Friday 18th November 12-2pm Duke Studios Munro House
Bring your own lunch to our regular Friday Picnic events with a twist. We’ll provide the scenery, the warming hip flask and an unpaid minion to brush the wasps away.
Potluck: bring your lunch in the company of likeminded people. Either just enough or bring a bit more to share. Whilst chomping away discover more about the upcoming stuff happening across Leeds over the month, or sidle up to someone who has a skill to share…
Sell out your stall: If you or your company/organisation have something upcoming be it a launch, an event, a performance or a product why not bring a sample, a taster, a little morsel to whet the appetite of our picnickers.
In the hamper: During the 1st hour join a number of round rug discussions around a series of useful subjects ranging from IP & Copyright, branding & design, getting under the noses of editors & journalists, reaching loads of readers with your website & more…
Between 1-2pm take the opportunity to book a 20 minute one to one slot with our ‘experts’
First pop up picnic (it’s a moveable feast) is at the soon to be launched creative co-working space Duke Studios at Munro House, watch out for their famous laser cutter…
You may wish to bend the ear of
Leo Jones-Rowe IP & Copyright DWF
Dom Burch – Social Media & PR – Asda
Rozie Breen – Editor BBC Radio Leeds
Leeds Dom Hodgson – SEO Specialist – Think Visibility, Leeds Hack & many more ventures
Phil Dean – Marketing & Brand – Ingenius Rapport (who created our lovely Picnic logo)
(& more as they identify themselves – it’s not all business it could be about tying a knot or performing the heimlich manoeuvre)
*This first Friday event is a total freebie as we’re testing stuff out a bit and require you and your open minds to come help shape the event for the future. Please do register
Update: Can you take a moment to comment in the box as to the following:
What frequency would you like to see? Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly?
What would you pay to attend the event again in future? Nothing, £5, £10 etc
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for? Finance, Pitching, First Aid, Determining value, getting bums on seats, social media (you get the idea?)
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
Here you go again, Emma! Innovating engagement to build a community. Count me in, this sounds fab.
Todd
Looking forward to the picnic on Friday … do we have to supply our own blankets to sit on?!
Really enjoyed this event and met loads of great people. Only shame was that there wasn’t time to talk to everyone but that just shows the quality of community and guests. Would try to get along every month if it was on, as much as my schedule would allow, and happy to pay £5, although that’s more to do with my financial constraints as it’s probably worth more.
Travelling to other cities is less of an option but might give good opps for linking with other areas. All in all a great idea and successful and interesting event!
Well done Emma for the innovative idea. I had an interesting couple of hours at the Friday Picnic. Being part of the pot luck brigade, I enjoyed meeting up with like minded individuals and would come along again whenever, either monthly, bi monthly or quarterly as part of the ‘audience’.
Interested to see the space available and the fantastic laser cutter in action. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people I knew at the event and enjoyed interaction with them.
The advice on offer was invaluable to many, although personally not needed by me at the moment so really can’t comment on which other experts may be useful.
Thanks again Emma and all at Duke Studios. I loved it!
What frequency would you like to see?
Monthly would be fine for me
What would you pay to attend the event again in future?
£5 – or you could do something like a discount if you bring something to share.
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for?
Definitely getting the most out of social media. I spent the last one chatting, I didn’t make use of the brilliant experts you had in.
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
I loved Duke Studios. Obviously would be nice to go to cultural organisations. Think there may be places in the University Union. Essential is that it is a large flat room.
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
Probably unlikely as normally I’ll be coming out of work for a looooonnnnnggggg lunch.
I really enjoyed the picnic and met new and interesting people. Workload would always dictate whether I could attend or not in future, but I would certainly be prepared to pay – how much would perhaps depend on how often the picnic was held. I wouldn’t attend outside fairly central Leeds, as the travel time would be valuable work hours lost (I’m self-employed). Perhaps different venues could suggest different types of experts? I’m not aware of any particular experts who would be of help to me, but advice on filling out self-assessment tax returns, setting up in self-employment, getting office space, opening a shop/stall, publicity, constructive use of social media, etc might be of use to others?
I said something along these lines on my feedback tag, but perhaps it would have been useful to know who was attending – perhaps have a list up somewhere – as without speaking to everyone there (impossible), I had no way of knowing if there was anyone else there doing similar or related work.
Thanks again for organising it and I hope to attend again.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Friday Picnic. A really good idea for networking or just catching up with people if you don’t need to network.
What frequency would you like to see?
Bimonthly with plenty of notice so I can get things in my diary in plenty of time.
What would you pay to attend the event again in future?
I would pay £5 for a general meet up/networking. But would be willing to pay more for 1-1’s with experts. Perhaps £10/£20 per expert depending on the time allowed. Even 20 – 30mins with an expert can be invaluable if you know in advance what you expect to get out of the 1-1.I had 2 great 1-1 with experts last Friday they both gave me some wonderful ideas and thoughts to go on.
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for?
Finance is good, getting sponsorship another. Even event organising.
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
Munro House was good. Can’t think of anywhere else ATM
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
I would travel, max 1 hour car journey or 30 mins by train, if it meant I got to meet with different people and different experts.
Many thanks Emma, I hope they continue.
I was the ghostly little girl spectre already lurking in Duke Studios, a bit too shy to mingle. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the Friday Picnic 🙂
I agree with Lynn about somehow being able to compile a simple list of who’s-who and what they do, but can appreciate that would be very difficult, especially with last minute sign ups.
What frequency would you like to see?
I’d love to say ‘monthly’ for the benefit of everyone, but I’m gonna be selfish. Schedule might only allow an attendance every once in a while, so I’m gonna say quarterly. Also, if these become paid, I couldn’t afford to do it often.
What would you pay to attend the event again in future?
For me, this greatly depends on how often they’re organised. If they’re as infrequent as quarterly, I’d happily pay up to £10. If they’re monthly, I’d prefer them to be free.
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for?
FINANCE! Yes please! And anyone who can give some good, practical advice on self-employment/freelancing in the creative industry. Perhaps also workshops or swap-shops for collaborative projects and/or charities.
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
Ooo-errr…not sure. Not much a Leeds-ite so I don’t know many places alas. It would need to be a funky place, and away from general public.
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
Unfortunately I probably couldn’t if the picnics were monthly. Unless I could carpool or hitch a ride 🙂
Hope this helps.
What frequency would you like to see?
I would realistically go maybe 5-6 times a year – tho I do think there’s a case for having them monthly , maybe having a break i August.
What would you pay to attend the event again in future?
It’s quite complicated isn’t it as these events are expensive to organise in terms of your time. Sponsors would be needed (for experts/spaces).
£10 would be reasonable. I think it might be problematic to charge separately for the expert chats. You will I’m sure allow for comps for people who are skint…
Might subscriptions/membership fees work? That would seem fair for people like me who work full-time or those who can charge it to their organisation. Charges for pop-up shops etc. It depends what the eventual aim is.
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for?
I think the people you had there were brilliant – I had an excellent meeting with the IP lawyer. I would have liked to talk to all of them – so bring them back please. The general , areas were good – technical, legal, marketing etc so keep different aspects of those areas? Maybe something on workspace/leases/landlord. Working in China. Introduction to employing people. Setting up your own business.
The coaching conversations at Cholgen were really well received, so that.
B
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
Munro House was a surprise – i never knew it was there. I’d keep it there for a bit then you can do picnic@ other places on a clubnight model.
BTW could we possibly combine Cholgen and picnic somehow in February 2012- as we want to do a Leeds-based event. I’d be interested in booking that space!
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
Yes. But hey why stop there? Picnic in Paris, New York, Rome etc.
Great event and beautifully packaged. Thank you Emma.
What frequency would you like to see?
Bimonthly
What would you pay to attend the event again in future?
£5
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for?
Determining and assessing value
Presentation and public speaking skills
Pitching ideas
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
It would be good to use different venues across the city to discover different spaces as well as different people. It was great to see friends as well as meeting new people.
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
Yes
Hello,
Thank you for a great event on Friday. In answer to your questions:
What frequency would you like to see?
Probably bi-monthly, I don’t think I’d be able to make a monthly event.
What would you pay to attend the event again in future?
About £5 – possibly more if I booked in for a 1 to 1.
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for?
Social media, marketing, networking
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
Duke Studios was great because of the gingham/picnic area/music, which could be more difficult to achieve in other spaces. Essentially, any large, flat room, so if there was space in local museums/art galleries/theatres, or possibly on top of a pub, or the Universities. I suppose it depends on how much of the fun you can bring along, or how much equipment needs to be in place to start with. Does Trinity Church in Leeds do anything? Also, you could contact Leeds Arts Partnership, as they have similar room requirements and find out what spaces they have used.
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
Probably not.
Good luck with the planning for the next event!
Thank you for organising it, it was great to meet with people and chat with them and just generally network. Everyone was very friendly and forthcoming with chatter.
What frequency would you like to see? Monthly or bi monthly. Quarterly might not allow enough time to catch up with people.
What would you pay to attend the event again in future? Yes, I’d be happy to pay. It’d be good to know what you’re paying towards like room rent, or peoples time, maybe that would vary each time depending who was there?
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for? Marketing/brands/copyright/inspirational people to talk about how they got to where they are
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in? Anywhere that feels secure enough for you to leave your jacket over a chair and not worry about it for a couple of hours.
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities? Probably yes. Not too far tho’ as it’s a couple of hours out of the day rather than a half day event.
Our next picnic will be soon announced. The date is 16th December and will be themed ‘Winter Gingerland’
What frequency would you like to see? Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly?
Monthly or bi-monthly sounds good. Maybe bi-monthly.
What would you pay to attend the event again in future? Nothing, £5, £10 etc
Keeping it free and sponsored is a nice idea, keeps barrier for entry low, but also makes it easy for people to put their name down and not show up. Ideal to keep entry cost to a minimum though, fiver or less I’d say. £10 a bit steep, unless lunch is provided 😉
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for? Finance, Pitching, First Aid, Determining value, getting bums on seats, social media (you get the idea?)
Hard to say, I’m still a bit unsure as to what ‘the friday picnic’ is all about – is it networking, a chance to hang out with people I already know, see a new venue, or get some valuable info from an ‘expert’? I didn’t have a sit down in any of the sessions this time but they did seem to be popular.
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
Places people wouldn’t usually get to see! Think Candle Tower roof garden (though not until it’s warmer out), a function room in a nice hotel, perhaps a music venue, but in non-gig mode.
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
I think this may be a bit too much to ask for a 2 hour event – it would widen the network of people that went, but I doubt there would be much cross-city pollination until you’ve built a ‘die-hard’ group of picnic-ers. Depends how LEEDSLEEDSLEEDS you want it to be. What about non-city leeds venues, like Armley mills, Thackray Medical Museum, etc. I still think it’d be a struggle to get people out there in the middle of a Friday, especially people who work in the city centre.
Thanks for sorting the event out – I enjoyed last Friday’s picnic ing (although I always struggle to eat + talk at the same time, was told it was bad manners)
Thanks Stu it was lovely to see you after all these months, your comments are really helpful and I’d say that the picnic is A PACKED LUNCH, you know we don’t like to keep things simple! It’s a chance to eat, share, learn, show off, all rolled into one.
What are you up to that’s what I didn’t learn?
Hi Emma,
Just wanted to say I loved the event, the whole atmosphere was brilliant and the venue looked fab. I met some really great people and as a business I think we benefited too from having a Zap! presence.
What frequency would you like to see? Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly?
I would love a monthly one but it would depend on the cost. I think if kept at a reasonable price I would definitely attend on a monthly basis.
What would you pay to attend the event again in future? Nothing, £5, £10 etc
I would say £5 to just come, bring your lunch etc. I wouldn’t necessarily expect to pay more for a 1-2-1 chat but that’s probably because I’m a student.
As a business you could obviously charge more especially if website links/ logos were included on emails about the event etc before and after. For small businesses it would be nice to see an event that was affordable although you would obviously have different businesses for each picnic.
What other sessions would you like us to get experts for? Finance, Pitching, First Aid,
Determining value, getting bums on seats, social media (you get the idea?)
Social media, public relations – Dom was great and I would love to hear more from other PR professionals. Art – maybe sculptors/ painters who market their own work. Pitching ideas. Small business owners in the city who have had success. Marketing.
What venues do you think would be ace to host a picnic in?
I think it would be great for the event to do a tour of hidden gems in Leeds and normally unseen places. Zap! was involved in the CheckIn CheckOff event at the weekend which ended up at Temple Works, an amazing venue I didn’t even know existed!
Would you be prepared to travel to other towns/cities?
Within reason and with enough notice, yes. As a business, definitely. the opportunity to network in different cities would be great on such an interesting platform as the Friday Picnic.
I look forward to the future events! Thanx again Emma, really enjoyed it.