Digital Works Podcast

The fourth in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie discuss 3 (actually 4) things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.

In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on November 10th.

We talk about:

• Internet Artifacts
• This TechCrunch article "App Store for AI: OpenAI’s GPT Store lets you build (and monetize) your own GPT" 
• An essay from journalist, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist, Om Malik,  "The Social Internet Is Dead, Get Used To It"
• A piece in The Verge from Amanda Chicago Lewis, "The people who ruined the internet"

You can sign up for the newsletter at thedigital.works.

A chat with Zoe Williams, the Head of Communications and Fundraising at the Vagina Museum in London.

We discuss their successful recent crowdfunding campaign, we also explore how they've harnessed the power of digital platforms to reach a global audience, built a robust community online, and how they’ve carved out their niche in the digital sphere.

As ever this work isn't without its challenges, and Zoe doesn't shy away from discussing these.  From discussing the effects of social media censorship to unearthing their content strategy for overcoming these hurdles. to dealing with trolls and more negative online engagement.

A really fascinating, frank, and funny conversation.

You can find the Vagina Museum online via their website https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk

The third in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie discuss 3 things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.

In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on October 20th.

We talk about:

• "The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging With Elon Musk’s X" by Dave Lee
• ChatGPT can now see, hear, and speak
• The release this month of version 2.2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 

When we discuss ChatGPT we also touched on this piece from Kevin Roose in the New York Times, and this speech from Mo Gawdat at the Nordic Business Forum.

You can sign up for the newsletter at thedigital.works.

The second in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie discuss 3 things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.

In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on September 22nd.

We talk about:

• The End of the Googleverse - Ryan Broderick
• Skyrim Mod Uses AI to Give NPCs Memories - Marc Keever
• How to understand your current digital costs (Budgeting for digital, Part 1 of 3) - Cat Ainsworth

You can sign up for the newsletter at substrakt.com/digitalworks. 

A conversation with George Montagu, Head of Insights at  FT Strategies. FT Strategies is the consulting arm of the Financial Times. 

George and I talk about the shift from print to digital at the Financial Times and the related shift from ad to subscriber revenue, how leadership at the FT galvanised the entire organisation around a single goal (getting to 1 million paid subscribers in 3 years), changes in journalist workflows, the 'creative enabler' effect of digital working, the role of data and insights at the FT and creating meaningful blended metrics (and taking inspiration from Tesco Clubcard), and the work FT Strategies did with the National Theatre on the NT At Home platform.

• George's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgemontagu/
• More about FT Strategies - https://www.ftstrategies.com/en-gb/about-us/
• More about FT Strategies work with the National Theatre - https://www.ftstrategies.com/en-gb/case-studies/supporting-the-growth-of-the-national-theatres-new-on-demand-streaming-platform/
• More about NT at Home - https://www.ntathome.com/

The first in our new series, Bytes, where Ash and Katie will be discussing 3 things from the latest Digital Works Newsletter.

In this episode we'll be discussing some of the links in the newsletter that went out on August 29th.

We talk about:

• 'How to Blow Up a Timeline' - Eugene Wei 
• ' We need to tell people ChatGPT will lie to them, not debate linguistics' - Simon Willson
• 'Social, Behind the screens' - GWI and 'ABC exiting Twitter: Australia’s national broadcaster shuts down almost all accounts on Elon Musk’s X' - The Guardian

You can sign up for the newsletter at substrakt.com/digitalworks. 

A conversation with Fran Sanderson, Director of Arts Programmes and Investments at Nesta (which was originally set up in 1998 as the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts).

Fran is in the process of exploring a major shift in the way Nesta goes about making investments in the arts.

We discuss the funding landscape for culture in the UK and the changes that need to happen. We explore  what effective funding for digital projects might look like, how the cultural sector could think differently about value, risk appetite, new business and investment models, how the sector views popularity, learning in the open, and loads more.

Here is more information about some of the programmes and schemes that we mentioned.

• The RSC Rothschild Foundation Digital Fellowships
• Audience of the Future
• Nesta Digital R&D Fund for the Arts
• Nesta Digital Culture Survey

And here is the trailer for David Byrne's American Utopia.

An incredibly wide-ranging conversation with Seb Chan, CEO and Director of ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image).

Seb talks about his background in community radio, 'looking under the hood' of the early internet, the importance of experience-focused roles in museums, the power of cultural leaders developing a 'digital imagination', understanding the importance of capital in predicting where the future is heading, and loads more.

Prior to joining ACMI as their first Chief Experience Office (CXO) in 2015, Seb led digital change projects at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum of Design in New York. Seb is Adjunct Professor, School of Media and Communications, in the College of Design and Social Context at RMIT, an international advisory board member of Art Science Museum (Singapore) and board member of the National Communications Museum (Melbourne). He is an alumnus of the Getty Leadership Institute, Salzburg Global Seminar and UNSW.

A conversation with CEO and Creative Director of The Space, Fiona Morris. 

The Space was founded in 2013 by Arts Council England and the BBC and is now an independent not-for-profit organisation. The Space's primary goal is to enable the arts, culture and heritage sector to engage audiences using digital and broadcast content and platforms. Over the last 6 years The Space has commissioned 300+ digital projects from arts organisations around the UK. 

Fiona and I discuss what makes a successful digital project, how digital programming requires a shift in thinking, the importance digital skills, rethinking value propositions, investment, and the meaninglessness of the word 'digital'.

A chat with Maaike Verberk, Managing Director of DEN, the Dutch Knowledge Institute for Culture & Digital Transformation. 

We talked about digital transformation, the importance of being open to new ideas, the value of really understanding your audiences, the traits of organisations where good digital stuff is happening, and loads more.