Ben R. Atkinson

Today, I’m excited that the website project I have been working on for the British Association for American Studies, has been delivered and a new website for the association has been launched. I have been working on this project, single-handedly, from design through to build and launch, for just over a year. Drawing on my knowledge of web design, development and digital media, and my time running my own creative digital agency for several years, has really helped with what has quickly developed into a huge project.

In March 2021, I was delighted to take up the opportunity of working with the British Association for American Studies after successfully applying for the part-time post of Digital Networks Manager. The role, new to the association, was introduced to manage the growing digital infrastructure within BAAS. This includes the association website, membership system, email, and Weekly Digest mailing list. The role also has some responsibility for social media, working with others on the executive committee to ensure that our social media channels are updated regularly and that we engage with the wider American Studies Community.

Last year, I had the opportunity to work on a project which was delivered in partnership with School of Computer Science at the University of Lincoln and lead by Andy Beggan, Dean of Digital Education. In my role as Digital Education Developer, I lead a group of student developers from UoLCompSci as we set out to build an innovative new app for first year students transitioning into University life. The app formed part of the wider Lincoln First Year project and was a pilot run with 500 students across four programmes. The project also set out to establish if the use of Low Code technologies (software that allows those without coding experience to build software in a visual way) could be a viable solution for building mobile apps quickly and professionally.

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As we draw to the end of the decade and the 2010s morph into the 2020s, I thought it would be nice to take a look back on the last ten years and pick out some highlights from my professional life. In the next two blog posts, I’ve split the decade in half and chosen one key event from each year that has really shaped me. I started the decade aged 18 and on the cusp of leaving home to move to University. Ten years later I’m still in the same city, beautiful Lincoln, and have carved out a career in media and education. There is still a long way to go, but the journey has been fun – it’s good to take a moment to reflect sometimes.

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