2. What is the Geeks-In-Residence programme?
• A funded opportunity worth up to £6k for developers and designers to work with a Scottish
cultural organisation on an innovative prototype project you’ve come up with together
• Whatever your discipline, as a Geek-in-Residence you’ll be expected to do main activities as part
of the role:
• Exploring (c. 10%) Working together with the Host to identify a project opportunity that best
uses your talents to explore an area of interest of theirs
• Making (c. 60%) Creating a tangible prototype as an output of the residency
• Coaching (c 20%) Developing your host’s understanding of development or design by sharing
aspects of your methods, your thinking, your networks and your world
• Sharing (c 10%). Documenting your experience through SyncTank - the Sync online magazine
• This is an experimental model which is looking to help Scottish cultural organisations evolve the
way they related to technology, design, technologists and designers. It is designed to attract
developers and designers who are interested in being part of that mission, not those who are just
looking for any kind of work.
This opportunity will best suit an articulate, self-starting developer or
designer based in or near Scotland with at least 3 yrs experience and
who is comfortable working on experimental & collaborative projects
3. The skills and experience for the role
Essential
• If you are a developer, you can have either front-end or back-end expertise
• If you are a designer, you can have a specialism in UX, IA or service design
• You have a portfolio of interesting and innovative work going back at least 3 years
• You understand what the Sync programme is trying to achieve and want to be part of the
community working towards its vision
Desired
• You have a history of speaking, blogging or writing about your area(s) of expertise/interest
• You have an active interest in at least one of performing arts, visual arts, music or literature
• You can offer a dayrate which offers your best value to the Host and to the Sync programme while
still being commercially viable
This role requires a creative self-starter who enjoys collaboration,
people-facing roles and responds well to high levels of trust
4. Things you should know before applying
• There are five cultural Hosts in 2012 and each Host is allocated £6k (inclusive of VAT) to be spent
on the time and expenses of the Geek or Geeks matched to them
• It will be expected that £6k will cover 10-20 days of time including expenses
• Allocations are to be spent by December 15th 2012
• How the allocations are spent time-wise is to be determined by the host and the geeks, e.g. the
residency may all take place in a few weeks or it could be spread out over several months
• Geeks may be assigned more than one cultural organisation
• Geeks may be matched with another developer or designer
• Geeks are assigned a producer from the core Sync team to provide guidance & independent
support
• While they may work as part of a company through which they bill their time, Geeks-in-Residence
applicants apply as named individuals
• Some of your time will be spent on-site with the Host and expenses for travel are included in the
overall 6k budget allocated to each Host
This role requires a creative self-starter who enjoys collaboration,
people-facing roles and responds well to high levels of trust
6. Host 1: Scottish Opera
About Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is Scotland’s national opera company and the largest
performing arts organisation in Scotland. The Company is celebrating its 50th
anniversary in 2012/13 – with its first performance having been a production
of Madama Butterfly at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow on 5 June 1962.
Scottish Opera has a prolific education programme which reaches 36,000
people of all ages and background each year as well as an exciting practice in
experimentation and prototyping through Five:15 - Operas Made in Scotland a
five-year research and development project to find the next generation of
opera-makers, composers and librettists.
Framing for the Scottish Opera Geek-in-Residence
Scottish Opera intends to pair its Geek-in-Residence together with its first ever
Composer-in-Residence, Gareth Williams. The Scottish Opera Geek-in-Residence
will work with Gareth to design, develop and test a digital approach by which
music and singing can be used to support connection, communication and
socialisation for people with the chronic condition of cystic fibrosis.
Residency to take place between August and December 2012
Primary location: Glasgow
www.scottishopera.org.uk
7. Host 2: macrobert
About macrobert
macrobert offers a huge variety of activities for all ages in the heart of the
University of Stirling Campus including live performances, movies, workshops,
exhibitions, birthday parties, a fully licensed café, bar and restaurant and one
of Scotland’s top pantomime offerings for the festive season. The very best in
live entertainment combined with an excellent choice of movies sits alongside
some of the most exciting programming for children and young people in
Scotland; all presented in a relaxing, family friendly venue with facilities second
to none.
Framing for the Scottish Opera Geek-in-Residence
In October 2012 macrobert will deliver a festival of performing arts, ranging from
theatre to bands, scratch performances to comedy, that appeals to teenagers and
students. The macrobert Geek-in-Residence will work with them to explore
developing a prototype that can creatively engage audience members in the
festival prior, during and following their attendance at the live event.
Residency to take place between June and October 2012
Primary location: Stirling
www.macrobert.org
8. Host 3: Eigg Box
About Eigg Box
Eigg Box will be a workspace on Eigg for island-based artists and creative
businesses to share with visiting artists from Scotland and beyond. Currently
in development, for island-based artists and creative businesses, Eigg Box will
mean means somewhere better to work, companionship and creative
collaboration and a working environment with fewer distractions and more
focus than the kitchen table. And for visiting artists, Eigg Box will means
coming to join a vibrant and supportive group of like-minded creative souls
and experiencing and being influenced by Eigg community life.
Framing for the Eigg Box Geek-in-Residence
Eigg Box is a project in development and the Geek-In-Residence will be a
prototype residency for the initiative. The project prototype is likely to be one of
two sorts - either a creative way of showcasing and encouraging the talents of
Eigg residents through music or photography or a system where local and
mainland artists can collaborate. Please note that in Eigg electricity is capped at
5kW use at any one time in domestic properties and 10kW in businesses and
wired broadband download speeds are up to 6MB.
Residency to take place between July and December 2012
Location: Eigg
www.eiggbox.com
9. Host 4: Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
About the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is a spectacular event which having first
taken place in 1950, has an annual attendance of c. 217,000 people with 35%
of those from overseas. The Tattoo is performed every weekday evening and
twice on Saturdays throughout August and remarkably has never been
cancelled due to inclement weather. An international icon with an annual
television audience of 100M people worldwide, the Tattoo is one of the twelve
festivals comprising Festivals Edinburgh.
Framing for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Geek-in-Residence
Currently undergoing an extensive review of their digital estate, the Royal
Edinburgh Military Tattoo will work with their Geek-in-Residence to identify
innovative interventions appropriate to their unique offer, audience and setting
which can be prototypes and potentially scaled up for 2013.
Residency to take place between June and December 2012
Primary location: Edinburgh
www.edintattoo.co.uk
10. Host 5: Stills
About Stills
Stills opened in 1977 as Scotland’s first gallery specialising in contemporary
photography and have since extended their facilities to provide high quality
photographic darkrooms and digital production facilities in Scotland. Their
integrated programmes illuminate the fascinating medium of photography,
exploring everything from its technical and aesthetic developments through to
the central role it plays in contemporary culture. Production and exchange
form the heart of our activities as their work with artists and audiences to
catalyse the creation of new ideas, artworks and dialogues.
Framing for the Stills Geek-in-Residence
Stills are interested in their Geek-In-Residence exploring innovative solutions
to three general areas - deepening their engagement with specific user groups
such as tourists and young people/students, increasing the use of their
intangible asset of advice and expertise and increasing the use of their
tangible asset of their photography reference library.
Residency to take place between July and December 2012
Primary location: Edinburgh
www.stills.org
11. Before applying please make sure
you have read and understood
the following information.
It’s kind of important.
12. Key information for applicants
• Mobile and web developers of all kinds and UX/UI and service designers are eligible for this
opportunity
• Choice of the successful applicants is at the discretion of the core Sync team
• While people working within companies and agencies are fully eligible, applications have to be
made by you as a named individual
• You may be assigned to more than one cultural organisation
• You may be matched with another developer or designer so that the Host has access to a team
with a wider set of skills and therefore may not receive the Host’s £6k allocation all yourself
• The Sync team may ask you for additional information to support your application
• Sync reserves the right to contact applicants should any future similar or related opportunities
arise during the course of the programme
Before submitting your application, you will have to check a box to
confirm you’ve read and understood this information
13. Apply by May 8th at
welcometosync.com/geeks/apply
14. What happens now
•Geek recruitment to closes May 8th
•Longlisted applicants interviewed Skype/F2F by May 31st
•Hosts matched with their Geeks-in-Residence by June 15th
•Kick off, prototype development & delivery (June 15th-Dec 15th)
•Residencies complete by December 15th
15.
16. Sync is a new two-year programme for the
cultural sector in Scotland – all about making,
prototyping and innovation in the space where
culture, technology and design meet.
Sync consists of the landmark Culture Hack
Scotland event, a Geeks-in-Residence
programme and SyncTank the future-facing
online magazine.
Sync is supported by Creative Scotland and you
can find out more at www.welcometosync.com
