Hurricane Film Visit

Introduction:
Last week two members from Hurricane Films presented a question that related to their company to our class, in order for us to research and answer them in the best way possible. The part of their company that they focused on was their 'People's Stories' website. 'People's Stories' is a website devoted to collecting old photographs, film footage and most importantly stories from people around the Merseyside area who have an interesting story to tell.

The website (which was launched in October 2010) www.peoples-stories.com requires members to sign in and create a account. The service is free to use and has around 1000 members to date. The demographic for this website and concept are an older generation although it has a world-wide appeal. The question posed from Hurricane Films was 'How do you encourage users, especially those from an older generation to participate?' and 'How can you engage an online audience in storytelling?'


The website relies on users to provide content as it is almost a virtual archive and was described by Hurricane as a 'live time capsule'. Although there is already content on the site, Hurricane Films are eager for people to produce more content and generate new, fresh stories. It is essentially a platform for a community of users to share their life stories and experiences with each other which is why it is essential that more users sign in and participate.


The demographic will be the main reason that Hurricane Films are short on members as the older generation have not been used to the digital age of computers and the internet and some research would be have to be carried out to enable us to have a clear idea on how many people in Hurricane Films target demographic use the internet or furthermore how many own a computer.


'People's Stories' has a small advertising methods but nothing on a large scale. They go to reading groups and coffee mornings that their target demographic also attends in order to gain new stories. They also bring computers and show users how to access the website and how to update content. This as imagined can be time consuming and it would be beneficial if there was a bigger advertising campaign as if more members join, Hurricane Films simply cannot go around and communicate with all their users.


Conclusion:
Overall, research needs to go underway to find out why the free service that is being offered is not being taken advantage of. However, along with engaging an older generation, Hurricane Films are eager to involve a younger demographic as their stories will be valuable in years to come.


The questions posed need a lot of research behind them in order to generate new ideas and solutions for 'People's Stories' and research into possibly funding opportunities would be a great help as 'Hurricane Films' have not secured any funding for this project.