Earlier this year, Bristol Media’s Marketing, Events & Operations Manager, Kirsty Phillips, headed off to the beautiful Backwell House for the one-day workshop ‘LeadershipiD’. Read on to discover Kirsty’s experience of the day.
“Leadership iD is an immersive, one-day experience that promises to help discover and define your personal leadership brand and action plan. The interactive workshop is set in the peaceful location of Backwell House and facilitated by Bristol Media Member Coaches, Mette Davis and Katie Scotland.
Surrounded by beautiful countryside, Backwell House is an escape from the everyday and certainly a welcome location to take time out to focus on your personal leadership style.
Katie and Mette introduced the overall concept of LeadershipiD and set expectations from the beginning by providing each person in our intimate group with a blueprint template to input into over the course of the day. The structure was based around a combination of working in pairs and group work, with self-reflection nestled in at the appropriate times.
I found the whole experience equally as rewarding as it was challenging. Participants delve into a spot of emotional soul searching and draw on previous experiences to help distinguish the key behaviours and traits that drive you as an individual. The end goal and final product – your unique, personal, tailored leadership iD to take away and put into action.
Moving through activities centred around topics such as: goal setting (from a personal, team and business perspective); challenges; enablers; and identifying developmental needs, Katie & Mette provide crucial guidance and framed questions in order to complete the sections of the blueprint.
Several weeks on I’ve started to put my learnings into practise. Having identified the key themes and behaviours I value as a leader which (reassuringly!) align with the values of Bristol Media, the blueprint is a useful prompt when discussing objectives with your team. One of my key leadership values was collectively celebrating achievements – so I now encourage my direct report to share the experiences that have gone particularly well in her working week. I’m looking forward to implementing the other elements of my action plan over the next 6 months.
LeadershipiD is not your typical leadership day – devoid of stuffiness, Katie and Mette ensure the whole experience is highly relatable, personal and all in all it’s thoroughly enjoyable. I’d recommend to anyone who is looking to discover and define their personal leadership brand and action plan.”
Katie and Mette are running another LeadershipiD workshop in September where Bristol Media members can attend for a reduced rate. Contact Katie Scotland or Mette Davies or details.
It’s just over two weeks until the next keynote event in our Vision series where we welcome Steve Chapman, artist, philosopher, TEDx speaker, and all-round supporter of the weird and wonky, to Bristol.
Steve’s entertaining talk promises to explain how to nurture what makes us uniquely weird so that it becomes our creative super power, if you haven’t got your ticket yet then book HERE. We spoke to Steve ahead of the event to find out more…
1. What can attendees at ‘You’re Beautiful Wonkiness’ expect from the event?
Some stories and conversations about what it really means to be a creative human being and the importance of weirdness (or as a minimum being just weird enough) if we want to make a difference in the world.
2. What do you hope attendees will take away from the event?
I hope that people will gain a re-kindled love for their natural born wonkiness: those unique talents, quirks, and ways of seeing the world that we consciously or unconsciously traded to fit in better and be more like everyone else. I hope people will leave with a sense of creative mischief and a bold experiment to make a difference to something that’s important to them.
3. When we first spoke with you, you mentioned that your philosophy was “screwing around with normality.” How do you live by this?
The short answer is that I’ll share some examples of this at the session! The rather longer answer is that I am constantly curious about how common sense and expertise stifles, rather than enables, change. So, when I spot stuckness I’m intrigued by how I can create an experiment that is counter-intuitive or the opposite of what is “normal” simply to see what would happen. And the important thing about an experiment is that you don’t know if it is going to work or not. So learning to live with failure and rejection is as much part of this as the joy of seeing something take-off and have a life of its own.
4. How should organisations be embracing the idea of celebrating employee weirdness?
The first thing I would say is that there is no point in doing it unless a) you are serious about it, and b) everybody brings more of themselves to the workplace, be you a work experience person or the CEO. I come across so many organisations that say “We want more creativity in the workplace” but are really saying to me “Can YOU get THEM to come up with more ideas for ME!”
This work is much more difficult than people appreciate as it requires a fundamental shift in the cultural permission to be more “mad, bad and wrong” in the workplace, to be counter-cultural in service of the change they are wanting to see. This requires loosening the grip of what is regarded as “sane, good and right” around here, just enough to promote bold experimentation, creativity and innovation. I wrote a blog a few years back that I would send to organisations that wanted to speak to me, to check how up for it they really were: https://canscorpionssmoke.com/2016/11/05/want-creativity-workplace-serious/
5. If you could only offer people one piece of advice about their approach to creativity, what would it be and why?
Be more obvious and try much, much less. Work on becoming more of what you already are rather than striving to become something you are not already. And if those around you reject you, humiliate you or shame you for doing this – find some different people to hang around with!
You’re Beautiful Wonkiness: The rise of the outsider is taking place from 12.30 – 2.15pm on Tuesday 16th July at Origin Workspace, Bristol.
Did you know The Professional Contractors Group estimates that there are 1.4 million freelancers working across industry sectors in the UK?
The South West’s freelancer economy is booming, so we’re pleased to offer this workshop with Sarah Williamson, Partner, and Jenny Marley, Associate, from Ashfords LLP.
Who’s it for?
Specifically for freelancers, self-employed individuals, and agencies/organisations who employ individuals on a temporary or contract basis, attendees will get a true understanding of the statutory employment rights involved when working as, or with, a freelancer.
About the workshop:
There are enormous benefits in employing freelancers in the creative industries. Freelancers regularly provide a flexible and diverse pool of talent, offering benefits over the traditional employment model. Similarly, it’s becoming an increasingly popular way for individuals to work enabling them to choose when and where they work.
Engaging freelancers and working as a freelancer is not without risks. Simply labelling an individual as self-employed, is not enough to remove an individual’s statutory employment rights. The status of an individual is a question of fact. Following the much publicised Deliveroo and Uber rulings and the rise in the number of individuals working as freelancers, we look at the so called ‘gig economy’ and some of the key employment law and commercial issues to take into consideration:
Tickets & Entry:
The freelancer economy workshop will take place at The Square Club from 3.00-5.00pm on Thursday 11th July. Tickets are £15+VAT for Bristol Media and Square Club members, or £25+VAT for non-members.
About Ashfords
Ashfords is a national provider of legal, professional and regulatory services. They help many different kinds of clients make the most of their opportunities, whilst effectively managing risk by providing legal advice that is not just technically sound but rooted in a wider appreciation of the real world in which we all exist. They aim to always provide straightforward, timely advice, delivered in clear and simple language.
Sarah Williamson is a Partner in the Commercial Team and Technology Sector. She handles complex technology and digital media work and has specific digital media experience in marketing and advertising, adtech, the licensing and monetisation of data and converged technology and media.
Jenny Marley is an Associate in the Employment Team. Jenny advises employers on a wide range of employment law issues including the gig economy and the impact on employees and employers.
In recent years, Bristol Media’s Chair Chris Thurling has led a very successful delegation to SXSW, the world’s largest interactive festival in Austin, Texas. For five days in March, it’s the only place to be to hear from the world’s leading creative and tech companies about forthcoming trends in our sector.
We’re now starting to think about SXSW 2020. With tickets going on sale on 1st August, we’re trying to gauge how many of our members may like to be part of the Bristol Media delegation next year? The interactive festival will run from 13-17th March (flying from Heathrow on 12th and returning on 18th). The flights are considerably cheaper at the moment (£473 economy & £827 premium economy) so if you’re thinking about going, you might be wise to book your flights now whilst the prices are so low! To give you an idea, the cost of the flights, accommodation and SXSW pass is in the region of £2,750 (travelling economy) – £3,050 (premium economy) plus subsistence.
Email [email protected] asap to register your interest for next year’s trip.
Social Media Week – a global conference held in over 25 cities worldwide – returned to Bristol in June for the third year running. Our content apprentice, Izzy, had an access-all-areas pass as part of the digital squad to capture content from the week. It was a packed schedule of over 40 sessions, and Izzy has listed the four highlight events from her week…
1. Social Media Trends 2020
“To kick off day 1 of Social Media Week, I attended the sold-out ‘Social Media Trends 2020’ with Drew Benvie from Battenhall. What I found particularly interesting about this talk was trend 2, ‘Insta reality’.
Insta reality is when Instagram users step away from the fake, idealised, seemingly perfect post and instead show a more real and authentic perspective; for example, a ‘woke-up-like-this’ selfie with yesterday’s makeup and bed hair. I for one am exhausted of cherry picking through my camera roll, so I’m excited to see if Insta reality will really take off.
2. Sketchnoting for social
One my favourite events from the conference was Liam Williams’ workshop. I’m a huge fan of doodling, so learning that it’s actually a more effective way of making notes than plain words was great news to me.
In the session, Liam talked us through the different aspects of sketchnoting: shapes, lines, text, icons and faces. At the end we were put the test to create our own sketchnote, and while I’m not an expert just yet, it did teach me that it’s not about drawing ability, it’s about listening and that we should all ditch the lined paper! Look out for some Vision keynote sketchnotes in the coming months…
3. Harnessing the Power of Play
A more niche event, Fat Media’s ‘Harnessing the power of play’ was all about gamification. I was quite shocked to learn that using game-based content creates much more engagement than standard images and videos as users can stay for 30 seconds plus on a game but might spend just a second on a photo. It definitely got me thinking about some ways Bristol Media could implement gamification into our marketing operations.
4. The Social Detail – Closing Party
At the closing party on Thursday night, SMW Bristol ambassadors talked through their highlights. Almost all of them made the connection that the most engaging events were the ones that inspired change. Joyann Boyce from The Social Detail gave an amazing talk about inclusive marketing and then went on to talk on the ‘Activism in the social and digital age’ panel alongside Pussy Riot last minute!
There was so much to take away from both these sessions, but the one key thing is this: ‘Being inclusive in your content should be standard. Being representative of the people around us and the community we live in should be the norm’ – Joyann Boyce.
While I’m glad I won’t be running from venue to venue in the rain again anytime soon, I am so grateful to have been part of the experience. I’ve taken away new skills and knowledge that I can put into practise moving forward in my career. I’ll definitely be signing up to take part again next year and would 100% recommend that everyone in our industry get involved in some way, shape or form as a speaker, sponsor, digital squad member, or just attendee. Bring on Social Media Week Bristol 2020!”
The outsider’s time has come! In a society that is stuck in loops of common sense where we have an unhealthy attachment to expertise and logical, linear thinking, something counter-intuitive is needed. It is time for a creative revolution. One in which the outsider sits at the table alongside the experts. Where the passionately inexpert play a vital role in unsticking stuckness. All that you need to bring is your own unique and beautiful wonkiness.
Bristol Media are delighted to be joined by Steve Chapman, artist, philosopher, TEDx speaker, and all-round supporter of the weird and wonky, for this keynote on creativity and the human condition. Steve’s talk is all about nurturing what makes us uniquely weird so that it becomes our creative super power, the role of the ‘outsider’ versus the ‘expert’, and also touches on imposter syndrome, the pointlessness of labelling and the importance of counter culture.
Join us and Steve for this keynote on Tuesday 16 July (12.30-14.15) at the new event space of Origin Workspace, 40 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HU. Tickets include a light buffet lunch and are £25+VAT for Bristol Media members, £35+VAT for non-members.
About Steve Chapman
A former Vision speaker, Steve is an artist, philosopher and writer who is interested in creativity and the human condition.
He specialises in working in creative and counter-intuitive ways to help people free themselves from stuck loops of common-sense where creativity, novelty and change are rather difficult. He is the founder of Can Scorpions Smoke? and creator of Sound of Silence, the world’s first silent podcast featuring special guests. As an artist he’s exhibited alongside the likes of David Shrigley and Pablo Picasso and has sold pieces in the UK, US, South Africa and Russia.
He is at his best when he doesn’t quite know what he is doing.
Twitter: @stevexoh
Instagram: @stevexoh
There’s still time to grab the last few tickets to SMW Bristol. With 40 events to choose from, the sessions cover everything from social media for small businesses, blogging and influencers, B2B social strategies and social trends to look out for. Plus, we’re founding event partners, so Bristol Media members benefit from 25% off keynote sessions at The Everyman when using the code: BRISTOLMEDIASMW.
Tuesday 16 July 2019, 12.30 – 14.15: Origin Workspace, 40 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HU.
For our July keynote we’ll be joined by Steve Chapman with his new talk ‘You’re Beautiful Wonkiness: The rise of the outsider and the revolution towards non-sense.’ If you’re a fan of the weird, wonderful and downright wonky, this one’s for you.
Steve will talk about the role of the outsider, imposter syndrome, the pointlessness of labelling and the importance of counter culture. Keep your eyes peeled for his #FREEART which he’s letting loose into the Bristol community – and let us know on twitter if you find any.
TICKETS: £25+VAT for Bristol Media members // £35+VAT for non-members (includes a buffet lunch).
Don’t forget, Bristol Media members can take advantage of exclusive discounts on venue hire, weekend cocktails, waterfront suppers, and much more! Take a look at the member benefits or click here if you’d like to find out more about joining.
To access member benefits you’ll need to prove you’re a member, find out how to set up your mobile membership card here.
Pop in for a cuppa and claim 10% off at Caffe Clifton, an independent café set in the heart of Clifton. Find out more.
If you’d like to get this content delivered direct to your inbox, sign up to our general newsletter.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationWe caught up with Marissa Lewis-Peart, winner of the Bristol Media Ben Martin Apprentice Award, two months after her trip to SXSW in Austin, Texas to find out more about her experiences of the festival. Read on to hear Marissa’s story and how she ended up at the world’s largest annual celebration of the interactive industries.
“During Easter 2018 I attended a two-week placement at Epoch Design, after presenting a leave behind in the form of a personalised water bottle label to the CEO at a 3rd year university talk. Later that year, one of the managers told me about the Ben Martin Apprentice Award opportunity and encouraged me to apply for it. I was asked to submit a short video and/or 500 word paragraph about my design strengths. After speaking with studio staff from Epoch, one of them asked me what my ‘why’ was which prompted me to spend the next couple of weeks filming and editing a 40 second video about why I wake up every morning excited to design. One face-to-face interview and a few weeks later, I was announced as the 2019 Ben Martin Apprentice Winner! As part of the opportunity I was able to attend the world’s largest Tech, Media, Music and Film conference festival: SXSW 2019 in Austin, Texas.
My first day at SXSW was International Women’s Day and so it was only right to begin the day with a women’s led panel talk about how adaptive design is transforming brands. The physical ability and racially diverse panel of four women spoke about how brands are becoming more inclusive to cater to all audiences and the possible downsides such as diversity being a ‘trend’ rather than a genuine brand value. I attended 4 more conferences throughout my first day ranging from a Black Women in Tech conference through to a talk by author Laura Otting about Becoming Limitless – How to Live Your Best Life.
That evening I attended the IPA welcome drinks at a local hotel with Chris Thurling, Chair of Bristol Media and my mentor, and a couple of others where I had the chance to network with many people who are established in their industries. By the end of the day, I was shattered!
I attended many more talks over the course of the next few days however one that stood out to me was ‘An Ad Guy and a Psychologist Walk Into an Ad Agency’ where an ad guy and a psychologist deconstructed a few of the most iconic TV advertisements and explained why they were so successful through behaviour economics. I found it really interesting to see how psychology can have a real impact on how an audience engages with creative media and how I can introduce some of the tactics in my own work. Later that day, Chris introduced me to Ann Hiatt who worked in executive positions for both Amazon and Google for 15 years at her talk; Grit, Reinvention & Pivoting for Success, which was inspiring as she spoke about how she grew to end up in her executive positions. On the final evening at SXSW, Ann hosted an open invite dinner where attendees who work in the tech, media, music or film industries could network and build connections, which was interesting as everyone had such diverse experiences.
There were a few pop up buildings scattered around the local area from brands such as Amazon, Sony, Samsung, LG, Snapchat and Twitter, where I could get interactive with their latest tech prototypes like robots and sensory gaming as well as network or listen to smaller talks. As a graphic design student I’m aware of how artificial intelligence and augmented reality are changing how brands communicate with consumers however, before this trip I was feeling confused as to how I can harness this new technology and take my work to the next level. Having the chance to play around with new tech helped to open my eyes to the possibilities and I ended up including augmented reality in a D&AD submission back at university.
Aside from the overall SXSW experience and opportunities to network being huge highlights within themselves, a smaller highlight of SXSW19 was seeing one of my favourite rappers, A$AP Rocky, talking about ‘Using Design Differently to Make a Difference’ with the Chief Design Officer of Mercedes Benz. As A$AP Rocky is an artist and general creative that I’ve loved for both his music and style for years, it was exciting to see him on stage and for once not rapping but talking about something that I’m also passionate about; design.
Thank you to the companies and organisations that came together to give me this opportunity, I’ve learnt so much and now have a clearer vision of the direction I would like to take my career in. As I’m currently completing my final months at university, having this experience and the support has really helped me to feel more confident in getting ready to start my career.”
Tickets for SXSW2020 go on sale 1st August 2019. If you’d like to find out more about joining Chris Thurling and the Bristol & Bath delegation at next year’s event, please email: [email protected]
Agents of Change: Think, Create, Play in partnership with UWE Bristol Equity – making its debut right here in Bristol – represents new and unheard voices. Join influencers from different disciplines who are making moves as agents of change to spark inspiration, debate and share best practice.
Keynote speaker Jide Adetunji, co-founder of GUAP MAG, followed by a panel discussion on curating your brand and creative practice, networking opportunities, and new artists showcase.
GUAP is the UKs first video magazine, allowing you to watch all the amazing content rather than read it. The aim is to ‘Inspire’ and ‘Entertain’ young people across the nation by delivering rich and quality video articles each month. The inspirational articles are designed to open young people’s eyes to the opportunities that exist within society and show them individuals who are living out their dreams in the hopes that they will learn and be inspired to greater things in life.
Abbi Bayliss, Adibah Iqbal, Parys Gardener
Panelists discuss their own creative journeys, developing their brands and creating opportunities.
Sponsored by UWE Equity, University of Bristol Student Union and Get Set for Growth
13:00 – 13:10 – Introduction video by Mayor Marvin Reeves
13:10 – 14:00 – Keynote address: Jide Adetunji (Co-Founder GUAP MAG)
14:00 – 15:00 – Panel Discussion
15:00 – 16:00 – Networking and Artist Exhibitors
Izzy joined the team as Junior Content Producer Apprentice for Bristol Media & Ambitious PR just over four months ago and has been a fantastic addition, bringing news skills, a fresh perspective, and you may have even seen her behind the camera at some of our events! She’s provided an update of the last four months and what she’s looking forward to from now until December.
I’ve really settled into my apprenticeship role with Bristol Media and Ambitious PR, the time has flown by! With National Apprentice Week this month and my 4-month job anniversary, I’m updating on my journey so far…
I decided to become an Apprentice whilst I was in my final year of studying Media at college and working part time. When I initially chose college as opposed to A levels, all I knew was that I wanted to work in the creative sector. At the time, an apprenticeship hadn’t even crossed my mind as I thought they were typically only available in engineering or construction, and I was always told that apprenticeships were a last option if you didn’t get the right GCSE’s.
When my college classmates began applying to universities, I began looking for full time jobs. I found that after browsing through Indeed and Totaljobs with the keywords ‘creative’ or ‘digital’, every job that cropped up required experience. I went along to university open days and was tempted with the promise of higher paid jobs if I had a degree, but I wanted to start working as soon as possible and university had never interested me.
A friend of mine had finished an apprenticeship in business admin at the start of my second year of college and was offered full time job within 2 weeks. I was shocked at how easily she found a job, especially since she was still 17 like me, shortly after, I decided to research apprenticeships in Bristol. After reading through some job descriptions and requirements, I realised that it was a perfect fit for me. Many of the roles didn’t require experience and I would get an extra qualification by the end of it.
This was when I found a vacancy for a Digital PR & Content Apprentice for Bristol Media and Ambitious PR on the GOV.UK Find an apprenticeship site. The course I would take alongside the job was what initially attracted me, because my ‘lessons’ were taught by actual industry professionals, and the role was also one that would allow me to put my current skills to use (eg, video and photo editing).
I’ve been working for Bristol Media and Ambitious for 4 months now, I spend 2 days a week with each business then a fifth day with Cirencester College. I didn’t expect to be given as much responsibility as I have, but I’m happy that I have, as it’s given me the opportunity to prove to everyone what I’m capable of.
A part of my job that I’ve really been enjoying is the evenhttps://www.bristolmedia.co.uk/ts that Bristol Media host, I’ve had the chance to see and meet so many speakers and leading industry professionals. One event in particular I found interesting was a Focused Minds Vision keynote by Ros Boughtflower, where we learnt meditation techniques to improve our focus and performance at work.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing though, a challenge I’ve faced has been adapting my writing style. Until now, I’ve not had practise writing with a business tone of voice, so it’s been a bit of a struggle to keep my blogs and social media posts professional, but this is something I’m excited to develop and get better at as even after this job it will be useful.
I look forward to supporting the team with Social Media Week Bristol in June, I’ve never been before so it will be interesting to see how I can get involved. Also in June is the Bristol Media summer party, which will be a good opportunity for me to network with some of the members, and hopefully get some new industry contacts.
My apprenticeship finishes in December so it is important that I make the most out of my time with both teams and learn as much as possible from them to improve my chances of getting a full-time job afterwards. But for now, I’m excited to carry on developing my skills and finding out more about the creative sector in Bristol.
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information