A wise person told me yesterday that working with social media was so so so much more difficult now than 6 years ago. And this from an expert in the field who lives and breathes the virtual world. Well that made me feel better because I feel like a ghostly presence with very big feet walking through a crowd of exotic people trying to avoid crushing any of them, and to be noticed by the one or two who believe in me and might tell their friends about this friendly being in their midst.
Maybe you will notice me and be a gatekeeper opening a special new pathway for me. Or maybe you will be an amplifier who will tell all the right people that they could/should notice what I have to offer. At the very least I hope I don’t tread on your toes as I walk my pathway.
Enough of the imagery – what on earth am I talking about.
6 months ago Kath and I were selected by Culture and Business Scotland (then called Arts & Business Scotland) to develop and present one of 30 artistic offerings for the business community of Scotland. We joined some of the biggest players like the National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Opera along with other tiny organisations like ourselves. After many training workshops and much writing of the C&BS Marketplace website we are all up there and available for connections. Do have a look https://www.cultureandbusiness.scot/marketplace/
The invitation was to re-launch a one day programme, the Art of Being Heard, which we had delivered to over 250 business leaders and managers across East Anglia when we were based in and around Bury St Edmunds. This personal impact day relied on knowing the gatekeepers and amplifiers of the business community in order to get the kind of glorious feedback which kept us going.
“Based on feedback from colleagues who had attended previously, I had high expectations. I am happy to say they were exceeded” PH / Sales Manager Brewery
“This is a course every manager should undertake. How do you know what your impact is and how to improve it without this sort of guidance” KL / Dep CEO / Suffolk Libraries
For the 5 years of living in Scotland my focus was first working with the Royal Conservatoire and then, come lockdown, inventing the CGO Institute and looking outward to potential theatre producers of the future. I have never been part of the business community or truly had a base from which to build a tourism or cultural presence in the Country. In previous lives I was deeply embedded into the community of Plymouth, Buxton, Keswick, Bury St Edmunds and of course Edinburgh in my 1980s life in the city. I knew the business community and they knew how to connect with me. Now I am a small trader working from home with no direct routes to market. So I am going fishing….
With the help of Linked-In I am reaching out to trade union leaders, school organisations, chambers of commerce, the brewing industry, housing associations. These are cold calls, but they are business sectors which have embraced Art of Being Heard before.
In time, I hope C&BS’s Marketplace will itself gain traction and some or all of our 30 different projects will start getting inquiries. But I’m hungry to get going after months of preparation and so I am reaching out in many different directions. 150 emails this morning heading out to some of those who did the course when we were at Bury – maybe one fantastic person will hep us find a colleague in Scotland. A random email to one of the senior executives of a major national bank has elicited a connection – maybe in time it will be passed on to the write gatekeeper or amplifier.
In the meantime I’d love some help. Marketing something should not feel quite as random as this approach is. But sometimes lucky breaks do come from the most unexpected random methods. Maybe one of you dear readers knows someone working in a business in Scotland with a large workforce, or you are part of a network where Personal Presence and wellness in the workplace could be important to you and your colleagues.
If any of this resonates then do let me know. We have a taster/refresher 2hr workshop on zoom on Wed 19th July 7-9pm which you would be welcome to join. And then we start in person one day courses in Edinburgh from September. Plus we will be liaising with any business who would like a bespoke programme in their City or offices. Here’s a little more about the course https://www.chrisgrady.org/the-art-of-being-heard/
“You won’t know what you don’t know about presentations unless you give this course a chance” SW / CEO Major international trading company
Thanks for reading dear ‘amplifiers’
(and PS – as I finished this blog a lovely email has just popped up from a friend in the media in Scotland giving me the training manager of a major network. Step by step)
Chris
