The Story of Digital Voice: Susan Mulholland
Over the fifteen years we’ve been in existence we’ve collected a rather wonderful group of people who bring their skills and experience to our projects. Our freelance team is one of the aspects that make Digital Voice stand out from the crowd. One of those freelancers is me: I’m the copywriter and therefore have been behind this series of articles celebrating the team, and now I’m in the strange position of interviewing myself. Let me tell you a bit about my work for the organisation and what I’ve discovered about it along the way.
Currently, I’m the copywriter for Digital Voice, writing the majority of newspages and case studies as well as awards submissions (very proud to say that we won 3 of the 4 awards we were up for this year). When I’m not here, I’m a playwright and creative producer, having spent most of my career to date working in the theatre industry. I enjoy having a range of different projects to work on but they all intersect; they’ll involve writing; nurturing other people’s creativity; creating opportunities for young people. Digital Voice fits rather perfectly into that portfolio.
A great example of this intersection was the project we did as part of the Angel of the North’s 25th Birthday celebrations, part of a larger programme I was producing for Gateshead Council, which included an appearance on BBC’s Songs of Praise. I worked alongside illustrator and animator (and fellow Digital Voice freelancer) Laura Crow and a group of Gateshead’s Art Diamonds (a programme of arts activities for retired people) , to create a short animated film about the Angel. The result was a beautiful love letter to this brilliant piece of public art, I couldn’t stop watching it; definitely my favourite project so far.
Another way I work with the organisation is creating scripts for some of the DigitalMe projects, most recently for Rape Crisis Tyneside & Northumberland and Gateshead’s Citizen’s Advice service. In both of these examples, the brief to us is to take facts, figures or new legislation and translate it into more accessible language, as if someone you know well is giving you some advice. Although sometimes the subject matter can be hard to hear, I think it's all the more important that we’re here to give a platform and a voice to these stories.
What’s clear to me is that Digital Voice’s values run through the organisation, its programmes and its team of people. Whilst we’re all bringing different skills and experiences to the table, the common thread is that we want to make a difference to people’s lives, as Julie says “We’ll bridge the digital divide with one person, one iPad at a time if we have to.”
Because of this, I’m really proud to say ‘we’ and to be part of the team.
Here’s to the next fifteen years.