A Successful Wired Sussex Eastbourne Meetup

Last night we held our first Wired Sussex networking event in Eastbourne. Exciting times – maybe even more so because it was my first Wired Sussex event as the new Events Coordinator!

A little different to the format of our Brighton member meetups, we headed off to the lovely Towner Gallery for some ‘drinks and nibbles’ with members from in and around Eastbourne, Eastbourne Can and the Tourism and Leisure Department of Eastbourne Borough Council.

After a quick tour of the Towner Gallery’s exhibitions and spaces from Development Officer Marie, we set up base upstairs in the Junction Room and watched the transformation of the cafe area with its very cool and contemporary moving walls!

It was great to meet so many interesting and enthusiastic people within the digital, media and technology sectors, all keen to get better networked. Fifty-five people came along to the event and there was a variety of different businesses within the creative industries.

As it my first Wired Sussex meetup, and Wired Sussex’s first Eastbourne meetup, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect and the levels of innovation and creativity that shone through were really brilliant. It was lovely to see a wide range of organisation sizes too, from the University students who create the quarterly SQ magazine, to a number of Freelancers, small businesses and larger agencies, all looking to share ideas and knowledge, encourage innovation and promote opportunities within the community.

There was a lot of interest in future networking events in Eastbourne which was fantastic to hear.
Do keep an eye on our online events calendar for potential future meet-ups in Eastbourne.

If you would like any further information or if you have any queries, please contact me: laura@wiredsussex.com.


Laura

Events Coordinator, Wired Sussex

CityCamp Brighton 2

Anthony Zacharzewski, director at The Democratic Society (demsoc), on how CityCamp is building on its first year’s success:

Hack your way to a better Brighton and £20,000

Digital businesses, designers, technologists and creative thinkers who want to make their city a better place can now get free tickets to the CityCamp innovation event on 2-4 March, where more than £20,000 is available for social innovation and technology projects.

The first CityCamp, co-produced by Wired Sussex, brought together more than 200 people from public services, business and community groups to problem-solve around the big issues facing the city. This year, it goes bigger, wider and deeper. Last year's £10,000 prize fund has more than doubled, and will go into a much wider range of prizes for initiatives that use social media and new technology for wellbeing, health, community growth or public good. 

The event starts on Friday with a "Learn" afternoon, where speakers from the city's public services will talk about the city's opportunities and challenges. Will McInnes from Nixon McInnes is one of a number of speakers from the city and beyond who will inspire participants with ideas of what can be done.

Saturday is the "Discuss" day, where people volunteer to lead hour-long discussions on issues of concern to them. The event uses a barcamp format, so people come ready to participate, and the agenda is set by the group as a whole. 

Sunday is "Build", where teams pick up on Saturday's ideas, or bring their own, and turn them into prototypes, designs, or proposals for innovation that are pitched to the whole group and a panel of judges at the end. 

Sixty free tickets for local businesses are available at http://ccbtn.eventbrite.com, and you can find out more about the event at http://citycampbtn.org