What else is going on with the We Are Open project?

The “We Are Open”  idea comes from the popular movement in the US, where local councils revive prime spaces in city centres, by opening them to local artists, writers and musicans…and garden designers!  The shops / projects within these three sites change regularly, without warning.  If you want to know what is coming up there is a flyer available on site, which outlines the upcoming activities.

The three sites are located in the city centre – Newport Road, Linthorpe Road and Albert Road. All three are worth a look, so check them out.

My favourite upcoming project…..you guessed it – “Mama Dot’s Tea Room”. This experience will run from the 30th September until the 3rd of October. Why not drop in and warm your hands on a cuppa while chatting to some of the locals?

We Are Open…..My Thoughts

First of all – I love the idea and fair play to Middlesbrough Council for taking a leap of faith and letting Jenny and Nicky to run with the project. I read somewhere (I think it was the BBC news site), that one in five shops in Middlesbrough are now closed. This had had a major impact on the look of the town, if nothing else. By launching the We Are Open project, the Council have brought a bit of life to the dead parts of the town, and given designers, artists and the like, a chance to meet a larger portion of their market face to face.

The drawbacks – there are a few. I just don’t think that there just aren’t enough of the shops in prime locations, which is a shame. It would be good if the council could identify the properties which lay in the path of the largest number of shoppers and then move the artists there.

I don’t think the public know what the shops are, or represent.  This could be solved by distributing flyers to houses in the region, or having a council representative available on site in order to explain the point of the projects to the public. Lord knows that the artists in residence have not conveyed the message very well. Not for lack of trying – more for the lack of sales skills and time!

There are a lot of artists and what not that I have not been to see. I think it might be a good idea to have a “What You Missed” page, with photos of the work or sales items and then contact details for those concerned.  That way, people like me could benefit by catching up with past projects, and the creatives might get some post project sales?

Again – I adore the project – these thoughts are just a few ideas that I couldn’t keep to myself….rightly or wrongly!

• Spend twenty hours a week running a project for a non-profit
• Teach yourself Java, HTML, Flash, PHP and SQL
• Volunteer to coach or assistant coach a kids sports team
• Start, run and grow an online community
• Give a speech a week to local organizations.Write a regular newsletter or blog about an industry you care about
• Learn a foreign language fluently
• Write three detailed business plans for projects in the industry you care about
• Self-publish a book
• Run a marathon

Brilliant! If that doesn’t float your boat, why not give Codeworks Connect a call.  They have an excellent number of schemes and contacts that will be advantageous in this day and age – if you have time to pick up the phone between the projects, the sports teams and the marathon!

Thanks to @Wadds for being a generous Twestival donor and and all round awesome guy!