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Keynote speakers

Professor Katy Shaw

Director of AHRC Creative Communities

Prof Katy Shaw is Director of the AHRC Creative Communities programme, Professor of Contemporary Writings and Director of Cultural Partnerships at Northumbria University.

She works with the British Academy; sits on the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority’s Strategic Advisory Board; is a Senior Associate Producer with Tedx Soho; sits on the British Council Creative Economy Advisory Board; is a BFI Research Advisory Board Member; and Chairs the Wellcome Trust Humanities ECR fund.

AHRC Creative Communities is a £3.9 million research programme investment by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Hosted by Northumbria University, it explores how co-created culture can enhance belonging, address regional inequality, deliver devolution, and break down barriers to opportunity with cross-sector communities in devolved settings across all four nations of the UK. 

Join the DCDC community and learn more about Creative Communities’ work to capture the inspiring explosion of collaboration and connectivity that can unlock the full potential of our great arts and culture. Be inspired by the programme’s mission to create a stronger, fairer economy and society for the future.

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Tom Cramer

Director of Digital Library Systems & Services, Stanford University Libraries

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Tom Cramer is the Chief Technology Strategist, Associate University Librarian & Director of Digital Library Systems & Services for the Stanford University Libraries.

He directs the technical development and delivery of Stanford’s digital library services, including digitization, preservation, discovery and access to digital resources, as well as the LOCKSS program.

He is also the President of the Open Library Foundation, founder of the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF), co-founder of Blue Core and the ai4lam, LD4 and Samvera communities. 

Join the DCDC community and learn more about Tom Cramer’s work with IIIF. IIIF standardises the delivery of images and audio/visual files from servers to different environments on the web where they can then be viewed and interacted with in many ways. Be inspired by IIIF’s mission to enable portability across viewers, and the ability to connect and unite materials across institutional boundaries.

National HIV Story Trust

Co-founders Nick Thorogood and Paul Coleman

Nick Thorogood and Paul Coleman – co-founders of the National HIV Story Trust (NHST) – will be joining the conference to talk about their organisation’s project, HIVStory. This first-of its-kind project will also raise further awareness of the AIDS pandemic and generate positive social change, particularly with younger generations who may have little or no knowledge of this period of history.

Through a combination of live and virtual events, participants will gain access to an often-overlooked part of the UK’s heritage, enter into discussion, and learn about the current issues around HIV – largely through the power of first-person storytelling. The programme will also offer skills training to local communities, with the opportunity for three young persons to start an apprenticeship in the heritage sector.

This three-year project has been created in association with The London Archives, The Royal College of Nursing, Newcastle University and the University of Central London; thanks to a grant awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Nick Thorogood’s career has been focused on mass communication, firstly through television production, where he created content for most of the major broadcasters in the UK. His passion is to make sure brands create narratives that drive interest and engagement and believes passionately that the legacy stories of the NHST must not be forgotten but told and retold.

Paul Coleman is a BAFTA nominated TV Director and Producer. Having himself lived through and survived the AIDS pandemic of the 80s and 90s, he was inspired by the incredible testimony of those who have taken this same journey, and the stories of those who were lost. As Co-Founder of the NHST he is incredibly grateful to all those people who support the charity, and who have joined him in ensuring the testimony and history of those times can never be forgotten.

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Our Collective Futures

Plenary Panel

Désirée Reynolds (Creative Director, Dig Where You Stand), Dr. Aleema Gray (Founder, House of Dread), and Jess and Matt Turtle (co-founders, Museum of Homelessness) are joining the DCDC community on Tuesday 29 July to discuss ‘Our Collective Futures’. 

Listen to our panellists share more about their innovative and inspirational work across the GLAMA sector, each of whom are working with and for communities to affect positive change and secure histories for the future through activism, education, practice, research and creativity. With time for questions and discussion at the end, the ‘Our Collective Futures’ plenary will leave DCDC delegates feeling invigorated and empowered as we head into the following two days of the conference. 

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