Your writing sucks…

… so no-one’s listening to you. Big business or independent artist, we’re all trying to get people to listen. From winning more customers to getting some funding, we want people to engage. But to do so, they need to know who we are, what we’re about, and why on earth they should invest their time or their money.

From brand consultants to bloggers, eight speakers will help you to write better at work and at home. We’ll explore the tools and tone of voice that’ll help you communicate your personal and business identity well.

When: 3 November, 10am - 4pm
Where: Broadway Cinema, Nottingham
£100 day fee / free places for 26 members and Nottingham-based creative companies and practitioners. Speakers include 26 representatives Margaret Oscar, Sarah McCartney and Neil Taylor.


Timetable below...

10.00: Registration

10.30: Setting the scene

With Gareth Howell, Digital Arts Forum, and Ben Afia, 26.

10.45: I Write Because I Write

Finding a voice is the key to engaging audiences in any form of creative writing. Whether you’re writing for a specialist audience, putting your own life into words, or developing believable characters. The writers in this panel write for different audiences and media and will share their varied techniques for bringing writing to life.

Troubled Diva – award-winning blogger Mike Atkinson explores the internet phenomena of blogging, the freedom of publishing your own words and the perils of writing about people you know. www.troubled-diva.com

Paul Drury is a life-long games geek who started writing about video games in self-published fanzines, but has graduated to a regular weekly column in the ‘Evening Post’, as well as writing for major national games magazines ‘Retro Gamer’ and ‘EDGE’.

Stephen Lowe is a Nottingham-based, award-winning writer for film, TV and theatre. His latest work includes ‘Coronation Street’, the Brian Clough tribute ‘The Spirit Of The Man’, and a stage adaptation of ‘The Fox’ by DH Lawrence. www.stephenlowe.co.uk

11.45: Break

12.00: I Write Because It Makes Me Money

Having looked at how we can use different media to talk about our individual passions to various audiences, we’ll turn to writing for business.

Margaret Oscar is a tone-of-voice consultant who’ll explain how communicating personality, as a person or a brand, means choosing our words carefully to create the right mix. She’ll tell us about creating a language palette for brands and looking at the Anyfish Anywhere brand, a fishing-tackle manufacturer that has taken the UK industry by storm thanks to its tone of voice.

Sarah McCartney is a strategic storyteller who’s just written the tenth Christmas issue of the ‘Lush Times’ (and another 29 issues besides). She’ll share her experience of how to keep customers (and yourself) interested in your writing when your project’s time-span stretches far into the horizon.

Neil Taylor is the creative director of The Writer and will talk about his experience of turning suits into poets. He feels that better writing helps business communicate better. Like, duh. But it has other magic powers too. Helping people who don't think of themselves as writers to write, does more than just move the odd apostrophe. www.thewriter.co.uk

13.00: Lunch

14.00: Workshop - Write First, Ask Questions Later

Tim Crouch and Katherine Mellor help marketing and other business people to be more creative at Unilever.

This is a session designed to get words flowing instinctively and creatively;
to get us to commit to the written word while silencing that inner voice of self-doubt; to appreciate our own intuitive and individual response to words, ideas and stories. Be prepared to write without thinking... This session will be fun, challenging and practical.

Tim Crouch is a writer and performer. His own radio adaptation of his stage play, ‘My Arm’, has just been awarded a Prix Italia for Best Adapted Drama. His latest play, ‘An Oak Tree’, won a coveted Glasgow Herald Angel award at this summer’s Edinburgh Festival, and is touring internationally throughout 2006. Tim is currently an Artist in Residence for Unilever UK.

Who can come for free?

If you are a member of 26, or you or your company is Nottingham-based and working in the creative industries, you may be entitled to attend this one-day conference for free. To find out more about free eligibility please contact creativecollaborations@ntu.ac.uk or call 0115 9556312.

For further information and to book a conference place, contact Lou Butler at conference@broadway.org.uk or call 0115 9526600.

Creative Collaborations is a European Social Fund supported project.

posted by jim @ 1:59 PM