Esther Hammelburg is an expert on live experiences in hybrid events. In December 2021 she successfully defended her dissertation at the UvA entitled Being There Live: How Liveness is Realized Through Media Use at Contemporary Cultural Events. From her extensive fieldwork — speaking to 379 people and gathering large datasets from social media platforms — she shows how media use shapes the way we experience ‘being there live.’ Her book shows how physical and mediated environments are entwined in live event experiences.
Esther is a senior lecturer at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and works within the design research track Hybrid Democracy at the Digital Society School in cooperation with the Rathenau Instituut.
Within the cultural and media sectors, Esther is often invited as an expert to inspire innovation with hybrid events and media formats.