The ABC Attends a Media Trust Speedmatching Networking Event

ABC MEDIA OPPORTUNITY – The ABC’s Simon Collyer attended a speed matching event run by the Media Trust, where chosen charities and social enterprise companies, met a cross-section of top media people where we pitched our opportunity in eight minute dating sessions.

We had talked ourselves horse by the end of the evening but thoroughly enjoyed the experience in the futuristic, WeWork office campus building that houses Google UK amongst all manner of start-ups. It felt a bit like the film Logan’s Run when anyone who reaches thirty could expect to get vaporised to make way for more young people.

At our event, we met a range of people from the Producer of the BBC’s Daily Politics programme to experts from PR mega-giant Edelman.

Some of our exchanges produced some real surprises. We had a great deal of interest from the Financial Times, that has been broadening its remit away from featuring simply the biggest businesses and the top CEOs and their news. We joked ‘what are you doing hanging around us’ - but in fact, we seemed to attract a great deal of interest.

We found ourselves talking to the BBC, Daily Telegraph, The Civil Servant Retirement Fellowship (CSRF) and a variety of freelance individuals in public relations and comms.

We will not mention names and job titles to protect the innocent, but it was a fantastic opportunity to meet people in the media at this level, where normally this would be very difficult.

All in all, we had a very good reception, a very good reception indeed, and we were given some tips, and as a result, we have been talking to PA Media, an organisation formerly known as the Press Association, and we have approached Sixteen a Company that represents Unjaded Jaded a student blogger with it was alleged, some two million followers.

Image: inside the WeWork building, 123 Buckingham Palace Road London SW1W 9SH

What will come from all this frantic communications activity, we are not sure, - however you feel that something will. The younger executives knew all about our world for sure. When we talked about the difficulty of finding vaguely affordable accommodation in the Greater London area, we were right on point.

Getting off the Tube at Tower Hill and walking towards Liverpool Street Station one was left agog at the scale of the property development that has been taking place recently. Yet some of the watering holes that used to be jammed packed seemed to be much quieter than we remember them during our last visit. Some grand restaurants seemed very quiet indeed. Worryingly quiet.

The economy has been slowing, but the grand façade of these amazing buildings surrounded by those sleeping rough shows how these massive banking corporations, financial organisations and those smaller companies, that scurry around these entities like pilot fish, have hoovered up our nation’s wealth like some giant vacuum cleaner. Leaving it has to be said so little for everyone else especially the poorest.

Almost £6 for a pint of beer compared to half that in Colchester was not quite enough to send you teetotal, but enough to send you home early.

We loved the energy and vibrancy that the WeWork offices provided but outside it is a darker world for those that live there – perhaps more like a modern version of Gotham City. Are we alone in feeling the darkening clouds of a coming recession, or are we just doom-mongering?

Inside the workspace of the bright young things there seemed to be no air of gloom or pessimism.

We did not get vaporised visiting the loo and there may be space for older people in this Googly-fied world after all.

A great fun evening which may lead to some real benefits. Only time will tell.

Our special thanks to Su-Mei Thompson CEO for the invitation to pitch and to Carly Bell who hosted us from the Media Trust, and to all the media volunteers who gave us time to explain our mission. 

ABC Comment, have your say below: