CALL FOR PAPERS FOR

SEMINAR 4

DISCOVERING THE VIKINGS

28TH-31ST JANUARY, 2017

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SHETLAND, UNITED KINGDOM

Location

Shetland Museum & Archives

Hay’s Dock

Lerwick

Shetland

United Kingdom

ZE1 0WP

Project Description

Follow the Vikings project is a multi-faceted project to promote, celebrate, transfer knowledge and skills and facilitate the exchange of tangible and intangible cultural material relating to the Viking World. This Seminar “Discovering the Vikings” under Work Package 3, is the fourth seminar to be held under the umbrella of the Destination Viking Association project ‘Follow the Vikings’.

Shetland, described as the “Grand Central” of the Viking World, is rich in Viking culture and archaeology. Unst, the most northerly island in Britain, is thought to be the first foot-fall of Vikings in the North Atlantic. There are the remains of at least 60 longhouses, the highest density of rural Viking sites anywhere, including Scandinavia. Travelling through Shetland today, you can see that many of the place names come from old Norse.

Shetland’s Viking heritage is celebrated each year with Up Helly Aa, a local festival that now attracts visitors from around the world and attracts an audience of 22,000 via an online broadcast.

The seminar will be organised by the Shetland Amenity Trust.

Contents of the Seminar

A seminar will be held in Shetland in January 2017 to bring together the experiences of the participating partners on the Branding, Promotion and Destination Marketing of the Vikings under the Follow the Vikings brand heading.

·  The Viking Brand Identity - How do we stand out from the crowd? We seek papers on the practical application of branding and the development of ambitious marketing campaigns to attract new audiences. These may be presented as talks or as workshops.

·  Use of Social Media - In this session we will look at various forms social media and how to run a successful campaign. Papers can either be presented as talks, or as workshops.

·  Vikings in Popular Culture/Media Representations - A look at how Vikings have been portrayed in film, TV and other popular culture forms over the years. This will be looked at in conjunction with how research has played a part in a more authentic representation in recent times.

·  Destination Marketing & Follow the Vikings - Vikings have never been so popular, but how do we use them to attract visitors to Vikings sites across a large geographical area? How can we work together to promote sites across the network?

There will be a presentation on the development of the project website.

Reception of Papers

The deadline to send the papers is 11th November 2016. In order to make a presentation, a document must be submitted, including the following information:

·  Title

·  Summary of the main ideas and statements (200-400 words)

·  Brief CV and contact information (address, e-mail, phone number etc.)

All abstracts will be evaluated and those accepted will be published prior to the seminar.

The supporting material for the presentations will preferably be PowerPoint and the language will be English.

Information & Contact

Helen Smith

Follow the Vikings Project Manager

Shetland Amenity Trust

Garthspool

Lerwick

Shetland

UK

Phone number: (+ 44)1595 (Monday to Friday)

E-mail:

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