{"id":132,"date":"2016-04-06T10:36:15","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T10:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/socialmedia\/?p=132"},"modified":"2016-04-06T16:23:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T16:23:36","slug":"a-new-home-for-the-arts-in-sheffield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/socialmedia\/2016\/04\/06\/a-new-home-for-the-arts-in-sheffield\/","title":{"rendered":"A new Home for the Arts in Sheffield"},"content":{"rendered":"

Early last year, Sheffield Hallam announced a long-term lease on Sheffield’s former Head Post Office<\/a>, a Grade II listed building that held many memories for local people. The building had sadly\u00a0fallen out of use for some years, and was now in need of some serious work.<\/p>\n

The renovated building would be home to students from the University’s Institute of Arts<\/a>, and they would be making and doing loads of creative and interesting projects in the space. The move was clearly a great opportunity to use our communications work to raise Sheffield Hallam’s profile and engage members of the public.<\/p>\n

\"Sheffield's<\/a>

Sheffield’s old Head Post Office<\/p><\/div>\n

We started the planning process by identifying some key aims that would drive our approach. They were:<\/p>\n

“Communicate Sheffield Hallam’s sympathy for the heritage of the building and surrounding area, and highlight our sustainable approach to our presence in the city region.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Celebrate\u00a0the Sheffield Institute of Arts and promote the outstanding teaching that is currently delivered by the Institute.”<\/em><\/p>\n

And the move into the space would clearly have a\u00a0positive impact on the student experience, helping to create a sense of community cohesion among our art and design students.<\/p>\n

So, with some objectives in place, we started to throw ideas around for a social media campaign. The concept that really stuck with us was the idea of the University creating a new home for the arts in the city \u2013 a space that wasn’t just for students but, taking into account the public gallery and caf\u00e9, would be for the people of Sheffield.<\/p>\n

And that’s why we settled on #HomeForTheArts as a way of aggregating social content. We knew that we wanted lots of visual content, and that\u00a0Instagram would play an important role for us.<\/p>\n

We were fortunate enough to have a brilliant photographer working with us, documenting the whole process. India Hobson<\/a>, who we’d worked with on other projects, was commissioned to photograph the restoration process at regular intervals, gaining access to all areas of the building.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Head Post Office interior, by India Hobson<\/p><\/div>\n

The next thing we did was seek out a few Instagrammers who were interested in architecture in the Sheffield area. We found a few, and messaged them to invite them to our very first Instameet. In the end, we took around 12 Instagrammers on a tour of the building, co-ordinated with our partners M3, who were overseeing the restoration.<\/p>\n

Well in advance of the tour, we sent them a brief, which included when and where to meet, \u00a0what to expect, what they would and wouldn’t be able to get access to, and what the hashtag for the restoration was. This ensured that we’d be able to aggregate their content, share it and help develop a narrative about the building’s restoration.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n
\n
View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Sheffield Hallam University (@sheffhallamuni)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n