An expert panel of judges has awarded the Drama and Theatre Arts Lecturer for her work co-founding the Immersive Experience Network.
The visitor attraction specialist news outlet, Blooloop, has included Dr Joanna Bucknall in its prestigious blooloop 50 Immersive Influencer List for 2024. The panel of immersive industry judges recognised her work creating the Immersive Experience Network (IEN) as being foundational in raising the credibility and visibility of the emergent sector in the UK and globally, as well as her academic research, podcast and practitioner work.
“The blooloop 50 is quite literally the A to Z of the immersive experience world and is a celebration of leadership in our incredible industry,” says Ben Thompson, one of the influencer list’s judges from Storyland Studios, a global experience design and strategy firm. “The talented men and women recognised in this prestigious award are beacons of light, pointing us all to a future full of possibility through their excellence in storytelling.”
The 2024 list saw hundreds of nominations submitted by immersive industry peers. One nominator for Dr Bucknall said: “Her tenacity and expertise in securing research funding has been instrumental in enabling IEN to undertake crucial industry research, and has been invaluable in facilitating IEN to deliver in-person events that have been the catalyst for consolidating the various immersive creative communities into a visible and cohesive cultural and creative industries sector.”
The IEN was co-founded by Dr Bucknall in 2020 with help from the University of Birmingham’s Enterprise team. It is the first professional body for the immersive sector in the world and is due to be globally launched as a paid-for membership organisation in early 2025.
Lecturer
Biographical and contact information for Dr Joanna Bucknall, Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Drama and Theatre in the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham.
