Stumble across rather than search or even browse; can old technology still win?

Last century and the beginning of this one we regularly attended the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton.  There were always a lot of leaflets on display about performances at other theatres and for a few other cultural events,

It was there that I picked up a leaflet about Writers’ Register, run by the Continuing Education department of the University of Southampton.  I joined at once and there I met people who told me about the Winchester Writers’ Conference which is where I heard about the MA in Writing for Children.

Would I even be writing this blog today if I hadn’t stumbled across that information at the Nuffield Theatre?

There is a wealth of information on the internet but we need to know what we’re looking for and how to search effectively.  It’s harder to just to stumble across something. 

There are now fewer community notice boards where we can see what’s on offer.

I’d like to flag up a couple of exceptions, however.

In my town there is a quite impressive art venue: the Bury Art Museum.  In the foyer there is always an old –fashioned blackboard displaying the day’s activities. There is also a nice café in the museum, and members of my German conversation group often go there for lunch after the session. One lady spotted a watercolour workshop for beginners- all materials supplied. It took place that very afternoon. She decided to attend and at the next German conversation session she was able to show us two very nice watercolours she had completed.

Though I worry a little about the paper we’re wasting I do appreciate the opportunity those local free publications offer for us to ‘stumble across’ something new. I’ve read through one this morning and found out about an event I’d like to attend.

It’s not so easy to replicate this electronically. GDPR ensures that we only receive news when we’ve signed up for it. I subscribe to quite a number of newsletters and often delete then unread. In some ways it’s the ‘same old, same old’. Every day I open my inbox with some trepidation – will there be some bad news?- and some anticipation – will I ‘stumble across’ something interesting? Social media perhaps works a little better but the bots only offer what they think I’d like to see. How well do they actually know me?

Can we somehow allow ‘stumbling across’ with the new technology?