^{Extract from 'A slight hysterical tendency' by Julia Jane Heckles, September 2023}

The other week I caught up with Edward Cartwright, Professor of Economics, about plans we'd had for a Hive meetup at De Montfort University. Originally planned pre-pandemic, there was an opportunity to revive our ideas with a round-table event as part of the Leicester Business Festival in November this year.

We decided to focus on the creative industries as a topic. These make a huge contribution to GDP with the potential to add more; Leicester has an established creative industries infrastructure with the Cultural Quarter, both universities offering creative and performing arts degrees and many interest groups and networks. Plus I had researched and developed a manifesto for writers when I was supporting The Ink Well writing community on Hive.

Draft for the Business Festival Brochure

Here's my first thoughts - feedback welcome:

From Elon Musk to Sam Bankman-Fried blockchains and cryptocurrencies are always in the news. But is there more to them than volatility and scams?

Join our round table to learn more about blockchains and hear a case study about the opportunities they offer for writers.

The creative industries, which includes publishing and broadcasting, adds £111.7bn each year to the UK economy - greater than the automative, aerospace, life sciences and oil and gas combined. At the same time, the numbers and incomes of writers continue to fall with the median annual income for a professional author at £10,500pa (USD 11,300pa) in 2018, with BME writers faring worse, calling into question the extent to which writers' contribution to the creative industries is properly valued. (Source)

The round table will explore how blockchains offer new ways for writers to create wealth, new opportunities for writers to interact with their audiences, and new options for investing in writers.

Open to writers and other creatives, publishers and broadcasters, community organisers and facilitators, social investors and small business advisers.

Feedback Welcome

I'd love to hear your ideas and about how we could get the most out of this event for Hive. Let me know, as well, if you are interested in coming and any considerations. We don't have a set date yet but I'm looking at Monday 6 or 13 November.

The event will be two hours long altogether, with the round table taking about an hour and a quarter or so with time afterwards for chatting (the best bit) and hospitality.

De Montfort University has good public transport access.

Halifax Hive Meet Up: 23 September 2023

Everyone welcome. Details here.