This was just a little bit of a manic day for me - it had been suggested that the group, that has developed as part of what was initially 'professional practise' for myself, should set up an information stall at Creative Futures, to promote and give out information - and once again, it attracted quite a bit of interest and tied me up for quite a bit of the day. And added to that, although there were two lectures that I particularly wanted to attend, I only made one of them - because the first lecture actually presented me with a chance to 'network' and make 'contacts' there and then, and I therefore missed the start of the second lecture. However, 2 excellent opportunities arose out of the day, at least, so despite only getting to one lecture, I really feel this was one of the most useful days of the week for me.
Live Events : Fun AND Work
Alan Wright.
Alan is managing Director of Cascade Productions , a company that covers 4 areas - event production, meeting support, media and Hotel and travel - quite a large umbrella !
I found this talk absolutely fascinating. Alan started with a statement -
"What a fantastic time to be in the Creative world" !
However, as he said, not only exciting but scary, as there are two major threats to any creative business at the moment.
Firstly, technical advances have made what was previously 'specialist equipment and skills' readily available to all, which enables people to 'Do it themselves' - this struck a chord, as several times, as a photographer, I've quoted a price for wedding images, and had the response that to save money, actually the couple were getting 'a friend with a nice camera' to take the images for them. There is a perception that having the equipment bestows the skills - not always the case, sadly!
Secondly ROI - return on investment - in a time of recession, they don't want what we do. Spending on the service skills we deliver is seen as an unaffordable luxury in a time of economic strife, and they are not convinced that the cost will improve their profit to the extent that employing us is worthwhile.
So, Alan told us, today he intended to talk a bit about business, about lessons from the 35mm slide, changing to thrive and the future, and the themes would be evolution, convergence - and fun !
He gave us a bit about his background and how the business had developed. He trained as a photographer, and ended up starting his own business by 'accident' - the company he worked for, staging events, went bust - so Alan just carried on, finishing the job that he was involved in at that point - and pulled it off. And the work kept coming . The business now works with a formidable list of companies, individuals and groups including Iceland and Poundland, Peter Kay, The Saturdays - the showreel he screened at this point was extremely impressive. The company handles events in music, conferencing, marketing, and is able to handle all aspects of what that involves, from staging to travel. They deal with, as well as event production, marketing support, they have a media team, and even Cascade Hotels, so accommodation can be handled for those they are providing the service for. this demonstrates how the company has developed new skills and business arms, every step of the way, to meet all the needs that their customers have developed as the technology and needs have changed.
He talked about how advances in technology are causing creative tools to converge, demonstrating the need to keep on top of advances in order to compete in a very competitive market - for example, being savvy enough to use a tool like Squarespace for website hosting - does the job and cost effective.
He took us back to perhaps 10 years ago, when 35mm slides were the main tool used in presentations - each slide took 6 hours to make, and his company charged £12 per slide - which accounted for a large share in their profits . However, in just those short 15 years, technology has advanced so quickly, that we now have a situation that with developments like Power point being readily available and user friendly, their former client base can now create their own presentations. In a similar way, the advances in photography make the taking of images far more accessible to a larger number of people - as he said, most people carry a camera with them at all times - incorporated into their phone. Even the way people watch TV has changed - from just a couple of channels to hundreds available - and the signs are that internet hosting will eventually replace even them.
To tackle all this, there are things we need to offer -
CONTENT
CRAFT
CREATIVITY
EXPERTISE
So what we produce has to be entertaining. And although a client may be able to film and take the images, may be able to edit - we have to be able to do it creatively to compete.
We have to be aware of all factors, be experts in what we do - for example, be aware of how long the attention span is for live presentations, for videos - and apply that knowledge, using our skills to produce work that extends or accommodates the attention span.
We also have to be aware of buying patterns - ever faster delivery expectations have to be met.
And then we have to add INNOVATION to that list . To compete, we have to change the traditional, think of different ways to present what we offer, make it more fun, more organic . Cascade hosted a 'conference' at Iceland - where all the 'delegates' remained in their own departments, in their own building throughout, and Cascade utilised multiscreens and short films they had got the various departments to make, to present a completely different type of 'conference' - and this provoked more engagement by those taking part, and was therefore more effective.
You need to offer what the customer cannot do themselves - so go mad, be creative, think outside the box. the experience and expertise you offer delivers the message - so its about using the random and the different to deliver a 'message' that stands out.
He used a phrase 'bump the lamp' which has its roots in the Disney organisation, and involves one of my favourite films - "Who framed Roger Rabbit". In one particular scene, during one of the takes, the lamp above the desk was bumped and swung back and forth, as the scene played out. Involving animated characters, as well as live action, the swinging light in this scene created issues with shadows, shades and light, that were difficult for the animators to deal with - however, by using this scene, and dealing with these difficulties, the end result was far better - so the message is use that swinging lamp to create a better end result.
He then went on the talk about the future - about not knowing what was going to happen means that you have to stay informed, involved and always continue learning ad finding out about what is going on.
His final point was that to stay ahead, we need use the sharing of information to stay informed.
I found the majority of what he spoke about to be useful and even inspiring, and I really enjoyed this lecture.
And I then missed the next lecture because I got involved in a chat with Alan which hopefully, is going to help create more possibilities for the future, for myself and others involved.
The next lecture I wanted to go to was "Creating Futures Creatively at TAPE Community Music and Film ltd', given by Neil Dunsire - although I missed it, several of the group were able to attend, and speak to Neil afterwards - with the result that he came to talk to us, at The Wrexham Film and Photography display stall . He was really interested in what we were doing, and we were able to set up a meeting, for later in March, for us to meet with Neil in Colwyn Bay, to discus what further advice TAPE can offer, and also, hopefully, the possibility of some Collaborative work between TAPE and the Collective.
Day two, as I said, was incredibly useful to myself and the group, despite only being able to attend one talk - hopefully, the outcome from this day will have a real impact on how the Collective grows and develops.
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