At Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre for the fortnightly meeting of Creative Coffee. I missed the last one, so it's
reassuring to see a good turnout this morning. We appear to have developed a
core support of a dozen or so (including, today, all the members of the
steering committee) with around the same number of occasional or new attendees.
The presence of "Table Experts" has become well established. I spend a useful quarter of an hour speaking one-to-one with Kelly Fisher, Business Development Executive at Peninsula, who's here to give advice on employment law.
At noon, we have a brief meeting of the steering committee. We discuss updates on the new logo (which I think we finally approve today), the website (including old and surplus domain names, a trail of which have been left behind since the old days when CreativeCoffee Club met in the Graduate Bar at De Montfort University), the blog, use of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and business cards. There's a brief but interesting discussion of how to use information entered into Eventbrite when attendees sign up to create an accessible database - including ramifications related to Data Protections - and the difference between "Creative Professionals" who attend our meetings and everyone else. This last point highlights a creative tension that (in my experience and opinion) energises and fuels Creative Coffee: it has never been (and cannot be, if it wants to retain its distinctive spirit) a meeting place for professionals only. Most of the people who ask me about Creative Coffee don't fall into a technical definition of "creative professional" - nor do most of the people to whom I recommend it. To me, much of its attraction comes from how it provides a regular opportunity for creative people of all sorts to meet and mingle.
The presence of "Table Experts" has become well established. I spend a useful quarter of an hour speaking one-to-one with Kelly Fisher, Business Development Executive at Peninsula, who's here to give advice on employment law.
At noon, we have a brief meeting of the steering committee. We discuss updates on the new logo (which I think we finally approve today), the website (including old and surplus domain names, a trail of which have been left behind since the old days when CreativeCoffee Club met in the Graduate Bar at De Montfort University), the blog, use of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and business cards. There's a brief but interesting discussion of how to use information entered into Eventbrite when attendees sign up to create an accessible database - including ramifications related to Data Protections - and the difference between "Creative Professionals" who attend our meetings and everyone else. This last point highlights a creative tension that (in my experience and opinion) energises and fuels Creative Coffee: it has never been (and cannot be, if it wants to retain its distinctive spirit) a meeting place for professionals only. Most of the people who ask me about Creative Coffee don't fall into a technical definition of "creative professional" - nor do most of the people to whom I recommend it. To me, much of its attraction comes from how it provides a regular opportunity for creative people of all sorts to meet and mingle.
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