22 February 2013

Dundee set for new culture of jam

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) will next week play host to a 48-hour 'Global Services Jam', one of more than 100 such events taking place across the globe simultaneously.

Thousands of artists, designers, and services professionals from 47 countries will create services, products and initiatives around a common theme, which will be announced by the organisers at the time of its launch on Friday, 1st March.

The Global Service Jam is described as a non-profit volunteer activity organised by an informal network of service design aficionados, with a shared passion for growing the field of service design and customer experience. The first event took place in 2011, and this year's Dundee Jam will see 80 people create innovative new service designs, as they connect with thousands of others from around the world.

After forming teams, participants will have less than 48 hours to develop and prototype completely new services inspired by a shared theme. At the end of the weekend, their collection of new services will be showcased to the world.

The event takes its name and ethos from musical jam sessions when players bring their instruments and see what inspiration serendipity brings.

Paula Grubb, a 4th Year Interior Environmental Design student at DJCAD and one of the organisers of the Dundee event said, "This will be a creative, energetic event that uses the latest design methods in a spirit of collaboration to develop new service ideas.

"These could be health services, commercial services, community services and new business ideas. It is proven to work as a great way of creating new insights and possibilities.

"This is not exclusively a student event. Already we have attracted a broad range of people to take part - hospital workers, community activists and small businesses. We will show how people working together creatively can help develop bold new solutions to problems that face us all.

"The Jam is about connecting people both locally and globally. We will be using live video links to share our event with others from Los Angeles to Loughborough, Kathmandu to Kampala. For 48 hours the world is visiting Dundee. and why not - we are the city of jam after all!"

GSJ Dundee opens at the Matthew Building at 5pm on Friday, 1st March and will come to a close at 6pm on Sunday 3rd March.

More information is available by contacting Paula at dundeeservicejam@gmail.com or on 07949 573914, or by following the Jam as it unfolds on the @gsjdundee Twitter feed or on the Dundee Services Jam Facebook page.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277