Date: Thursday, 18th March 2010
Time: 6.30-9pm (refreshments provided)
Location: THE CUBE, Studio 5, 155 Commercial Street, London E1 6BJ
BOOKING ESSENTIAL
Collaborative working, digital technology and new business models are developing quickly around us. But as a creative business or freelancer, how do you take advantage of these opportunities while sustaining your business? We are bringing together a small group of individuals from across all creative sectors (art, design, music, theatre, film) to discuss the opportunities and challenges they are currently facing in their sector. This interactive session, run by creative business advisors Alison Coward and Sinead Mac Manus, will brainstorm solutions for moving forward and help shape a new innovative creative industries event that will take place this summer.
Alison Coward, Bracket (www.bracketprojects.co.uk), an agency/consultancy that helps creative businesses to collaborate effectively, supported by the use of online tools.
Sinead Mac Manus, Creatively Digital (www.creativelydigital.org), a new social enterprise with a mission to enable people and organisations to embrace and value the potential of digital technologies, in their business and their life.
Bracket’s lunchtime workshop at THE CUBE was a great success, with lots of interesting discussion about effective creative collaboration using online tools. Questions were raised around approaching intellectual property and attribution, managing egos and how to encourage people to use online tools (when all they want to use is e-mail!).
Creative Boom London kindly wrote a fantastic review of the workshop which covers all of these points (and more) in detail.
Bracket will be hosting a lunchtime workshop at THE CUBE, a new co-working space for creative businesses, on 17thFebruary 2010, 1-2pm.
THE CUBE, based on Commercial Street, E1, offers affordable office and hot desk space for self-employed individuals or young and growing firms, as well as a range of benefits including virtual office assistance, flexible meeting and conference facilities and wifi. With a growing network of over 60 members from fashion, PR and design to publishing and film, THE CUBE is the perfect place to make connections and develop new ideas together.
Bracket will be providing tips on how online tools can help to turn those creative, collaborative ideas into action. A few spaces have kept aside for non-members, so visit the event page for more details and to reserve your place (BOOKING ESSENTIAL).
Bracket’s session at Media Camp London 4 during Social Media Week generated lots of discussion about the best methods and tools for helping groups of creatives to get things done. It looked at how social media could be used to support collaborative working between artists and designers etc that are used to working independently, usually have autonomy over their work, are characteristically busy, and highly skilled in generating ideas. The aim of the session was to develop solutions for how to channel that creativity into tangible outcomes and how social media can be used to support the process along the way.
Next week is Social Media Week, which will bring people together to explore the impact that social media has had on culture, business communications and society at large. It’s a global programme, with events taking place across 5 countries and 6 cities, and London has its own schedule.
In true web 2.0 style, many events are open platforms where the attendees set the agenda for discussion. There are unconferences like Media Camp London 4 where the participants suggest sessions to run, (with a possible Bracket session on using social media for effective collaborative project management). You’ll also find meetups (or ‘tweetups’ for those who connect on Twitter) where people will get together to discuss what’s relevant to them, like the ‘Twespians‘ event for those interested in the effect of social media on theatre. And on Friday 5th, at the new Centre for Creative Collaboration, there will be Tuttle Club, where freelancers, armed with their laptops, work together in the same space for a few hours, getting things done and sparking new connections.
See the full London schedule and book for events here and follow updates on Twitter at: @smwldn
Google Docs now allows you to upload your existing files (including images) and invite others to view them. Additionally, Word, Excel and Powerpoint files can be converted to allow others to edit them. Not only does this make it easy to share your existing documents with your project team (a tidier alternative to e-mail), but acts as an online storage and backup function so that you can access all of your files from any computer with internet access (no need to carry around that USB stick!). Up to 1GB of space is available with charges for extra space.
An excellent alternative for online storage/backup is Dropbox, providing up to 2GB of space for free, with charges for more. Install the application to your desktop computer or laptop, and files will automatically be saved and updated across all of your devices (and online) when you edit or change them. There’s also a Dropbox iPhone app which works in the same way, enabling you to access files on the move. The feature Bracket finds most useful is the ’share a folder’ function with other Dropbox users. The folder will appear across all of their devices too, and any changes they make to files are updated for everyone who also has access, making project collaboration effortless.
Using the social web for promotion and communication to develop your creative business
3rd February, 6-8pm, Craft Central
As a creative business, it’s likely that you have a website that showcases and maybe sells your work. But are you making use of the increasing number of other web-based tools to increase your profile, promote your work and make valuable connections?
Bracket will be running an evening workshop at Craft Central to take you through some of the tools available, how to use them effectively and help you develop a suitable plan for introducing social media to your business.
For more detail and booking, visit the Craft Central website.
A visit to the If You Could: Collaborate exhibition leaves visitors buzzing with ideas and excitement about what happens when creative minds get together. Alex Bec and Will Hudson of If You Could invited 33 creatives to collaborate with someone of their choice, giving them 12 months to develop a final piece. The brief was completely open so the curators had no idea what the outcomes might be.
