Family Events; Practices, displays and intimacies
By Thomas Fletcher

An unprecedented exploration of the intersection of events and family studies, Family Events uses events as a lens through which to explore the concepts of families, family practices, family displays and family intimacies. Family Events explores the idea that how families come to be and, moreover, come to be defined as ‘families’ relies on events: whether that be via ‘family events’ – those which serve to celebrate being part of ‘my’ family – (e.g., birthdays, weddings, funerals), ‘events experienced as a family’ (e.g., a holiday or day trip) or ‘events which impact families’ (e.g., recession, war, global health emergency). Family Events brings together contributions from the social sciences, leisure and event studies which focus on a variety of different event contexts, including the life cycle, death and illness, sport, holidays, and community and religious festivals. Family Events offers a multitude of insightful perspectives on the intersection of events and family studies, and is a valuable resource for academics and students with a research interest in events, leisure and the family.

Routledge, 2022

Live Audience Accessibility & Augmentation

Live Audience Accessibility & Augmentation (‘LAAA’) is a knowledge exchange and community engagement project led by Adrian Bossey and delivered by Cornwall Business School in association with AMATA. LAAA aims to evaluate audience experiences of engaging with authentic ‘live’ music performances, including those augmented with haptic technology which transforms sound into felt vibration. Attendees at LAAA events will be invited to experience Beat Blocks a new Bass flooring system which transforms sound into felt vibration. Creating a unique experience for everyone, a more welcome physical sonic environment for the Deaf community and anyone with sensory impairments. LAAA activities will take place as follows:

Wednesday 17th May 2023:

In Place of War presents: Around the World in 80 Raves featuring FREE live performances from Deaf Rave AND student performers Ghetto Orange + Lobisen. The performances will be followed by an in-conversation event between Suzanne Bull, founder of Attitude is Everything and Adrian Bossey, Head of Business & Experience Design at Cornwall Business School. The conversation will explore increasing access to live music for performers and audiences who are Deaf or disabled.

Thursday 18th May 2023

ASONE Hub presents: Deaf Rave DJ Workshops for schools and community groups at 10.00AM and 13.00PM in AMATA Studio E. The workshops will offer attendees the opportunity to experience Woojer Haptic Vests whilst developing DJ-ing skills and will also provide access to AMATA Music student ensemble performances which can be experienced using the haptic flooring.

In-conversation event between Lucy Evans, Producer and Events Manager for In Place of War and Adrian Bossey. The conversation will explore the Around the World in 80 Raves project.

Friday 19th May 2023

MUSSA presents: Haptic Thresholds: Feeling the World Through Sound at 09.00 in AMATA Studio E A haptic sound installation by researchers working at the intersection of soundscape ecology, aural diversity, voice studies, and sound-based composition. This series of works explores how haptic sound may offer different perceptions of the human and non-human world at the threshold of sensation and affect. 'Haptic Thresholds’ is an experiment in how the body feels and knows through corporeal encounters with frequencies and vibration.

Visit Cornwall and Services for Tourism present: Accessing Culture & Tourism Workshops 1 and 2 at 13.00 in AMATA Studio E. This in-conversation event with Rowan James, founder of Beat Blocks, will explore increasing access to live music and culture/visitor attractions for performers and audiences who are Deaf or disabled.

Haptic Flooring demonstration at 15.00 in AMATA Studio K

Featuring: Haptic Thresholds: Feeling the World Through Sound AND student performers Achilles Heal + The Beau Bennett Collective. This demonstration is intended to support local businesses considering enhancing their provision to people who are Deaf or disabled.

LAAA will facilitate additional student workshops/talks for Falmouth University students and provide subsidised places on the Attitude is Everything course to attendees from visitor attractions and/or music venues. This course is designed to improve industry practices around accessibility for people who are Deaf or disabled at live events.

Adrian Bossey said: The LAA Project provides a fantastic opportunity to consider ‘liveness’ in music performances and explore access to music with global implications.

Doing Gender in Events: Feminist perspectives on Critical Event Studies

By:   Barbra Grabher

Description:

Exploring the relationship between gender and events, this book delivers an ethnographic analysis of the celebration of gender equality in the context of the culture-led event. Drawing upon Critical Event Studies, Anthropology of the Festive and Gender Studies, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of the entangled, conceptual entities of gender and events.

Through a gendered analysis of the culture-led event, Hull UK City of Culture 2017, this work expands epistemological perspectives relevant to the study of events in general and City/ Capital of Culture initiatives in particular. Driven by a feminist, collaborative methodological approach, the book draws on four years of ethnographic, qualitative research in the city of Hull and its celebration of the title, UK City of Culture in 2017 and provides an in-depth analysis of how audiences engage, performances enact, and infrastructures condition the production of cultures of gender equality in the citywide celebration.

This will be a valuable resource for upper-level students and academics in the field of Event Studies, Cultural Policy, Geography, Anthropology and Gender Studies.

Routledge (2022).

Gameplan: Maximising the social impacts of events

By Neil Ormerod, Lucy McCombes, Thomas Fletcher, Jennifer Rawson and Jim McKenna

Colleagues at Leeds Beckett University have collaborated with City of Doncaster Council on a free ebook focused on maximising the social impacts of events. ‘Gameplan’ is aimed primarily at practitioners, though will useful as a teaching resource and as a ‘how to’ for students.  It represents the accumulation of five years’ work, research and learning across a portfolio of major events hosted in Doncaster. In addition to the ebook, there are additional templates and resources to be used alongside. It can also be read and downloaded as a PDF from:

https://getdoncastermoving.org/gameplan

We hope you use it and find it useful.