Welcome to Ipskay. This page is not a sitemap at all, but rather an overview of what is going on here and how to use the Ipskay scenario.

The Ipskay City Council Website and the 'Virtual Ipskay' pages, along with the 'Ipskay News' archive and the 'River Underground' blog, are entirely fictitious extrapolations inspired by actual council Websites in regional Queensland. All similarities with real cities in Queensland or elsewhere, and with persons living or dead, are entirely coincidental. No Ipskayans were harmed in the making of this Website.

Ipskay is by no means perfect. It is a thoroughly average regional centre - with its own history, its high- and lowlights, and its many quirks - and in the same situation as many other cities of its kind: it must find its own way of attracting and keeping its population, its industry, and its population. The city architecture is purposefully unfinished, but no more or no less so than it would be in real cities.

As an aspiring media and communication practitioner hoping to build a career for yourself in this city, it's your task to develop feasible Creative Industries projects which the City and Business Councils would be interested to fund. In other words, it's up to you to turn this place into a creative city, and perhaps even into a place where you might like to live!

(This scenario is influenced by ideas ranging from Fat Cow Motel, Sim City and Monopoly to Queensland cities like Ipswich, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Brisbane.)

Creative Town: How to Explore This Place

The four connected websites which make up this scenario - Our Ipskay, Virtual Ipskay, Ipskay News and the River Underground blog together form a virtual creative town for students in the unit KCB101 Communication in the New Economy, providing a basis for your project ideas.

The current version of Ipskay is that of a regional Queensland country town with some potential for diversifying the local economy. This potential is due in the main to the growth of tourism in the area, brought about by the new Ipskay Marina development and the opportunity to draw tourists to the town as a jumping off point for the Bay Islands. Further opportunities are also provided by the closure of the iron mines and other elements of the local ironwork industry, and the continuing decline of farming. Ipskay must attract new industries if it is to guarantee employment opportunities to its citizens. The creative industries are an obvious opportunity here. Media and communication professionals can play a crucial role in cohering and effectively communicating the case for 'new' economy and 'creative industries' development.

Therefore, the town is 'raw material' for you, the Creative Industries entrepreneur. Build on its history, explore new opportunities, or suggest projects which do the groundwork by conducting a thorough analysis of the local environment. Previous project proposals can be viewed on this website and on the KCB101 Blackboard website.

The Ipskay scenario recognises that two skills areas are crucial for any CI practitioner. Whatever your professional communication discipline, it is highly likely that your career will see you work on a project-by-project basis with a variety of public and/or commercial funding organisations. As a media and communication professional, you will either need to generate project ideas and successfully propose them prior to carrying them out, or you will be involved in assessing project proposals that other hopeful practioners have submitted.

This scenario enables you to build and practice these skills: first, you will be able to form a team of applicants and propose a project to the City or Business Council of Ipskay, thereby showcasing your abilities to generate and communicate exciting project ideas which take into account the existing local environment; later, we will turn the tables and you will work as a Council analyst, evaluating a proposal which has been submitted to one of the Councils and assessing its feasibility.

How to Go about This:

• Thoroughly explore Ipskay - become familiar with the place, find its strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities. Imagine moving to this place - where would you want to live, where would you like to work, what could you do here?
• Gather a good group of 3-5 students from your tutorial, and develop a creative industries project that you feel could get council funding. Make sure you address the selection criteria for the program of funding to which your proposal is directed: Business Council or City Council projects!
• Ensure you have done as much background research into the current state of the town as possible - if the information isn't available on the Website, ask the Council using the Ipskay Q&A forum.
• Make sure you take into account the relevant creative industries theory and research - use the unit readings and your own additional research. Also investigate potential avenues for additional funding to make your project sustainable beyond the Council's initial funding commitment.
• Check the sample proposals for previous successful City Council and Business Council projects to see how to present your projects (or look at previous proposals posted on the KCB101 Blackboard site).
  
• When it comes to evaluating project proposals, much the same applies (but you will be working individually rather than in a group): you will still need to be intimately familiar with Ipskay as well as relevant new economy and creative industries theory, but now you will use that knowledge not to imagine new project ideas, but to check that a proposed project is feasible and appropriate in the current Ipskay context.

Additional Notes on Funding:

Check the funding opportunities provided by bodies such as Arts Queensland, Australia Council, Australia Research Council, the arts foundations of large companies, or the Queensland State Goverment Department of State Development. Look around - there are many more!

The Councils will not fund the acquisition or rental of real estate (because buying and renovating a space would be too expensive) - but they may be interested in feasibility studies for larger urban development projects.

Assessment Details:

Councils' Call for Projects

City Council Requirements
Business Council Requirements

Sample City Council Project
Sample Business Council Project

Ipskay Q&A Forum