The iconic free family event of the summer, Bristol Harbour Festival returns from 14th – 16th July 2023, with newly imagined entertainment zones, Circus Playground moving to College Green and an inclusive water programme that celebrates the city’s harbour.
On Wednesday morning, organisers launched the return of the 2023 event with Mayor Marvin Rees and aspiring artists from Access Creative College.
For the launch, 18-year-old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Madara Plusa performed Massive Attack’s Teardrop, accompanied by 17-year-old guitarist, Jack Isgrove.
The performers were also joined by fellow students 21-year-old Shaye Stewart, a gospel musician, pianist, and producer currently studying Access’ Artist Development course, and 18-year-old DJ Fitz, a music producer and DJ studying Music Production.
Attracting over 250,000 visitors to enjoy over one mile of entertainment, the festival will feature a huge range of local talent, world-class circus, music acts and on the water activity from cardboard boat races to high octane jetpack stunts.
With five areas filled with music and entertainment, Bristol Harbour Festival fans can look forward to five performance platforms, bringing beats, boats and backflips to the summer extravaganza. Cirque Bijou will once again be bringing tricks and trapeze, children’s entertainment and pop-up performances at the Circus Playground which will now take pride of place at a brand-new city green space, College Green.
The Jelli Shack will take over Millenium Square, providing chill-out beach-bar vibes with an acoustic programme brought to you by the team at Jelli Records. Featuring an abundance of Bristol talent, the Jelli Shack will also have dodgems and refreshments, making this a ultimate spot to bask in the sunshine.
The Amphitheatre will become a great spot to enjoy a bite from the Food Court with music from Access Creative College, Ujima Radio and BCFM Radio as it becomes Harbour View. The perfect place to promenade alongside moored vessels and look out onto the stunning setting of Bristol’s floating harbour. It’s time to pull up a picnic bench and soak up the summer vibes.
On the Water entertainment will return to the Harbour Festival, bringing the water at the heart of our city to life with activities showcasing maritime magic from jet ski stunts to the iconic Pyrounaut showing off its skills.
Bristol’s Georgian Queen Square will transform into the Music Quarter; curated by Harbour Festival programming legend, Tony Benjamin. This space will kick start the festival on Friday night and will also feature the brightest talent from Access Creative College alongside established acts.
The festival has opened its annual Expression of Interest for those wanting to perform and get involved with the festival this year, hoping to attract the newest and coolest into the festival from all over corners of the city once again. With a large number of performers coming through the EOI form last year, applications are open to everyone and anyone looking to share their talent.
Access Ceative College has been providing creative education in Bristol for more than 20 years, offering full-time vocational courses in music, events, games design, computing, Esports, graphic design, film, and photography.
The college has a strong focus on diversity and inclusion, ensuring students, irrespective of background, successfully develop the knowledge, skills, and behaviours to thrive in the creative and sporting sectors.
Achievement rates are above national benchmarks and progression to higher education from socially disadvantaged backgrounds are double the nation average.
Bristol Harbour Festival’s new and reformed festival is brought to the city by Bristol City Council. The Circus Playground is supported and funded by the High Street Recovery Fund.
To keep up to date with all Harbour Festival news and updates, follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or visit the website.
ENDS
JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, has successfully won a contract with foodora, who are part of Delivery Hero, the world’s leading local delivery platform.
The project is focused on the foodora brand, promoting their culture, history and future through the stories of over a dozen long standing employees.
Filming is taking place across eight European countries including Finland, Norway, Slovakia and Austria.
“International travel was off the cards for so long and it’s fantastic to be given the opportunity to get back in the air again with a new client, exposing our productions and our team to other cultures” said Adam Millbank, Director at JonesMillbank.
“The project is benefiting from us doing what we do best; telling the individual stories of people from different walks of life, heritages and backgrounds with authenticity.”
Russell Jones, Director at JonesMillbank added: “We’re conscious of the environmental impact of all our productions, let alone ones that require multiple flights and cross-border trains. The nature of this project needed a travelling crew and we’ll be offsetting our impact via our friends at Ecologi.”
Delivery Hero operates its service in over 70 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
The company started as a food delivery service in 2011 and today runs its own delivery platform on four continents. Additionally, Delivery Hero is pioneering quick commerce, the next generation of e-commerce, aiming to bring groceries and household goods to customers in under one hour and often in 20 to 30 minutes.
Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Delivery Hero has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2017 and is now part of the MDAX stock market index.
For more information, please visit www.deliveryhero.com.
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JonesMillbank are a full-service video production company.
They work in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, telling authentic stories for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, IDLES, NHS England, The Royal Mint and Battersea.
jonesmillbank.com
01173706372
hello@jonesmillbank.com
“Teamwork is a dance, engrossing to perform and exciting to watch”. (Christopher Peterson in “Character Strengths and Virtues” )
“Okay, go.”
It’s dark, apart from a single bulb lighting the space in front of me. A well thumbed collection of pages, different coloured highlights everywhere. The voice in my ear gives another instruction. There’s a whirling sound, and a rush of adrenaline. Buttons click, controls slide and spin and the darkness is driven out. The next 90 minutes tumble with words and pages turning. More whispered instructions until the whirling repeats, darkness wins its battle, and the adrenaline subsides.
After hours of ladder climbing, cable connecting, spot pointing, and rehearsal upon rehearsal upon rehearsal (usually duller than dull, after the first one!); when the lights finally came up each night, the actors, sound engineers, follow spots, make up, greenroom, and director played a beautiful dance together. One where no-one thought of themselves for a change.
Theatre lighting was pretty much my highest high at school. Well, there was the secret beer-brewing too, but that’s a secret.
It was as exciting for me driving the lighting desk as it was for someone in the audience. Only I could barely sleep afterwards (and not because of the beer…)
We all knew we made it really happen. And when it went well – lines not forgotten, cues not missed, there was a sense of creating something otherworldly. No wonder we couldn’t sleep afterwards.
It’s the same on some teams.
Think of those team challenge videos of a basketball thrown from the top window of a house down to someone on the patio across to someone one side of the pool, bounced from hand to hand to hand to hand across the pool and ending up in the net at the end. Everyone cheers and goes a bit nuts. I bet you couldn’t sit still at the end either.
Because we love to see teams at play who succeed. We love to see the dance.
Better still is to be part of one. How can you make your team work? Make it more of a dance and less of a drudge?
Watch Amy Edmonson on this here:
An outstanding achievement and something we are very proud of.
Back in 2019, ADLIB Recruitment was one of the first recruitment businesses to certify as a B Corp with a score of 82.8. Our belief is that B Corp provides a structure and measurement to improve, certification is the start of the journey. We set out our intentions publicly through annual impact reports and set the bar high. This approach ensured we maintained the focus and accountability needed to make change happen.
Since our initial certification, we’ve held ourselves accountable to improve year on year. We’ve become a 100% employee-owned business, created a Trust Board, Employee Council and gifted each of our existing employees share options with a clear route to realisation.
We’ve donated many thousands of £ to charities and NFPs, including Feeding Bristol, Grassroots Activation Project, St Mungo’s, Julian Trust and Forest of Avon Trust to name a few brilliant organisations.
Internally, we have created MotherBoard, a business charter, community and event series that drives tangible change for mums working in the tech industry. We’ve also vastly improved our maternity leave policy and delivered D,E&I training, lived out through a healthily balanced team. The team have played lead roles in advancing GreenTech South West and Tech Ethics meet up groups. And that’s just for starters.
Today we celebrate the hard work that has gone into achieving our recertification. Focus will soon turn to our next recertification and setting the standards to a whole new level.
In unpredictable times it’s more important than ever to look after your team.
A change in economic climate will inevitably lead to some businesses downsizing to stabilise, some recruiting to take advantage of new opportunities, and others taking stock with their current team.
Wherever you fall, it’s really important to create an environment where your current team and future recruits can thrive.
But when the world is in a state of flux, when individuals are naturally distracted by external factors, how can you keep your team motivated and producing their best work?
Workplace benefits are a great way to keep engagement high but with new ways of working it’s harder to offer the usual perks like remote or flexible working and increased holidays.
Increased salaries and extra holidays are motivating factors, but only to a point as Dan Pink shows us, it’s companies who can keep their culture alive, despite a distant and physically separate workforce that will prosper.
Organisations that invest in ways to get their teams face-to-face safely, to foster a feeling of togetherness, and make employees feel united by a common cause will thrive, rather than just survive.
Finding innovative ways to connect your team to your vision and values will help to nurture a sense of connection and alignment behind your purpose.
Strategies like these can help:
Your team aren’t in the office, so why not send them tangible reminders of your organisation and vision? Send vision boxes to each team member and make it personal if you can – tools to help them complete their work, their favourite food or wine and little reminders of past projects and successes. Consider including gifts for family members, like LEGO for kids and vouchers for family days out too. This shows you care about their quality of life beyond the office. Vision boxes help your team stay connected to your brand and what you stand for in a meaningful way.
It might not be the right time to have everyone working in an office but don’t give up on in-person meetings altogether. Instead, when you can, have regular, small, and safe in-person gatherings so people can socialise, catch up, and bond as a team. We’re social creatures and while connecting via video conference is useful zoom-fatigue has definitely kicked in and it doesn’t give us the same boost a face-to-face gathering does. Consider hosting outdoor happy hours where people can move around and talk with plenty of room to be healthy and safe. These can include organised activities and structured team bonding or just provide a safe space for socialising and touching base
If online is the only option, don’t just gather everyone virtually for company meetings or to discuss upcoming projects. Think about creating a virtual space where people can spend time together in informal social or work gatherings.
Consider hosting a Friday lunch each week, where everyone logs onto a video conferencing platform and enjoys lunch together while catching up on the past week. Or try setting up a weekly or bi-weekly study hall where people can hop in a video conference room and keep the video open for casual chat while they work.
There is no pressure or need to communicate but this can create the feeling of a communal workspace and a sense togetherness. Study halls can also boost productivity and get problems solved more quickly than using email or waiting for set meeting times.
Even when the office is remote, you can still offer ‘workplace’ perks. Consider keeping things in place like childcare support, health and wellness classes, or training and development opportunities. This shows an authentic commitment to the welfare of your team, that your values remain important regardless of outside factors, and that company culture goes beyond the office walls.
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In short, working on keeping your culture alive might not seem like top priority in tough times but it’s more important than ever. A strong and distinctive culture is key to helping your current team stay engaged and motivated and attracting the right people to join your team.
Neil Berry – Head of Development at Proctor + Stevenson
What does a back-end developer do?
The core of my work as a Back-End Developer, is of course writing code using the framework or language for the task or project. But there’s more to it than that.
On any given day, I might be building out a feature to an established application or altering how something works to provide better value to our clients. I may be investigating a scenario that is leading to undesired outcomes on the application and then proposing a solution to the team or client.
Or sometimes I’m tasked with thinking about how best to address a business need with an established system – either using a solution Proctors has previously created in a new context or using something entirely new.
Solutions we work with at Proctors are based on Drupal, Symfony or AWS and across the lifecycle of a project, a back-end developer will work closely with all parts of Proctors Technology.
There are also times when we’ll work directly with our clients to understand their needs or demo how progress is going.
Watch video here.
What does a typical day look like at P+S?
A typical day is a good mix of collaboration and focus time. That can be in the office or remote, thanks to our hybrid flexible working policy.
Usually, we’ll have a brief check in with the project team we’re working with. Then there’s either a follow up with some team members to discuss a specific aspect of the work, or I’m head down working on a feature until lunch.
If I’m in the office, I’ll join everyone in the canteen – especially if it’s a pop-up lunch day or (even better) one of our monthly pre-paid lunches. If I’m at home, I may take a long lunch and go for a run or catch up with friends.
My afternoons vary depending on the day. Sometimes I dive back into working on a feature, or sometimes there’s an internal workshop or meeting with a client to talk through a piece of work.
It could also be that the day is set aside for planning and estimating forthcoming work, or training. This is in support of the training roadmaps that are set out based on the goals discussed with the leadership team.
Working with clients
We work with marketing departments across various industries. And while most have similar needs, they all face unique challenges. It’s up to the development team to craft bespoke solutions that work for them.
We have some complex systems that require varying skillsets and experience so working as a team and sharing knowledge can be crucial. In some cases, we find a solution we’ve used in one project that might lend itself well to another. This is why it’s important to build simplicity and flexibility into our solutions to help us manage time efficiently, rather than starting from zero each and every time.
Why Proctor + Stevenson?
Proctor + Stevenson is more than a company people work for; it has a real sense of community. There’s a strong support network so if you ever need to talk to someone, there will always be someone to listen. On top of that, P+S have some great initiatives. From our weekly Wednesday quiz nights to our Friday socials and even pop-up lunches, there’s always something fun going on to get involved with.
There are also plenty of charity fundraising events and other community projects we get involved with which is fantastic. And we host the annual South West Design and Digital Student Awards which is a great way for students to kickstart their career in the industry.
And it goes further than doing good for people, we also have a number of initiatives surrounding our sustainability, and we’re currently working towards our B-corp certification.
These are just a few of the ways Proctor + Stevenson works to be a positive environment for employees and clients alike. Everyone is incredibly friendly and always happy to help each other out, it’s genuinely a really welcoming community of people.
If you’re interested in working with us at Proctor + Stevenson, check out our careers page to see if any of our opportunities suit you.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2022 was a pretty transformative year for Keep Art It.
Special thanks to:
Director Douglas Karson highlights:
We’re thrilled to bits about what’s coming next!
Working with Ben The Illustrator, Fiasco created an interactive glossary of terms to make the world of theatre more accessible to people from different backgrounds.
Developed as part of The Hub, The Old Vic Theatre offers free digital learning resources designed to welcome anyone of any age, experience or ability, into the world of theatre. Playing a key role is an “interactive glossary” of theatre-related terms, created by Fiasco Design.
The educational microsite aims to debunk the jargon often associated with theatre. Setting the experience on a stage, visitors are guided through an animated performance that explores the different roles, responsibilities and inner-workings of the theatre. Exploring the site, visitors learn about the many different people who help to run the theatre on a day-to-day basis. Visitors can watch and explore at their own pace, scrubbing back and forth to discover, revisit and learn.
“We want viewers to feel like they’ve stepped into our world and discovered something new and unexpected on their own terms.” Magid Elbushra, Digital Content Producer, The Old Vic Theatre.
“It was a pleasure to collaborate with Ben The Illustrator and The Old Vic on this microsite. Right from the start we were aligned on a more experiential approach, turning the passive action of watching into something active, engaging and fun.” Mike Frost, Digital Lead, Fiasco Design.
The colours are inspired by The Old Vic’s interior: opulent shades of reds and gold contrast a suite of deep and electric blues. The aim was to capture the atmospheric qualities of stage lighting by splitting the colour into ‘light’ and ‘dark’ themes, which mimic theatrical lighting effects.
“I’m very proud of what we collaborated on, it was a pleasure to work with the Fiasco team and will always state that setting the whole experience on-stage with the lit/unlit approach was a stroke of Fiasco genius!” Ben O’Brien – Ben the Illustrator.
You can view the project case study on Fiasco’s site here.
As 2022 draws to a close we’re delighted to be ending the year with top-line growth of +40%. We’ve welcomed major new clients and projects including, Bristol Innovations, Loughborough School of Business & Economics, premium plant-based nutrition brand Vivo Life, Made Smarter Innovation, Medi-Tech innovator Radii Devices and law firm TLT.
We moved to a new home in Engine Shed in March, the natural location for our focus on scaling innovative organisations. From here we continue to support leadership teams in this enterprising region which recorded an investment flow of £1.1bn in 2021 – putting it into the top 20 in Europe.
Moving into 2023, we’ll continue to work alongside The University of Bristol, developing its commercial quantum offering, The Enterprise Sessions and other projects.
And our ongoing relationship with Vittoria, the world’s most advanced bicycle tyre company, has also flourished and we’ll continue to support the leadership team on global brand development. Notable achievements this year include supporting the launch of the 5-hectare Vittoria Park next to the brand’s HQ in Brembate Italy and advertising projects including the benchmark-busting OWN THE UNKNOWN campaign which brought about a collaboration with the Velosolutions team and percussionist Ian Chang.
We also captured the spirit of the brand for internal and external audiences with their Manifesto film.
“It’s been a fantastic year for Firehaus. We’ve worked with some inspirational people throughout 2022 who have maintained a visionary approach to the role of their organisation – even in these difficult times. Each of them is changing the world for the better and it’s great supporting them in that endeavour. We’re super-excited about what’s to come!”
Ian Bates – Founder and Creative Partner
There is an image of an advertising campaign poster making the rounds on social media that has been marked with comments that question the motives and manipulative methods behind the design (see below). It is a good example of social and cultural commentary being added onto a commercial poster, but it is far from a new idea.
Adbusters
The first time I became aware of this type of movement was in the 1990s, by a group called Adbusters. As a graphic design student, and taking great interest in designers such as Jonathan Barnbrook who were very social and counter-cultural in the work they did (and it turns out he was a part of Adbusters too), I was very interested in this movement. Although I didn’t join in with their activities, I followed them with some interest.
Adbusters have spent the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and the 2020s railing against capitalism and in particular advertising’s role in capitalism. Their magazine’s international circulation peaked at 120,000 in the late 2000s, but it has been their campaigns which have had more impact. Buy Nothing Day, TV Turnoff Week and Occupy Wall Street have all left their mark, but they are probably best known for their “subvertisements” — adverts which subvert the original message of the advert.
Blaming advertising for playing a central role in creating and maintaining consumer culture, they have used the creative skills and talents against advertising itself. They claim to be combating the negative effects of advertising and empowering its readers to regain control of culture. The big question they ask with all of their work is “Are we consumers and citizens?”
Citizen or consumer?
This is something I believe is an important discussion that those of us who work with brands need to have — are we creating enough space for people to be citizens as well as consumers? This is a big question, and one that brings other factors into play such as ‘brand purpose’ — is a corporate brand the best vehicle to promote a social or environmental purpose — but that is for another article.
Adbusters might have blazed the trail, but now groups such as Brandalism are picking up the ball and sprinting with it. Emerging in the UK during the 2012 Olympics, Brandalism has been using ‘culture jamming’ to rail against corporations with anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist and environmental concerns. Brandalism has also done a lot to expand the people who are able to take part in these activities, by among other things publishing ‘how to’ guides for things like opening poster sites.
Cultural landscape
Now, there are some who are against all of these ‘subvertising’ activities, but that isn’t my view. For me, they are an important addition to the cultural landscape, and can be a valid challenge to corporate power. On top of that, I think that some of the Adbusters and Brandalism work is some of the most creative work out there. Not only are advertising companies getting their work busted, it’s being improved upon at the same time.
If you’re interested in finding out more about this subculture, take a look at the books and websites below.
‘Advertising Shits in Your Head‘ by Vyvian Raoul & Matt Bonner
‘Culture Jam’ by Kalle Lasn
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