I’ve been having an IT crisis this morning, hence the lateness of this week’s Have I Got Social Enterprise News For You. At one point it looked like it would actually be quicker to come and hand deliver a copy to each individual subscriber, or to try and communicate it via morse code or something. I used my technical skills to invoke the drastic last resort of turning the computer off and on again but that didn’t achieve anything. It was so serious I almost gave up and went home. Then it seemed to fix itself, but now I can’t upload images to our blog. Thank god it’s Friday…
Loads of good news this week, enjoy!
- We launched our super brand-spanking new website this week. It’s much faster than the old one, will hopefully be easier to navigate and you can now book and pay for our workshops and courses online. Ooooooooooooh. It’s like being in the future! Check it out here and let us know if there are any teething problems.
- One of the courses that you may wish to pay for online is our Transition to Trading course, which begins in less than a month. The first announced speakers are Georgie Fienberg, founder of Afrikids, Tom Ravenscroft, founder of Enabling Enterprise and Alana Cookman of Crisis. It is shaping up to be a really, really, really good course. (I’ll also be speaking on it, but I’m not convinced that’s a strong selling point).
- A pdf titled ‘Communications as a Reform Tool for the United Nations‘ sounds like a one-way ticket to Snoozeville, but it’s actually a really useful handbook packed full of tips on a whole host of media scenarios, from speaking to journalists through to delivering a speech – a lot of it would be applicable in every organisation. (I’m still hunting for the FIFA version…)
- A thought provoking piece from Nelarine Cornelius ‘Recapturing the civic heart of social enterprise‘ which argues that increased commercialisation within the sector is eroding the potential of social enterprise. It doesn’t hold back.
- If your organisation is involved in education then Teach First’s Innovation Award is well worth applying for. Five places are available, and each winner ‘will receive six months’ full-time salary and 12 months of support, including a place on the Innovation Accelerator, an intensive programme of technical training, supportive mentoring and expert advice to help you develop, pilot and scale your idea’. I know a few SSE Fellows who have gone through the programme and speak very highly of it.
- The Bike Project (founded by SSE Fellow Jem Stein) are holding ‘Gears and Giggles: A Charitee-hee-hee Fundraiser‘ on the 24th June at the Crypt on the Green, Clerkenwell. It looks a really good lineup and it’s only £10 plus booking fee.
- You wait all year for a Richard Branson story and then two come along at once. First, he took the interesting step of offering all new parents (male and female) a year of paid leave so that they could be with their child. He then shared the secrets of his success in an interview with the Rennaisance Foundation, set up by SSE Fellow Sat Singh.
- PwC are running an event to discuss the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) at their offices in Embankment Place, London, next Thursday from 5pm. It’s free to attend and open to all. (What is SEIS? Find out here.)
- Congratulations to SSE Fellow Helen Cotton, who had the official charity launch for her fantastic organisation See Change Films last week. You can read all about it here.
- Finally…some light reading to ease you into the weekend. The Social Investment Research Council have crunched the numbers to reveal the costs and opportunities of the social investment market. The full report is available here, and Dan Corry has provided some analysis in his piece 9% loss on a social investment portfolio – good or bad?
What’s on at SSE
- Do YOU want to be a social entrepreneur?, SSE London, 23rd June
- Green Entrepreneurship in Action, SSE Dartington, starts 29th June
- Transition to Trading, SSE London, starts 9th July
- Crowdfunding for Charities and Social Enterprises, SSE London, 16th July
- Kickstart Your Social Media Strategy, SSE London, 18th July
- Cool 10 Environmental Entrepreneurs, SSE East, starts 30th July
