id-East

id-East
Identifying Digital Media Talent in East London

The world is now a digital space with digital media touching pretty well everything we do. Digital media drives new ideas, brings new applications and generates new jobs and new business.
id-East brings new opportunities.
We’re looking for talented young people in East London schools and colleges to take place in id-East 2010. You’ll have the chance to:
• Take part in the id-East student challenge – enter your digital media course work into our competition and awards programme
• Find out more about working in the digital media industry through our programme of master classes and industry visits
• Take part in our on-line Creative Exchange programme
• Showcase your digital media work at our awards event to be held in June 2010
We want digital media professionals to get involved too...could you:
• Run a master class for young people interested in a digital media career
• Host a work place visit
• Provide work placement opportunities for talented young people
• Offer sponsorship or awards.
id-east 2010 will be launched in January 2010. To find out more and register your interest, contact Sarah Williams at The Creative Way (s.williams@uel.ac.uk)

Innovation Architecture

Entry by Richard Pyle, Policy & Communications Manager

Yesterday Judy Kenney and I were fortunate to be invited to a meeting at the Work Foundation of their Ideopolis City Leadership Network. This group involved key representatives from local and national government who are charged with some kind of urban development. The speakers were Will Hutton, Barbary Cook (Policy & Business Development Manager at Belfast City Council), and Chris Murray (Director of Core Cities).

Core Cities is a network of England’s major regional cities (i.e. not London) working in the area of economic development. Chris talked about the work their partner cities have been doing identifying the major drivers of regional growth and how areas like planning, public procurement, and skills can all be focussed to effect real economic change. Of particular interest to us was what Chris said about the importance of the creative economy. When asked how he’d spend £10 million right now, he was clear that it would go into developing the creative economy; thus creating the environment to attract people (and money). This really chimes with the work of The Creative Way – matching skills to employment opportunities in the creative industries to drive economic growth in the Thames Gateway. Chris was interested to hear what we were doing as an example of something that’s already happening.

Will Hutton concentrated on one particular element of their Ideopolis Programme – the architecture of innovation. The Work Foundation argues that in order for cities to drive local economic development they have to create a climate of innovation. In identifying what might achieve that climate, they have created “Innovation Architecture”. This concept identifies 6 drivers:
1) Knowledge creation & diffusion
2) Selection and dissemination or research
3) Entrepreneurial experimentation
4) Human capital development
5) Market formation
6) Financial mobilisation

It seems clear that our partnership is well placed to work together to confront these challenges (well the first 4 at least). Indeed much was said about the need for pilot partnerships to look at how these economic drivers can be practically realised. For information on some of our work in these areas, have a look at our website, in particular the section on our Media Skills Project. We’re also in the process of identifying further projects, all of which seem to address this agenda on one or more ways.

Will Hutton told Judy and I that he was off this week to present the Innovation Architecture to Cameron and Osborne (the government’s already seen it). It seems to be gaining some momentum. My only concern is the impact of decisions like this on our ability to realise this agenda.

Making Tracks

Today The Creative Way is gathering at Point Blank Music in Hackney to celebrate the signing of a number of progression agreements created as a result of our Making Tracks project. This aimed to increase progression to and through HE for students in the Thames Gateway who are studying music or music production at college. A partnership was formed between Canterbury Christ Church University, Point Blank Music (a private training provider in Hackney), and a number of colleges in the Thames Gateway. Students were given guaranteed interviews to Point Blank's HNC and/or CCCU's music production degrees, which are taught at their Broadstairs campus. The HE institutions also ran workshops for students in which they were given the opportunity to try state-of-the-art equipment and listen to performances from current undergraduates. This work will continue as part of the progression agreements being signed today. Below is an interview we did with one of the students, Geoff. Geoff's story hits on a number of themes.
We come across stories like Geoff's all the time in our work:

• No family tradition of creative careers ‘they didn’t see my creative side as a path to a career’.
• The value of ‘proper production courses’ (ie as opposed to training courses from equipment suppliers trying to sell to you).
• The impact of government withdrawing funding for second degrees.
• The value of a practical, vocational, specialist course taught by specialist practitioners with contacts with industry.
• Different types of courses suit different nees - HNC is the qualification needed for Geoff rather than the more academic qualifications, he already has a degree.

Anyway - we'll leave you to draw your own thoughts on Geoff's story. We'll feature more case studies in the coming few days. Visit our website for more info on the project.

Geoff Raggett is a singer-songwriter from Farnham, Surrey. His music can be heard here : www.myspace.com/geoffraggett. He describes his music as guitar-driven melodic pop. He is inspired by the simplicity of good pop, especially music from the 60s, as embodied by artists such as Burt Bacharach. He calls it nursery rhymes to music.

He is influenced by Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Donovan and the 60s folk scene, and Nick Kershaw. In the summer of 2009 he graduated from Point Blank Music College with an HNC in Music Production. This development of this HNC was funded by The Creative Way as part of their Making Tracks projects.

What was your educational journey that led up to you starting the HNC in Music Production?
I studied a degree in Tourism Management at Brighton University before this and graduated in 2000. I did this, I think, because it was the prescribed path, you went to university, it was the next cog. I come from a family of hard-grafters, they didn’t see my creative side as a path to a career, it was a hobby.

What did you do after university?
My friend worked at RBS so through her I got a job there. It was just glorified temping really and like so much in life, I got through the backdoor, it wasn’t really intentional. I really wanted to concentrate on my music though, so I moved to London in 2004 and started working in music venues, such as BarFly, so I was in the right place, meeting the right people.

What made you consider going back into higher education?
At the beginning it was the norm for aspiring artists to book a studio for a day and record and produce your songs that way. The studios were about £200 per day and you often had to pay a producer too. With artists like Mike Skinner though, that changed a bit. People kept appearing saying “I did this myself, from my bedroom”. The ipod came out, people were promoting their work over myspace, which was great, but it also meant that the standard of tracks being sent to publishers was much higher.
All of this made me realise that I’d had enough of relying on other people and that I needed to look into having the skills and equipment necessary to record and produce my own stuff. My first instinct was to look at what equipment I needed. I went to specialist stores and paid for their in-house lectures and one-to-ones, thinking that these would give me an idea. I didn’t find these useful, most of the employees were just trying to sell your their products, were disinterested in my music and how the equipment could make it better, and really didn’t want to be there. It was then that I started to look into proper music production courses.

What barriers existed to you returning to higher education?
I was already in debt and the government took away funding for students who’d already completed a degree, so I couldn’t do a full 3 year undergraduate again. There was also the pride issue, I was back in a class and I was 29/30 years old. I was the mature student I used to hate! I wasn’t messing about, I planned my time, didn’t do the all nighters or freak out like some of the other students. That said, I was still in there 24/7 come March!

What did you enjoy about the course?
It made me realise the importance of being around other artists and collaborating. I used to be very protective of my ideas, my songs were my babies. I think a lot of the other students on the course started off like that too. It was great seeing how other people’s ideas completely transformed your songs and made them completely different.
I was working on a song, Veronica Vessie, with Ephraim, who was also studying on the course. We had a clear idea of what we wanted the song to sound like, very 60’s influenced. We were also working with another student who was coming at it from a completely different angle. Then he laid down this beat which completely transformed the song, making it much more commercial/pop and more likely to receive day-time radio airplay. It took a bit to admit he was right!

What technical aspects of the course helped your work?
I’m more of a performer and a songwriter than a producer, but as I said, I needed skills to produce my own work. The course introduced me to Apple’s Logic programme which I use to record and produce my songs.
We also had a Music Business Module from Julia Jones. She showed us how many jobs there are out there in the music industry – you just have to be thoughtful and have a wider scope. At the moment, for example, I’m offering my skills commercially to support me. I go to open-mic nights and artists pay me to record their work. I use the skills I acquired from the HNC. It also means I’m learning whilst I’m working.
I really enjoyed the final project. We wrote 3 songs as a group (The Calloways) and had to come up with the branding and marketing plan etc. We demanded a final performance – it wasn’t in the curriculum but I think it is now. Paul Letworth also came in to do a tutorial. He’s produced artists like Florence & The Machine, Friendly Fires, Bloc Party, and Kate Nash. He played us a song by one of his acts before and after the production process. The difference was astounding!
Mostly though I got exactly what I needed – the ability to realise my own songs. That is what I’m now doing. I now know exactly what equipment to buy to get the most from my music. I don’t think the course gave me any kind of massive epiphany. Instead it taught me that the creative process is a gradual one and to find my own sound. I don’t want to be another wannabe Richard Ashcroft, there are so many of them, I want my sound to be commercial enough to be used in the media for example. The course helped me shape my music in that way.
At the moment I’m hoping for some interest from publishers, but it takes time, and as I said, I’m from a family of grafters so I’ll keep going!

You had a guaranteed place at Canterbury Christ Church Universtity to get a full degree because you completed this HNC, why didn’t you take it?
Well first of all, I’d already done a degree, so the government weren’t going to fund me. It would have cost far too much. Quite a few people have gone on to the course, but for me I’d already had the full degree experience and I retained those academic skills. The HNC was just what I needed – a very focussed, short, and technical course that gave me the skills I needed right then. If I went back it would be to do vocal therapy, something I’m really interested in – how to make someone who’s already a good singer, even better. Degrees needs to be linked with a very specific industry and have some kind of financial certainty at the end of it. You get into so much debt, after all.

What would you say to someone studying their GCSEs now?
I would say to go travelling or work in the industry that you love for a while, then decide what you should do in terms of further education. I mean, my first degree was not a waste, but it was cheaper in those days than it is now!

A new space for us to give you an idea of our work in connecting education and training opportunities with careers in the creative industries. We will update regularly with insights into our work - perhaps pulling out important leasons learned and ideas of ways to move forward. We'll also keep you updated on our projects and events.
More info at www.creativeway.org.uk
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