Sorry for late reply, but i just finished and moved websites, so back in blog land once again :)

Hope you have a fanriffic party tonight. I was going to come (and dj) but this is the only night Lopan can rehearse for our marathon set at tomorrows project x and its a biggy, so i’ll just have to send my birthday wishes to you and the creative republic.

Happy Birthday and well done once again!

I have high hopes too!!

Can I refer people to the “about” section of this blog. Creative Republic has been given some seed money from Arts Council managed funds, in short, that means the Arts Council’s own money for its own strategic development. NOT the grant aid pot, not the lottery money, not the G4A.

And who are Creative Republic? Well at the moment we are a Board (who work on a voluntary basis) of which myself and Stef are a part – you can see the rest of us on the website http://www.creativerepublic.org.uk who are working to create a representative industry body run by and for the creative industries in this region.

I am acting Chair of Creative Republic – I would never claim to be a “real leader and taste maker” in the city but I do work for Fierce Earth, producer of the Fierce! Festival and Metapod Training and Momentum development scheme for producers and curators. I hope what we do as Fierce, and our participation in Creative Republic makes a difference in the City – so perhaps we have more in common than you think!

We’ll have some initiatives in which you can get involved, Justice, so that you can continue to contribute to the debate, about Birmingham, about the creative and cultural life here.

But what’s clear from Justice’s message is that perhaps we haven’t been clear enough about what this blog is about, who it’s for and so on – in fact it sounded pretty angry to me.

I don’t see why Pete should be passing on any of his very modest income to anyone for the work that he does, nor do I think that he should be working for free.

We set up this site because of a huge hole in the online presence in the city in terms of how people find out about what’s going on, what’s new and what content is appearing online. I’ve been working on improving the city’s web presence for the past ten years and this one site has done a huge amount more than any other site I’ve been involved in.

The people in charge of the city weren’t engaging in what Pete and I saw as a new wave of publishing and self-generated content. We saw an opportunity and went for it. We all have bills to pay – so we needed a model to help make it happen until it could perhaps become sustainable in itself.

A standard PR consultant rate for a day’s work is over £500 – I’d certainly prefer 100 blog posts a month over a single press release! In fact I think that CiB is a model of how to do something lightweight and smart (which we both do free talks about to people) – you really should be aiming your criticism elsewhere!

I’m with you on the leadership front to some extent. I’m aware of a growing opinion amongst many of the people I talk to who are emerging voices in their particular areas getting frustrated about various decisions and activities that are going on.

I’ve blogged about this subject before, and been to lots of events trying to get some intelligent thinking into the mix wherever possible. I think we’re doing pretty well at making a difference.

Anyway – there’s an event I’m speaking at in March on this very subject so keep an eye on my blog. Blurb:

“Exploring the value of sustainable disturbance

What or who should determine good power and great leadership in the modern face of Birmingham? How do we ensure the widest participation of talented leaders to support the growth, development and cohesion in this great city? Are we ready for revelations about creative and cultural leadership?”

Maybe you could spread the love a little more by distributing the funding you get to blog about other peoples blogs, and sharing it with the people who blog?

This is something I’d love to see happen. I had the idea that Creative Republic could set up some kind of network of bloggers, supporting people who want to start up or who need that extra help and time. There are issues here, of course. How do you decide who deserves it? Also I’ve approached a few bloggers saying they could get money for what they do and most of them didn’t like the idea. I certainly wouldn’t want money for peteashton.com. This blog is different.

Also, I’ve been told £500 a month is pathetic for the amount of work I do. I’m happy with it, I have to say, but for most people it wouldn’t replace their current jobs.

Still it’s nice that you have become an arbiter of taste for Birmingham. As with the council, RDA’s and funding bodies – these ‘civic’ decisions which affect us all positively and adversely are seldom made through any civic, cultural or business dialogue and self elected taste makers abound in the creative ‘industry’s’ Alpha male role.

AN being the key word there. I want there to be as many arbiters as there are tastes. I want everyone to be blogging at some level. I don’t like the idea of anyone being an Alpha male, and certainly not myself. I’m not doing anything special here – just doing it full time. I’ve said many times, if Created in Birmingham is the only venue for this sort of thing then I have failed in a most terrible way. This is an example for people to follow.

I enjoy your RSS feed, but wonder about both your credentials and your independence in editorial and curatorship decisions.

I have credentials as someone who knows about blogging and the internet. I don’t have any credentials at all as an expert on the arts / creative scene and I don’t think I’ve ever said otherwise. This blog was started as a kind of travel journal as I explored Birmingham’s arts communities. I then discovered it’s absurdly easy to become part of those communities, even a know-nothing nobody like me. Try it yourself.

We see boards, discussion groups, panels, policy groups, steering committee and funding strategy populated by such taste makers. Invariably they get it spectacularly wrong from a civic, regional and industry perspective.

Indeed. And it’s up to the rest of us to hold them to account. If I’ve become part of that then it’s up to you to hold me to account. Please do so.

I have observed much back patting in all of this and more than a little in your ‘independent’ funded online listings directory.

Hopefully you’ll forgive a bit of celebration. Building up a blog from nothing to something in a year, while proving your crazy ideas about sharing information and being open to be of value, was rather pleasing. Normal service will resume asap.

Now that you have the ear of those with little or no intellect capable of independent thought or considered opinion and judgement, maybe you could actually do something amazingly positive for Birmingham and help stop the corruption? That would be a worthy role of someone in the position you now find yourself.

I have a ten year plan to sort this city out. I can’t do it on my own and I’ll probably fail but I’ve love to shake everything up, make everything transparent and so on. The problem is whenever I hear anything coming out of Mike Whitby’s mouth my brain freezes.

Don’t get comfy and please don’t lose sight of who are the real leaders and taste makers out there if you actually know or care who they are. (Here’s a clue – they aren’t the one’s who write the cheques).

That’s my plan. Year one was getting established and getting the ear of the establishment. Year two is giving them something to listen to.

OK bring on the back patted for a barrage of ill conceived defence and ‘man in the pub’ ethics.

Fuck, I hope not. Anyone doing that kind of bollocks can go away please.

For the record, if I was coming to this blog cold I’d have pretty much the same opinion as you do. It’s something that bothers me a bit but I’ve no idea how to deal with it. Sure, I’m enjoying this attention but don’t worry – I never get complacent. If anything this award has made me want to get more grass roots and use this bullshit for something really useful.

So yeah, feel free to drop me a line for a chat by email or in real life. Same applies to anyone else. The only condition is you blog about it.

Still it’s nice that you have become an arbiter of taste for Birmingham. As with the council, RDA’s and funding bodies – these ‘civic’ decisions which affect us all positively and adversely are seldom made through any civic, cultural or business dialogue and self elected taste makers abound in the creative ‘industry’s’ Alpha male role.

I enjoy your RSS feed, but wonder about both your credentials and your independence in editorial and curatorship decisions.
We see boards, discussion groups, panels, policy groups, steering committee and funding strategy populated by such taste makers. Invariably they get it spectacularly wrong from a civic, regional and industry perspective.

I have observed much back patting in all of this and more than a little in your ‘independent’ funded online listings directory.
Now that you have the ear of those with little or no intellect capable of independent thought or considered opinion and judgement, maybe you could actually do something amazingly positive for Birmingham and help stop the corruption? That would be a worthy role of someone in the position you now find yourself.

Don’t get comfy and please don’t lose sight of who are the real leaders and taste makers out there if you actually know or care who they are. (Here’s a clue – they aren’t the one’s who write the cheques).

OK bring on the back patted for a barrage of ill conceived defence and ‘man in the pub’ ethics.

(That was me haunting a comments box).

And congrats on the BBC bit, too.

This site is indispensible if the actual cultural development of the area is ever going to match what the city planners are always trying to market it to be.

Rich
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