptions.
I’m not interested in the making of digital platforms/technologies websites per se, except in how effectively they work to help communication happen. Does that mean the digital industries are not relevant to me? I’m excited by new technologies, great apps, the stuff that makes me able to enjoy the city, the people, etc.
I wonder when you talk about NON DIGITAL TYPES, who they are?
We’d love to facilitate if this is needed, but we need to ask what benefit it would add for the non digital community to discover more about what you’re all about, and vice versa?
I strongly suspect it’s yet again a language/translation thing, in that we build perceptions about our own worlds and others, and actually we have a lot of values in common
I’m not even sure who counts as non-digital any more. But there are certainly people around who don’t identify themselves as such but who still are curious, interested and willing to be engaged and educated. Actually I think it would be easier to get the non digital people to a conversation . . . but you’re right, maybe next year.
I think digital is bandied about as a term but actually encompasses a huge amount – it is no longer just a case of online and offline and an increasingly integrated approach is needed, if not already happening.
I’m not sure it can be the sole responsibility of the digital industry in Leeds to educate those that admit to know little about it. You are free to do some research – read the industry press and some case studies perhaps and then come to the table with thoughts on how to move forward rather than focusing on what you perceive to be wrong about it.
Also I don’t see what is wrong with a digital event sticking to it’s own specialism. It makes sense to start off having these discussions in this forum before addressing the wider picture and having to answer to other industries and the education of those that prefer to comment from afar rather than be directly involved.
Perhaps some kind of regional body needs to step up and be the voice of the industry on a regional level. I know these exist for bigger cities and do a great job of blowing their own trumpet and attacting people and new business to the area.
Hello! Thanks for commenting. I reread my own comment and realised it may have seemed ‘finger pointing’ rather than a bit more rhetorical than I would have liked!
Having hosted ‘conversation’ events before, the aim really is to help people in a really enjoyable way, discover areas of mutual interest. Like you say terms can encompass a huge amount, and therein lies the confusion sometimes. It’s like the word Culture, to one person it means everything and it’s dog, to another it may denote ‘high art’ or something they don’t enjoy, or access.
Perhaps the curious, like me, would like to understand more about the digital industries, what they do, how they think, who they are peopled by, what matters to them, in the context of us living and working in the same city? I might discover there are ways in which connections could be made which are mutually beneficial?
It always takes two to tango, excuse the cliche, nothing should be the sole responsibility of the sector, I find this with marketing of events etc, sometimes people have to take responsibility to find out what’s happening rather than expect to be spoonfed. But we can make their lives easier along the way, but trying to find a common language, and reason to be in the same space, online of offline!
I ramble, and apologise. I think we are in agreement but am not entirely sure!
I entirely agree about doing the research and getting involved etc and obviously my post was a little tongue in cheek (is irony an analogue thing, I wonder.) And I’m totally behind you digital guys having an office party, just go for it . . . though when you expect the rest of us to pick up the tab then I do think you have a duty to be clear what it is that we are paying for.
I’ve been to both recent meetings about the Leeds Digital Festival, because I am genuinely interested and wanted to find out more about what was going on. I did find them a bit confusing. I wasn’t the only one there who felt a little dismayed at the evident insularity and disquieted at the tone of a couple of things that came out in the meeting. I didn’t think that “education” was needed for just for those outside the digital industries, or that commenting from afar was the sole preserve of us analogue arty types.