Abdul Basha’s Post

🔉 🎶 New Case Study Alert: "Sounds Better With You" Bristol Beacon 🎶🔉 How do you flip the script and put audiences at the heart of live events? That’s exactly what we did for Bristol Beacon, celebrating the energy and unity of every performance. We worked with the team to elevate the brand post-reopening. The goal? To reinforce its core values of unity and joy while appealing to a diverse audience from occasional concert-goers to classical music lovers. ✨ The Result: https://lnkd.in/eQWzxCui

Music is good medicine

An amazing professional AND an amazing human being! You can read more about Dominick Amendum in my feature in #UNCG Magazine! #UNCGway #UNCGalumni

The launch of the Sunderland Music Strategy featured an excellent panel discussion. This event, in partnership with the North East BIC, explored the music industry, business opportunities, and available support for running a business in this field. The panel included Sunderland music icon David Brewis, of Field Music fame, Carly Davidson, Global Tour Manager, Dr Darren Henley CBE, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, and Lena Ingwersen, Managing Director of Music Cities Network, and was chaired by Frankie Francis from Sunderland Music City. To watch the discussion, follow the link at the end of this post.

I had a blast seeing #GauntletAtTheGarden in #MSG. Being with 20,000 fellow D&D enthusiasts inspired me to explore how AI could innovate this beloved game. Reflecting on the SAG-AFTRA strike and backlash to Wizards of the Coast using AI generated art, this is a topic which must be approached with careful consideration. I don't think the solution is to avoid using AI in creative spaces, but rather finding the right way to use it. AI cannot replace players or writers; however, it can reduce barriers of entry for new players, consolidate knowledge through easy access to rules and references, and anticipate problems that make the game less fun. Here are 5 ideas I think are buildable to enhance home games: 1) Character Sheet Generator: Making a character sheet can be tedious and confusing. I've seen many new players get frustrated and give up before finishing a level 3 character sheet for their first one-shot. Imagine typing “a mischievous elven rogue who grew up in a city of thieves and loves storytelling.” The AI then generates a statted-out character sheet you can refine as you see fit. 2) Text-Based Search for Creatures and Items: Simply type, “Find a cave dwelling creature that’s gross looking, not too strong for Level 5 characters, and has night vision” and let the AI comb through a database to spit out the top 10 matches. I can't be the only one sick of filtering through the online databases manually. 3) Encounter Check and Recommendations: Input your party’s stats, monsters, and relevant details about the encounter to see if the AI predicts your combat will drag out for 9 rounds, is definitely a TPK, or leads another wrench making it less fun for players. The AI could suggest terrain hazards like a wild magic lightning storm, storyline options like the enemies faking a surrender, or a fitting puzzle to make the combat more dynamic. 4) Combat Map Generator: Describe the scene (“a dense forest clearing with a stream running through it”), and the AI generates a detailed combat grid graphic ready for virtual or physical play. While theater of the mind is great, more convenient combat grids could make other options more accessible to those not artistically-inclined, like me. 5) NPC Stat Block Creator: If I'm being honest, backstory is where I'd like to spend my time crafting an NPC. Plenty of my NPCs have 2 pages of backstory, but no spells prepared. Imagine if GMs could just upload the backstory document and have the AI spit out a stat block. Or, if players throw hands with a trader improvised moments ago, just type in "wandering gnomish potion seller. Roughly 50 hp and has spells up to 3rd level." AI tools can be designed to enable Game Masters and players to focus on what matters most—storytelling. Which of these ideas would you find most useful, and what would you add? Share your thoughts in the comments, or tag a fellow adventurer who might have insights to contribute! #DungeonsAndDragons #TabletopGaming #AI #GenerativeAI #Storytelling

Today's announcement is an exciting one for the #WestMidlands. Two creative industries clusters in Birmingham and Liverpool will support creative technologies and research and innovation in music. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced the news. They will bring together universities, tech companies and artists to boost the UK’s world-class creative industries and drive economic growth. CreaTech Frontiers in the West Midlands will benefit from £6.75 million, with the investment focusing on developing small, micro- and medium-sized businesses specialising in creative tech like video games and immersive reality. Several regional universities alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) will work with industry to boost skills and develop new products, technology and multi-platform content. This will include using VR, 3D modelling and animation techniques in live events, and adapting video game engines for use in music, theatre and film. Experimental performance projects curated by the RSC will be showcased at South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas in 2026, while the Birmingham Opera Group and The Rep Theatre will stage new works, including co-creations with young people in deprived areas of the West Midlands.

Fantastic to see Birmingham City University and Coventry University at the forefront of the new West Midlands creative industries cluster announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Leading in developing the region's small and micro-businesses specialising in creative technologies, the CreaTech Frontiers project has received ~£6m in investment to help drive innovation in video games, virtual production and immersive reality 🤖

Last week, I was fortunate to be able to attend the live showing of the Bigger Improv Show by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Izzy Rolland as well as the live showing of Dimension 20: Gauntlet at the Garden. Is this some portent about the incoming dominance of improv comedians? Of independent streaming platforms? Or Dungeons & Dragons actual play shows? No - I'm not too LinkedIn-brained to make such sweeping predictions. Improv has been around since theater students discovered Los Angeles. Other YouTube and social media companies have tried to strike it out on their own to disastrous results. And outside of a few shows occupying the upper and middle echelons of the Dungeons & Dragons community - most just serve as a chance for a group of friends to actually play with some semblance of regularity. So what is there to learn here? What profound thing can I - a budding LinkedIn personality - tell you about this? I'm not sure. I know that Sam Reich and Dropout have consistently made a public effort to put their talent first. Sharing profits with their cast members and being one of the first production companies to come to agree to the SAG-AFTRA interim agreement. I know that when in any other context, ruthless corporate consultants would either try to merge the #Dimension20 and Critical Role brands to create a super D&D brand or else pitch them against each other in fierce competition, but the two groups have decided to prioritize camaraderie and collaboration instead - prioritize the relationships, art, and people first and foremost. I know that in a world where more and more people feel comfortable attacking what they see as #DEI, Dropout has made it a priority to uplift and promote their diverse talent. And I know that audience members are receptive to that. Madison Square Garden was sold out. The energy was electric. People chanting and shouting. Is there a concrete lesson to learn from all of this? Perhaps not. But there is definitely something happening - something worth keeping an eye on.

"The music here once again signals the potential for it to be utilized in cinema." - Clean Sheets Blog shares their review of the upcoming release of Previte/Chandler coming out this Friday. Read in full here: https://lnkd.in/emDCYz3e #BobbyPrevite #KnoxChandler #PreviteChandler #darkjazz #avant #experimentaljazz #musicpr #publicrelations #publicity #albumnews #albumreview #newreview #DisciplinePR

Learn more about Hip Hop and higher education with Professor of Hip Hop at THE Ohio State University and recent Tonight Show guest, Jason D. Rawls, Ed.D aka J. Rawls We talked earlier this year on the world's most important Hip Hop podcast. WATCH HERE: https://lnkd.in/eemHa8aa