As 2013 starts to disappear over the horizon, we thought it might be worth briefly reflecting on some of the things that we have been up to this year. So here it is, the Wired Sussex top ten of 2013:
1. New members - 2013 saw 437 new members join the Wired Sussex community, that’s more than one joining every day! In total, we now have over 2,500 company and freelancer members across Sussex. That’s important because, as an independent, not-for-profit organisation, it’s your membership dues that enable us to continue supporting you and the sector, at both a local and national level.
2. The Projects Board – We carried details of 425 work projects for digital, media and tech businesses on our website. That means new opportunities every single day for our members to access new clients.
3. The Jobs Board - 1,174 jobs were advertised on the Wired Sussex site in 2013. Many of those advertising also benefited from the bespoke advice and support that we provide to job posters to help them find the talent they need. Research has shown that in many instances our jobs board is as successful as recruitment agencies and much cheaper. This means that, over the years, it has saved businesses in the sector many hundreds of thousands of £’s.
4. The Skiff - We are proud of the support and investment that we have provided to this coworking space in Brighton in 2013.It entered its fifth year in operation this month with over 150 freelancers now using the space on a regular basis. A truly fantastic milestone and we are proud to have supported it along the way.
5. Brighton Fuse - In October we unveiled the findings of the Brighton Fuse Research Project; the culmination of a 2 year R&D exercise to analyse the growth and performance of the creative, digital and tech cluster in Brighton. With over 500 businesses taking part, it’s been one of the most comprehensive investigations into a cluster ever undertaken in the UK! If you missed all the hoopla check out this short video, which provides an overview of the project and its core findings, or you get the facts and figures in the full report.
6. Brighton Digital Festival - 2013 saw the biggest and best digital festival yet, with 174 events of all shapes and sizes taking place across the city. We were glad to be able to provide a combination of support, funding and advice to the many, many people and organisations that made it happen. For an overview of BDF 2013 and a look forward to next year, check out this blog from festival Manager Tom.
7. Events – Over the past year we’ve run 20 events for our members, providing a comprehensive package that’s covered everything from various networking activities to workshops, conferences and more. Highlights included:
- Open Studios 2013: offered everyone the chance to peek behind the scenes at 22 of Brighton’s biggest & best digital, media & technology companies.
- Interface 2013: we connected 32 member companies with 10 of the largest UK cultural brands.
- Big ConnectedTV Brighton Conference: 10 fantastic speakers talked about opportunities and money making avenues open to those working within ConnectedTV.
8. Workspaces – We helped our members advertise 170 workspaces free of charge on our website. These ranged from temporarily available spare desks in members studios to full mod-con offices. Workspace is at such a premium in Brighton particularly that linking those with capacity to those with need is an increasingly important service to our members.
9. The FuseBox - 2013 started with a bang as we announced 'The FuseBox' in January, and finally opened it mid –March! Primarily, the FuseBox is to support those with new business ideas in the digital, media and tech community here in Brighton and Sussex and, though still in beta mode, its already hosted start-up programmes, hackathons, open studios and loads of other activities.
10. A Great and Growing Gang – In July we welcomed 2 new members to the team; Rosalie, the Studio Coordinator for the FuseBox and Karen MaKey, our new bookkeeper.
We also had the support and help on different projects from a host of very talented people including: Tom Bailey, Jesse Mooney, Jim Byford, Nina Scerri, Jonathan Crawford, Joss Munro, Tom Nixon & Charlie Davis.
So there you have it, 365 days at Wired Sussex. None of which would have been possible without all the support and commitment (and £49’s!) that members have contributed, helping us to help you do better digital business.