Planning ahead
In Bristol and Bath, some would say that we have more entrepreneur and tech-focused meetups per head than they do in London (in fact, TechNation said so a few years ago). That’s a lot of events. Those of us that help to support the entrepreneurs in our region have some weeks of the year with 7 or 8 events and we’ve noticed some real ‘peak weeks’. This led us (collectively) to work out a mechanism to help us all to plan our events collaboratively. So we made a google doc and a simple two-step plan:
- When you are in the early stages of planning an event, add your provisional dates to this google doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17yjyn6EklD6qxZ7OqDQi-6OL8LLhMdRs4AXjFz-mn9A/edit?usp=sharing
- When you have confirmed your event, delete the listings that are no longer relevant, make it clear that your event is confirmed and add the link to your event (if you want to share it publicly).
Existing tools to publicise your event
If you want to spread the word about your entrepreneurial event more effectively, there are a few public tools that can help you:
- Bristol Media offers a public calendar function which is mediated and published https://www.bristolmedia.co.uk/diary-events
- TechSPARK have an events calendar function and could create a mirrored version for wider use (beyond tech) https://techspark.co/calendar/
- The Bristol City Council offers a weekly email to update on entrepreneur-related events ‘Items of Interest’ is collated by Declan Murphy, you can sign up to receive it by emailing him: declan.murphy@bristol.gov.uk
- Engine Shed has an event listing on our website too. If your event relates to entrepreneurship, innovation or diversity/inclusion in particular, please email us to share the details: info@engine-shed.co.uk
- You can submit your event on the Academic Health Science Network Innovation Exchange here: https://www.innovationexchange.co.uk/events
If you know of anyone else who helps publicise events in Bristol and Bath, let me know – I’ll add their details here.
NOTE: This work is particularly focused on events that help entrepreneurs and budding entrepreneurs to grow, share and learn. If you’re unsure whether your event is relevant, ask Briony (briony.phillips@engine-shed.co.uk)