Last week was a week of achievements. Along with Sam Coley, Andrew Dubber and Paul Long I have been short-listed for the Impact Awards, which “celebrate the success of collaborative working and the process of transferring knowledge and expertise beyond higher education and public sector research establishments for the wider benefit of society and economy.” Our work as AHRC Knowledge Transfer Fellows has been chosen as one of the five finalists for the Business Impact Award, for our partnerships with 27 radio and music organisations. Evidently there were 73 entries overall, so it’s quite an achievement to get this far.
Other business impact shortlistees include universities working on intellectual property, cancer therapies, medical monitoring treatments, and nanomaterials, so we are feeling quite proud to be in this sort of company, and that work in the creative and cultural industries is seen to be as valuable as work of this sort of social value.
You can find out about our work on the New Strategies for Radio and Music Organisations elsewhere at this site. We have undertaken some really interesting projects, including some that we believe have made a real difference for small businesses, and some that have had some noticeable social influence. Whether they have commercial or community objectives, all the organisations we work with face the challenge of adapting their activities to the new social media and interactive technologies that we research. We believe that, by understanding the communities that can be built through these technologies, something worthwhile can be developed for such organisations and the people they serve.
It is certainly a real pleasure to work with such creative colleagues as Sam, Andrew and Paul, and they have helped design some really imaginative projects for our partner organisations. These ideas have then been turned into working prototypes by our technical development team, led by Jon Hickman. Nick Webber and Siobhan Mullen keep us focused and well-organised, and new team members Jez Collins, Katie Butler, Elizabeth Short and Simon Barber are making sure we deliver on our promises in a timely fashion. It’s been a real team effort, and it’s nice to know our achievements are recognised beyond the partners who directly benefit.