In summer 2009, Producer/Curator Trevor Pitt embarked upon a cartographic venture based at VIVID. He traced his flirtations with pop, punk, film, art and cultural theory and in the process reflected on cultural experiences shared by a generation which grew up in the 1970s and 1980s. Joining Trevor on this journey have been individuals who played a significant, often underground role in shaping the music, fashion and club scenes during the 1970s and 80s. Pitt invited people to join him on this cartographic venture by mapping the scenes and writing Sleeve Notes to their own lives through intimate 1-1 chats.

For Hello Digital, he proposes to go viral. Starting with a tweet, Pitt hopes to demonstrate the ways in which regular and natural users of social media can proliferate information and widen participation in events which would otherwise stay ‘underground’.

Pitt hopes to see how Twitter transfers across to other external networks, initially through re-Tweeting behaviours and then through more commonly utilized modes such as Facebook, Friends Reunited, SMS, e-mail and finally, to analogue.

Two initial events are proposed, aimed at the metal and underground electronica scenes, where Pitt will initiate a invitation to participate at a given location and date.

Join We Share Stuff and other people working with those that don’t or can’t take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet for a free unconference.

A day of discussion and talks with those developing new practices in Digital Inclusion that will leave you with new ideas to try — and a bulging contact book of like-minded professionals and volunteers.

The Digital Inclusion landscape is changing fast, policy and practise are altering as never before. As we are often working in isolation, despite digital connectivity, it will be valuable to join other practitioners and share more of your ideas and experiences.

It’s a chance to talk not so much about policy — and money which distracts from the work itself at many turns — but about the methods and techniques of how to best help people gain opportunities and abilities — in social, community and employment.

The unconference is a chance to work on the issues from the point of view of the practitioners. In an unconference the venue is the only thing fixed, attendees can create as many sessions as they wish on any topics of their choosing — it’s ideal for an event where sharing of practise and open discussion is the aim.

Taking place in central Birmingham, we expect civic-minded social tech experts, those involved on the ground in communities and Digital Inclusion workers to come together and push the debate forward.

How does it work?
At the launch event on 5 March each team will be given a short briefing and criteria to include in their films. You’ll then have 48 hours to make your film.
Your film must completed and either uploaded to a Youtube account and emailed, or handed in to the organiser by 7pm on Sunday 7 March.

The films will then be judged and the winner will be announced at a screening event in Birmingham.

To receive more information, send your name and email address to Film Dash.

Prizes
The best films will be judged by an expert panel, including editor of Film4.com Catherine Bray, and screened at a presentation event in Birmingham where the the winning film will be announced.

There will be prizes, but these are to be confirmed.

A selection of the Film Dash films will also be screened throughout the year by Say Hello and Bullring and will be advertised on sites such as Yahoo Movies, MSN Movies, Empire Online and Film.com.

The rules:
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL LIST OF RULES.

For now, here are the main points. Full rules will be e-mailed to registered teams:

*Teams may have up to 5 members (exclusive of cast). *All filming must be done during the period of the challenge. *Under 18s can take part but must be supervised by someone over 18. *If filming in public, teams must abide by the terms of the Birmingham filming permit we are providing, or your local public filming guidelines. *Location release and talent release forms must be obtained where necessary and provided with your entry. *Teams must incorporate their given criteria into their film *All films and documents must be handed in (or uploaded to Youtube and documents emailed) to the organisers by 7pm on 7 March 2010.

Register:
Register your team online – go to the registration page for details.

Can the Midlands’ Creative Industries Revolutionise the UK Economy? will be held on Monday, November 2. It will be opened by Charles Leadbeater of We Think fame and will look at the future of society within the context of interactive digital media. Presenting challenges in order to encourage proactive debate amongst the keynotes will be two leading industry experts, David Harris, Executive Creative Director, Wunderman and Toby Barnes, MD, Mudlark.

Each speaker will present their own personal views followed by a series of ‘challenges’ leading the audience to develop their own suggestions and recommendations.

The outcome of the Big Debate will be a report reflecting an integrated review of the role which the region’s creative industries can play in formulating a new view on the UK economy based on the content of the Debate and audience responses. This will be collated by Birmingham City University in its capacity as knowledge provider, to be issued to Government as a series of recommendations on what action is necessary.

HELLO DIGITAL FRINGE EVENT:

Devising Animated Narratives is part of Anim@te, which is a set of four day-long workshops on devising and developing scripts for animated films.

This particular session looks at using a range of devising exercises and development strategies. This workshop will seek to create the conditions for the preparation of structuring and pre-visualising an animated narrative.

This workshop is delivered by Script, in association with Animation Forum WM and Hello Digital, and funded by Screen WM.

Creating Animated Documentary is part of Anim@te, which is a set of four day-long workshops on devising and developing scripts for animated films.

Using a variety of ‘real world’ materials and ‘live’ issues, and deploying a range of devising strategies, this workshop will look at the relationship between animation and documentary, creating a visual treatment for a proposed animated documentary.

This workshop is delivered by Script, in association with Animation Forum WM and Hello Digital, and funded by Screen WM.

Writing Animated Narratives for Children is part of Anim@te, which is a set of four day-long workshops on devising and developing scripts for animated films.

Looking at a range of animated material directly produced for children, this workshop will seek to engage with approaches to creating narratives in animation dedicated to a children’s audiences. Using various devising exercises, the workshop will look at character building and child-centred storylines.

This workshop is delivered by Script, in association with Animation Forum WM and Hello Digital, and funded by Screen WM.

Visual Storytelling in Animation is part of Anim@te, which is a set of four day-long workshops on devising and developing scripts for animated films.

This workshop will explore and experiment with the purely visual characteristics which enable the development of animated narratives. This will take into account approaches to storyboarding and the construction of pictorial storytelling elements.

This workshop is delivered by Script, in association with Animation Forum WM and Hello Digital, and funded by Screen WM.

This December, 4AM Project is going to be at Bodies Revealed at the Custard Factory in Birmingham. Please book your FREE place via EventBrite

How to take part: You can get involved with the 4am Project by uploading your photos to the photo sharing Website Flickr. You can find help and instructions here. Remember to tag your photo(s) 4amproject.

Can’t make it to the Bodies Revealed exhibition? No problem. You can take part where ever you are! Get your friends and family involved and take a photo of your view of the world at 4am!

Terms and conditions:

You may select up to 10 of your best photographs of the Bodies Reaveled event to submit online.

You cannot use your photographs of the exhibition commercially.

Please treat the bodies respectfully and photograph them in an respectful manner.

If you cannot make the event, please get in touch with me so that I can re-allocate your ticket. mail@karenstrunks.com 07835 754 310

When you register for this event you will be emailed a ticket. Please print out the ticket and bring it with you to the event.

Don’t forget your camera!

The aim of the 4amproject is to gather a collection of photos from around the world at the magical time of 4am. Everyone can take part and join in! All you need is a camera. We want to see what you see at that moment in time on that one day. What’s your view at 4am?

Watch this space to find out more about the 4AM Project on the 6th of December. Venue will revealed soon!

BBC Midlands Today featured the 4AM Project:

Update from the organisers:

“Thanks to our friends at Nokia, we are pleased to announce the final total raised by Brum Twestival is a massive £1774.29 for Birmingham YMCA! Worked out based on the airmiles from their N86 Tour, Nokia has donated 600 Euros, which works out as £533.29 to add to the £1241 raised from ticket sales, donations and raffle tickets.

Thank you to everyone for your support!”

Here are some videos from the night – Twestival asked some of the guests about what Twitter meant to them.

Birmingham Twestival 09 – Jon Bounds from Mars Elkins on Vimeo.

Birmingham Twestival 09 – Rebecca Cadwallader from Mars Elkins on Vimeo.

Birmingham Twestival 09 – Laura Cuttiford from Mars Elkins on Vimeo.

Birmingham Twestival 09 – Clare Edwards from Mars Elkins on Vimeo.

Birmingham Twestival 09 – Julia Gilbert from Mars Elkins on Vimeo.

Birmingham Twestival 09 – Tom Hall from Mars Elkins on Vimeo.

Birmingham Twestival 09 – Kenny Laurie from Mars Elkins on Vimeo.

The afternoon will be an informal mix of group surgery sessions and round the table discussions.

This event is designed for businesses that are looking for advice on how new forms of communication can transform business-to-business or business-to-customer relations.

Industry specialists will give you straightforward guidance on procuring social media, identifying ways the tools can be used to manage clients’ expectations, enhance business profiles and identify the best ways to generate and maintain interest.

So if you would like to finish the year off on a productive yet fun social high, why not join BCU for this exciting, afternoon event. Hear from those in the ‘know’ and top Brand Management agencies eager to pass on their expertise in the field of business and Social Media. You will also have the opportunity to discuss with other attendees your own, and their formulas for success making new connections for potential future collaborations.

This one day conference features top speakers sharing their knowledge in Advertiser Funded Programming (AFP), advergaming and other forms of brand-funded content. Get to hear from agencies, broadcasters, indies, gamers and other experts including Thinkbox, ITV, Maverick TV, Drum PHD, Ag8, Bebo and Codemasters.

Find out the basics around AFP, potential routes to market and all the pros and cons surrounding this type of funding. The event will also look at case studies featuring some of the most successful projects to date. So, if you are from a production company, digital or brand agency or games developer, this event is not one to miss.

Rustling Brands is on Wednesday, 25 November, from 11am until 5pm and takes place at Novotel Hotel, 70 Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2HT. This is a free event, but spaces are limited, so make sure you book early.

To book your place go to http://rustlingbrands.eventbrite.com/

On 19th October we kicked off some talk about local activity in Highgate, Birmingham with a preliminary social media surgery style session in Stanhope Hall, Ketley Croft, Highgate, Birmingham B12.

Things got off to a great start – about 12 people came along, including the local police and we created a site for the Stanhope Women’s Group that meet regularly in the community centre.

We’re going back there at 11.00am this Monday 9th November to work with the group on developing this site and talk to anyone else who is interested in creating or contributing to a community website. The session is open and completely free, so if you’re nearby and would like to learn how to create a website, or perhaps need help with a site you already have, please come along and talk to us.

On Monday the talk about local team went to Stanhope Hall in Highgate for a second session. William [Perrin – ed] talked to the group about how a website can help with local campaigning and getting their message across. We then worked with the Stanhope Women’s Group on developing the site they created during the first session.

The Stanhope Women’s Group plan to use their Wordpress blog to cover all the activity within the Stanhope Hall centre, which is a real focal point for the community. So much goes on there that is well worth bringing to a wider audience, such as their garden, which grows some of the food that’s eaten in their community lunches and the herbs for the womens’ group’s holistic medicine course.

We helped a member of the Highgate Neighbourhood Forum create a Wordpress blog to keep track of reporting issues to the council and making sure these are resolved.

We also spoke to the person behind Abacus Flats (Bradford Street, Digbeth) about how she can safely use her Wordpress blog to discuss reoccuring problems within the three apartment blocks, hold the property management company to account and create a sense of community amongst the residents.

It was a great follow-up session that let us delve a bit deeper into the potential of the community websites created once we had gotten past the initial set-up stages. We’ll be keeping in touch with the people we met at Stanhope Hall, giving them ongoing support and poping by every so often to enjoy one of their delicious community lunches!

Here is a roughly edited video of the session. Thanks to the TAL team.

With thanks to Nicky Getgood for the photographs.

In this special launch event, Flip will be asking what is the current state of the West Midlands’ animation industry? What are the highlights and achievements? How can we help the sector develop and expand at a time of recession?

It’ll include a screening of work from leading animation studios and individual filmmakers and a panel focussing on some of the achievements and highlights from the region.

The panel will include Chris Randall from Second Home Productions, who pioneered an innovative replacement animation technique, Andy Guest from The CharacterShop, who are involved in a number of international co-production projects, Sam Moore, filmmaker specialising in animated documentary and Dan Lawson, Head of Production, Development and Inward Investment at Screen WM.

This is a great opportunity to find out more about animation in the region, and to join the debate about how to help the sector develop and expand.

There’s an after party in the iBar, for drinks, socialising and live music from the Young Runaways. There will be laptops available to show work and showreels.

This event is co-hosted by Flip, BCU, Hello Digital and Animation Forum West Midlands.

All the artwork and reportage will be published and available for instant digital access. The two highly skilled artists and visual reporters will cover the event using WiFi-enabled digital tablet PCs that help them make the creative reportage. They can also work directly with individual speakers to provide drawn accompaniment to their presentations, with tailored artwork projected to a nearby screen as they talk.

With:
TV/film producer: Claire Ingham
Online Drama writer: Neil Mossey
Screen & Games writer: Graham Joyce

From the traditionally structured TV and film stories that attempt to appeal to wide audiences (which ITV controller Peter Fincham termed ‘3G’ – three generations watching together), to the 3D structures of games and online drama, this day-long course looks at new opportunities offered to writers by the rise of digital technologies. Suitable for writers, film-makers and drama practitioners interested in looking at new ways of telling stories across screens of all sizes.

Filmrats’ event on Wednesday, 28th October is a Halloween special! The event is fancy dress and the theme is you have to come dressed as your favourite dead celebrity, whether it is an actor, musician or a film character – it’s totally up to you! In addition they are only going to be showing horror shorts, so if you have made a horror film and you would like it screened in front of an appreciative audience then send them in and they will play them!

The night also has some great live bands performing, but they are always looking for more Singer/Songwriters, Bands, Poets, Comedians and Performance Artists, so if you want to showcase your talent then get in contact.

Those who wish to send in horror shorts on DVD format, please send them to:

Filmrats
Flat 3,
889 Bristol Road,
Selly Oak,

Birmingham,

B29 6ND

If you have any questions or queries feel free to contact the organisers via email: filmrats@hotmail.co.uk.

Orchestras controlled by cakes, devices that make the ebb and flow of data around us tangible, systems that respond to a wave of a hand to do something of no practical use whatsoever. Birmingham’s hackerspace fizzPOP joins forces with Howduino to host a room full of people recombining electronics, computer programs, cardboard and discarded junk items to make cool stuff do cool things in ways you never imagined. Join us and be part of the growing hacker and maker scene emerging around the UK.

There will be something for everyone – even if you’ve never soldered or written a computer program before. We will run workshops introducing beginners to the basics of the Arduino platform, guiding you through using a microcontroller to make stuff happen and to respond to sensors of different types. People with more experience can work collaboratively on self-initiated projects – head on over to our wiki pages to introduce yourself and discuss the sorts of things you’d like to work on.

The day will be focused on interesting people making interesting things happen, so pool your knowledge and skills and surprise us!

We’ll be taking over VIVID’s gallery warehouse space, so there will be plenty of tables and chairs. It’s up to you to bring your laptop (if you need one) and any bits and pieces you might need for your project. The exception is for the beginners’ workshops where we will provide all the components you need (including, in the case of the Gismos for Beginners, a Freeduino microcontroller) as part of the workshop price (see our wiki pages for more details).

Entry is free, but we’re encouraging people to make a donation to contribute towards the event and refreshments.

Tickets for the 40 available places will be released on Friday 6th of November on a first-come first-served basis. Likewise for the workshops. Sign up to the mailing list to get notification when the tickets are released.

• What are the critical success factors of a digital district?

• What does a digital district look and feel like elsewhere?

• How have digital districts been used to complement the success of established creative quarters?

• What has been the experience of diigtal districts in the recession and what role do they play in boosing economic growth?

• How have local authorities in Europe worked with stakeholders such as service providers, SMEs, universities and the local community?

• How can Birmingham learn from, and use, the experiences of other European cities?

UnLtd and 4iP have teamed up to help individuals develop early stage digital media ideas and prototypes. Together we will build the skills, capabilities and partnerships to turn prototypes into social businesses.

Membership to the Chamber is a cost effective way of promoting your products and services to a wide audience whilst also benefiting from a wide range of reduced cost commercial services in additon to the support and guidance available.

Originally an arts administrator, Helga studied for a law degree equivalent in 1995/6. She then qualified as a solicitor.ÿ A lawyer and former Associate at Wragge & Co, Helga Henrygained broad organisational understanding by working on secondment in-house with major blue-chip companies including British Airways, Novartis and BT.

She has extensive experience of Boards of management of arts organisations, being the Chair of Creative Republic, the new representative organisation for the creativeindustries and a director of Geese Theatre.

Helga is the NESTA supported fellow on the Clore Fellowship 2008/09. She was selected to train as an Action Learning facilitator by the Cultural Leadership Programme and has recently completed the Matrix Leadership programme organised by Common Purpose in Birmingham. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Commerce.

Screen WM invites you to join us for an evening of drinks, canapes, mingling and music after the Hello Digital Conference and to celebrate the launch of the public participation programme.

Venue – Sence Bar & Club, 70 Hurst Street, The Arcadian, B5 4TD

Shuttle buses will be provided from Millennium Point to Sence Bar from 5.30pm – 7pm

Businesses include:-

• Wiggly Wigglers

• Acuwomen

This will be a participation session which will enable members of the audience the opportunity to put forward or pitch their ideas as to how businesses can succeed as part of the UK digital economy.

The questions is: What one thing can you do to move your business and the region forward digitally?

The commercial potential of the modern digital world is vast, the smallest of organisations can now compete in the biggest of arenas. The Government’s published Digital Britain report sets out a vision of how the UK can move to a fully digital economy, but in this evolutionary time how ready is your business to make the most of the digital age and adapt to the changing media landscape. What skills or new business models or new ways of working do you need to adopt to be successful and competitive in a digital world?

This one day event is packed out with inspirational keynote and informative workshop sessions that have been themed to address both those businesses just starting out on their digital journey through to those innovating in the digital arena. Be part of the conversation and join us at Hello Digital for some real collaboration, thinking and innovation.

Book into our on-site digital surgery sessions to provide you with free genuine advice and help.

It’s going to be held at Britain’s oldest working cinema, The Electric, Birmingham, on Monday, 5th October at 8.30pm, featuring the rap/stand up stylings of Doc Brown and Holly Walsh live on stage, as well as a selection of the newest and funniest videos from the web in glorious high resolution.

There will also be a new video being premiered on the night, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

If you’re not already convinced, here’s what The Guardian said about Popcorn Comedy: “Popcorn Comedy does the hard work for us, offering a monthly selection of the strongest, sharpest and funniest videos online. And instead of the usual 320 by 240 pixels, here they’ll be transposed to the altogether more satisfying platform of a full-size cinema screen, and mixed with live performances.”

Tickets are at £6 each and can be ordered via The Electric.

This may include use of social media tools such as twitter, facebook, blogs, websites etc

If you would like to book onto these sessions email sayhello@hellodigital.net and indicate your preferred time.