Bear in front (of Millennium Point) – Birmingham: It’s Not Shit – Can’t stand Children in Need on the tellybox? No, neither can Jon Bounds, which is why he suggests going to the Children in Need live event at Millennium Point instead to watch ‘legendary bhangra artist Malkit Singh and ascending star Jaz Dhami head the star studded line up for the ‘Pudsey Does Bhangra’ appeal show’. It’s on 6pm to 11pm on Friday 20th November at Millennium Point.
We had a grand old time, taking in the pubs, street art and public art and, thanks to Karen Strunks’ blagging skills, a grand tour of the Travel West Midlands bus depot on Liverpool Street by the lovely Myron. Karen Strunks got to sit in the diver’s seat of a brand new bus, we took a double decker ride through the bus wash and said farewell to some older buses destined for that great bus depot in the sky. Here’s some photos of our fun:
Jon covers all the best of Digbeth’s places to shop, eat and drink like The Custard Factory, Fiends of The Earth Warehouse, The Spotted and The Rainbow, outlining the recent Noise Abatement problems the latter two have faced. A grand article that encourages visitors to ‘Bypass the Bullring and head for dynamic Digbeth, Birmingham’s vibrant heart’.
I’m not long off the phone to my parents to tell them I had a name check in a proper big broadsheet paper and that.
Area is the new “pocket sized” (or A6 in grown-up terms) “pocket guide” to what’s going on in and around Brum. It’s going to be monthly, although the first issue is a July/August double issue as “everyone’s on holiday and not much goes on”. It looks lovely. It’s got listings and writerly things from top people such a Danny Smith (whose new “wordcast” you should check out). It looks like this:
Jon links directly to page 18 of the online version ‘because I wrote it, and I’m vain’. A very pertinent piece about sunbathing it is, too. However, I’d urge you to flick forward to page 36 for the in-depth, 3 page feature all about Digbeth, ‘the epitome of the diamond in the rough’.
The digital district will act as a showcase and business demonstrator to attract new businesses and inward investment and offer a strategy for economic recovery.
Which, as Nick Booth says, sounds ‘Very nice…Does that mean that Digbeth will get better mobile phone reception and something as high tech as a cash point?’ Quite. Although it seems like Lord Carter managed to get an okay reception when he visited Fazeley Studios for the Digital Britain Unconference today.
As Jon Bounds points out, ‘It also sounds like another bit of the (still in consultation) Big City Plan being announced.’
On 21st April I went to Creative Republic’s Media Skills Masterclass at Fazeley Studios. Birmingham creatives were given tips in getting publicity for their work by guest speakers Ian Taylor (Marketing Birmingham), Anna Blackaby (Creative industries editor, Birmingham Post), Marverine Cole (Sky News) and Jon Bounds, who gave a lovely speech about how we should listen and converse with the people we want to notice us.
We were then set the task of drafting a press release about something we’d like a bit of buzz about. Here’s my effort, inspired by the book A Mis-Guide to Anywhere. Big up to the lovely Karen Strunks for her great help and choice words.
Birmingham Bed Swap
Wake up in someone else’s bed.
Birmingham and Black Country bloggers, twitterers, photographers and writers will swap homes for one night only, and talk about their change of scene and routine.
Nicky Getgood, author of the Digbeth is Good blog [that's me!], will be encouraging people from the West Midlands to take a mini-holiday by swapping homes with like-minded locals. Participants will be invited to blog, tweet and record online how they settle into their new homes.
A list of odd jobs such as nipping to the shops for a pint of milk, borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbour and walking the dog/feeding the cat will force people to explore and interact with their new surroundings and should make for some interesting observations.
Recording these experiences online will hopefully create an archive of a fresh pair of eyes on West Midlands areas.
And that’s as far as I got. THSH PR Manager Lyle Bignon has since very kindly offered to help create some publicity around this so I guess I need to know before I accept – are people up for this? Would you like to spend the night in an unfamiliar part of town and let someone else sleep in your bed, walk your dog and harass your neighbours for demerara? Let me know!
Creative Republic Chair Helga Henry ended the evening by telling us we’re exciting, courageous, inspiring, funny and clever. And we should shout about this more loudly. All brilliantly rousing stuff.
