Public Projects
Below is a list of current, recent and upcoming public projects under the direction of Dancing Ink Productions:
The British Council
DIP is developing an exciting new cultural relations project for the British Council to be announced in autumn 2010.
Battery Dance Company
DIP is thrilled to be collaborating with New York ‘s Battery Dance Company on an innovative new cultural relations effort.
IBM: Smarter Work
Rita J. King is Innovator-in-Residence at IBM’s Virtual Analytics Center. Follow this space for updates on her work there.
The Linden Lab Second Life Case Studies
In 2008, Rita J. King began collaborating with Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life in telling the story about how brick-and-mortar companies were using Second Life very creatively and successfully. The collaboration has resulted in an ongoing series of Case Studies, in which Rita J. King is the writer, exploring the Return on Investment (ROI) of virtual worlds.
1,000 Inches in Loveland
Loveland is an art project, an economic development event, and a philosophical experiment in micro-real estate. NPR’s Sarah Hulett asked Rita J. King how Loveland might benefit the local population in Detroit. She replied “I don’t know yet, but in order to find out I’ve opened up a block of 100 inches within the 1000 inch Imagination Age neighborhood in the Plymouth colony, a network that includes many notable residents already, including IBM Senior Research Fellow Grady Booch, WIRED writer Alexis Madrigal, filmmaker Josh Asen and educator Liz Dorland, to name a few.”
Driving the Future of Education
Funded by a grant from the Richard Lounsbery Foundation. This ongoing project is concerned with the state of digital workforce preparedness US highschools are providing their students. The project explores the state of Louisiana as a case study.
The Virtual Newsroom at the American University in Cairo
This project explored the intersection of journalism and technology in virtual worlds with a team of Egyptian Political bloggers and was funded by a grant from USAID. Dancing Ink Productions built a virtual newsroom for the American University in Cairo’s Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research, DIP developed and produced journalistic case study projects such as virtual press conferences, including the first ever press conference in the virtual world of Second Life with the US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy. Efforts were documented in machinima documentary style in collaboration with Ill Clan Animation Studios.
Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds
A yearlong investigation into the power of virtual worlds for foreign policy, public diplomacy, storytelling and cultural dialogue as it relates to better understanding with Islamic communities worldwide. This project resulted in a trilogy of products including policy recommendations on the utility of virtual worlds for public diplomacy; a mini documentary about examples of culture, collaboration and community in virtual worlds; and a graphic book chronicling the quest.
The Power of Collaboration: Manpower’s First Anniversary in Second Life
Research, writing, analysis and mixed media production for Fortune 500 company Manpower, Inc., exploring and celebrating their first year in the virtual world of Second Life. Dancing Ink Productions developed and built a full-scale, immersive location to explore how the world of work was changing with the advent of immersive spaces. DIP also produced and hosted a live simulcast event featuring executives from Manpower, Harvard and Linden Lab, including specialized machinima videos about the event and a formal written analysis.
Brookings Institution: The Doha Forum
DIP produced this mixed media, multi-platform, intercultural dialogue event for the Brookings Institution’s Doha Forum, on location in Doha, Qatar. The event included Howard Gordon, showrunner for “24″; Nashwa Al-Ruwaini, host of the popular top-rated Abu-Dhabi-based talk show “Nashwa”; Ambassador Cynthia P. Schneider, and Iranian hip hop artist, Yas who performed with Palestinian hip-hop artist Muhammed Mughrabi of the group “G-Town.”
IBM: From the Firepit to the Forbidden City: An Outsider’s Inside view of IBM’s Virtual Universe Community
A yearlong investigation chronicling and exploring IBM’s virtual universe community, resulting in a major report.
