Growing the Research Retold community

by Research Retold | Jun 28, 2019 | Blogposts

In this week’s blog, we recap some of the events we engaged with in June.

Beyond our workshops at the University of Sheffield, we’ve seized opportunities to meet new people and grow the Research Retold community.

The events mentioned in this post include:

the IABC Leeds Summit 2019
a full-day workshop on communicating research beyond academia at QMUL
our first meetup on fake news and disinformation

We look forward to nurturing the relationships we started this month over the coming months and years.

1) IABC Leeds Summit 2019: Future Forward

We attended the IABC Leeds Summit 2019: Future Forward on June 10th. This event was a joint collaboration between the Leeds University Business School and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

This was a special event because our Head of Marketing, Isabel Regino, was the Vice President of the team behind the IABC Leeds Summit 2019. I went to support and celebrate the hard work that Isabel and the committee put into organising this event.

During the event, I attended two masterclasses. Matt Nowell, Senior Manager at EY People Advisory Services, delivered the first masterclass. Matt talked about organisations can use design thinking and social analytics to transform employee engagement and retention.

Rachael Pearson, Communications Specialist at Morissons delivered the second masterclass on fake news.
She mentioned that today we receive 47% more notifications than 10 years ago. Yet, as people become more bombarded with messages, they also become desensitised to spotting fake news.

The conference closed with a keynote from Jonathan Chippindale, CEO of Holition. During his keynote, Jonathan talked about the convergence between technology and storytelling.

He also showed us various case studies on the work that they do at Holition and how they have used digital technology to curate and elevate consumer experiences.

At the summit were also showcased our collaboration with the Leeds University Business School from our two successful internships. The first cohort of interns between Oct 2018-Feb 2019 and the second cohort during Mar-May 2019.

On the one hand, the internship has been a success for us in that we have activated our brand and developed a stronger online presence.

On the other hand, it has been great to mentor young people and to create learning and skill-building opportunities for them (which have led them to secure full-time graduate roles!)

2) Queen Mary University of London Workshop

On June 13th, we collaborated with Dr Gale Raj-Reichert on a full-day workshop on ‘Communicating the impact of research beyond academia’ at Queen Mary University London. I delivered the workshop to a select group of academics working on socially responsible procurement.

In this workshop, we helped the researchers get clarity on their group’s mission statement. Moreover, we offered a framework for developing effective summaries based on their research. The small number of participants allowed for rich discussions and debates. After the workshop, the participants described the time spent together as ‘a treat for their mind’.

Glimpse from our full-day interactive workshop today @QMUL with @GaleRajReichert @Tessawright9 @rosierawle & Dr Caroline Emberson about communicating research on socially responsible #procurement beyond academia. The research network is launching soon! Great session & energy 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/UITEYvxtIe

— Research Retold (@ResearchRetold) June 13, 2019

3) Meetup on fake news and disinformation

Last May, we partnered with Richard Ashby, CEO of Dotkumo, to host a fun, interactive event as part of the Leeds Digital Festival. At the event, we talked about fake news and disinformation and shared insights on the insidious and widespread nature of fake information online. Moreover, we provided practical exercises to help attendees determine how well they could spot fake news online.

#LiveNow we’ve kicked off our Alternative Facts event with @Dotkumo #LeedsDigi19 #fakenewsleeds @LeedsDigiFest pic.twitter.com/NlRijSAN45

— Research Retold (@ResearchRetold) May 1, 2019

During the event, we mentioned a free 1-hour course from First Draft News that anyone could take to be more informed about tackling fake news online.

A month later on June 20th, we organised an informal meetup at The Tetley to talk about the course and exchange insights on fake news and disinformation. During this informal meetup, we talked about the different implications of fake news, disinformation and technology in the media.

Moreover, we touched upon interesting topics such as how augmented reality is disrupting the norms of social media today, and the challenges that these present today.

Ultimately, fake news shows us that we have to be vigilant when we engage with online content. It also brings into question what platforms such as Facebook and Instagram (among others) are doing to keep up with these changes, maintain transparency, and promote digital literacy.

“Detecting fake news online is hard and it’s going to get harder. It’s complicated and accelerating at an even faster pace. To cope with this, I try to become more purposeful when using social media platforms.” – Rob Whieldon

Looking ahead at the next half of 2019

June has been a whirlwind month. Through the myriad of events, we’ve stayed optimistic about all the new things coming our way. W have also enjoyed the growth and positive response we’ve received from our community.
We’re enthusiastic about the second half of 2019 and we want to get involved in some new projects. We’re also keen to develop new services and new ways to engage our community.