We’re pleased to announce, in our second post of this series, that following the success of our first Coffee Roulette, we are launching a second round and its going to be even bigger and better!

Round One

It was clear from the results of our COVID-19 Impact Survey we circulated a few weeks ago, that the pandemic has profoundly affected our members and their ability to manage and make accessible their performing arts collections. With more than 50% of responders telling us they had been furloughed it was clear that many were feeling more isolated and unsure of the future, whether working or not. As a response we launched our first Coffee Roulette for all members, which proved to be very successful, with more than a quarter of our members taking part. It was wonderful to connect with others in our field and not only meet people we haven’t seen in a while but also learn about how other organisations or individuals are handling this situation.

Encouraged by some great feedback from participants we are now launching a second round of Coffee Roulette. This time we are connecting with theatre archivists in the US through the Society of American Archivists to give APAC members an international perspective on what’s happening within our sector. This will be a great opportunity to widen out networks and learn from colleagues with the same passions and challenges as us.

How Does It Work?

You tell us that you’d like to take part, we then match you at random with another member from across the UK and Ireland. You both then agree on a date and time and medium to get in contact with one another for a phone call, video chat or online messaging – whatever works best for you. It’s totally up to you what you talk about. You can start with chatting about your performing arts collections and organisations and the impact the pandemic has had on them, but feel free to chat about anything whether it’s the veg patch you started during lockdown, getting a haircut or the box sets you’ve been bingeing on. This is a chance to connect, learn, and hopefully raise a laugh or two. We hope it will continue to build networks across APAC and across countries, provide the opportunity to find out about what’s happening outside of your own organisation and bring people together who may not usually have time to take a break together. 

How Do I Participate?

To take part simply email us (info@performingartscollections.org.uk); email our Secretary, Steph (Stephanie.rolt@roh.org.uk); or Direct Message us on Twitter (apac_ssn) by Friday 17th July 2020 to say you’d like to be involved. The APAC Trustees and SAA reps will organise the pairings and, once we have enough participants, we will be in contact to tell you your coffee roulette partner(s) and then it will be up to you to organise. We will pair people randomly and by signing up you are agreeing to share your email address with the organising team and your roulette parner(s).

We look forward to hearing from you!

The APAC Board

Posted: Sunday, November 8th, 2020
Tagged with: Announcements Project

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