I am not entirely sure how many of the original cohort completed. Those that did not missed a golden opportunity. How often these days can one study for something worthwhile and have the fees supported automatically by being accepted on a funded course?  I am sure that anyone still paying off their student loans will appreciate the rarity of this opportunity.

Well, I finished and am glad to say that it was worth it. The funding of the course by GNP was vital to me being able to undertake the course. Without that support I would not have been able to afford the study. Cheers chaps.

It would be most interesting to hear what everyone else thought.
In reflective mood, Alan

Sponsored by Business link the day will offer over 30 seminars and presentations with Wayne Hemmingway talking about how he went from running a shoe stall to a multi million pound fashion company as well as 2 other headline speakers.

There will be industry experts on hand to give 1:1 advice for the 1000 delegates we are expecting, 100 exhibitors and the opportunity to network with local entrepreneurs and business owners.

It’s shaping up to be a fantastic day, we are adding exhibitors, speakers and seminars daily to our website so please keep looking at the website or email us at nbl@consortiumevents.co.uk to receive updates.

Book your exhibition space by visiting www.newbusinesslive.net or calling consortium event management Ltd on 0115 9622499

On a personal note, I was privileged enough to hear Wayne Hemmingway speak a few years ago, the chap is dynamo and a true inspiration for everyone either engaged in or thinking to engage in social enterprise. I urge you all to book for this early to avoid disappointment; especially as we all need a bit of a lift in January. – Alan -

Last night I attended the launch of Nottingham’s Creative Business Awards. The event was hosted by a spanking new casino of all places. Last year Area Four Records was shortlisted so I suppose its only natural that I attended this year’s bash.

This year I have left all conventional creativity behind. I have embraced the triple bottom line beloved of social enterprise culture. It hurts. Envelope stretching projects are no longer the norm. These days it’s below the bone costing, very little profit snf even less sense of the new, fun and “I don’t know, let’s find out together shall we?”

As a creative social entrepreneur all I ever want is to make work that both my client and I can be proud of. Working mostly in the V.C.O. sector has left me feeling that emotions like project ambition and project pride have given way to make do and pander. It is the difference “why and who” verses “what and how”. As a third sector media social enterprise we try to raise communications to be on a more strategic level; but to be met with constant micro management by people who are not interested in what is involved in delivery leaves me hankering for the shallow life I have put behind me.

The way I see it, you wouldn’t buy a dog and bark yourself, would you?

This by email recently…

“Dear Alan,
I am pleased to tell you that Third Sector Media has achieved the full emda Quality Assured standard. You can now log onto www.embrokerage.co.uk to view your star rating, and a summary of any brokered activity that occurs will appear in a table at the top of your homepage.”

Phew that’s a relief, I wonder how I dropped a star? Still, its nice to be scored the same as a McDonalds worker… Time will tell how handy this proves to be.
Alan

!STOP THE PRESS! (11/7/8)
I am now working through my first referral through this database so I suppose the stars can’t all be bad! – ACD

True, it should be down to our own initiative to acquire our own clients but when there is so much talk of braiding social enterprise support into the mainstream, surely there ought to be a quick and easy way of enabling them to find us????

So here’s what I understand to be the way to make this happen (no guarantees from me though)…

Step 1.  Get yourself registered on the East Midlands Brokerage Platform – www.embrokerage.co.uk.  Initial registration gets you on the radar for a randomised referral into clients (the system picks 3 appropriate suppliers each time a service is sought for, I understand).

Step 2. Follow through to become an approved brokerable provider for any grant-funded work – remember the SEBA grant??  The process isn’t too arduous as long as you can provide contact details of 5 happy clients to give you a reference, as I’m sure you can.

This is where it starts to confuse me…  there is no space on the form you fill in to say you have specialist expertise in social enterprise.  Why not is, and will probably remain, a mystery.  So you then need to go to… 

Step 3.  When you’ve been approved, let Lynette Daws from SEEM know.  My understanding is that Business Link will check with SEEM when they identify a social enterprise and that they will then be able to identify suitable providers.

This, guys, is simply my understanding as I write on Monday 17th March 2008.  Don’t blame me if it all changes tomorrow    Good luck.

•  set days that the broadsheet papers (guardian) have ads for jobs.
• Also seems that networking or scanning internal vacancies listings at some of the bigger Social Enterprises / Charities seems to be popular. 

However, all seems quite undeveloped to me.

 Wonder what sources/websites other EMSEN members are aware of to find out about ops specifically for the third sector ? And could a third sector recruitment consultancy ever develop (or already exists) ?

My previous (dubious) experience of RC’s leads me to believe their overtly commercial motivations and moral base would’nt easily sit within the sector but wonder if these barriers could be overcome and someone with the skills would catch the vision!   As the awareness grows I wonder if a specialist Recruitment Consultancy for the third sector could emerge. Perhaps a high quality cost conscious service targeted for the sector similar to third sector media.  What do you think ?

Slightly off topic, it was good to be in the news last week (Nottingham Evening Post 29th  February 2008)

[START]

WEB HELP OFFER TO CHARITY GROUPS

A Non-profit organisation is offering help to charities who want an internet presence.

Third Sector Media, based at the Partnership Council in Gregory Boulevard, Hyson Green, provides community and voluntary organisations with professional website design.

Previously, such organisations had to settle for second best when it came to their website,

Figures show visitors to charity websites and voluntary organisations are booming with people twice as likely to seek voluntary opportunities online.

To find out more, contact Alan Carter-Davies on 0115 970 8200 or email info@thirdsectormedia.co.uk

[END]

In limbo,
Alan

We don’t know what this is yet. We do know however that there isn’t much about at the moment for SE’s and supporters to interact. So in the spirit of entrepreneurship we thought we’d better make a start. Where we go depends a lot on who engages and consensus. So if you are a social enterprise of have a healthy interest in supporting SE’s then it is easy to help to shape the future of this fledgling network.  All you have to do is nail your colours to the mast and get in touch – posting comments on this blog are a great way to ease into things!

Alan