Brief reflection on Shine 09

Posted on May 18, 2009 by sse

Just wanted to capture some quick reflections on the two days of Shine 09. Am sure there will be more over the next few days, + more photos and videos to be uploaded.
Overall, as one of the co-founders and organisers (SSE), I'm pretty delighted with how it went. Massive congrats and thanks to Sam, Lizzie and all at Germination for all their hard work in making the event a reality, and one that ran pretty smoothly. And all on a shoestring budget.

The four partners started the event because they felt there was a need for an accessible, affordable, practical, well-networked, dynamic event that was less about long powerpoints and plenary speeches, and more about one-to-one support and moving your business on. I really think Shine 09 delivered on that concept, and, overall, it felt like more 'business' was being done at the event than last year. Or, as Cliff Prior (UnLtd CEO) summarised to me, Shine 08 was about inspiration, Shine 09 was about perspiration…or about implementation. I saw a couple of SSE Fellows walking out at the end of Friday and they were listing the work they'd got, the contacts made, and the practical advice they'd received…which was very much music to my ears.

Highlights for me on the Friday were the 1:1 areas, where organisations like Lovells, Futurebuilders, UnLtd, Ashoka and ourselves got little respite from social entrepreneurs thirsty for advice and information. Some of the workshop sessions were a little more mixed, going on anecdotal feedback, but I heard positive things about the Mind MOT session and Jackie Westlake's DCLG session(s) in particular.

On Saturday, the vibe was relaxed and enjoyable, and What If gave a load of bespoke consultancy to those who were there (and booked in). The Social Collaboration game was great, and its hypothetical MP expenses endowment fund almost became a Twitter hoax, before being stopped in its tracks. Finally, the pitching session was great, with four excellent projects, and the judging panel giving supportive and constructive feedback (though I say so myself). Martin Sherrard won the popular vote, and an UnLtd Level 1 Award, for his walled kitchen garden project.

As ever, we will learn from this year and the things that went well and that didn't. The balance between structured and unstructured felt good this year, and the Kings Place and the Hub Kings Cross were stellar venues. The only challenge with Kings Place was the split levels (which meant it felt slightly less of "one event" together) and lack of natural light in the downstairs rooms, but it's a great and well-resourced place to have an event. The Hub has a great vibe and, as at Kings Place, the staff and team there could not have been more helpful and accommodating.

Final big thanks to all who made it possible: Germination as I mentioned above, the funders and sponsors (Lovells, Futurebuilders, CCLA, DCLG, OTS et al), the media partners, the founding partners (especially Ben@Ashoka, Jonathan@theHub, Cliff and Nic@UnLtd), all the volunteer UnConsultants and helpers, David Wilcox for this site, and to all the social reporters and twitterers who helped make the event one that others could be involved in even from miles away.

Till next year then… ;0) and check out the Shine Social Reporter site for all the posts, videos, tweets from this weekend.

Downing Street, Future Jobs and the realities of delivery

Posted on May 13, 2009 by sse

SSE did something unusual this morning: attended a 7.30am breakfast meeting. Not renowned as early risers, Alastair and myself nevertheless made the exception to go to 10 Downing Street. The Prime Minister, along with James Purnell, Hazel Blears, Liam Byrne and John Healey, was launching the Future Jobs Fund and, specifically, discussing how the third sector / social enterprise could contribute to it.

The Fund is, as people keep saying about the recession more generally, both an opportunity and a challenge for the sector. On the one hand, what an opportunity: if 10% of the £1bn fund can be pushed through social enterprises and charities on the ground, that could be potentially transformatory. On the other, it also requires, say, delivery of 10% of the outcomes (150,000 jobs, of which 100,000 for 18-24 year old, and of which 50,000 in the most disadvantaged areas) against fairly short-ish timelines. In the words of the mighty Adam Ant, very much time to stand and deliver.

Much of the talk round the table this morning was also about how it can be ensured that this opportunity is accessible to smaller players and, from an SSE point of view, to allow for the innovation / risk / time that start-up job creation brings (aka new social entrepreneurs from these kinds of backgrounds / areas / age groups). We'll certainly be following up on this with other organisational partners.

Great to see the breakfast prepared and served by Hoxton Apprentice trainees (congrats to them, and especially Leon who's a fantastic advocate for their work). Also good to see so many social enterprise ambassadors (Peter Holbrook, Dai Powell, Karen Lowthrop, Claudine Reid, Penny Newman, John Bird and SSE Fellow Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa) round the table: it was a good mix, I think, of such credible, experienced practitioners with second tier orgs such as ourselves, Social Firms, Social Enterprise Coalition, DTA etc

What is particularly encouraging is to see government departments working together in this way: DCLG, DWP and Cabinet Office, acknowledging that social enterprise and entrepreneurship is delivering outcomes across their departments, and seeking to make a breakthrough push of acceptance, awareness and resourcing.

Friday round-up: enterprise, endowments and expansion

Posted on May 8, 2009 by sse

Quick social enterprise and social entrepreneurship round-up to end the week:

– Most interesting conversation of the week is over on Social Edge with the provocatively-titled debate 'Are the Only Innovations in Social Entrepreneurship Anglo-Saxon?'; kudos to Rod for kicking it off, and to others for some great comments

– On the eve of the OTS-DBERR, Byrne-Mandelson summit,, which I'll report on next week, a different taskforce recommends social enterprise staying where it is (and not returning to DBERR, or DTI as was); on balance, I think we'd agree with that….

– Other big news circulating is the Future Jobs Fund, and the intention to include charities and social enterprises amongst the deliverers; an example of the opportunities in this recession?

– Enjoyed 10 lessons from a failed start-up (if slightly techie)

– A new kind of capitalism (Bill Gates / social entrepreneurship?) on BBC Business

– Umair Haque on the best business model in the world (short summary: "create something awesome"), which also introduces the neat powerpoint-busting presentation tool, Prezi.com

– I have to mention the Shine Unconference again: sessions are looking blindingly good: everyone from Bridges Ventures to Mother branding agency to What If to ourselves/UnLtd to policymakers to David Wilcox on collaboration to pitches for funding and much more….if you're anywhere near-ish to London next Friday/Saturday, you should get a ticket before they all go!

– More self-promotion: SSE plans global expansion article in Social Enterprise Mag, covering all the recent developments here at SSE towers…

– Craig Dearden-Phillips remains one of the most honest and articluate bloggers and writers out there; here's his recent take on the Art of Communication

– Two bits of news from the Office of the Third Sector of relevance: the targeted support fund (previously announced in the recession action plan) is open for business; arguably even more interesting is the local council created endowment fund in Essex

– I hesitate to do this but here's a link to How to Twitter for Social Entrepreneurship; I'll follow that up with a link to Rob Greenland's Three Things I Wish I'd Known post which includes "Sometimes the most entrepreneurial thing you can do is stop doing something"…..

– Finally, I read somewhere this week: "A social entrepreneur can see the world in a grain of sand, heaven in a wild flower and hold infinity in the palm of his hand for eternity"; to which a few things occur to me: 1) hopefully a social entrepreneur can do stuff as well; 2) perhaps it might be 'her' hand as well? and 3) most social entrepreneurs at this point on a Friday are more interested in holding a glass of wine/beer in the palm of their hand (for as long as it lasts…).

Welcome to all the blog's new readers, especially those new SSE-ers in Sydney!

Welcome to our social enterprise blog. Here you'll find news, views and updates from the School for Social Entrepreneurs.