“Social Slam”: a creative community

“Social Slam”: a creative community

The "#WirVsVirus Solution Enabler" project “Social Slam” is a platform that facilitates digital performances for artists and organisers, supporting a creative network and community.

Artists, musicians, actors – they all live from the interaction with an audience. That audience has always been on-site in galleries, clubs or theatres, providing immediate feedback. However, due to the coronavirus outbreak and consequent restrictions, many artists are missing opportunities to earn money with their creative work.

Comedy, concerts, slams – these are happening via other established digital platforms such as Twitch. But there is an uneven distribution of money and there is no real feedback from the audience. Furthermore, people who would otherwise have met at local events are at home, artists and the public are isolated.

Supporting artists in crisis

Social Slam” is a platform for artists and event organisers encompassing several branches of the creative industries. It enables them to present their work effectively during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond, to reach their audience, and to network with other artists, organisers, and supporters.

The project developed as part of the German “#WirVsVirus hackathon”, where 14 people worked for 2.5 days on finding the answer to the question of how people in creative professions can be supported.

Denise Löher, Graphic designer at “Social Slam” says,

“I am impressed how smoothly we managed to implement the project idea SocialSlam together in a team of 11 strangers. We have a common goal in mind to which each individual can contribute with his or her individual skills. Personally, I learned a lot about working in a team, especially in these difficult times of social distancing. It is a great experience to see how we can work together as a team and support each other with the help of collaboration tools and video calls to make SocialSlam happen.”

The accomplishments of the “Social Slam” team are further illustrated within their hackathon pitch video.

“#WirVsVirus hackathon” video pitch

Activate JavaScript to see the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J80HenlHXWo&t=25s

“Social Slam” is a platform where creative people both present content, as well as interact with artists from similar or overarching areas and viewers. Furthermore, the platform can provide financial support for local artists and offer a cultural entertainment programme that conveys a sense of community in times of social isolation.

Inclusion and community

The project particularly supports any artists community in going online. While “Social Slam” is a space for local artists and organisers to stream their events, the audience, applauding and interacting – is essential. Therefore, the platform aims to put all these pieces together. 

Nakhon Phimmasane, UX-Design, Graphicdesign declares,

“Social Slam is especially for all those creative minds in your neighbourhood regardless of the art form. Making music or present poetry together, who knows what fantastic talents are out there. Maybe you’re a multi-instrumentalist with eight arms who also likes to do magic blindfolded?”

The current Team consists of: Alina Mirwald: Design / Denise Löher: Design / Emil Fuhry: Concept & Organisation / Esther Helena Arens: Concept & Financing / Felix Dürrwald: Programming / Halvard Mørstad : Programming / Lani Nguyen: Organisation & Artist Contacts / Marc Piper: Programming / Mariana Friedrich: Concept & Texts / Nakhon Phimmasane, Design, UX / Simon Rabenstein: Design, Organisation

Message from the team: “If you’d like to contribute, feel free to contact us! We´re still looking for developers.”

“Social Slam” is currently working on developing the final product as soon as possible. They are part of  the “#WirVsVirus Solution Enabler” programme, initiated by the social acceleration platform “Project Together“. With the Vodafone Institute as one of its funding partners, the programme aims to quickly implement the most promising solutions and digital prototypes.

About the “#WirVsVirus Solution Enabler” programme

The “#WirVsVirus Solution Enabler” is a six-months implementation programme for 130 selected innovative solutions developed for coronavirus-related challenges. The programme that is supported by the Vodafone Institute with startup funding, know-how and digital expertise, encourages projects from 12 action fields, such as health, everyday life and crisis management, to successfully implement their solutions on a broad scale. The Institute supports the project teams with individually tailored support by providing access to the Vodafone corporate network. Particularly the startup programme Vodafone UPLIFT with their PACESETTER offering supports the teams in the areas of IT infrastructure, public cloud, IoT solutions and individual consulting. The programme under the patronage of the Federal Chancellery has started working with the projects on April 8 of 2020. Find further information here.