In this free workshop, aimed at professionals from arts, culture and heritage organisations, we will introduce good and bad examples of using technologies to engage visitors, from handheld devices to interactive kiosks, and explain what is needed for the development of a successful digital engagement strategy. The participants will work through a set of exercises and learn how to make the right choices when matching options for new technology-enabled visiting experiences to the needs and capabilities of their institutions and the expectations of their visitors.

Developing a Strategy for Engaging Visitors is the first in the Digital Technologies and Your Audience series of free workshops suitable for those working in arts, culture and heritage organisations who are interested in developing new strategies for engaging their visiting audiences using digital technologies.

The second workshop; Creating a Compelling Visitor Experience will take place in April 2017, details to follow or contact here.

Workshop leaders

Dr Katharina Lorenz is Associate Professor in the Department of Classics, Director of the Digital Humanities Centre at the University of Nottingham, and she leads, with Ben Bedwell, Nottingham’s Research Priority Area Heritage & the Digital. Katharina works on the challenges and opportunities of digital technologies for historical analysis and has published widely on classical art and visual narrative, art historiography and intellectual history, and digital heritage engagement. Since 2015 she has been delivering, with Esther Eidinow, workshops on storytelling for business for Nottingham’s Ingenuity programme.

Dr Ben Bedwell is a Research Fellow at the Horizon Digital Economy Institute, University of Nottingham. His research interests are in the effects that the design of technology has on the behaviour of its users, revealed via a grounded theory approach combining ethnography, contextual inquiry and participatory design/co-design with real users. In his current role in Horizon (where he has been a Research Fellow since 2011) he develops and evaluates technologies that enable for forms of visitor engagement on cultural heritage sites, including location-based experiences, visual markers, and BLE/NFC.

Dr Laura Carletti is a Research Fellow at the Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute, University of Nottingham. Her research focuses on digital culture and learning innovation, specifically on the impact of new media and technologies in the heritage sector. Her areas of expertise are public engagement strategies, digital learning, and participatory practices such as crowdsourcing and community archiving. She regularly collaborates with heritage institutions in exploring and designing innovative forms of visitors’ interactions with archival resources and online collections. She also has extensive experience in European project management and is a member of the Council of Europeana, the cultural heritage platform funded by the European Commission.

FAQs

What are my transport/parking options getting to the event?

You’ll find Broadway on Broad Street in Hockley, Nottingham’s cultural quarter. Just five minutes’ walk from Market Square and close to all the city’s main bus stops. The railway station is ten minutes away on foot and there’s a tram stop in the nearby Lace Market. How to find us

Broadway customers can get four hours secure parking at The Lace Market car park for £3, and a £2 event ticket on the tram. More details will be provided closer to the time of the event.

Am I eligible?

This workshop is primarily for SMEs based in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. An SME:

• has under 250 employees

• is not more than 25% owned by an enterprise that in itself is not an SME

• has an annual turnover of less than €50m OR has an annual balance sheet of less than €43m

If you are unsure of whether your company is eligible, please contact us.

Where can I contact the organiser with any questions?

If you have any questions please contact us.

This event is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund 2014-2020 and is part of the Enabling Innovation Programme. This workshop is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £350 but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.