Dear colleagues
I would like to add my experience to this discussion, as I have been
dealing with this challenge: how to make the content (and experience) of
conferences available to “everyone”.
Last May we hosted the International Conference on Design Support -
IWDS2006, in Wales (UK). It was well attended by 100 people from 23
countries worldwide. Since then, we have been receiving requests for
material about the workshop, its papers and discussions.
We also have an extra reason to be concerned about the sharing of
information: the IWDS 2006 was part of the activities of the SEEdesign
network, which is an EU funded project with the aim of sharing information
widely.
After investigating our options, we decided to exploit our chances with
technology. We produced a Podcast programme, which summarises the meeting
into a 60minute programme. One of the advantages of this was that
Questions&Answers sessions could be included, which cannot be done on
printed conference proceedings.
The programme is available for download from the SEEdesign website
(www.seedesign.org). So far we have had a good response, except for a
couple of people who struggled with the “technology instructions”. We will
supply the programme directly to them.
We intend to produce Podcast programmes for the next 3 workshops that will
take place until the end of next year.
This is our attempt to make our conferences available to more people. Of
course there is more to be explored (e.g. people being able to contribute
to the conference from elsewhere). Moreover I still agree with Chris Rust
that the experience of attending the meeting, the network and informal
exchange of ideas is the main benefit. Unfortunately it can be an
unaffordable cost for some people.
I hope it will add to the discussion. If you are interested on design
support, promotion programmes and design policies, please visit
www.seedesign.org and download the programme. And if you can give me your
feedback on this experience, it will be more than welcome.
Best regards
Gisele Raulik
Design Wales
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