About The CultureCode Initiative about

A series of free events will be taking place between February and March 2012 designed to create an opportunity for North East cultural and digital communities to work closely together, increasing their understanding of each other’s work and the mutual benefits of collaboration. These events will connect leading North East cultural organisations and practitioners with software developers and creative technologists to see what amazing things happen.

Whatever your level of technology knowledge, if you are interested in the opportunity to potentially maximise your audience and increase your tools for innovative communication then this project is for you. As a Cultural professional you don't need to have any previous experience of digital, you don't even need to have an IT department, we will have specialists on hand to guide you through this process every step of the way.

The CultureCode Initiative will take you on a journey of exploration, culminating in a 24 hour marathon ‘Hack’ (nothing to do with Hugh Grant or the News of the World!) where teams of developers and designers will work with you to create something of genuine value to your organisation.

The first event, CultureCode Boutique, is an inspiring and jargon-free session to enable you to meet some of the most imaginative and user-friendly digital professionals and to introduce you to the rules of the game for the Hack weekend in March and prime you as to how you can take part.

The second event, CultureCode Encounter, is where we meet the techies, geeks and digital specialists. Curated for developers and designers this event explores the unique opportunities that collaboration with cultural organisations can offer.

The CultureCode Salon will bring the two groups together to seek mutual solace and inspiration. Inevitably, this will be in a pub.

The final event at the end of March is the CultureCode Hack, a 24 hour pizza-fuelled marathon where developers and designers will experiment with raw data and ideas from cultural organisations, and look to build innovative new applications for your audiences.

To participate you don’t have to be a huge cultural organisation and you don’t need an IT department.

The CultureCode's Initiative’s approachable team of ‘Specialists’ will be on hand throughout to offer you advice and support.