2009
Creative Question Time
Thursday 26th November, 6pm, Chesterfield Hotel. A Greenhouse event
To celebrate the third birthday of The Greenhouse, a panel of speakers took questions from the audience. The panel was kept in line by BBC Working Lunch presenter Rob Pittam and consisted of digital media entrepreneur Ryan O’ Meara, professional artist, business adviser and mentor Lynne Hollingsworth, trainer and lecturer David James Ross and gallery entrepreneur Jeanne Booth.
Make It Happen Fast – November 2009
Do you want to run a creative business but don’t know where to start? Make It Happen Fast is an accelerated version of a successful programme that takes an innovative and dynamic approach to creative business startup. Based on four years’ work with Banks Mill Studios, David James Ross will help you to learn from the approaches of successful practitioners.
Delivered as four standalone workshops supported by online resources, Make It Happen Fast will be run during November 2009 at Friargate Studios, Ford Street, Derby, DE1 1EE. Places are limited, so please book via Banks Mill Studios – info@banksmill.org.uk or tel. 01332 594170. Due to support from the ECIF project, places can be offered free to graduates and professionals in the east midlands who are unemployed or at risk of redundancy – please declare your status when booking.
Making The Offer: defining and communicating what you do.
Tuesday 3rd November 9.30 am – 4 pm
Creative individuals are diverse thinkers, able to operate in a range of media and contexts. As a business, this leaves them vulnerable to a lack of clarity in what they offer to potential customers. This workshop uses a series of interactive exercises to develop a clearer picture of what exactly will be offered. Topics include: the value of creative practice; setting a mission; developing products and services, and understanding selling.
Finding The Connections: reaching customers and markets
Tuesday 10th November 9.30 am – 4 pm
Without customers, any business must fail. But creative practitioners rarely give enough consideration to customers and sales at the start of their business development. This workshop uses a series of interactive exercises to discover potential customers and various ways to market to them, including online methods.
Closing the deal: creating a win-win for you and your customers
Tuesday 17th November 9.30 am – 4 pm
Creative people are rarely excited by the legalities of business; yet the details of the deal often make or break whether creatives can establish a sustainable business. This workshop explores the key issues of intellectual property, pricing and contracting through the use of interactive exercises which challenge you to make your own decisions and organise your own practice.
Building the foundations: resources and systems to support your business
Tuesday 24th November 9.30 am – 4 pm
Running a creative business requires many resources: time, finance and a place to work for a start. This workshop uses a series of interactive exercises to help you plan what you will need to do in order to access these resources and make use of them effectively.
Make It Happen Fast is supported by the University of Derby’s ECIF project, a set of activities to help individuals and businesses through the economic downturn, and Banks Mill Studios, a business incubator in Derby that specialises in support for creative industries businesses.
No time to be creative?
Tuesday June 30th 5 – 7 pm, Auditorium 4, Markeaton Street Campus, University of Derby, Markeaton Street, DE22 3AW
Given the economic downturn, is this a bad time to start a creative or graduate business? Should we all retreat and wait for things to get better? Or if we do decide to go ahead what sort of support is available?
At this event, David James Ross will argue that the current economic situation is more complex than a blanket downturn, and that it offers opportunities as well as threats. The need to support business through the downturn has been recognised by government, so current initiatives for the creative industries and business startup in the East Midlands will be outlined.
This free event is part of the Ingenuity Programme, a set of activities to help businesses access the wealth of knowledge and resources of universities. Banks Mill Studios is a business incubator in Derby that specialises in support for creative industries businesses. David James Ross, a trainer and mentor working with graduate and creative businesses, will be delivering Make It Happen Fast, a creative business startup programme, with Banks Mill during September 2009.
Although this event is free, places are limited, so please book via Banks Mill Studios – info@banksmill.org.uk or tel. 01332 594170.
Moving on; for graduates and professionals displaced by the economic downturn
Friargate Studios, Derby, June and July 2009. Supported by the Economic Challenge Investment Fund
The economic downturn is a confusing new situation. For those who have had their career interrupted, it’s difficult to know what to do next.
This programme of 20 workshops offers new thinking and practical exercises to get you moving in the right direction. Using the latest knowledge of career development along with insights from creative sources, you’ll be given the tools and the confidence to help achieve your new goals.
A diverse range of topics are covered in hour-and-a-half hour sessions: becoming more creative and enterprising, using the online world, advanced networking, and maintaining your confidence are just a few of the subjects we’ll cover. The style of delivery is interactive and you’ll be challenged to come up with your own answers.
Monday 29th June
What has happened here? Myths and realities of the economic downturn
Although everybody agrees there has been an economic downturn, there is enormous confusion about what this means, what will happen next, and when it will end, with the story changing day-to-day. What are the myths and realities from what is being said, and what do they mean for us?
and
What’s your story? A narrative approach to your career
Everybody has a story of how they would like their career to progress. But what if yours is interrupted, or goes in a direction you hadn’t intended? In this workshop, you’ll be asked to both create your own story and reflect upon it’s future direction and development.
Thursday 2nd July
Approaches to success; how to get the career you want
It might surprise you to know that there are a variety of approaches to career success, and in this workshop we’ll explore different ways to plan for success, along with an examination of which might be best for you.
and
Find heart in your work: what’s your mission?
Many people who are successful in work have a mission or purpose beyond earning money. This session explores why this is often a key to success, and how you can find you own mission or purpose within work.
Monday July 6th
Give it a try: keep involved for career development
It’s difficult to make choices about work – which is something you do - on the basis of reading or hearing about it. This session explores ways in which you can get involved in the workplace to both gain experience and try new possibilities.
and
Keep your mind fit: maintaining and building confidence
Confidence is important for success in all fields, and being without work is a fundamental challenge to confidence. In this workshop we’ll learn confidence techniques taken from fields as diverse as sports psychology and NLP.
Thursday July 9th
Act like a freelancer: the proactive approach to finding work
Some people are always looking for work, and finding it. This session draws on the experience and approaches of freelancers and the self-employed in outlining creative and effective ways of jobhunting.
and
Build a new network: making connections for the next steps
New opportunities often arise from people we know. This session will look at how we can build and extend our network and use it to access new possibilities.
Monday July 13th
Skills for the new age: learning, training and retraining for the 21st century
We all know that lifelong learning is important. But how can we keep learning and what are our options? This workshop outlines the possibilities for learning in the economic downturn, including postgraduate study and continuing professional development.
Brand yourself: building and communicating a professional identity
‘Tell me about yourself’ is one of the most common interview openers; saying what the employer wants to hear is the standard approach, but presenting a credible and coherent professional identity can be more convincing and pay better dividends. This workshop applies insights from branding and marketing to individual development and presentation.
Thursday July 16th
The power of words: using words to influence and persuade
The first stage of all application processes involves the written word; get this stage wrong, and you’ll never have the chance to show off your personal skills. This workshop uses insights from copywriting, sales and marketing to hone your writing skills.
and
Act like you mean it: look and sound like the successful jobhunter
Job interviews and presentations are a type of performance; this workshop uses insights from acting, the performance arts and video to improve your self-presentation.
Monday July 20th
Give to get: finding ways to make a contribution
Everybody has a need to feel they make a contribution to society. But if this is your job, what do you do if it ends? This workshop explores ways to get involved in activities that both help others and maintain your self-esteem through difficult times
and
Discontinuity as opportunity: using a career break to explore other options
It’s never nice not having the work you want. But a break from work can also be an opportunity to do something different. This session explores various options and presents case studies of people who have turned difficult circumstances into opportunity.
Thursday July 23rd
Doing the new: becoming more creative and enterprising in your approach
Employers are increasingly asking for you to be enterprising and creative. But how can you develop these qualities and evidence them?
and
Doing it online: using the Internet for enhanced jobhunting
Almost anything can be done online these days, including everything to do with jobs and work. But which approaches are actually effective? This workshop explores the reality of the online world for jobhunting and recommends practical uses.
Monday July 27th
Beyond Northern Rock: New finance for the new age
If there is one thing that has clearly changed, it is the financial constraints and possibilities for all of us. This session explores the financial realities of the post-downturn economy and the options for financial planning and reprofiling.
Telecommute or location, location? The geography of the new economy
Is it more important than ever for your career prospects where you live, or doesn’t it matter at all? This session examines economy and geography and the implications these have for our choices.
Thursday July 30th
Putting it all together: creating a new future
In this programme you’ve been presented with a great deal of new information and ideas. This final session will help you put them together into a coherent future and a plan of action.
Steps to Success with Dance4
Wednesday 10th June 2009, 10.30am-1pm, The New Art Exchange, Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham, NG7 6BE.
In the second of two professional development workshops for dancers and dance-related professions for Dance4, we’ll focus on our current situation, action and support – what we are doing well and less well, what we need to do next, and who can help us. A number of sources of further support will also be introduced.
You Can’t Photograph Here
Tuesday 31 March 2009, 6.30 – 8.30pm at QUAD, Market Place, Cathedral Quarter, Derby, DE1 3AS
Concerns about terrorism and child protection have left artists confused about exactly when it is appropriate to use photography within their educational work and wider practice. This workshop will explain both the law relating to photography in public places and best practice when working within organisational settings.
Legal, Decent and Honest
Flying Start Rally, Markeaton Street Campus, University of Derby, Wednesday, 11th March 2009
The legal, financial and administrative aspects of setting up a business rarely appeal strongly to creative people. This session aims to give you the skills and motivation to avoid the forms, legal notices, tax collectors and other sundry officials that will arrive on your doorstep if you don’t take care of these aspects.
Steps to Success with Dance4
Wednesday 21st January 2009, 10.30am-1pm, The New Art Exchange, Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham, NG7 6BE.
In the first of two professional development workshops for dancers and dance-related professions for Dance4, this session concentrates on goals, identity and connection – what we want, what we are about, and how we connect professionally to others. Approaches to success will also be explored.
Making The Web Work For You – Ingenuity programme
Wednesday 14th January 2009 The ID Centre, London Road, Derby DE24 8UP 9.30-4.30
As part of the Ingenuity Programme, this workshop will cover:
- Integrating a website with your business, in particular your sales activity and cycle.
- The process of getting a website up and running.
- Advice on hiring a developer.
- Promoting your website.
- Connecting to customers through interactivity and new media.
SPEED by Enterprise Inc
From January 2009 I’ll be a business mentor for SPEED by Enterprise Inc, an undergraduate business development programme at the University of Derby.
Stoke Youth Service Podcasting Project
From January to May 2009 I’m working with a small group of young people and youth workers on a project, initiated by Hub Agency, to develop content for Stoke Youth Service’s Uth website.
Content development – CHEA
North Notts and North Derbyshire are undergoing impressive regeneration at the moment but have a big problem with low rates of participation in Higher Education. During spring 2009, I’m working with I4L and CHEA to develop further materials as part of a project to help address this.