One office dog, two weeks, three cities, four events

16th July 2019

This past fortnight we’ve welcomed an office dog, two new team members, consumed 18 litres of coffee* and have had the pleasure of hosting and attending four events across the South.

We’re incredibly grateful to all of those who attended our own events, and for the invitation to others. We wouldn’t be growing and thriving as we currently are (more on that soon) if it wasn’t for these fantastic opportunities and introductions to new friends, clients and collaborators.

*= Not accurate. We lost count.

The first: Winchester Creatives

Our very own networking and speaker-led monthly event kick started the fortnight, with Spud Founder and Director Mark Drury leading the evening. We started with a history of Spud’s charity work and architectural endeavours, followed by an immersive creative task. The room split in two to formulate what Winchester’s new creative innovation space could be, and presented it back to the room. Our idea was, if we say so ourselves, quite special. Special enough we’re keeping it under wraps while we work on a collection of persuasive letters to the council.

Our next Winchester Creatives event will be on August 6th from 6:30PM. Tickets will be available soon, check Winchester Creatives for updates.

The second: Are creative minds healthy minds? Hosted by BIMA South and Dorset Mind

We were invited to attend and photograph this panel discussion, chaired by Dan Willis of Why Digital. The event was led by the findings of BIMA 2019 Diversity and Inclusion report, which detailed the extent of mental health concerns within the breadth of creative work roles. The panel featured BIMA’s Managing Director Holly Hall, Chair of Mind Stevie Spring, Three Sided Cube’s Changemaker Puff Story, RedWeb’s CEO Luke Platt, and Agency Founder/Global Brand Strategist Gellan Watt. Each were candid and raw with their answers to Dan’s questions regarding the report findings, and together with the room discussed measures which could be put in place to better support creatives and non-creatives alike in the workplace.

Increased education, mental health first aiders, implementing mental health at work core standards to support senior leaders, discounted access to talking support, a bespoke mental health forum and holistic support were all featured. For more information on the event outcomes, we encourage you to talk to Jan Carlyle of BIMA South.

The third: Tea & Toast with Autumn Live

Friends of the agency, Autumn Live, hosted their debut Tea & Toast event in our Loft space from 0830AM. Strictly not networking: a space for creatives, do-ers, positive people and fans of marmalade to simply start their day together. An impressive turn out of new faces to Studio Republic were welcomed, with the Autumn Live team inviting guests to engage in conversation deeper than small talk. The room was full of designers, crafters, photographers, agency founders, digital strategists, culinary wizards, the list goes on.

Due to popular demand, Tea & Toast will return for its second installment on September 10th in our Loft venue again, with a Tea & Toast podcast in the pipeline to follow.

The fourth: Brightful agency launch

Good friend of the agency, Richard Coope, invited the team to celebrate the launch of his new creative consultancy: Brightful. Camera in tow, we spent the evening in London meeting an innovative and incredible group of individuals who all shared in a united excitement for where Brightful could go.

The evening centred around a talk from Chris Battersby, Manager of Project Management at Virgin Atlantic, and an inspirational emotional speech from Coope. As his friends through his working life gathered to celebrate his new venture, he dared everyone to move forward faster. He challenged the room to consider how they could implement this sentiment into their own lives - to take action, to seize the opportunities in front of them or simply create their own.

For more information on Brightful, visit their website. We should add that we highly recommend not having any early morning meetings the day after their events.

Four inspiration events, hundreds of people, a collection of new friends and collaborators. We’re spreading the word on being creative for good… and we’ll let you know how we moved forward faster.

How will you?