http://www.abbeywalkgallery.com/

At the opposite end of the day a similar experience was to take place. A former warehouse district derelict for decades has recently been handed over to the creative and cultural sector in Hull and I was invited to the opening night of their first theatre performance. The former fruiterers store was packed full of people eager to see the first play in this brand new venue. The applause was loud and sustained and speeches were made congratulating cast and crew.

http://www.fruitspace.co.uk/theatre/as_we_forgive_them.html

So how were these two green shoots able to make this happen and what will they need to keep growing in these challenging times?

1. Get some passion

So many people spend so much time worrying about the right venue, the right wall paper and the right timing. All of these are important but without the creative foundation to build the project then these will become ball and chains. Both of the projects found their venues through chance opportunity. Challenging times often mean that landlords are open to negotiation, quick sale or new ways of usage.

2. Powers of persuasion

I have often been inspired by some peoples natural ability to just ask. How many times have you thought ‘I wish I’d done that’ ‘If only I’d just asked’ well why don’t you? Many of the pictures currently held at the gallery in Grimsby are by hugely famous artists whom the gallery owners simply approached and asked to put on show. There is something sad about places where people feel frightened to ask or are somehow humbled when they do benefit. I would argue that the worst thing that can happen is they say ‘no’ so why not have a go!

3. Reach your audience

People have some very strange and diverse perceptions to art and culture which are often born out of fear. So alienating them will not do you any favours. Abbeywalk Gallery have taken their art into the local shopping centre, utilising vacant shops and emphasis is placed on pictures that identify with local history and heritage to draw people in. The response has been phenomenal and they now allow some to come to their studios and watch artists paint. Fruit in Hull has tried to appeal to a wide range of audiences turning the space into a range of different uses from theatre to exhibition, to bar, to music venue to market stall.

4. Sustain the message

The benefits of the internet and social media are already well documented but the power of networks both physical and virtual are paramount. Cross pollination is key as is use of traditional media and the best marketing tool of all time plain old ‘word of mouth’

5. Customer experience

Sounds a bit corporate doesn’t it especially when we’re dealing with the creative and cultural offer but how many of us have had a bad experience and thought twice about going back. We all expect more for our hard earned cash these days and all it takes is an attractive pricing structure and a smile! If people feel like they’re in a special space they will come back if you make them feel special too

6. Be open and inclusive

The great thing about the creative industries is the opportunity to show others how to unleash their creative side too whether it’s through theatre, art workshops, music mashups or collaborative projects. All these activities are interesting to business too. I know lots of corporate types who have commissioned art for offices, sponsored plays or bought tickets for office nights out.

7. Get a good chair, patron, figure head

Finding one or more of the above to shout about what you do will bring benefits aplenty and FOC! Take John Godber for example who not only waxes lyrical about Hull Truck but about Hull too! Problem is time is precious to our cultural celebs so make sure you treat them well for their patronage

8. Make friends with the media

Someone once said there’s no such thing as bad PR – local media can be your ticket to free advertising BUT you’re information must be news worthy as journos can smell a rat from huge distances. Don’t bombard and be creative with your press releases or they won’t even read past the top line. Even better ring them up or even more radical invite them to everything – even the networking events

9. Be brave

Just because your small and tucked away doesn’t mean you have to be small and tucked away! The Pocklington Arts centre nr York is THE venue for up and coming folk acts and competes with the big boys, usually winning. Audiences travel from far flung corners of the earth to attend shows and all because they’ve built a reputation based on being brave

10. Have a plan

So many great projects launch and then disappear when money runs out or people move on or fall out or whatever….. So keep reinventing, keep passionate, keep communicating and seek help if you need it – its amazing how many people will help if you just ask

Progress might relate to personal circumstances – improved housing, better relationships, more income, fulfillment etc or to some of the opportunities and problems facing the ‘wider’ community – climate change, sustainability, political power, community development, improved health and wellbeing, making the most of web2.0 and Digital Britain – WHATEVER!

Progress School will be shaped  by its members to focus on what is most relevant to them.  The ‘curriculum’ for Progress School will be developed by its members.  Learning will be focused on problems and opportunities and based on principles of dialogue, correspondence and enquiry.

The school will provide members with an opportunity to ask ‘How do I make progress on things that matter most to me?’  Members will be helped to clarify ‘what really matters’ and to develop their ‘power’ to pursue it effectively.

Progress School is coming to the Humber in September – to make sure you’re signed up keep checking the Progress School website

http://progressschool.wordpress.com/

I know now that luck had nothing to do with it and that they were in fact short staffed, busy and that I was just there at the right time when someone failed to turn up to take the circuit – a highly pressurised role involving a series of carts being shoved into a recording device and listening for some beeps to stop and an extremely posh bloke provide instructions from TV5 where ever that was! I managed to cock it up first time and caused an already poe faced news reader to shout loudly at me in front of the newsroom – that was abuse!

However none of the above were the reason for my continued ‘relationship’ albeit unpaid with the BBC during my final year at university. I simply put it down to tenacity, attitude and, I hope, a little bit of talent. I simply did not make the same mistake twice, listened to the elder members of the team, immersed myself in the medium and helped everyone. It is with this in mind that when I meet todays work-experience selection I am rarely impressed.

The media industry is one of the most competitive with students of various permeatations of this discipline spewing out of our unis and colleges every year. Which is why I cannot comprehend the attitude of many of them. Perhaps it is the law of averages that suggests the rarity of being able to display all three qualities of talent, tenacity and the right attitude inevitably seperates the wheat from the chaff? Which is why when, like buses, when 3 come along at once its pretty amazing.

This last month the small video production company and local TV channel I run has had a glut of impressive talent including an autistic writer, a schoolboy super editor and a job centre referred lad who is now returning to full time education. All of them came with bags of enthusiasm and the right attitude. We too are short staffed like most small companies but we are not so big that we have lost our connection to grass roots developing talent. We have reworked our edit stations to make room for the newbies, provided them with equipment, support and feedback and made them part of the team.They manage their time and there is no expectation for them to ‘work’ the same hours as the paid team, they simply leave when they want and most often this is when we do. We also encourage them to move on, support their search for work and pay them when we can for any freelance work we may need.

Giving these new entrants the opportunity to be part of a team in a real environment is invaluable. It can confirm or destroy their passion for media and if it is the latter it can often direct them onto the right pathway. But when you find a talent it’s the most exciting feeling not only because you know they will go on to achieve great things but that it reminds you of the people who helped you. And that is worth reflecting on.

In my mind there are two issues at play here, the first is the obvious lack of a clear strategic crisis management plan and the second is the cultural difference between the US and the UK. What is acceptable comment here is certainly not acceptable in the USA. We may assume that due to the general view by Americans that the English accent is twee and cute we must also be aware that at times of crisis it can also sound flippant, superior and trite. This is not a good look when you are responsible for a major environmental catastrophe.

What I find incredulous is the lack of advice that this man has recieved. Surely as the CEO of one of the largest oil companys in the world you would have had some media training? In fact you would be on a rolling programme of media training linked to the cultural nuances and idiosyncracies of the countries you are operating in and around. Am I being too simplistic? Has common sense baffled BP? There’s no doubt that BP will have a PR strategy but what about the personal PR of the company’s leaders.

I regularly provide media training which includes crisis management to companies across the UK but the majority of my delivery is public sector. There is a distinct belief by the private sector that much like crashing your car it will never happen to me. However as we have seen over the last few weeks it does and it will. Being prepared to face the media should be as important as your clients or customers because they will be the first to go if you’re not. Here are ten tips to help you face the media

1. Create a crisis management strategy based on scenario planning

2. Involve your senior team. Remember the media will not be satisfied with the ‘Communications Director’ or the ‘Press Office’ they will want the big guns, the CEO, the directors, the Chair as these are the accountable people and the ones earning the heftiest salaries

3. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Now I’m not suggesting the media are the enemy but I am advising you to build a relationship with them especially at a local level as this is where most big stories break. It will also help bring you good PR when you’re not fighting a crisis

4. Look the part. It’s amazing how the wrong choice of shirt can affect a first impression. We are told not to judge books by their covers but we naturally do, so plan for this event and keep yourself presentable especially if you’re going on camera

5. Learn the game. The media operate in mysterious ways – well actually they don’t, it’s just they don’t like you knowing how they operate as it benefits them.

6.  Never take it personally. You are the boss for a reason and you must put the company’s reputation first. By stating ‘I want my life back’ BP’s CEO connected the story to his personal feelings and alienated half of America!

7. Block and Bridge. Use key phrases to change the direction of questioning and block leading questions.

8. You are the expert. Remember there is no story without you good or bad. Use your expertise and knowledge to turn negative situations around.

9. Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse

10. Call in the trainer

Then came bi-media – an opportunity to learn ‘video’ skills followed by 2 weeks intensive training with one of the worlds most admired and celebrated ‘video journalists’ Mr Michael Rosenblum. A small an in stature made up for by a BIG personality straight out of New York city. He had just one mantra: ‘Close up on the hands, close up on the face, wide shot’! Multimedia is now a part of everyday life and my presence on the HDQT doesn’t seem so out of place. I, like most of my contemporaries, have been new adopters from the moment digital was introduced into the media workplace. We have seen how technology has changed workflow, communication and work life balance. We have embraced new practices and watched some of our colleagues fall by the wayside unable to cope with the pace of change and we have predicted what the next big thing will be and been surprised and envious when it turns out to be something simple we all failed to think of!

The questions presented to the panel were questions we could all answer in part as we have already experienced great change. For example the issue of privacy is an issue society has always had to deal with, email is only another form of correspondance, managed in the same way that we used to manage letters, legislation will continue to engender creativity by confining the environment within which it is fostered and organisations will continue to battle for market share.

What stumped us all was a question asking about the future of digital and how connected will we be in the brave new digital world. My answer was to highlight that connectivity is reliant on infrastructure. Without the means to deliver new services the opportunities are curtailed, the services not required and the ideas not realised. Hull Digital Question Time raised a very important issue: without the means to innovate we cannot create the environment to create. An ironic end to a debate held in a city whose autonomous infrastructure put it at the forefront of communications innovation and yet the very same network has the propensity to paralyse it’s future.

Check out www.prezi.com if you like the look of how this content was delivered.

Social media is to business what chocolate is to me – I like eating it too much, it can add weight and it’s very distracting! With this in mind, like many chocolate lovers I limit my intake, organise my day around my little treat and always go for the quality option.

If we start to see Social Media more like chocolate we add value to it’s use. Here are a few ways in which I believe you can make SM work for you without consuming it too much!!

I suggest first linking your social media use to your business strategy, this will give you a clear direction around what you want to achieve and how SM can facilitate these goals and objectives. Secondly create an SM policy providing governance and control over your stategy. Thirdly organise the time and resource you intend to donate to this new medium and finally and most importantly implement an evaluation and monitoring strategy allowing you to see the benefits and constantly improve.

For more info on how to create a Strategic Social Media Policy contact Immage Studios on 01469 515151 or click on http://www.imaginedpm.co.uk/imagine-dpm-learning-section/15-courses/50-new-courses-implementing-social-media-in-your-organisation.html

‘Greater Grimsby Lincolnshire’ is North East Lincolnshire Councils new approach to attracting more people to the area. You may be rubbing your head perplexed at this point but bear with me as all will be revealed. A name is an association. It can evoke a feeling, a vision even a smell but it can also confuse, misinterpret and most importantly misrepresent and that is North East Lincolnshires problem. The whole south humber bank has had so many different names in the last century that it’s no surprise it’s lost some identity. By making it simple for outsiders to understand where we are and what we have to offer we might just change those tiresome perceptions of the Humber and Grim Grimsby!

Of course a name is just a name without the support and backing of the community that holds the right to call itself Greater Grimsby Lincolnshire. Whether they reside in Immingham, Grimsby or Cleethorpes, they are places of value and deep heritage. I still believe the reason I have stayed in the Humber, living in Hull and working in Immingham, is the sense of place that I feel. Growing up in a south west communter town, the daughter of Londoners fleeing the city, my sense of place was vague. People are far more transient in the south and community feels lost as commuters rush about disconnected from their neighbourhood and the majority of the people that live in them.

Greater Grimsby has a lot to offer as does much of the Humber region and a new name is only the start. The key is to capitalise on the benefits of  living in the Humber through personal experience and sharing. Greater Grimsby benefits from some of the best digital infrastructure in the region. It has a major opportunity with renewable energy and some of the most attractive scenery and beaches. Selling these benefits is not the job of one agency but the responsibility of everyone who lives and benefits now to ensure the future prosperity of this rich and diverse region.

Perhaps we should harness the grit, determination and resilience of the fishing days for the future as new industry’s demand a Great Grimsby Lincolnshire.

http://www.greatergrimsby.net/

Then about a month ago I started following @dreamwalls, a self starter from Grimsby who makes fake wall coverings and loves North East Lincolnshire. Now if you’ve never been south of the Humber or even north of the Humber there’s some incredible misconceptions about the place, which incidentally are totally ill informed and misplaced, in fact I believe it is the hidden gem of the north east. What ensued was a frantic exchange of ‘tweets’ as I discovered someone as passionate about the area as me!  I decided she must be followed by equally passionate people and I wasn’t wrong. A few months down the line and I tweeted about my pet subject ‘digital exclusion’ in the Humber and how the older generation are losing out on selling and buying homes because they don’t use estate agency websites. A couple of minutes later I was contacted by @tepilo a follower of @dreamwalls and asked about writing a guest blog!?

A month later and Sarah Beeny of Property Ladder, Mysinglebestfriend.com and tepilo.com fame was sitting in the BBC Radio Humberside on my radio show ‘The Philpot Files’ chatting about living in the Humber, doing up her house and managing four children with multiple businesses. Surreal or what? Now you might think that working for the BBC gives you greater access to people but this is another popular misconception and I owe the entire thing to twitter!

Social media bridges the gap between like minded people of diverse backgrounds. It’s been a revelation and I’m really glad I stuck with it as I now have real evidence that it can make special things happen

http://www.tepilo.com/

http://www.dreamwall.co.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7r3

Me and Beeny