I just realized that the previous post on the site is from March, which means there is an urgent need for me to provide an update on what has been going these past few months. I am quite happy to say that there have been some exciting developments/commissions and some interesting work in the pipeline. I will endeavor to provide a brief summary below and will go into details of individual projects in separate posts.
1/ Yortime Web Surgeries: I have been commissioned by Learning City York (a city wide consortium which includes the City of York Council) to delivery a blueprint for a grassroots digital literacy initiative to engage voluntary organizations and community groups in the city. The project is well underway and will come to an end sometime in late October/early November. I have a host of responsibilities, one of which is to facilitate an open dialogue between disparate groups. This is exciting stuff with some interesting challenges.
2/ Kyokusen Yokocho : This project (for a Japanese client) has recently come to an end. I developed a conceptual framework and engagement strategy for an online curated space to showcase contemporary illustration and design to the Japanese audience. The project has an international dimension as it aims to attract artists from across the globe. Amongst other things, the site will feature exclusive interviews, themed selections and will also offer tutorials. The strategy has been put into practice and I am quite keen to see how the site develops over the next couple of months.
3/ Digital Footprints: Over the past couple of months I have been playing with a workshop format that uses social media as a means for introspection and self-awareness. The idea is to encourage participants to shape Digital Identities which can be put to good use in order to achieve professional and personal goals. Rather than focussing on operational aspects and simply jumping onto the social media bandwagon, the workshops focus on soft skills and values. Needless to say this is quite a tricky concept. However, I have been extremely fortunate to meet some very clever, progressive people who have commissioned to run a few sessions as part of student/enterprise development initiative within their universities. These first few sessions have been quite successful. I even got one participant saying that he found the workshop (and I quote) – fantastic!
4/ Opportunities Gateway: Work on the OG is going well. Over the few months my involvement with the project has grown considerably. Once again I am very fortunate to work alongside some dynamic people who are very inspiring in the way they operate. I will provide more details about this project soon. This past week I found out that I am expected to go on a reconnaissance trip to a dozen or so cities in/around Yorkshire over the next couple of days! I am quite looking forward to that.
5/ Teaching : And finally, most of my teaching commitments are coming to an end. I teach at a number of HEIs on courses such as Media Enterprise and Creative Digital Collaboration. Students from the ME course had their presentations a few days ago. There were a couple of other members of staff present to judge them. I am quite happy to say that they were all thrilled by the quality of the work and the confidence exuded by most students. I am very keen on encouraging a reflective process as I think self-awareness is key to the realization and subsequent ownership of aspirations. Looking at the students talk about their work, it was obvious they had put a lot of thought into it and were much more aware of their professional skills and goals, which was an absolute delight for me to see.
Right… I am sure I have missed out a few minor details here and there, but I hope to be a bit more regular in posting updates.
Tags: city of york council, commissions, new projects, student engagement
