Bristol’s creative quarter, Paintworks, was full of excitement on Wednesday, March 27th, as Istoria Group and Purplefish teamed up to host a creative careers Agency Open Day.
The event, in partnership with social enterprise Babbasa, welcomed a total of 12 eager young people. This day-long event was an opportunity for anyone interested in a career within the design and/or PR industry.
The collaboration between Istoria Group and Purplefish was an effort to offer invaluable insights into the creative industry, particularly for individuals who may face barriers to accessing such opportunities. Both certified B Corp businesses, Istoria Group and Purplefish are committed to fostering inclusivity and breaking down barriers in the creative sector.
Sam Rowe, CEO of Istoria Group said: “This Open Day really portrays our shared commitment to nurturing talent and fostering a supportive environment for aspiring creatives. We’re dedicated to providing pathways for individuals to thrive in the design industry.”
Joanna Randall, Founder of Purplefish, commented: “At Purplefish, we believe in the power of mentorship and sharing knowledge for the next generations who will be working alongside us. Collaborating with Istoria Group for this Open Day has been incredibly rewarding, and we’re thrilled to have provided aspiring professionals with a glimpse into the exciting world of PR.”
The day’s agenda was structured to offer participants a comprehensive overview of both design and PR. Beginning with Istoria Group’s session, participants were tasked with choosing an experience to amplify, creating a unique brand experience, integrating design elements, and presenting their concepts to the judges. The winning team received Love Bristol gift cards, to spend locally and support Bristol businesses.
Following a lunch break, where the students were able to network with one another and members of the Istoria Group and Purplefish teams, the attendees headed to Purplefish. The PR workshops offered insights into crafting powerful news hooks, mastering social media marketing, and managing events.
Beyond the scheduled sessions, participants had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the agency atmosphere, gaining firsthand experience of the diverse and vibrant culture agency life has to offer.
The Agency Open Day also served as a platform for discussing future opportunities, including paid work placement opportunities in 2024 at Istoria Group and pathways to kickstart a career as a degree-level PRCA apprentice at Purplefish.
Since 2019, Square Works has become the byword for luxurious serviced offices and co-working in Bristol. We started with the aim of building a community where professionals could work, network, relax and socialise in an environment that offered the very best – from an exciting events calendar to a light and airy workspace that members can truly enjoy.
Situated on the beautiful Berkeley Square, a ten-minute walk from the city centre, Square Works is spacious, airy and filled with contemporary art and natural light. This unique workspace is spread across three elegant Georgian townhouses, with a range of conference and meeting rooms, communal spaces, kitchens and a fitness suite.
As a BCI member you can get 10% off memberships and meeting rooms at Square Works, contact our reception at [email protected] to take advantage of this offer.
Save the date – Thursday May 9, 2024!
Mark your calendars because something exciting is coming your way! If you’re between the ages of 16 and 30, we’ve got an event tailor-made for you. Get ready to dive deep into the pressing issues of climate change and sustainability at our dynamic and engaging gathering.
Here’s a sneak peek of what’s in store:
Interactive Workshops: Prepare to roll up your sleeves and get involved in hands-on workshops where you’ll learn practical skills like upcycling to make a positive impact on the environment.
Open Discussions: Your voice matters! Join in on open discussions where you can share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns about climate change in a welcoming and inclusive environment.
But wait, there’s more! This event isn’t just about sharing information; it’s about empowerment. We’re committed to making climate action accessible to everyone, especially young people from lower-income and marginalised communities.
Get ready to be inspired, connect with like-minded individuals, and take meaningful steps toward a sustainable future. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
Together, let’s make a difference.
For ways to support and get involved, you can get in contact via email [email protected]
Register your interest (16-30)
NEW BOOTCAMP DATES ANNOUNCED FOR OCTOBER 2024
Register your interest and secure one of the limited co-funded spaced today by contacting [email protected]
Projects – of all sizes, in all sectors and with various budget constraints can put the most cool headed staff member under pressure. With various stakeholders involved, tight deadlines, organisation management and staff availability alongside budget and time constraints; the presence of a skilled project manager to guide the effort and ensure alignment among all participants is crucial for project success. Organisations employing various project management methodologies excel in sticking to budgets, adhering to schedules, meeting scope requirements, upholding quality standards, and realising the benefit of how a successful outcome can make to a business.
Develop your staff in project management, and drive your business forward through a part funded Project Management Skills Bootcamp.
Delivered in Bristol over 10 weeks, this part funded course will equip your staff with the skills needed to support and ultimately lead projects.
Suitable for people looking to upskill their staff and is under pinned by the Association for Project Management (APM), Project Management Qualification (PMQ) and will reference the APM Book of Knowledge (BoK) 7th Edition. For employers wishing to upskill their employees, this course will be discounted by 70% as part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Plan for Jobs. The course will be spread over 10 weeks, comprising a mixture of face-to-face/remote participation, requiring day-release one day each week. This is an ideal opportunity to upskill individuals in your team to drive your business forward.
When is the course?
Start Date: October 2024 (dates to be confirmed)
Benefits of the course:
The aim of the course is to provide learners a core understanding and appreciation of project management. Together with some practical applications of learning and how current practices impact project management; it will develop learners understanding of core project management principles and emerging practices.
By completing this Project Management Bootcamp, your employees will get a greater understanding of key elements of project management, such as:
On completion of the course learners may wish to formally pursue the PMQ and information will be available to support this.
Those looking to explore project management with data will have access to Microsoft supported courses in Azure Fundamentals, Azure AI Fundamentals, Azure Data Fundamentals.
What’s changing in Project Management?
Project management principles and practices are heavily influenced by data. The use of data analysis, statistical interpretation and artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging aspect of project management. The impact of AI in Project Management has been globally recognised. Over 80% of respondents to the Project Management Institute (PMI) “Pulse of the Profession”, 2019 survey report stated that organisations are seeing an impact from AI. With project professionals expecting the proportion of projects they manage using AI to jump from 37%.
At the end of the course there will be a series of guest speakers from industry who will discuss the future of project management. Participants attending the course may wish to explore data in projects in future courses at the West of England IoT, details will be available at the end of the programme.
Cost
Large Employers (With 250 Staff or More) TBC.
SME Employers (With 249 Staff or Less) TBC
Employer Commitment
Employer commitment for learner to complete all training elements.
Evidence from employer to confirm that the training provided via the Skills Bootcamp has resulted in either a new job role or an enhanced role for the employee that now utilises their new skills gained via this Skills Bootcamp.
Contact us today to register your interest on [email protected] or visit our previous bootcamp information page: https://www.weston.ac.uk/ProjectManagementEmployers
NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY SET TO ENHANCE UNESCO CITY OF FILM STATUS
Award-winning visual content production company Distortion Studios has acquired and fitted out brand new studios in Brislington. The (200m2) studios will enable producers across all disciplines – television, film, advertising, music, corporate and events – to create original IP utilising the cutting-edge technology of Virtual Production and the power of Unreal Engine.
This initiative, supported by funding from Creative UK and in partnership with iMAG Displays, will see the first permanent Virtual Production studio in Bristol. At the forefront of creative and technological development, the new studio was set up by the team at Studio Giggle, a multiple award-winning creative team, including a group of highly experienced Unreal Engine experts and specialists in immersive digital arts.
Distortion Studios are decked out with state-of-the art equipment including 11x4m curved LED Volume, ROE Black Pearl 2 V2 LED panels, 2x2x3m wild wall mobile led panels, 2x Stype RedSpy tracking system, Stage Precision, Pixera Media Servers and Brompton processing.
Later this month, Distortion Studios will open its doors with a series of launch events. They will be hosting two full days of demos on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th April and a drinks reception on the evening of the 25th. The demo sessions will allow visitors to learn more about virtual production, interact with the LED screen, and speak to the Distortion Studios team.
Distortion Studios would like to invite the Bristol Creative Industries members to the launch in April. To attend, please email [email protected] .
Jonathan Brigden, Managing Director of Distortion Studios comments, “We’re thrilled to have set up our studios in this great City in the South West. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, the benefits of VP are simply infinite. We’re proud to be cementing Bristol’s status as a UNESCO City of Film.”
Hannah Long, Portfolio Manager at Creative UK adds “We are absolutely thrilled to have been a part of this journey with Studio Giggle and see the development of their brand new state of the art Virtual Production studio, Distortion Studios, in the vibrant City of Bristol. Jonathan, Steve and their team are such a talented and friendly bunch and a delight to work with. We are proud to have them in the Creative Growth Finance portfolio and as their Portfolio Manager, I cannot wait to see the exciting projects that lay ahead.”
Press contact: Debbie Lawrence at The Lippin Company Ltd : [email protected]
About Distortion Studios
Distortion Studios is a specialist virtual production studio based in Bristol. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, Distortion Studios is run by an in-house team of specialists in immersive digital arts. Using cutting-edge equipment, our experts in virtual production are able to create stunning visual effects and captivating environments for film, television, music, events and other media in the most cost-effective way possible.
Our team of award-winning live and film production innovators with more than 20 years’ experience includes masters in Unreal Engine as well as a global network of talent and resources to achieve every creative vision.
Distortion Studios where ideas become reality.
About Creative UK
Creative UK believes in the power of creativity to change lives. We unite the creative industries and generate opportunities for innovation to thrive by investing in creative people and businesses. And we harness the power of the creative sector to build a stronger, fairer, and more prosperous future.
We are the UK’s leading Creative Industries investor and a strategic investment partner for growth-minded creative businesses. Creative Growth Finance is a landmark fund providing vital scale up finance to the UK’s most promising creative businesses, partnering with Triodos Bank to offer loans of £100,000 to £1m.
www.wearecreative.uk/investment
🌸Towards Change Exhibition for Inclusive Advertising🌸
We are thrilled to announce a showcase of civic powers to transform advertising content from controversial to inclusive messaging from our workshops we’ve conducted to the public every week.
See the fusion of social, academic, and advertising industry unravels the impact of stereotypes in advertising and provide a platform for dialogue, learning, and change.
This exhibition is proudly sponsored by Launch, a Google Premier Partner and two-time winner of Europe’s Best Small PPC Agency. Thanks to their generous support, admission is free, making it accessible to everyone interested in exploring this transformative display.
🌸Speaker Session (18:00 – 19:00)
Carol Watson, Chief Inclusion Officer at BCW ( Global Agency)
Dan Srokosz, Creative Director, AgencyUK
Megan Gibson, Paid Media Director, AgencyUK
Dr. Junko Yamashita, Professor at the University of Bristol
Ms. Samantha Ford, Marketing lecturer at the University of Bristol
🌸Comments are from
Polly Wyn Jones, Kantar Global Knowledge Manager, Creative & Media
Nendra van Wielink-Mohamed, Global Media Practitioner
Dr. Terrell Carver, Professor of Political Theory at the University of Bristol
Joyann Boyce, TedX Speaker, Founder AI Consultancy
Olu Osinoiki – 📸 Wedding Photographer
As 2024 begins, Bristol Creative Industries co-chairs Lis Anderson and Heather Wright set out their vision and plans for the next 12 months.
Our unwavering commitment to driving value for Bristol Creative Industries members remains our top priority. We will persist in creating opportunities for our community to learn, connect and grow their businesses. Simultaneously we are dedicated to amplifying our influence within the city and nationally advocating for the views and the needs of our local creative industries.
The highly successful programme of in-person keynote events from industry figures will continue to be a catalyst for inspiring new thinking and encouraging reflection and evolution for business growth.
We encourage leaders to bring their wider teams to these events, which may otherwise be out of reach for smaller organisations. We also aim to diversify our line-up of speakers to represent the broader spectrum of creative industries.
Freelancers constantly say how much they love the networking events and the freelancer drinks at the Square Club in Bristol have grown from strength to strength. We’ll be running more of these events in 2024 on 6 February, 23 April, 11 June, 10 September and 19 November.
Member lunches, recognised for fostering valuable real-world partnerships, will continue due to the positive feedback and opportunities they generate.
There are ongoing opportunities for learning for all Bristol Creative Industries members and their teams through the events calendar. This includes access to Wake Up Call webinars (bi-weekly live webinars with a library of recorded webinars to be launched later this year), a new equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) training programme and free legal advice surgeries.
Building on the success of the Bristol Creative Industries Internship Programme pilot in 2023, we’re leveraging the insights gained to make it even better this year year, with enhanced experiences and outcomes for both interns and employers.
We have started recruitment for member businesses to take part in the 2024 programme and we continue to collaborate closely with Babbasa to help us reach young creative interns from underrepresented backgrounds in our city.
2024 will also see BCI working more closely with education providers across the region to grow the creative talent pipeline for our members. We’ll be raising awareness of career opportunities in our sector, facilitating mentorships and feeding into course materials.
As we continue to grow, we’re keen to attract new members from the film and TV industry. With strategic partnerships formed with Bottleyard Studios and Bristol Film Office, we aim to connect our members with the many new opportunities arising from the many high end TV productions coming to the city.
To achieve our ambitious goals, we’re actively seeking new Board members. Find full details here as we look to welcome individuals who share our passion for Bristol’s creative industries.
We wish you all a very happy New Year and look forward to supporting and celebrating creative businesses throughout 2024 and beyond.
To stay updated with all Bristol Creative Industries activities and member opportunities, make sure you’re signed up to the monthly BCI Bulletin.
If you’re not yet a Bristol Creative Industries member, join here. We’d love to welcome you in 2024.
According to the World Economic Forum, critical thinking and problem-solving skills are at the top of the skills list that employers believe will grow in prominence over the next five years. Yet we continue to passively meander through our working week; going to meetings where there’s no one leading and there are too many invitees, observing team members who are distracted or doing something else. We leave the room feeling frustrated at the time wasted, and none the wiser on how we’re going to solve the problem we came together to discuss.
A few stats I found on time wasted in meetings (US research):
· 71% of senior managers believe meetings are unproductive and inefficient
· Only 50% of employees feel their ideas are heard during meetings
· An estimated 50% of meeting time is spent on irrelevant topics
· Companies with fewer than 50 employees waste an average of $18k per year on unproductive meetings, whilst for companies with over 100 employees it’s an average of $420,000
What if we turned these lazy, lacklustre meetings into something positive? What if we started running bite-sized workshops instead, putting our energy into creating experiences for participants to problem-solve together?
Do workshops take more time and effort to plan?
Initially, yes. But … the more you do, the more confident you’ll become, and the quicker you’ll be at designing activities that actually help solve problems, where everyone leaves the room with an agreed plan of action that’s been created by you all.
What’s the difference between a meeting and a workshop?
I use the following distinction to guide me. If your goal is simply to share or exchange information then a meeting will suffice. If your goal is to solve a problem where you need input from people with different skills and experience (those skills and experience will be based on the topic and outcome you’re after), and that will result in actionable options, then try running a workshop.
5 tips to get you started
1. Only invite participants who will contribute, and have a diverse set of skills and experience
2. Share the workshop purpose and goals with participants beforehand, so they know what to expect. And don’t be afraid to give them pre-work to help get them into the zone beforehand
3. Design activities that will play to the strengths of the participants and different learning styles – consider a mix of discussion, individual reflection and group work
4. Don’t be afraid to flex the agenda if you feel like another way might be more effective in achieving your goal
5. Always capture actions with owners at the end, to ensure you keep up momentum after the workshop
New year challenge – facilitating positive change
Give it a go in January, and let me know how you get on … Tell your team and clients that you’re trying something different, and encourage them to do the same.
If you need help, get in touch. I’m running a Workshop Wizardry ‘workshop’ on 31st January, which will be packed with handy tools and techniques to build your workshop confidence. I also offer tailored in-house sessions with your team with 20% off for BCI members.
Projects – of all sizes, in all sectors and with various budget constraints can put the most cool headed staff member under pressure. With various stakeholders involved, tight deadlines, organisation management and staff availability alongside budget and time constraints; the presence of a skilled project manager to guide the effort and ensure alignment among all participants is crucial for project success. Organisations employing various project management methodologies excel in sticking to budgets, adhering to schedules, meeting scope requirements, upholding quality standards, and realising the benefit of how a successful outcome can make to a business.
Develop your staff in project management, and drive your business forward through a part funded Project Management Skills Bootcamp.
Delivered in Bristol over 10 weeks, this part funded course will equip your staff with the skills needed to support and ultimately lead projects.
Suitable for people looking to upskill their staff and is under pinned by the Association for Project Management (APM), Project Management Qualification (PMQ) and will reference the APM Book of Knowledge (BoK) 7th Edition. For employers wishing to upskill their employees, this course will be discounted by 70% as part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Plan for Jobs. The course will be spread over 10 weeks, comprising a mixture of face-to-face/remote participation, requiring day-release one day each week. This is an ideal opportunity to upskill individuals in your team to drive your business forward.
When is the course?
Start Date: Wednesday 10th January 2024 (10 consecutive Wednesdays)
Benefits of the course:
The aim of the course is to provide learners a core understanding and appreciation of project management. Together with some practical applications of learning and how current practices impact project management; it will develop learners understanding of core project management principles and emerging practices.
By completing this Project Management Bootcamp, your employees will get a greater understanding of key elements of project management, such as:
On completion of the course learners may wish to formally pursue the PMQ and information will be available to support this.
Those looking to explore project management with data will have access to Microsoft supported courses in Azure Fundamentals, Azure AI Fundamentals, Azure Data Fundamentals.
What’s changing in Project Management?
Project management principles and practices are heavily influenced by data. The use of data analysis, statistical interpretation and artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging aspect of project management. The impact of AI in Project Management has been globally recognised. Over 80% of respondents to the Project Management Institute (PMI) “Pulse of the Profession”, 2019 survey report stated that organisations are seeing an impact from AI. With project professionals expecting the proportion of projects they manage using AI to jump from 37%.
At the end of the course there will be a series of guest speakers from industry who will discuss the future of project management. Participants attending the course may wish to explore data in projects in future courses at the West of England IoT, details will be available at the end of the programme.
Cost
Large Employers (With 250 Staff or More) 30% contribution £675 per person.
SME Employers (With 249 Staff or Less) 10% contribution of £225 per person.
Employer Commitment
Employer commitment for learner to complete all training elements.
Evidence from employer to confirm that the training provided via the Skills Bootcamp has resulted in either a new job role or an enhanced role for the employee that now utilises their new skills gained via this Skills Bootcamp.
Contact us today on [email protected] or visit https://www.weston.ac.uk/ProjectManagementEmployers
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