The launch of the Explore Your Archive campaign 2021 took place over nine days from 20th to 28th November. Each day was allocated a specific theme (Small, Big, Handwriting, Going Digital, Archive Shelfie, Collaboration, Conservation Nightmare, Achievements and Watch this Space) and anyone with an interest in archives was encouraged to take part in any way they liked.
And take part they did! Explore Your Archive campaign 2021 received more engagement this year than any other. Just some of the many highlights are detailed below:
The main hub of the campaign was the website with over 1,000 unique website views over the nine days. The Explore Your Archive Toolkit was downloaded at least twice each day in the month before the campaign and this number doubled during the launch itself. The blog was also well visited with at least half of each day’s visitors to the website reading more than one blog post.
Thousands of people, organisations and institutions from all over the world took part in the campaign across the EYA social media channels. The EYA Instagram channel, which has been active less than a year, reached over 43,000 people over the course of the launch and over 61,000 across the month of November. On Twitter, each day’s activity reached millions of people with over 15 million impressions of the #ExploreYourArchive hashtag being logged. Over 300 campaign related posts went live on Facebook.
Although these numbers are fantastic, what they don’t show is the amazing range of stories, collections and records shared across the campaign. From the Royal Family account joining in on Instagram, to parody pictures of iconic Disney moments to the world’s tiniest books. Please do look back using the #ExploreYourArchive Hashtag to see some of the gems that were posted across all the different social media platforms.
The team are now firmly focused on 2022 and have already launched a new campaign,
#EYADustBusters has been designed as a vehicle to help record keepers dispel the myth that archives and record stores are dusty musty places where records are left and never used or cared for. Use Dust Busters to highlight the ways your records are used and cared for. Let’s show the world that records are anything but dusty!
The monthly themes will be published the Week commencing 24th January so get your diary ready to plan your content. In addition, Explore You Archive Week will take place from 26th November to the 4th December. The team are also hard at work curating new website including a dedicated exhibition page to showcase the work of dedicated record keepers even more. With so much to look forward to, keep an eye on the #ExploreYourArchive hashtag on all platforms for further news and updates.
We look forward to seeing what you create and showcase in 2022!
