Introducing DigitalMe Discusses…
DigitalMe is already one of Digital Voice’s most successful and versatile programmes, working with diverse groups of vulnerable people who are often ignored or afraid to talk, supporting and enabling them to find their voice and speak to audiences through personal digital avatars.
Never shy of difficult subjects, Digital Voice has partnered with leading organisations in their fields to bring powerful subjects to the attention of decision makers, the public and service providers. These include Your Voice Counts, Success4All, Newcastle and Gateshead local authorities, Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland, Northumbria Police and the NHS.
With the pandemic making in person engagement impossible, Digital Voice was quick to adapt DigitalMe to virtual delivery, and while social media provided opportunities to still share the work, it was felt that the issues and participants deserved a broader platform to explore and showcase their work and create opportunities for it to have a real lasting impact.
Following on from the huge success of the Digital Voice and Connected Voice collaborative online conference in March 2021 - Engaging Your Audiences More Effectively – the pilot for the online launch event for DigitalMe was planned for the same month. Titled DigitalMe Discusses: Disability Hate Crime (in partnership with Your Voice Counts) the Zoom based panel event featured a diverse group of speakers including disabled people and their advocates, representatives from transport, local authorities and policing and MP for Blaydon Liz Twist. Also in attendance was an audience of over 40 health, community and disability professionals and volunteers, carers and people with lived experience of disabilities and disability hate crimes.
The formal recorded event ran for an hour, including the premiere of the DigitalMe Disability Hate Crime film (funded by the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner) which was discussed and celebrated by the panel before questions were taken from the audience. Following this there was informal and unrecorded time at the end for peer support and networking which the attendees found valuable.
The disability hate crime panel discussion is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN0kbmTkpZQ&t=32s
The DigitalMe Disability Hate Crime film is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjZiss6FkNQ&t=22s
After the success of the DigitalMe Discusses pilot, a follow up event was immediately planned for April – DigitalMe Discusses Race Hate Crime, made in partnership with Success4All and Gateshead Youth Council, and again funded by the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner.
The panel consisted of campaigners as well as people with lived experience of racially motivated hate crime, joined by MP for Newcastle Central Chi Onwurah, who shared her own personal experiences of hate crime. Also in attendance was an audience of over 25 activists, professionals, volunteers and people with lived experience of race hate crime.
Once again, the DigitalMe Discusses atmosphere was supportive and positive, with the panel and audience facing challenging issues with a collaborative and progressive approach and again an opportunity was left following the recorded portion of the discussion for attendees to access follow up signposting, support and networking.
As before, the panel event added an extra dimension to the discussion, an opportunity to challenge what it means to be living in Britain today as someone from an ethnic minority background. It allowed a supportive space for people to share their stories and life experiences of racism and race hate crime and how to report and prevent it.
Both DigitalMe Discussion events also featured weeklong social media takeovers taking place via Twitter and Instagram, which brought the Digital Voice message of digital inclusion and the themes of race and disability hate crime to brand new audiences and offered opportunities for further engagement and exploration of the issues.
The race hate crime panel discussion is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEWEiVbZhEk&t=608s
The DigitalMe Race Hate Crime film is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYqwQWlzWbk&t=6s
Digital Voice will continue to offer DigitalMe Discusses events as an added-value extra to the DigitalMe package, and the next event is already being planned, themed around refugees and presented in collaboration with North Tyneside Council in June 2021.
