As part of our membership network, we have 300 freelancers working within the creative industries. Life can sometimes feel a bit lonely as a freelancer so a networking event like this is an opportunity to meet others in the same position. It’s the perfect chance to catch up with old friends and meet plenty of new faces too!
This event is open to freelancers as well as anyone who regularly engages with freelancers. It will allow you to widen networks, make new connections, discuss common problems, and discover potential opportunities for collaboration going forward. You’ll be sure to head home with a new contact.
The drinks will be held in the lower deck at The Square Club on Berkeley Square, and we’ll have use of the amazing outside terrace too if the weather is on our side! We’ll have a private bar to purchase drinks, plus the food menu will be available if anyone fancies something to eat.
Tickets for BCI members are FREE and include a drinks token for the bar. Tickets for non-members are £5 +VAT.
This event is held 5 times per year, the next one will be on Tuesday 10th November.
If you’re not yet a member of Bristol Creative Industries and would like to take advantage of this event, you can sign up here. You can also read about the membership perks here.
Click below to register your place!
Friday afternoon. You’ve sent the reminder email. Again. Monday morning, half your team scrambles to remember what they did last week, making their best guess at what went where.
Everyone hates timesheets. Your team thinks they’re pointless admin. You know they’re essential for profitability, resource planning, and understanding what work costs. But getting accurate, timely data feels like pulling teeth.
You need to make time tracking so simple people actually want to do it, and understand why they should.
Join our agency experts to find out:
– Why people really resist timesheets (it’s not laziness)
– The 5-minute daily habit that beats Friday panic
– Making time tracking valuable for everyone, not just management
– What to do with timesheet data once you’ve got it
– How to build a culture where accurate tracking is normal
If someone on your team has just stepped into management, they’re probably juggling people and projects, wearing two hats, and figuring it out as they go. That’s exactly why this Accidental Managers half-day workshop exists.
Join Fi Craig to feel confident leading people, define your own version of good management, and gain practical frameworks to guide you as you figure the rest out. Gain confidence and simple tools to start leading a team effectively straight away.
This session is suitable for first-line managers (typically with 1–3 direct reports) or those with little or no formal management training. You may be working in an SME (up to 200 people) with or without formal people processes, and you’re likely still contributing to your original role. It would also be ideal for early-career professionals stepping into management for the first time.
> BCI member tickets are £125 + VAT
> Non-member tickets are £185 + VAT
Your host for this session is Fi Craig, qualified and experienced team and individual coach, and founder of GoodThinking. With a 20 year career at the coal face of creative agency behind her, Fi understands the world of managing people while trying to do the day job. Fi has mentored new starters, trained managers new and experienced, and has run leadership workshops of many kinds across many industries. Her style is warm, informal but with lots of ideas and tips to share.
Join us for a couple of talks, as well as time at the beginning for pizza, soft drinks, chatting & networking.
Plus the usual favourites Latest News, Social Sin Bin, Stuff We Like and The Tools of Engagement.
What do you do when Claudia Winkleman wears your jumper on The Traitors? Find out how Studio Cotton used SEO to help turn a viral moment into The Claudia Effect (and £60k of small business sales) 11 months later.
From Google to GPT: The evolution of search, not the end of it
This talk from Louise Giddings will explore the relationship between AI and SEO, what’s changed, what hasn’t and what still matters for organic visibility.
The B Corp standards have changed. Tighter requirements mean more credibility, more consistency, and more clarity. For agencies using B Corp as a differentiator in pitches and client relationships, understanding what’s genuinely different (and what it means in practice) is where most teams get stuck.
In Part 1 of our two-part mini-masterclass, we will break down the new framework in a clear, practical, and confidence-building way, without getting lost in the detail. You’ll leave with a real understanding of what’s expected, not just a list of things to worry about.
In this session, you’ll get:
– A simple overview of what’s changed (old vs. new), including the shift from a points-based score to meeting minimum performance requirements
– A practical tour of the Foundation Requirements and 7 Impact Topics (what ‘good’ looks like at a high level)
– How the new approach drives continuous improvement across Year 0 to Year 3 to Year 5
– An introduction to the Climate Action Topic: how requirements vary by company size, and what evidence is needed
You’ll leave with a clear understanding of what the new standards mean for your agency, what to prioritise first, and a solid foundation for Part 2 – where we go deeper on building an evidence-ready Climate Action submission.
Friday afternoon. You’ve sent the reminder email. Again. Monday morning, half your team scrambles to remember what they did last week, making their best guess at what went where.
Everyone hates timesheets. Your team thinks they’re pointless admin.
You know they’re essential for profitability, resource planning, and understanding what work costs. But getting accurate, timely data feels like pulling teeth.
You need to make time tracking so simple people actually want to do it, and understand why they should.
Join Steve & Kate to find out:
– Why people really resist timesheets (it’s not laziness)
– The 5-minute daily habit that beats Friday panic
– Making time tracking valuable for everyone, not just management
– What to do with timesheet data once you’ve got it
– How to build a culture where accurate tracking is normal
In more client boardrooms than you might expect, two questions are starting to surface: do we need agencies at all? And if we do, why are we still buying hours instead of outcomes?
This isn’t a marketing debate. It’s a commercial one.
As procurement teams embed AI into how they run buying processes, RFPs are becoming easier to launch, analyse and scale – and far more rigorous in how agencies are evaluated.
Thing is, the agencies that aren’t seeing this shift are losing out.
Jay speaks to Mike Lander, ex-Procurement Director and Founder of Piscari. With extensive experience on both sides of the negotiation table, Mike helps organisations understand what procurement teams really need – to strengthen their negotiating position, protect margin, and win more profitable deals.
They discuss what AI-enabled procurement looks like behind the scenes, what it takes to move from defensive pricing to strategic positioning, and how some agencies are now redesigning their commercial models to get on the front foot.
Join us at The Square Club for our first Offline Reading Party!
Lock your phone away and enjoy relaxing reading time free of digital distractions. This reading party is your time to disconnect from screens, unwind from the daily buzz and meet like-minded people (and their books).
It’s like a little escape into a different world where time slows down, people are open to connect, and you can truly focus on yourself.
What To Expect
Peaceful (me-)time – to read that book you keep meaning to start (or finish!)
Genuine connection – The chance to meet and connect with like-minded book lovers – no rush, no pressure, no notifications
Community vibes – calming background music, and a welcoming atmospher
Phone-free – valuable time offline that leaves you feeling rested and fulfilled
*The Square Club is kindly hosting us to support our mission, so let’s return the love – your own drinks and snacks may stay home, you can purchase the drinks and snacks.
The Program
18:45 – 19:15 | Arrive & make yourself at home
19:15 – 20:00 | Dive into your book
20:00 – 21:00 | Connect with others
21:00 – 21:15 | Round-up and goodbye
Dive into your book
This is your time to sit back and enjoy uninterrupted reading time. Slow down, recharge and feel the magic of reading alone, together. Please bring your own book, ebook, graphic novel, or poetry bundle – we love all literature.
Connect with others
Chat & connect with others, but only if you feel like it. This is the time to meet new people, connect over books, and enjoy meaningful conversations. We create laid-back spaces where talking to strangers is the norm and connection is made easy. Feel free to come solo, or with friends.
We can’t wait to swap screen time for real time with you.
Love, Ben & George
About your phone: Your phone will rest in our phone hotel, and we’ll be its body guards. But just so you know, if it magically disappears, learns to fly, or mysteriously breaks, The Offline Club can’t be held responsible. In case you’re not quite ready to let it go, no worries – just turn it off and keep it tucked away, out of sight!
Refunds? Sorry, no take-backs. But if you cancel at least 48 hours before the event you can request a voucher for the price of the ticket.
We are pleased to offer the opportunity to book a free of charge 30 minute 1:2:1 session for people strategy advice, specifically geared towards the needs of creative businesses.
Richard Roberts has over 30 years’ experience of helping organisations establish dynamic people strategies that help to shape culture and build highly productive and engaged teams. Across his career he has supported a number of marketing and creative agencies as an outsourced HR Director and consultant. As creative and marketing business grow, attracting and retaining talent often creates people challenges that benefit from an external perspective.
These sessions are an opportunity to ask Richard any questions about your people strategy. These might relate to culture, employee engagement, talent retention or the establishment of best practice HR policies.
These sessions are available to all BCI members FREE OF CHARGE, and are delivered in collaboration with en:Rich HR.
We are pleased to offer the opportunity to book a free of charge 30 minute 1:2:1 session for people strategy advice, specifically geared towards the needs of creative businesses.
Richard Roberts has over 30 years’ experience of helping organisations establish dynamic people strategies that help to shape culture and build highly productive and engaged teams. Across his career he has supported a number of marketing and creative agencies as an outsourced HR Director and consultant. As creative and marketing business grow, attracting and retaining talent often creates people challenges that benefit from an external perspective.
These sessions are an opportunity to ask Richard any questions about your people strategy. These might relate to culture, employee engagement, talent retention or the establishment of best practice HR policies.
These sessions are available to all BCI members FREE OF CHARGE, and are delivered in collaboration with en:Rich HR.
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