Adelphi Genetics Forum

THE CHALLENGE

The Adelphi Genetics Forum is a learned society that promotes public engagement and discussions on the study of human inheritance, its history, and its social and ethical implications. Previously known as the Galton Institute, and before that the Eugenics Education Society, they have been actively working to address their problematic history, including a full renaming and rebranding in 2021.

The society runs an annual conference on a feature issue in the field of heredity, such as genome editing or the legacy of eugenics. To maximise the impact of their conferences, they asked us to produce audiovisual content that complements the events, broadens their reach to online audiences and fosters ongoing discussions beyond the conference day.

OUR APPROACH

We produced high-quality audio and video interviews of 6-7 speakers at each of the 2018, 2019 and 2022 Adelphi Genetics Forum conferences, generating lasting impact from each live event.

Multimedia approach

FCTM produced a series of shorter video and longer podcast interviews of speakers from each event.

These interviews provided an overview of each speaker’s talk, offering additional context and reflections on the day’s discussions.

 

Fast turnaround

All interviews were recorded in person on the day of the event with our experienced broadcaster, Kat Arney, and an efficient two-person film crew.

The edited podcasts and videos were delivered within two weeks so they could be publicised quickly while the event was still fresh.

 

Reaching new audiences

In addition to the videos and podcasts being hosted on the Adelphi Genetics Forum’s own website, the podcasts were released and promoted through Genetics Unzipped, a podcast we produce for the Genetics Society. Genetics Unzipped boasts a well-established audience of thousands of monthly listeners, significantly widening the conference’s reach to a broad listenership with shared interests in genetics and inheritance.

The videos were released on YouTube and have gathered ~8,000 views since their publication. 

 

Handling Sensitive Topics

Using our broadcasting experience, we sensitively handled the communication of controversial and potentially triggering topics, including personal experiences of coerced sterilisation and racist ideologies within the field of genetics.

In particular, the 2022 Annual Conference focused on the Adelphi Genetic Forum’s rebranding and confronting their eugenics past. Through our interviews, we helped provide context and convey the rationale behind this name change.

 

WHAT THEY SAID

“Well worth watching.” 

Online comment

“One of my Year 12s is doing her EPQ about the history of Eugenics so it was great to be able to recommend the @AdelphiGenetics podcasts and conference videos!” 

Online comment

“@GeneticsUnzip has recently done a great series with @AdelphiGenetics where they discuss the eugenicist past of human genetics and how to face it and avoid repeating it going forward.” 

Online comment

FIND OUT ABOUT SOME OF OUR OTHER WORK

A seamless transition to in-house comms

A seamless transition to in-house comms

The Research on Research Institute (RoRI) generates data and analysis to improve how research is funded, practised, evaluated and communicated in order to realise its full potential. First Create The Media acted as RoRI’s comms team during their pilot phase,...

read more
How we defined the story of a new research institute

How we defined the story of a new research institute

The Research on Research Institute (RoRI) generates data and analysis to improve how research is funded, practised, evaluated and communicated in order to realise its full potential. As they came to the end of their pilot phase, RoRI needed help clarifying their...

read more
Using audio creatively to share personal health stories

Using audio creatively to share personal health stories

The Still Life project (2019-2020) aimed to engage Jewish women in discussions about stillbirth and stillbirth research. Alongside midwives and researchers, women from the Greater Manchester Jewish community who had experienced miscarriage or stillbirth took part in a...

read more
How we created one of the top life sciences podcasts

How we created one of the top life sciences podcasts

The Genetics Society is a learned society that promotes research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics in the UK. The society already funded the Heredity podcast to discuss recent publications in their academic journal, but they wanted to...

read more