Scarborough Lecture - Pitching and Blogging

Today was the first lecture for the Creative Music Technology Course (Scarborough Campus, University of Hull). Following on from last years successful project, I am acting as the client/consultant for the students as they attempt to produce some exciting interactives for the Rotunda Museum. This year they are working with some more of Clarke's Charms, helping to show to the public 'charms of the sea'.

Carved bone Intuit Good Catch Charm (c) Scarborough Museums Trust

During the lectures today I covered two main topics: pitching ideas and blogging. The following links and sites I found particularly useful in pulling together the overview for the students.

Scott Berkun - How to pitch an idea
A great rundown of the techniques to use, including an overview of the classic 5 second (the film Chicken Run - "Great escape for Chickens"), 30 second (Elevator pitch) and 5 minute pitching templates.

TED: Ideas worth spreading
Technology, Entertainment, Design - TED shows how you can get across almost any idea, in as little as 18 minutes. A fantastic, inspirational set of online lectures available for eveyone to watch and be inspired. If you need to get a flavour, then this 'Best of ' compilation will get you hooked.

Garr Reynolds Presentation Tips
Avoid 'death by powerpoint' by following these tips for a more 'zen' like approach. This presentation tips handout is essential reading.

Present like Steve Jobs
Love or hate Apple, you can't deny that Steve Jobs has presenting down to an artform. This site has a video that talks you through some of his main techniques.


The result of this project will be a two week installation at the Rotunda.

Next week the students will be pitching their ideas for interactives and creating short videos to send to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

Apollo Creative on BBC News

Following an update on the economy from the Bank of England this morning, the BBC News team have been on site at the Knaresborough Technology Park to talk to businesses. Mark was interviewed for a live broadcast immediately following Mervyn King's press conference at 11.40. He was also interviewed for the World at One broadcast on Radio 4.

Both reports featured our demo and testing room playing the Jungle theme. The television report also showed one of the portraits from the 'Me, Myself and MRI' exhibition, with Christine Talbot making an appearance on screen towards the end!

Apollo reaches shortlist for York Press Business Awards

After four months and several hundred entries, the finalists for The Press Business Awards were announced today.

Apollo Creative has reached the final three in the Best Business and Higher Education Link category, sponsored by the University of York. It reflects the work done by Apollo with colleges and universities across the region. You can get a taste of this by reading the company blog.

The judges will now meet the finalists in each category before the winners are announced on the 18th November at York Race Course. For a full list of finalists and to read the profile on Apollo Creative, see The Press website.

MRI talk at Archbishop Holgates School, York

This morning I gave a talk at Archbishop Holgate's School, York on MRI technology as part of my role as a STEM Ambassador. Together with Kirsty Halliday from Geodesic Arts, we talked the pupils through the 'Me, Myself and MRI' project and specifically the process of undergoing an MRI scan.

The talk was sponsored by NYBEP and links in with the launch of the new education website for 'Me, Myself and MRI'. The exhibition is currently split between Archbishop Holgate's School, the York Neuro-imaging Centre and the Knaresborough Technology Park.

Inspirations at Elvington

Today Ben and I attended Inspirations 2010 held at the Yorkshire Air Museum - one of the events run by NYBEP to encourage STEM work (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).  We ran an exhibition stand allowing the school groups and teachers to have a play with the Apollo Ensemble and control some sounds and lights. The stand also featured one of the pieces from the 'Me, Myself and MRI' exhibition, allowing people to see how the Apollo technology could be integrated into different applications.

You can just see the edge of our stand on the right of this photo, dominated by the fantastic 'Angel of the North' sculpture by Bradford Girls' Grammar School pupil Amber Thiara.

We were really pleased to see that one of the students we had been working with from York College had his work on display as part of the competition. You can see a photo of Daniels full scale mock-up of an alternative Ensemble Hub enclosure on the Inspirations website.

International Conference - Music Technology: Solutions to Challenges

Apollo was happy to support and exhibit at this recent conference held at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in London. The two days attracted a wide range of people from across the globe, all keen to share ideas and experience.

I was also on the organising committee for the event and was pleased to help with some of the early preperations. Congratulations should go to Dr Wendy Magee and Phillipa Denning for such a smoothly run and informative event.

It was particuarly interesting to get feedback from music therapists about their expectations for technology and especially encouraging that so many were interested in the Apollo Ensemble.

Scribble New Media Orchestra

The Scribble New Media Orchestra has been put together by Music Links in Kendal, Cumbria. Using a whole range of musical instruments, sessions are open to 13 to 18 year olds with the aim to have fun and make music. The Orchestra includes an Apollo Ensemble kit including the Ensemble16 and a range of switches, helping make music accessible to all abilities.

The project also makes use of the Mobile Interactive Lighting and Sound system designed in collaboration with KidsOut.

The picture (courtesy of the Westmorland Gazette) shows students from Sandgate School playing with the equipment - you can read the full story in this news article from the Westmorland Gazette.