onionbagblog

Another charming evening spent in the company of the fine folk from @15QueenStreet. Still struggling to find my *shhh* own creativity, I returned from a day in London schools to relax with the Colchester creative types and a screening of Us Now upstairs @15QueenStreet.

The Ivo Gormley film is essentially the story of the modern interweb and empowerment. It follows the basic model of many means good, rather than working offline in isolation.

“New technologies and a closely related culture of collaboration present radical new models of social organisation. This project brings together leading practitioners and thinkers in this field and asks them to determine the opportunity for government.”

A film addressing new technologies is always going to date at an alarming pace. The backbone behind the film of collaboration remains, although it was amusing with political hindsight to see some of the messages coming out of leading politicians when the film was produced some eighteen months ago.

A rather anonymous ‘cabinet minister’ going by the name of, um, Ed Milliband, bumbles his way through some third way twaddle, and doesn’t quite grasp the potential and impact of new technology on big government.

Speaking of which, up pops that charmer George Osborne to pen a piece all about the possibilities of the digital economy. It is easy to see how someone at Conservative central office simply sat down and watched Us Now, and then came up with the model for the Big Society.

On a micro level and the message was perfect for the @15QueenStreet creatives. This is a network of individuals that have found a new way of working through using a shared space. The benefits to the arts around Colchester are already tangible, with the huge buzz being created by the Colchester Free Festival last month.

An hour later and we retired to the pub to talk about the film / Green economies in Colchester / where we could find more booze. It is precisely this active social scene that led me to take out a membership @15QueenStreet.

Thursdays have been put aside as a social occasion, taking the form of breakfast clubs, film screenings and the minibar events. At a time where the creative economy is clearly going to take a huge hit over the coming months, the collective spirit of @15QueenStreet is cause for optimism and opportunity.

I finally found my own creative path on the cycle back to Wivenhoe. The moonlight guided me along the Wivenhoe Trail, which really was rather beautiful lit up by natural light late at night. Never underestimate the creative power of one man on a cycling mission.