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Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Finds a Voice Online

The 2009 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is turning to social media to help expand the reach of this year’s event and to find their voice online.

The theme of this year’s festival is Suka Duka: Compassion and Solidarity. Festival Director Janet De Neefe stated, “In line with the theme, our goals include extending the reach of the Festival and making it more inclusive. We hope to use social media as an additional means to engage the Festival participants and to reach out to those who are not able to physically attend all the events.”

In support of their social media efforts, the Festival established a presence on the social network Facebook and the microblogging platform Twitter. People are invited to follow the Festival on these channels where they can be notified of breaking announcements and news. Janet De Neefe notes, “we particularly like Facebook and Twitter as these channels give participants a chance to interact with each other and to give us direct feedback on the various aspects of the Festival.”

“In addition to our website, social media channels like Twitter and Facebook enable us to provide a richer experience and build stronger relationships with our supporters, sponsors, and the festival participants. We’ve also set up sites on YouTube and Flickr where you can find media from last year’s event,” added De Neefe.

Social media strategy for this year’s event is coordinated and executed by water&stone and ClearWhiteSpace -- two local Bali firms that have teamed up to offer social media marketing services.  “We’re looking forward to adding a new aspect to this year’s Festival. The use of social media creates another dimension to the event and hopefully gives people a new way to make a connection with the Festival,” noted Jo McFarlane of ClearWhiteSpace. “During the event itself we will be on the ground in Ubud posting online updates, news and highlights, as well as providing up to the minute information about event or venue changes.”

This year’s Festival will run from 7 to 11 October in venues in and around Ubud. This is the Festival’s sixth year. More than 80 Indonesian and international writers and journalists join the event. Activities are spread over four days, and include panel discussions, literary lunches and dinners, writing and cultural workshops, book launches and bi-lingual readings. A youth program runs simultaneously to the main program, and will include writing and creative skills development workshops led by local and international guest writers. The program targets children and young adults from age 3-18.

You can follow this year’s Festival online at the following locations: