A personal note from Pete Francomb, Project Lead:
I'm afraid I've decided to put the Café of Ideas events on the back burner for a little while, largely due to a change in business circumstances that has left me unable to support the project for the time being. In a round about way, the Café has been a victim of the government cuts. If you're aware of the events we had planned for April and June of this year, please note that these have now been cancelled. My firm intention is for this to be au revoir rather than goodbye - the vision, purpose, format, value and potential for Café of Ideas is clearer to me than ever, and there are some great people supporting the project. Rest assured, we'll be working in the background to return bigger, badder and bolder!
In the meantime, the website will continue to develop, and watch out for some great video material of the previous MONEY event.
My deepest thanks to all those who have contributed to the development of Café of Ideas thus far. To paraphrase the immortal Arnie, "WE'LL BE BACK..."
Created by Hubagent on 05 April 2011.
Last updated by Hubagent on 21 May 2011.
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Posted in category: COI News
Café of Ideas has changed somewhat since its inception and our first promo video doesn't quite have the right message these days, so we're saying farewell to its pride of place on the home page. We still love it, though, and we're extremely grateful to those lovely people at SuperMegaActionPlus for putting it together for us, so we're leaving it here for safekeeping.
Created by Hubagent on 01 January 2011.
Last updated by Hubagent on 12 January 2012.
We're pleased to introduce Carl Anka, a new member of the Café of Ideas team. Carl is a Creative Writing student at Bath Spa University who was seeking a new challenge. He was pointed in our direction by Mimi Thebo, his tutor and a previous Café of Ideas panellist. Until further notice, Carl is taking responsibility for our "social network marketing" activities.
For example, anyone following us on Twitter will be enjoying the fruits of Carl's labour, and he will be seeking to extract interesting articles from our previous panellists, as well as contributing one or two of his own. Carl also runs a blog called "High Fidelity", which is about "Teaching the art of making good playlists, because iTunes Genius isn't as smart as it thinks it is".
Last updated by Hubagent on 10 February 2011.
7th September 2010
Café of Ideas is loosely partnering with the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce) in the South West. Firstly, Café of Ideas events will be promoted to RSA Fellows. Secondly, there are times when Café of Ideas discussions lead to a desire among some groups of participants to take further action - the RSA may be able to provide ongoing support to such groups.
10th August 2010
Café of Ideas is now an independent Community Interest Company, with a mission to create spaces where people are allowed to change their thinking. Among other things that means it's now official - our primary raison d'être is to benefit the community, rather than to line our own pockets. Hopefully, it also means we'll get some funding to help us take things to the next level. If you like what we're up to, and you're interested in being on the board of this new company, please get in touch.
18th July 2010
Jayne Hathway of 2QAB loves the vision behind Café of Ideas and is working with us in a number of ways to help us achieve our objectives. The 2QAB Community Interest Company works with individuals and organisations across the UK to harness their passion, skills and resources to question all barriers to a shared vision of change. Thank you Jayne!
12th June 2010
Once upon a time in May, there was a talented puppeteer who helped out at a couple of POWERful Café of Ideas events. She liked it so much, she joined the company! Say hello to Corina Bona, our new administrator and all round good egg. Just like the rest of us, Cori's mostly investing her time at present, but we're all working very hard to get to a point where we can pay her something... (And she's a damn fine puppeteer, so get in touch with her if you're interested in puppetry performances, bespoke puppet-making or tailor-made workshops).
March 27th 2010
In November 2009, we were lucky enough to have Dr Mark McKergow of the Centre for Solutions Focus at Work on the panel of our "STORY: How narrative gives form to human life." event. We're delighted to announce that he liked what we're up to so much he offered to sponsor us. Thank you Mark! (And thanks also Jenny Clarke, his business partner - we hope Mark didn't have to twist your arm too much, Jenny...)