Don’t Give Up the Day Job – Linda Broughton

First up what is the NTI and what keeps you motivated?
The NTI is close to my heart as led its set-up back in 2003. NTI is part of Leeds Met, and it’s a training centre aimed at people working with technology – offering Apple, Adobe and Zend accredited training, PRINCE2 and Agile, and a whole host of other stuff. When we moved to Old Broadcasting House in 2007 we also established a coworking centre here. For a while we only had a handful of members but it’s now full and, like all the best restaurants, we now have a waiting list.

Old Broadcasting House is a fantastic place to work and every day when I walk through the door, I have to confess I feel excited about the day ahead. As well as meeting clients who are here for training, my desk is in the main coworking area, so I meet the members every day. There’s a real buzz about the working environment. I could never go back to having my own office again! I worked with Imran Ali at the outset to understand what coworking means and what the offer would be from NTI. We’ve tried to set up the coworking space as a community, rather than a purely business arrangement. We ask new members to sign up to the values of openness, collaboration, and mutual support. Some amazing things have happened when members have collaborated for new projects. One example of this is the formation of JamJarCollective, set up by three of our members. They’re now artists in residence at Temple Works. NTI is currently involved in a project to help unemployed graduates, and they’ve really benefited from being in the coworking space alongside more experienced members.

We’re part of Leeds Met, so learning is our passion. I believe that earning from your peer group is every bit as valuable as more traditional methods. Old Broadcasting House is a great events venue, so we’ve encouraged many of the grass roots groups in the city to use the space, with the aim of involving people from the wider city, not just the University. It’s a great way for our students to begin to make contacts which will help them when they graduate. Exposure Leeds, WYLUG, Agile Yorkshire, Leeds Hackspace, Twestival, Open Coffee, Barcamps, Ignite, and LSX are just some examples of events that have been held here. With all of this going on, its not hard to stay motivated.

Linda, tell us a little about being a girl geek…
I’ve always been a geeky type of person. At school I was a real swot, my favourite subject was maths and when I did my A-level I was actually addicted to maths. On the second year of my Computational Science degree at Leeds Uni, we had a personal maths tutor whom we met every week. We were given a sheet of problems to solve and every week I religiously went along to meet my tutor, having done all my questions. It was only at the end of the year that he told me that I was the only student who attended their personal maths tutorial. Because I was so enthusiastic he hadn’t had the heart to tell me! I’m used to working in an environment where women are in the minority. Out of 80 students on my university course, only five were female. But to be honest I never really noticed it or thought it was unusual. I was so passionately into what I was doing. I want to do my bit to encourage more talented young people to chose the creative/digital/technology sector as a career, both women and men, and being involved with Girl Geek Dinners is one way to do that. The speakers are women who are passionate about what they do and the events are a great way to meet new people who work in the hugely diverse sector in and around Leeds.

Who do you think is doing really interesting stuff in Yorkshire?

There’s loads of really exciting stuff happening in Yorkshire. It’s great that Leeds was chosen as the city for the launch of Guardian Local. I like the way that’s developing, linking up with Leeds bloggers, and local web-based information services. Credit goes to Sarah Hartley and Jon Baron for that. I’m a big fan of what East Street Arts have achieved, making studio space available to artists, and offering an innovative events programme. Everyone should go and see the exhibition at Union105. Hull Digital is going from strength to strength thanks to Jon Moss. It’s also amazing what Jon Eland has achieved with Exposure Leeds. Their events just get better and better, and so many people get involved. There’s also a lot going on in York. I really enjoyed Shift Happens, run by Pilot Theatre last year, and I’m looking forward to going back this year. And York’s the home of Christine Morris of Apps and Hats fame. Credit as well to everyone involved in the Social Media Surgeries across Yorkshire, they’ve really taken off.

What would you like to see change over the next five years?
That’s a hard one! In terms of the big picture, I’d like to see the whole job situation change, especially for young people, who’ve been hit hard by the downturn. I’d like to see the gap between rich and poor reduced, it’s something that’s fairly evident in Leeds, and it’s a barrier to real progress for the whole country. It would be great to see the digital sector in our region grow from strength to strength, with more startups coming from our Universities as a result of the emphasis on enterprise in the curriculum. Oh, and more women in senior positions, to even out the balance.

If you weren’t doing what you are doing now, what else would you do?
That’s a really hard question for me as I’m lucky enough to be doing my dream job. The only downside is there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to.

Finally if you were invisible for a week what would you get up to?

I’d only need a day to sneak in to Stephen Fry’s house and steal his iPad. That seems like the best way to get hold of one at the moment.