Co-presenter Masha Artamonova
The last two years has seen a significant change in the way we share information to broader audiences. Face-to-face conferences and forums have been replaced by on-line events to share stories and results from the work we do, with many of these forums now recorded for people to re-engage with later. In this project, we explored options to make the videos from an online science forum as impactful and engaging as possible. Using a combination of illustration skills, whiteboarding software, website design and plug-in software features, we were able to create an engaging environment for audiences to interact with sixteen world-leading environmental flow presentations. These presentations ranged from fish, turtle and waterbird movements, through to ecosystem energetics and vegetation responses to environmental flows. Our approach of using an illustration to highlight the different themes across the presentations was an overwhelming success, with the interactive webpage becoming a drawcard for people wanting to find out more about water for the environment. As recorded forums become increasingly popular, we feel that our approach provides an innovative, engaging and exciting way for audiences to connect with recorded sessions. The lessons we have to share from this project include the importance of having a diverse range of skills and experience when considering how best to engage with online audiences, and secondly, being prepared to move away from the status quo to try new approaches. This experience has motivated the team to continue exploring new and innovative ways to engage with audiences online.