Over 100 people on average attend these events, from freelancers to business owners and employees of member companies too.
Coming along to meetups is one of the best ways to make the most out of membership. Not only are there a whole load of potential new contacts to meet; you’ll also be able to find out/keep up to date with the latest industry goings on and maybe even make some new friends!
Although these events are held in Brighton, we strongly encourage members from further afield to come along too - what better opportunity to find so many talented, interesting, creative and pretty darn cool people in one place?
So, without further ado, here are 5 reasons why you should come to our meetups....
1. Latest Industry Gossip
There is always a lot of things going on in the background here at Wired Sussex, in the form of projects, bids and generally supporting the CDIT sector in any way that we can.
Some of the things that we’ll be talking about at the next meetup include:
- Intern Placement Programme: The IPP serves to help your business access skilled jobseekers who lack the relevant work history to get on the career ladder, yet can add real value to your company. Find out about the programme; speak to companies already signed up for the scheme; find out what it could mean for you and how you can get involved.
- Brighton Digital Festival 2014: Find out the latest status on the bid for 2014’s Festival, how to get involved and share ideas with us and other attendees.
- FuseBox24: The FuseBox24 programme provides 24 weeks of radical start-up support for committed innovators. Find out what’s involved in the programme, who’s taking part & have a chat with participants.
- Brighton Digital Exchange: A cooperative model for the bulk buying of broadband capacity into New England House, enabling businesses to access hi-speeds at far cheaper rates than usual, also allowing users to tailor their usage models. Find out whether the government have approved the plans.
- Connection Voucher Scheme: The recently launched voucher scheme aims to provide funding of up to £3,000 (excluding VAT) for small businesses, charities and voluntary organisations to access faster broadband connection speeds. Find out more about the scheme, how you can benefit from it & talk to people involved (and check out the website in the meantime)!
- Brighton Fuse 2: Following the hugely insightful Brighton Fuse project that looked at the CDIT businesses in Brighton, phase 2 will focus on freelancers in the region. Find out more about the plans and timelines for this project as well as how to get involved if you yourself are a freelancer.
Also, with so many brilliant people in once place, you’ll get to hear lots of the latest news and goings on at local companies.
2. Membership Benefits
Maybe you’re looking for some advice on community networking groups and events that could be of interest to you; or a way to shout about a recent achievement? Maybe advice on recruiting top talent; info on our latest projects upcoming events, or even just how to make the most out of your membership in general?
Coming along to our meetups and chatting to the Wired Sussex team is one of the many ways you can make the most out of your membership. We love to hear what our members have been up to, or exciting things that are coming up in the pipeline.
After all, the more we know about you and your business, the better we can help!
3. Collaborate
It’s not the first time I’ve said it, but one of my favourite quotes since working at Wired Sussex is ‘Brighton’s competitiveness is in its collaboration’. At our meetups you might strike up a friendly new partnership; meet potential collaborators who complement your skills and experience that you’d like to work with; or share some tips and tricks with peers who work for other local agencies.
4. Interesting Intro’s
Whilst our meetups are very informal, we like to make sure that you get as much value out of the event(s) as possible. The Wired Sussex team are always on hand to help introduce you if you’d like to speak to help connect you with fellow members who may be able to give you some advice, or to help to introduce you if there is anyone in particular that you’d like to speak to.
5. Social Scene
Yes, one of the main objectives of this event is to help connect you with others in the industry that might be able to help you in some way, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be all serious, does it?
Why not sign up with your colleagues and come along for a bit of a jolly after work – it’s a great excuse to have a get together! Although the CDIT sector is very diverse and rather big, I’m sure you’ll also catch up with old friends in the industry too.
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Do remember that our meetups are exclusive to members of Wired Sussex. If you’re not sure whether or not you are a member or whether you work for a Wired Sussex member company, you can do a quick and easy search for your company name on our Directory.
So if you haven’t already, sign up here to join us at our next Members’ Meetup on Tuesday 29th April at Above Audio (Brighton) from 5.30pm.
If you’re pretty new to the networking scene, take a little look at a previous blog post on how to get the most out of networking events.
And join in and/or follow the conversation at #WiredBrighton.
If you’ve any questions about our meetups or about any of our events, please feel free to get in touch with me at laura@wiredsussex.com.
Hope to see you there!
Laura
Events Manager, Wired Sussex