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Digital Events: FAQs

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Producing Durham Book Festival 2020 digitally has been a learning experience for all of us here at New Writing North – this time last year we never imagined that we’d be creating and delivering a festival entirely online!

We’ve noticed that there are a few common issues that people are having when accessing our events, so we thought we’d pass on some of the tips we’ve learned over our opening weekend, to make sure that you get the most out of streaming our events.

We know that there are so many ways that people are accessing our content, from watching on their desktop computer to viewing via their phones but we’ve done our best to summarise some universal tips below:

  • The streaming platform we’re using this year is called Crowdcast. You can set yourself up with a password when you register, which you can then use to access any subsequent events.
  • If you are using a desktop, laptop or tablet, we’d recommend accessing Crowdcast via your browser, rather than downloading the app.
  • If you are viewing via your phone we recommend using the Crowdcast app.
  • People are having varying experiences with different browsers – we have had good experiences using the latest version of Chrome. However, if the browser you are using doesn’t seem to be working properly, try switching to another one, such as Safari or Firefox – they are all free to download.
  • If you are struggling with the display on your tablet, try rotating it to change from portrait to landscape. Similarly you may want to try switching to and from full-screen mode -some people have reported they only see the chat function when in full screen mode.
  • If you are using a tablet or phone, remember to scroll down the entire page to complete the sign-in process.
  • Once you are logged into your event, if it doesn’t start to play at the listed event start time, you can hit play in the bottom left of the screen. Refreshing the page can also help.
  • Remember to check the volume on your device is turned up and that the sound isn’t muted.
  • Remember that all our events are available to watch again at your leisure and free-of-charge, until 1 November. You can find our past events here.