Created in Birmingham

As Chris alluded to in the 2000th post I’m lurking in the background of Created in Birmingham at the moment. If there was an office it’d have “Special Projects” stenciled on the door, but there isn’t and it really just involved Chris and I sitting on the sofa figuring out things to do that can either generate an income for CiB or raise the profile of CiB. Or both. We’re also looking at ways to use Created in Birmingham as a name to do interesting things. One of the first things I want to do is see if it can send a bunch of people to Germany.

Transmediale is an arts/digital/activist festival that takes place in Berlin in February. Information is pretty scant on the website, which is a shame, but from what I can gather it was started by a bunch of troublemakers and rebellious sorts in Berlin, evolving out of the post-Cold War cultural scene. Or something. At the very least it’s a gathering of a load of people who are doing interesting things with art, technology and society that would probably blow our Brummie minds.

The Arts Council have sent artists over there before and have expressed an interest in helping some Interwebby people go this year to have their horizons broadened, to make connections and to bring interesting and exciting ideas back to the West Mids. I’ve got a couple of people in mind but we need 8 names in total. And due to the unique way funding applications operate we need to know ASAP.

You have to be free during the first week of February (2nd to 7th) and able to travel to Berlin. Flight, accommodation and entrance to the festival will be covered – you need to pay for food and local travel.

The decision on who goes is mine. It’s be nice to have a fair and transparent decision making process but frankly we don’t have time so I’m going for the Interesting quotient. That doesn’t necessarily mean the someone who’s done loads of interesting things will go – I’m more likely to chose someone with potential who needs a conceptual kick up the arse.

Specifically I’m after people who are doing interesting things using media with the aim of shaking up or understanding society better. This could be a website, a zine or simply a curiosity. The model I’m using here is my trip to SXSWi in 2008. Before I went I had loads of ideas but no idea if they were realistic. In Austin I met loads of people who were actually doing the things I’d been thinking about which gave me the confidence to actually do some of them on my return. I’d like to take people who are in that position.

Please note that this is not a done deal. The application still has to go through the Arts Council’s processes. But in order to do that it needs names on it.

If you’re interested drop an email to peteashton@gmail.com with a couple of paragraphs on what you’re doing, where your mind is at and what you might get out of such a trip. Don’t worry if you don’t know – just give me a sense of where you’re coming from. I’m particularly interested in hearing from people I don’t know and people who haven’t been on these sorts of funded trips before. Oh, and people who don’t consider themselves Artists. But artists I know who’ve been funded trips are also welcome.

If you can let me know by Thursday morning that’d be great.

Hi everyone.

It’s occurred to me that, since taking the reins again here, I’ve not really said hello. So, um… ‘hello’.

As the title reveals, this is CiB’s 2000th post, coming just a few weeks shy of the site’s 3rd birthday on 1 December (we’ve got plans for that – stay tuned). I generally prefer to keep the navel-gazing on this site to a minimum but I thought I might as well use this milestone to mention a few things.

It’s good to be back

That’s the first thing to say.

What’s going on at CiB

Yes, so I’ve taken the website over again and will be looking after the blog and everything that goes with it. Send stuff to createdinbirmingham@gmail.com, add us to your mailing list, etc.

Pete Ashton’s lurking in the background and will have a role in some of the other, non-editorial stuff CiB does. He’s written quite a long post about CiB’s history which hints at where the site might be going – hopefully he’ll post it sometime soonish.

How CiB’s going to pay for itself

Because there’s no reason why it shouldn’t, really:

• Advertising – £50 a week is a bargain. Get in touch if you’d like to take advantage.
• Supporters Programme – this is launching on Monday so I’ll leave the info on this until then
• Projects – we’re going to start doing stuff under the CiB name. If there’s a suitable project you think we might be interested in then get in touch

I’ll write a post about this on my personal blog at some point as I’d rather not clog this site up with waffle about how online stuff sustains itself. Kittens and ‘monetisation’ – that’s all the internet is these days (grumble, etc).

More about projects

There are a few good plans in the pipeline, but if there’s anything you think we might enjoy getting involved in please do let us know. We’re thinking workshops on arts blogging, curating festival fringes, acting as a ‘media partner’ at events… have a think and let us know.

Jobplot is a creative jobs board for the West Midlands. It’s also a recent addition to Created in Birmingham, sitting happily in the sidebar.

Jobplot’s going to be built on a little  – the next stage is for the site to carry info about tenders, funding and other opportunities.

To keep up-to-date you can subscribe to the latest jobs, follow Jobplot on Twitter and/or subscribe to the (inevitable) blog. The Jobplot blog tends to feature an interview with an employer on Wednesdays and a round-up of creative agency news, events and opportunities on Fridays.

If you have a job you want to post then please, go ahead. For the rest of this month you can request a freebie code from team@jobplot.co.uk.

Other job listings exist – specifically those from the Arts Council, Audiences Central and Media Talentbank.

Hi, it’s Chris Unitt here. In what was rapidly becoming the worst-kept secret of modern times, Pete Ashton and I are taking on Created in Birmingham again.

It’s really good to be back.

Thanks for all the comments after Adrienne’s post, ‘Moving forwards’. We’ve taken some of those on board. There are likely to be a few tweaks and changes over the next few months – nothing too radical, but the site needs to evolve a bit if it’s to sustain itself and stay relevant.

On a related note, we’ve got a couple of new things:

• A Facebook Page
• A forthcoming weekly newsletter

Please do sign up if you’re interested in either.

However, the most important thing is CiB isn’t about whoever’s running it – it’s about all the fantastic and fascinating stuff happening in Birmingham. Which means I need to get on with writing some blog posts.

…at least that’s what this video says:

As found on the sparkly new Facebook page.

So, as you may have noticed, all has been rather quiet on the CiB front.  This is partially due to me drowning in intense staff development at work (that is, my actual job) for the past couple of weeks, and also because I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the future of CiB in regards to direction, purpose and place.

CiB’s ‘about’ page clearly states:

There are two reasons for this blog:

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1. To find out what’s going on around Birmingham and promote it
2. To show that blogging is a simple and effective way of engaging with audiences online

This is the most recent incarnation of CiB but I wondered about the real core of CiB and why it came to exist in the first place.  Back in Nov 07 Pete put together his thoughts on the pupose of CiB, which was somewhat more detailed:

With a few exceptions I want every post on CiB to take people to somewhere else on the web where they can get more information be it an article, blog post, MySpace page, etc. CiB is not a comprehensive news service. It doesn’t exist to cover absolutely everything that’s going on in Birmingham because to attempt that would be impossible. There’s a criteria here.

• Is this something people might not be aware is going on?
• Is this something people might learn from?
• Is this doing something interesting?
• Is this using the internet in an innovative way?
• Could this help people to do what they’re doing better?

• Is posting about this going to encourage people to use the internet, and blogs in particular, for themselves?

In an ideal world I want there to be lots of blogs like CiB and a whole load more that are nothing like CiB. In fact I’d love it if this blog wasn’t necessary. I want the Birmingham creative community to be behaving online in the same way they behave at a launch party, milling around discussing ideas and introducing people to each other.

I think for me, this last part if absolutely crucial in examining CiB’s relevance and place.  When CiB started, Pete identified this need to highlight and link, because other blogs were scarce and weren’t already doing this.  Now, in 2009, blogs are everywhere and people are much more alert to opportunities to publicise, promote and link.  Let me be clear: I’m not suggesting we have reached Pete’s original utopian vision, but we are in a very different place to that of 2007.

With this in mind, I want to invite you to tell me what you want to get from CiB – why you read, and what you want this established online vehicle to do. I have my own ideas of what CiB could or should be, but these still need to be ironed out a little bit.  I’m also going to meet with those who’ve been involved with CiB throughout to look at direction, and so before we meet I would really appreciate some feedback from readers.  You can either put your thoughts in the comments, or if you’d prefer to keep them private you can email me on the CiB address: createdinbirmingham@gmail.com

This is your chance to influence future direction!  Please don’t be shy!

'hello, my name is..'

I’d hoped to slip into CiB under the radar, anonymously, like a blog-thief in the night.  But it hasn’t really happened like that, and I’m now setting sail the CiB ship under what feels like extremely weighty expectations.

So, hi! I’m Adrienne.  I was born and grew up in Wolverhampton, I now work in West Brom, and spend nights out in Birmingham. (that’s not a Midlands hierarchy, just a train of thought..) I’ve worked in the arts forever and have a soft spot for anything handmade.  I ask a lot of questions, and sometimes muddle my words.  I find change stressful, but love being kept on my toes.  With that in mind, if you want to see anything done differently on here, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

I love email, hate telephones, and as Kate quite rightly pointed out embrace using 140 characters or less.  I love technology, but not when it’s being mean – so I apologise for any error and/or warning messages you may have been seeing recently on the site.  I’m working on figuring it out, with the generous help of the CiB forefathers who’re infinitely more knowledgeable than me about such things.

I’m going to work on collating interesting Birmingham stuff for you to read, and in the meantime, whilst we iron out these glitches, don’t be shy.. say hello, and tell me something interesting!

Tomorrow I will be handing over the Created in Birmingham reigns to a new editor, Adrienne Frances. I have loved every minute of getting my hands on CiB and hope you have enjoyed reading my posts, and have forgiven any typos. Over the last five months I have played my small part in not only a thriving creative and cultural sector in Birmingham, but have got to know some of the most dedicated people in the region who are innovating the way we communicate online and off.

I will let Adrienne introduce herself properly in due course, but just to say that she was chosen as editor for her wealth of experience with the arts, her wit and for her hunger to ask the questions that need answering. You can follow Adrienne on Twitter and give her a personal welcome.

I will be going back to write about music on the Colour blog this month, organising live music events in Birmingham, and I will be popping back to CiB to post when I get the itch to write about something relevant. I will also get round to starting my own blog sometime soon as somewhere to put down my wandering thought.

Their are many CiB readers who have helped and inspired me over the last few months but to mention a few: Chris, Pete, Helga, Lyle, Katie Parry, Kay Stanley, Kasper Sorensen, Abby Corfan, Nicky Getgood, Rob at BCMG, everyone who bought tees and totes, but most of all Matthew. Thanks everyone, and so long for now!

I am extremely pleased to announce that the Created in Birmingham t-shirts and tote bags are now on sale! The items sport a fantastic design – a map of Birmingham’s wards created by Kate Parry. All profits made from the items will be donated to Acorns Children’s Hospice, a charity based in Birmingham that proved popular with you, the readers.

The  items have been lovingly hand screenprinted by Kay Stanley at Cut Out Shop, in her WM based studio. She has used waterbased inks which don’t harm the environment printed onto EarthPostive tees and tote bags.

The t-shirts cost £15.00 and the totes cost £8.00. We have printed a limited edition run of only 50 t-shirts and 50 tote bags, and each item is individually numbered.

I wanted to take some swish pictures of the items being modeled, but have decided to let you do that for me! When you receive your tee or tote through the post, take a quick snap of you modeling it and pop it up on flickr, tagging it ‘CiBT’. Huge thanks to Kay Stanley and Kate Parry for all the help and support.

Are you involved in the creative or cultural sector of Birmingham? Do you have a story to tell, advice to offer,or an issue to raise to the Created in Birmingham readers? I am looking for individuals to become regular or one-off contributors to CiB.

Even if you have never written a blog post before but you have something interesting to say about Birmingham’s creative sector, I would love for you to get in touch. Contributions could come in the form of a personal experience, your journey into creativity, such as making a film or setting up an exhibition etc.

It could be a review of a cultural experience, a festival, exhibition or event. It would be great if you had a special skill you could share with readers, such as tips on planning an event, finding funding or even sorting out your tax return. It could also be your chance to raise an issue facing the creative industries, giving you a place to start a debate with the thousands of Created in Birmingham readers.

Interested? Email createdinbirmingham[at]gmail.com, giving an overview of your contribution, links to any writing  / video examples and a short bio of yourself. Contributions shall be on a voluntary basis and their is no fee. Regular contributors will be featured on the ‘team page’.

I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend, and didn’t make the mistake I made of eating Easter eggs for breakfast (not recommended). I’ve had a bit of a break from the laptop screen over the last few days, but me and Kay from Cut Out Shop have been busy Easter bunnies getting the Created in Birmingham T-shirts made.

Kay has done a wonderful job. She has lovingly hand screen printed the T-shirts in her West Midlands based studio, using the winning ‘Birmingham Wards Map’ design by Kate Parry. She has chosen ethically made shirts and has used earth friendly inks which don’t harm the environment. Along with designer Katie, we decided to create the items in classic black and daring gold, which is a bit brave, but also a million miles away from the usual, bland charity t-shirts.

First and foremost, the T-shirts and tote bags have been designed and created with one goal, to raise money and awareness for a Birmingham based charity – Acorns Children’s Hospice. The charity was chosen after reading your suggestions, and it was clearly a popular choice.

The items will be available to buy sometime over the next couple of weeks, in a very limited run of 50 T-shirts and 50 tote bags. Keep ‘em peeled so you don’t miss out.

You may of noticed that CiB has looked a bit weird over the last week, this is because I have been tinkering with the site, removing bits and testing this lovely new theme out.

I have decided to strip alot of the features out as they were not updating properly or just not working full stop. I will be adding new bits and bobs and as I mentioned before introducing a big CiB Google Map.

I have installed a new advertising plugin which will make buying adverts on CiB easy peasy and will hopefully be non offensive to your creative eyes. I will be adding prices etc for this very soon.

So, I hope you like the new theme and please bear with me whist I tinker further to get it just right over the next week.

Drum roll please….Congratulations to Katie Parry of Supercool design who has won the Created in Birmingham design competition with this fantastic graphic map of Brum. The decision was made by myself and Kay at Cut-Out shop, and we thought the design was simple, beautiful  and fulfilled the brief to a T.

The design will be lovingly screenprinted by hand onto high quality t-shirts and canvas bags by up and coming DiY print shop Cut-Out who are based in the West Midlands. The items will be sold via Cut-Out and will be strictly limited edition. All profits made from the items will be donated in Acorn Children’s Hospice. I will be meeting with Kay to thrash out the details in the next week so I will let you know anymore details then.

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to enter the competition, there has been a smorgasbord of different styles submitted and every one of them was thoughtfully put together from the brief. I will post some of them up in the next few days.

There is a bit of a debate about Created in Birmingham going on over at Dave Harte’s blog. It has been suggested that CiB has lost a bit of ‘umpf’ of late, that it may have strayed from it’s original purpose, or is lacking that special something that made it what it was. I am keen to get some of the regular readers in on the debate. I would be really interested to hear your feedback, warts and all.

In light of this, I wanted to let you know some things I am working on at the moment. I’m going to be changing the aesthetic of the blog, and changing the template we use. I’ll be using a free, downloadable template  just as Pete did when he first created CiB. I will be doing this for several reasons, one simply because I am not a technical person and wouldn’t have a clue how to design or adapt my own, but mostly because I want to encourage others to start blogs by using these free tools that are available to anyone.

I am also working on a great big CiB Google Map of Birmingham. As a reader of CiB one question has always stuck with me: “That gallery / project / meetup / exhibition looks great, but where the hell is it?” When putting this map together and encouraging others to contribute, I am hoping to find lots of exciting stuff happening all over the city; it’s suburbs and back streets, North & South. I have been partly inspired by Nicky Getgood’s: Digbeth is Good Arty Trail.

I don’t think the map should be a comprehensive documentation of creativity in Birmingham, but a rich working document which evolves over time with many contributors adding locations, photographs, video and trails.

Well folks, the deadline for the Created in Birmingham design competition is looming so if you would like to enter you need to email them over to createdinbirmingham [at] gmail.com by Friday.

This is the last call for submissions and here is how it will work:

• Anyone can submit a design entry to the competition, as long as you follow the specifications needed for printing.
• From the entries 20 final designs will be chosen and made into 50 limited edition pin badge sets.
• One final design will be chosen and will be made into 50 limited edition t-shirts and 50 limited edition canvas bags.
• All items will be lovingly screenprinted by hand and sold online by Cut – Out, a fantasic DIY print company based in the West Midlands. All items will be printed with eco friendly inks and on top quality Earth Positive apparel.

The brief:

We want to make a t-shirt that people will really want to wear, so the brief is very loose. The emphasis here is celebrating creative talent in Birmingham and raising some money in the process. You could design something which reflects the creativity of the city, or just your own style, it’s up to you!

Submission guidelines:

• The design should work using one colour, if the image is a photograph it needs to be converted to half tone.
• The design you submit needs to be 300 dpi (usual print quality).
• The design should be no bigger than A3 in size.

Deadline: Friday 6th March 5pm. Send your design as a PDF or JPG file to