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.

Kindly sponsored by THE CUBE.

To reserve your free place, e-mail info@bracketprojects.co.uk with your name, contact details and the creative sector you work in.

Creative Boom London kindly wrote a fantastic review of the workshop which covers all of these points (and more) in detail.

Thanks to Andrew for the link!

Delivered in Beta from KS12 on Vimeo.

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.

The word ‘collaboration’ is often used freely without consideration for how complex it can actually be. Not only does it require a set of skills to do it effectively, but also a different mindset and culture to adapt to a new way of working.  An ‘online project hub’ can be used to provide a central point to bring everyone together, but technology should actually come last after two other factors – people and process.

People

The set of skills and awareness that is needed by the individual before starting the project. Effective collaboration requires tolerance of other working styles,  a willingness to share and a commitment to open and frequent communication with other team members.

Process

The part that should happen with the team in place, to plan how the collaborative project might work. Individuals need to identify what they are bringing and hope to get out, the team needs to look at the overall aims of the project and roles should be allocated according to key skills and personalities to ensure a good spread of what the project requires (Belbin is a good tool for profiling this). Time must also be allocated to planning, scheduling and organisation, which many online tools can help with.

Technology

Time or cost spent developing an online tool doesn’t guarantee that people will use it. It is often difficult to get people away from using e-mail to communicate in projects, because on a basic level, it works!  But social media can add much value by keeping ideas in one place (particularly when team members tend to go off in different creative directions), making this easily searchable,  providing a record of what has already been discussed/agreed and therefore reducing duplication of work and effort.

So the perfect online tool, for groups of creatives short on time is something that requires little or no training, is intuitive and is flexible to the initial needs of the type of project and as it develops. And a big challenge throughout the project is maintaining focus without killing creativity.

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

For more information about the global Social Media Week visit http://www.socialmediaweek.org

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.

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.

• Have an agenda, with timings, which should be forwarded to all participants beforehand, and outlined again at the beginning of the meeting
• Allocate someone in charge of chairing to keep the meeting focussed and running to time
• Adhere to the same protocols that you would in offline meetings – listening to whoever is speaking, not interrupting
• Allocate someone responsible for taking minutes to record what was discussed, agreed and decided, and writing these up to circulate to rest of group

The tools. (some we’ve mentioned before):

Skype: hosts conference calls for up to 9 participants, with video, file sharing and instant messaging (useful for sharing web links or notes whilst talking).  The latest version also enables screen sharing to show your colleagues exactly what you’re looking at.

Twiddla -  a more creative environment to share images and sketches with all team members online at the same time.  Has a supporting chat (text and audio) function for discussions (unfortunately no longer free, except for a 30-day trial)

Etherpad – a dynamic method of online collaborative writing which allows you to see your teams edits in real-time.   Useful if the focus of the meeting is to get a document finalised.   This application is free if the files are kept public, but there is a cost to make them private.

Google Wave – the new conversational tool from Google (still currently in invite mode) which allows for real-time editing like Etherpad, but also acts like a wiki (allowing for attachments and links), e-mail (you can start new ‘waves’ with your contacts) and instant messaging.

(So there’s no excuse if we’re hit by another bout of snow!)

On first impressions, the pieces in the exhibition seem to be un-related.  There are no visual or obvious themes running throughout.  But with a little time, the connection becomes more apparent.  There is a real depth and mystique to each piece, created by knowing that there was more than one individual behind it.  You find yourself stopping to imagine the conversations, the disagreements and the laughter that put each piece together.

And for the creatives, the final product is just a small part of a larger process.  They’ve had the opportunity to think about what they can do, and how much further they can stretch their practice by getting together with someone else.  They’ve been encouraged to be critical of themselves and each other, and think outside their usual realm of what is creatively possible.

Calligraffiti: Craig Ward/Sean Freeman/Alison Carmichael

There are the collaborations which provide a solution: Fred Butler/No Days Off’s campaign for an 8-day week, BCMH/Smith & Weightman’s alternative currency, and Praline/The Model Shop’s new font based on architectural shapes.  There’s the conceptual and abstract, where you’re keen to be let in on the ‘secret’ between the collaborators, or at least part of the conversation – when did Job Wouters/Roel Wouters decide what to wear for their film about numbers and the Rainbow spray-painting machine?!

Some collaborations are more practical, where artists chose to combine their specific technical skills: the illustrative Rob Ryan/Michael Marriott chair, Sam Messenger/Bart Long’s abstract canvas in vinyl and timber, and Jim Stoten/Andy Rementer’s series of illustrations.  And then there are the collaborations where it looks like a whole lot of fun was had developing the ideas: With Associates/Anthony Dickens interactive timepiece, Chrissie MacDonald/Marie O’Connor playful figures in wood and scrap material, and Karlssonwilkier/FrankDeRose music track (this is BRILLIANT!).  Details of all 33 collaborations can be found here.

The exhibition catalogue (available for £15) includes interviews with all the creatives and looks at the collaboration processes in detail (interesting to know that the most common challenge for the collaborators was managing their time).  The exhibition runs until 23 January, and it’s an essential visit if you want clear examples of the potential of creative collaboration.

www.ifyoucould.co.uk/collaborate