2012: The Good, The Bad and The Unplanned

Hello!

I hope you had a magical Christmas time and Santa got you lots of great toys! He was very good to me with lovely perfumes and blingy things. My favourites! How does he know eh?!

I'm just emerging from a few days of completely re-charging my glitter, which means I really, actually, truly did nothing! It was bliddy marvelous. It's so rare I take a few days to do nothing and I really got into the swing of it. And I've just realised that in planning my 2013 diary I forgot to schedule time off - I'm going to correct that right this second....

Right, that's time off booked into next years diary. Now, to look back on 2012!

The Good

I've got all sorts of good from this year!

Here are just a few of my personal favourites:

Speaking at Birmingham Girl Geeks launch event about social media and the 4am Project. Thanks for inviting me ladies! If you are a Girl and a bit of a Geek and you are in, or can get to Birmingham, keep an eye out for their up-coming events. 

Celebrating my best friend's 40th Birthday at a haunted cottage in the middle of nowhere in Wales. I still shudder at the ghostly goings on! It was a real country break with just the sound of birds and the neighbours mooing (they were cows, not humans!). I loved the open fire, but not the cobwebs. Part of me would just love to go back there again, and the other part says 'noooooo, it's just toooo scary!'.

Partying with Bugsy Malone at Fat Sam's Grand Slam. Fat Sam knows how to throw a party! I met Bugsy and he let me hold his splurge gun! What a gentleman. He's from NYC so I had a soft spot for him.

Having an Italian adventure in Milan! I had the chance to explore this beautiful city with it's stunning architecture, designer shops, art and of course the stylish people and not forgetting it has the most fabulous graveyard ever! Honestly.

The A.May.Zing month of May! 10 days of working and living in London. I had such an adventure and so many things fell into place. It was just the place I should have been that month. Now it's given me a taste for London and I've been back a few times since and plans to return very soon!

Being recruited by Brave New Ventures I had no idea what I was getting into or letting myself in for when I was approached by BNV. What a mysterious organisation. I'm still not quite sure what happened! 

Enjoying a Great British Seaside Holiday with my fab Mum We toured seaside towns down south and had one sunny day during the week. Hey, you can't go to the beach and not get rained on the the UK. Sandy sandwiches are a must. It's tradition! Thanks for a fab holiday Mum! 

Taking the 4am Project event to Nottingham and having 40 amazing photographers turn up despite the torrential rain! I still have to blog about this event, but it was a great challenge to take the project to a new city and make it happen and also team up with the Lakeside Arts Centre and their Saturday Night Sunday Morning exhibition. I'm very grateful to all the photographers who came along and took part in the 4am Project photography challenge given the challenging weather! 

Working with the talk about local team! Not just good, but great! However, now it's time to say a fond farewell to the team and take part in new adventures in 2013, which I'll announce shortly. If you ever get a chance to work with any of the tal team, do! If you have an interest in how to use social media from a grass root up perspective, keep an eye on the great work they do in empowering people and communities. It's been a pleasure working with everyone and I'll look forward to the TAL13 conference next year!  

The Bad

This could also go in The Unplanned category, but it was it was more 'bad' than 'unplanned' (not that I planned it!) so it's going here.

Being ill and spending a week in hospital. That was pretty bad. The 'good' is that I am better now. Hurrah!

It took a month out of the year all in all and I resent it for that. And it knocked my confidence in how my body works and also what I could and couldn't eat until I ended up eating the blandest diet ever. Thankfully, I am better and I know I can eat whatever I like again. So, another, Hurrah!

The 'good' for you is that I'm pretty bored of talking about it now, so this'll be the last you hear about it. Unless 1. I get ill again or 2. I feel like I want some sympathy haha.

The Unplanned

I didn't plan 2012 quite well enough. Which in some parts worked out well (Amazing Month Of May and for the Being Ill parts), but that was only by accident. Let me explain.

Earlier in the year I applied for a Clore Fellowship. Naturally I was pretty excited about this, but I also had a feeling that my chances of securing a place would be fairly slim. However, if you don't try for things, you stand no chance at all. What with the time commitment involved in the Fellowship if I had of been successful, and even though I felt my chances were a little slim, I kept the second half of the year free of commitments. In April I got the news that I didn't get a place. I was looking at the rest of the year without as much of a plan as I would ordinarily have liked.

It all worked out in the end and I was able to get back on track with planning but I really think I should have had more of a back up plan. The power of a back up plan should not be underestimated!

FINAL SCORE

I will give 2012 a score of 7/10.

2013, I have very high expectations of you! We are aiming for 10/10!

Thank you to everyone who has brought their positivity to the year! 

I wish you all the happiness in the world and every success for 2013! 

Let's grab it and go out and make our own luck! :) 

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I am not a Clore Fellow

In February I decided that I would apply for a place on the Clore Leadership Programme.

What is the Clore Leadership Programme?

From their website:

The Clore Leadership Programme is an initiative of the Clore Duffield Foundation which aims to strengthen leadership across a wide range of cultural activities. 

This includes the visual and performing arts, film, heritage, museums, libraries and archives, creative industries and cultural policy and administration.

I had been watching the Clore space for a few years and deemed myself ready to apply for one of the 25 places using the 4am Project and my experience as the basis of my application. I thought there was a very slim chance that I would secure a place, and that it was worth a shot even with the knowledge that the competition would be fierce. If you never try, you'll never know!

As the title of this blog post has already revealed, I didn't get a place. When I received the letter in late April, it didn't come as a surprise, but I was glad to know their decision one way or another so I could make plans for the rest of this year and next. I had to keep my diary clear on the small chance I would be accepted on the course; as the Leadership Programme is quite a commitment time-wise, would have taken up some of the latter part of this year and the first 6/7 months next year.

Even though I didn't get a place, going through the application process was a worth while endeavour! There were multiple parts to the application, and it really gave me a chance to review where I am, what I am doing, what I have achieved, what I contribute in cultural terms and where it all fits in together.

There were quite a few questions to answer, such as 'Why apply now? Why do you want to lead? Give an example of when you demonstrated leadership..'.

As I mentioned, the main basis of my application was the 4am project and of course, my experience.

If you haven't heard of it, the 4am Project is a ground-breaking, creative, collaborative arts project based around photography, and it's a project where I've demonstrated my leadership qualities by using my vision and planning to engage a diverse global audience.

To date the Project has engaged thousands of people in over 50 countries and has amassed over 6500 digital images in its archive.

It's a thought-provoking project which has inspired and challenged participants, from the absolute beginner in photography to experienced photographers. Motivating people around the world to get out of their beds at 4am is no mean feat!

Photo by Pedro Pinheiro

I think the project is a platform for people to improve on their photography skills and their artistic potential as it asks them to do something out of the ordinary. It challenges people’s concept of photography and directs them to an exciting and positive experience which leads to them being able to show their art to the world, inspiring them to continue their creativity.

Photo by Steve Anderson

Being the figure-head and driving force of the Project I do my best to lead by example and have shown my ability to inspire others into taking action and participating in an exciting art-form. I've used my creative drive and ambition for the project to reached a wide and diverse, actively involved audience.

In my application wrote about how the 4am Project has increased access to the visual arts by engaging individuals, who have enjoyed the medium of photography as an art form and how in turn this has developed participants personal and professional growth in the photography medium.

I also mentioned how the project contributes economically to education in the arts sector; students of photography have used the Project as part of their course work and I offer my insight as a leader in the photography field by sharing my knowledge and speaking to students and photography groups. Also 4am Project website itself provides a source of inspiration and reference and I hope the project will leave a legacy for future artistic practice.

Photo by John Garghan

I run the 4am Project in an environment of economic difficulty through my sheer grit and optimism. In this climate of financial difficulty, I think that now is an especially crucial time to nurture, engage and encourage people to involve themselves in creative art forms.

I nourish and replenish the Project by encouraging people to develop their skills and interests in the art and photography world, and I hoped that the Clore Programme would help empower me in creating a sustainable model for leadership in the arts sector. That's not to say I can't do that on my own, but sometimes it's nice to get some help and support. It's an ambitious project, but where there is a will, there is a way!

Photo by Jaubele1

One of the things that I love about the project (although of course I am biased!) is that it's inclusivity means that anyone can take part. I haven't put any restrictions on age, location, gender, or photography ability.

It's had an inspiring effect on participants, observers and established artists and has been very favourably reviewed by the media.

Photo by Hrish Thota

The 4am Project inspires, affects and challenges; from people experiencing an often unseen time of day, to taking part in a community collaboration, to challenging participants to learn more about photography. It's a unique photographic collaboration and offers great potential to engage people in photography and in turn supports people to develop their skills and ambitions.

I hoped that a place on the Clore Leadership Programme would enable me to forge and establish new connections and skills, which would support my leadership opportunities and in turn, support others better and empower them. I was ready for the challenges that the programme would bring!

A place on the programme would have been amazing and given a me a boost in terms of self development. However, it's also not the end of the world that I didn't get a place. I'm used to forging ahead with my own learning and personal development and making and creating my own opportunities. Going through the Clore application was worth it as it made me stop and properly review what I'm doing now, what I want to do and where I want to be and I'm very glad I took a chance and applied!

A huge thank you to Helga Henry, Will Perrin, my best friend and my ace mum who gave me their help, support and advice during the Clore application! :)

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