Six months. Difficult to believe it really. On 9 April I was still hastily trying to secure office space with the Careers Development Group (CDG) at Wood Green and on 16 April I began my first day of the pilot with two trainees - both very different from eachother - in a temporary set up at Wood Green library.
It wasn't until the following week that I finally managed to move in to the Wood Green office and this was only because I took the Tuesday off work to go and sit outside the office manager's door until he had a chance to see me and approve the move. All this served to teach me that partnership working is difficult and other people have different priorities to you. It works when you manage to bring them into alignment.
It's about people, stupid
But Poached wouldn't be where it is without partnerships. CDG has been fantastic to us. I maintain that we had the best room in the (rather rabbit-warren-like) building. We had natural light and windows we could open. We had use of desks, chairs and a flip chart holder, and our own kitchen. They were always enthusiastic about the Poached idea and were a great source of people who wanted to take part in my programme. Brij was a CDG recruit, for example, and so was Chris I.
Over the six months I've built up good relationships with the two placement managers I've worked alongside and other office staff who would go out of their way to help me get things set up and sorted out. On my final day of Poached last week I said farewell to the CDG offices with a hint of sadness, but knowing that the personal relationships I've made there will continue to work to both our benefit.
Camden Calling has been the other very productive partnership that sprung up over the six months. They received some UnLtd funding in the same round as Poached and I immediately warmed to Alex and her vision of giving vulnerable people access to the mainstream gig scene in London. I suggested that Poached could help with some of the communication - their newsletter for example - and Alex sent me Chris W who took to the programme like a (poached) duck to water. They also sent us Dan, their illustrator, who soaked up the design training Chris G provided with palpable energy and enthusiasm.
Our connection with a Hackney-based youth information website couldn't have come at a better time. Chris W was coming to the end of his second six-week stint and in need of a new challenge. His interest in music and journalism and his upbeat, characterful writing style made me think that a youth website where he'd get to interview top performers and enthuse others would be right up his street. A mutual ally, Sally from vInvolved, introduced me to Lucy from What's Up Information and we immediately knew wanted to work together. Chris is now happily volunteering for What's Up and Poached will be moving into their creative office space in Hackney in a few weeks.
I can't finish this part of the post without a mention of my first trainee, Angela, who is now doing a three-month internship with Save the Children. She has been with Poached since that first day in Wood Green library and each week we'd have lunch together, discussing life, business and everything inbetween. She's been a fantastic support for me and enthusiast for Poached and I'm absolutely thrilled that she's landed the Save the Children opportunity in an extremely competitive market.
Change is the only constant
Which reminds me that Poached was conceived in a very different economic climate. When I first had the idea back in December 2007, the recession wasn't on anyone's horizon. Jobs in charity and public sector communications were rising and tackling long-term unemployment was a high Government priority because everyone else was looking alright. Fast forward to almost two years later and we've got the highest unemployment figures in 14 years, with the rise in youth unemployment the most worrying trend. On beginning the Poached pilot a year on from its conception, I realised that I needed to prepare people for work, but this might mean volunteering or part-time work rather than a stable full-time job. The focus had to change from employment to skills and getting people engaged in rewarding activities.
Funnily enough, this was no problem for some of my trainees. Chris W and Angela, in particular, wanted to ease their way back into work after severe personal breakdown. Being able to try a few different things, build their skills and confidence, and begin thinking about their future was more valuable for them than being forced into full-time work. Brij, too, was keen on volunteering and was surprised to learn that there were paid jobs in the charity sector that might suit him.
For others, it was work that they needed. Chris I and Rokeya were both very focused on teaching roles, which would be rewarding and offer a stable income. So their Poached programme focussed on improving their communication and writing skills in ways that will be useful to them in a classroom environment. We looked at different styles of communication, ways of structuring writing, and how to put your audience first. Chris I went straight from Poached into a teaching assistant role - all his own doing - and insists he'll use what he learnt in the classroom as well as in his spare time. He's writing a novel!
The ability to tailor what Poached does to help the individual turned out to be very powerful and I intend to keep this flexible, personal model in the next stage of Poached's development.
Keeping it real
Real work that mattered was also a theme that kept coming up throughout the evaluation. The trainees worked on case studies for NHS Jobs, web copy for Room2Heal, blogs, web and promotional materials for Poached and newsletters for Camden Calling as part of their training. They learnt how to change their tone and style to fit the client and the audience. They got to practice writing for a range of different mediums and channels. And they got to see the value of their work to others. What's more, they will all end up with a published piece of work to put in their portfolios.
Poached trainees produced work they could be proud of because we insisted on quality. Constant feedback, explanations and revisions meant that the learning, and the improvement, was tangible. But yes, this takes time. What I've learnt is that time really does equal money and I need to find a way of funding the training time so that we can keep the costs of our commercial work competitive. Looking at the models for doing this, and finding new funding streams, is going to be my next task.
New growth
So Poached is entering a new phase that feels a little like starting all over again, but armed with the knowledge and evidence to propel us to the next level. I know I need to pause and reflect on everything we've learnt so far to inform our development over the next few months. It feels a bit uncomfortable, because my natural tendency is to forge ahead, but I'm taking a couple of weeks to get my thoughts together and renew my energy before ploughing on. Sensible huh? Stay tuned for more adventures and keep in touch.
Jess at poachedcreative.org.uk
Paying off
Poached Creative has just won its first paying client. A small start, yes, but a milestone that shouldn't go unnoted on these pages.
This is testament to the hard work of the team - me, Chris the designer and Angela - who have all been toiling unpaid for the five months of this pilot.
If there's any one lesson I've learnt from the experience so far it is that no matter what industry or sector you're in or who you work with, cold hard cash is an absolute necessity.
Now we've proved we're capable of earning it I think more will be forthcoming.
I have a bit of a theory of like things. Odd socks for example - just the odd ones, mind - tend to hang about in groups. Don't even try hunting, you'll never find the pair. Flip flops are the same. Find one lone flip flop on the beach and I bet you'll quickly find another in a completely different size and colour from the last. Abandoned shopping trolleys too. Find one floating in a canal and no doubt there'll be another on the tow path nearby.
I think earning money is like that. Attract a paying customer and chances are, if you don't mess it up, more will come your way. Success attracts success and I'm confident that after months of struggling to prove itself and become market-ready, Poached is on the way up.
This is testament to the hard work of the team - me, Chris the designer and Angela - who have all been toiling unpaid for the five months of this pilot.
If there's any one lesson I've learnt from the experience so far it is that no matter what industry or sector you're in or who you work with, cold hard cash is an absolute necessity.
Now we've proved we're capable of earning it I think more will be forthcoming.
I have a bit of a theory of like things. Odd socks for example - just the odd ones, mind - tend to hang about in groups. Don't even try hunting, you'll never find the pair. Flip flops are the same. Find one lone flip flop on the beach and I bet you'll quickly find another in a completely different size and colour from the last. Abandoned shopping trolleys too. Find one floating in a canal and no doubt there'll be another on the tow path nearby.
I think earning money is like that. Attract a paying customer and chances are, if you don't mess it up, more will come your way. Success attracts success and I'm confident that after months of struggling to prove itself and become market-ready, Poached is on the way up.
Twitter, the NHS and other stories
The US healthcare debate and the UK's backlash with the We love the NHS campaign has finally prompted me to join the Twittering masses.
I've been keeping an eye on Twitter for a while now - any communications tool that can mobilise the country in support of our most simultaneously loved and loathed institution deserves some attention.
There are several things that strike me.
1. Even though it looks like it's aimed at nine-year-olds, it's companies that use it most. It suprises me that so many professionals, academics and media personalities take it seriously. (OK, I'm not really surprised about the media personalities.)
2. Its best use seems to be to let people know about something really interesting that they don't know about yet. Why, then, so many people use it to tell their friends what they had for breakfast is beyond me. (But they do - oh yes they do.)
3. It's got tremendous potential as a democratising technology - a free and open platform for anyone to have their say in 140 characters. Basically it promises many of the things the internet promised and didn't quite deliver back in the dotcom days. I love it when people take hold of a technology and turn it to their purposes (so often it's the other way around!) and Twitter's use as a campaigning tool is particularly interesting.
So, I've decided to venture out there into Twitterland, tweeting as my professional self to share links and ideas that might be of interest to people who care about similar things - social enterprise, media, the NHS, unemployment issues, homelessness, good employment practice and such like.
You can find me at www.twitter.com/jessicatsmith
Don't worry, I've only posted one thing so far and I certainly won't be bothering you with what I had for breakfast.
I've been keeping an eye on Twitter for a while now - any communications tool that can mobilise the country in support of our most simultaneously loved and loathed institution deserves some attention.
There are several things that strike me.
1. Even though it looks like it's aimed at nine-year-olds, it's companies that use it most. It suprises me that so many professionals, academics and media personalities take it seriously. (OK, I'm not really surprised about the media personalities.)
2. Its best use seems to be to let people know about something really interesting that they don't know about yet. Why, then, so many people use it to tell their friends what they had for breakfast is beyond me. (But they do - oh yes they do.)
3. It's got tremendous potential as a democratising technology - a free and open platform for anyone to have their say in 140 characters. Basically it promises many of the things the internet promised and didn't quite deliver back in the dotcom days. I love it when people take hold of a technology and turn it to their purposes (so often it's the other way around!) and Twitter's use as a campaigning tool is particularly interesting.
So, I've decided to venture out there into Twitterland, tweeting as my professional self to share links and ideas that might be of interest to people who care about similar things - social enterprise, media, the NHS, unemployment issues, homelessness, good employment practice and such like.
You can find me at www.twitter.com/jessicatsmith
Don't worry, I've only posted one thing so far and I certainly won't be bothering you with what I had for breakfast.
The value of mentors
I'll be honest, I've been flagging lately. There's no real reason for it - everything's been going exceptionally well with the Poached pilot.
We're into the second half and Chris G has put together a really high-quality design programme for our two new, enthusiastic design trainees. I'm getting help and support from my trainees, who are all staying on beyond their original writing and communications programmes to gain more Poached experience. And there are a few commercial opportunities that I'm pursuing (with some high quality help from some of the people I most want to work with).
I've also recently won agreement from my current full-time job to go part time. What a relief! Finally I'll be able to devote the time to Poached that it needs to move to the next level.
But none of this seemed capable of lifting me out of a bit of a slump. I don't mean to sound ungrateful - it's just a fact.
Mentoring magic
This week, however, I think I've broken out of it. Business in the Community has managed to match me up with a mentor and just the first meeting with him has given me a renewed sense of purpose, achievement, and confidence. We're very different. He works for National Rail and basically manages railway lines. Years of experience, hundreds of staff, massive budgets. But we both think we'll get a lot out of this relationship.
Certainly, for me, it's having someone with business know-how who's committed to me for a few hours a month. I can talk through my difficult issues, test out different approaches, and draw on his vast knowledge. I don't feel like I'm putting too many demands on his time because he's already dedicated it.
There's also the power of having someone hold you accountable for the things you set out to do. Most of the time it's only me who'll get annoyed at myself for letting something slip and, of course, when time is tight it's always the longer term planning and development that gets pushed aside for more urgent matters such as training programmes and funding applications.
Immediately I'm reviving discarded business and project plans, going back to my original pilot project proposal and realising how far I've come, and planning out the market research and benchmarking I've been meaning to do.
Unofficial but invaluable
I've been very lucky recently to have several people step in as unofficial mentors, such as Emma Courtney who never fails with encouraging words and her questioning spirit and a new contact, Robert, who I met on that scary leadership programme I told you about. He's insisting I build my networks and contacts and checking up to see if I'm doing it.
Reciprocal support
Of course, in theory I know the value of mentors because I've been trained as one and I am one to many of the people I work with, but it's not until you receive it yourself that you realise just what a force for success a good mentor can be.
More about mentoring can be found on the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation website.
We're into the second half and Chris G has put together a really high-quality design programme for our two new, enthusiastic design trainees. I'm getting help and support from my trainees, who are all staying on beyond their original writing and communications programmes to gain more Poached experience. And there are a few commercial opportunities that I'm pursuing (with some high quality help from some of the people I most want to work with).
I've also recently won agreement from my current full-time job to go part time. What a relief! Finally I'll be able to devote the time to Poached that it needs to move to the next level.
But none of this seemed capable of lifting me out of a bit of a slump. I don't mean to sound ungrateful - it's just a fact.
Mentoring magic
This week, however, I think I've broken out of it. Business in the Community has managed to match me up with a mentor and just the first meeting with him has given me a renewed sense of purpose, achievement, and confidence. We're very different. He works for National Rail and basically manages railway lines. Years of experience, hundreds of staff, massive budgets. But we both think we'll get a lot out of this relationship.
Certainly, for me, it's having someone with business know-how who's committed to me for a few hours a month. I can talk through my difficult issues, test out different approaches, and draw on his vast knowledge. I don't feel like I'm putting too many demands on his time because he's already dedicated it.
There's also the power of having someone hold you accountable for the things you set out to do. Most of the time it's only me who'll get annoyed at myself for letting something slip and, of course, when time is tight it's always the longer term planning and development that gets pushed aside for more urgent matters such as training programmes and funding applications.
Immediately I'm reviving discarded business and project plans, going back to my original pilot project proposal and realising how far I've come, and planning out the market research and benchmarking I've been meaning to do.
Unofficial but invaluable
I've been very lucky recently to have several people step in as unofficial mentors, such as Emma Courtney who never fails with encouraging words and her questioning spirit and a new contact, Robert, who I met on that scary leadership programme I told you about. He's insisting I build my networks and contacts and checking up to see if I'm doing it.
Reciprocal support
Of course, in theory I know the value of mentors because I've been trained as one and I am one to many of the people I work with, but it's not until you receive it yourself that you realise just what a force for success a good mentor can be.
More about mentoring can be found on the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation website.
Poached Creative pilot hits halfway point
I thought I'd better put up the results of the first half of this pilot project.
Just to make it clear, I had four trainees but one dropped out mid-way through his training because his partner had a baby. These results are based on the three trainees who completed their programmes a couple of weeks ago.
Early evaluation from the first half of the pilot shows that trainees improved in their own assessment of their skills and experience in:
Comments from trainees include:
"My existing skills in things like teamwork, verbal comms, and patience have improved. My writing style has changed totally (for the better!) and I now know how to structure a piece of writing. Also my level of confidence has gone up because I feel I have accomplished something."
"I've gained a lot more confidence in my writing since I started with Poached...I've also been very grateful for Jess's support, especially in terms of my depression."
"I feel more equipped, more confident, more motivated...kind of, more alive as well as more happy."
"I think it's a really good programme as it gives access to this field to people who may not ordinarily get the chance."
Read the blogs of the trainees using the links to your right.
We start a new programme in design next week for two more trainees. Keep an eye on this blog for updates.
Just to make it clear, I had four trainees but one dropped out mid-way through his training because his partner had a baby. These results are based on the three trainees who completed their programmes a couple of weeks ago.
Early evaluation from the first half of the pilot shows that trainees improved in their own assessment of their skills and experience in:
- interpersonal communication
- written communication
- writing for the web
- web technologies.
Comments from trainees include:
"My existing skills in things like teamwork, verbal comms, and patience have improved. My writing style has changed totally (for the better!) and I now know how to structure a piece of writing. Also my level of confidence has gone up because I feel I have accomplished something."
"I've gained a lot more confidence in my writing since I started with Poached...I've also been very grateful for Jess's support, especially in terms of my depression."
"I feel more equipped, more confident, more motivated...kind of, more alive as well as more happy."
"I think it's a really good programme as it gives access to this field to people who may not ordinarily get the chance."
Read the blogs of the trainees using the links to your right.
We start a new programme in design next week for two more trainees. Keep an eye on this blog for updates.
Logo and identity
I've been thinking a lot about logos lately - not least because we're trying to develop one of our own.
Now, I'm conceptual and linguistic but not particularly visual so I know that this is one of those cases where I need to trust Chris, our designer, to come up with something excellent.
But I surprised myself with how difficult that was. Logos are something that everyone has an opinion about.
So I started thinking about what makes a good logo and looking, closely, at other people's logos.
One of the best logos I think I've seen recently is for Creative Protege. Apart from the fact that I love what these guys are doing to get fresh new design talent exposed, I think the CP logo is strong, distinctive and makes excellent graphic use of type. I can't help it - even when it comes to graphics I lean towards punctuation, typography, letters and words.
Of course, looking at some of the biggest and best is also useful for understanding what works and Logo Design Love's wonderfully simple logo designs page is a pretty good place to start. And if you're thinking about a logo refresh you can learn a lot from their 10 successful logo redesigns page too. In fact, just look at their whole website.
So what have I learnt?
Now, I'm conceptual and linguistic but not particularly visual so I know that this is one of those cases where I need to trust Chris, our designer, to come up with something excellent.
But I surprised myself with how difficult that was. Logos are something that everyone has an opinion about.
So I started thinking about what makes a good logo and looking, closely, at other people's logos.
One of the best logos I think I've seen recently is for Creative Protege. Apart from the fact that I love what these guys are doing to get fresh new design talent exposed, I think the CP logo is strong, distinctive and makes excellent graphic use of type. I can't help it - even when it comes to graphics I lean towards punctuation, typography, letters and words.
Of course, looking at some of the biggest and best is also useful for understanding what works and Logo Design Love's wonderfully simple logo designs page is a pretty good place to start. And if you're thinking about a logo refresh you can learn a lot from their 10 successful logo redesigns page too. In fact, just look at their whole website.
So what have I learnt?
- it has to be simple
- it has to be recognisable
- it can't possibly reflect everything you are or do
- it should be clever, but not too clever
- it has to say something - one thing - about you
- it has to do it in a way that will reproduce well online, in print, large, small, colour, black and white, and no matter what the quality of the print or materials
- it has to be bold, beautiful, and practical.
Concentrate on where you want to go...or you might hit a rock
Continuing with the mountain sports analogy from last week, one of the most valuable lessons I think I ever learnt about life in general was the advice a young extreme sports maniac gave me when I first tried downhill mountain biking.
For the uninitiated, downhill is about as dangerous and you can get on two wheels. Mountains are great for skiing down in winter and walking up in summer - well that's how I see it. But downhill mountain biking involves riding a chairlift up the same mountain you'd ski down in winter, except now you're clad in body armour, clutching a two-wheeled hyper-suspended contraption and the rolling white soft stuff has melted to reveal hard dirt, gullies and rocks.
This guy had one of those ear piercings that are about as big as a 5p piece and go right through your ear, so I knew he was hardcore, and I hung on every word he said, sure that my life depended on it. His advice was this: "look where you want the bike to go. Choose your path and take it with your eyes - you'll find the bike and your body will naturally follow. If you spend your time looking at that rock over there thinking, 'I'm going to hit it', chances are you'll hit it."
I survived my downhill experience, half riding, half stumbling all the way and the advice has stuck with me ever since. Whether it's running a business, trying to start a career, moving house or some other kind of mad sporting pursuit, focusing on where you want to be and not getting too caught up in what might go wrong is an invaluable tactic.
That's not to say that you're shouldn't be aware of the rocks - you need to choose your path - but don't let them lure you into a fall.
For the uninitiated, downhill is about as dangerous and you can get on two wheels. Mountains are great for skiing down in winter and walking up in summer - well that's how I see it. But downhill mountain biking involves riding a chairlift up the same mountain you'd ski down in winter, except now you're clad in body armour, clutching a two-wheeled hyper-suspended contraption and the rolling white soft stuff has melted to reveal hard dirt, gullies and rocks.
This guy had one of those ear piercings that are about as big as a 5p piece and go right through your ear, so I knew he was hardcore, and I hung on every word he said, sure that my life depended on it. His advice was this: "look where you want the bike to go. Choose your path and take it with your eyes - you'll find the bike and your body will naturally follow. If you spend your time looking at that rock over there thinking, 'I'm going to hit it', chances are you'll hit it."
I survived my downhill experience, half riding, half stumbling all the way and the advice has stuck with me ever since. Whether it's running a business, trying to start a career, moving house or some other kind of mad sporting pursuit, focusing on where you want to be and not getting too caught up in what might go wrong is an invaluable tactic.
That's not to say that you're shouldn't be aware of the rocks - you need to choose your path - but don't let them lure you into a fall.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
