Creative Technology Northland started in a booth at Beagle Radio in March 2018. It was then that Matt Keene of SAAs Digital and Dr Maggie Buxton of Awhiworld came up with the idea to start this group. Both knew locals working in the industry and saw an opportunity to join the dots, promote the burgeoning sector and build capacity across a vast network.
Our first meetup was TechWeek 2018. On a stormy night at ONEONESIX nineteen people turned up to eat snacks and share their mahi. From there, a Facebook group was formed. That group now has over 300 members.
A core group of active members now meets regularly behind the scenes to create a yearly programme of events and activities, including exhibitions, talks and workshops. This website, a Facebook page and related group represent the wider community.
Mentorship and support of younger members and students and capacity building of professionals are two core activities. All projects work to promote the sector to a national audience and advocate for local procurement and support for creative technology in Te Tai Tokerau.
Creative Technology is a multidisciplinary field that includes engineering, hobbyist electronics (e.g. Arduino), hacking, making, UX, digital storytelling (interpretation), digital/coded design, most forms of modern media and communication, tech entrepreneurship and invention, and creative arts that have a coded/digital component (e.g.cinematography, digital post-production and visual manipulation, interactive installation, animation, midi, experimental sound etc.).
The diverse nature of the field means that despite outside funds that have facilitated specific events, the Creative Technology Northland network remains firmly independent. We also resist the temptation to form a traditional ‘trust’ or other entity. Our goal is to stay relevant to our sector through being agile, inclusive, and collaborative and by doing things for ourselves and taking risks.
For more information about Creative Technology Northland, contact Dr Maggie Buxton (maggiebuxton@gmail.com). To join – go to our Facebook Page.