A snappy day....

We've been a bit quiet lately but put 22nd March in your diary. We've got a collaboration hack hoe down up our sleeve.

This year we are gonna sit in a little bubble in the middle of City Camp, doing our thing, working to our own beat and of course getting smart folk together (thats you) to collaborate and experiment to solve stuff that matters.

We are thrilled that we are gonna be working with.... (drum roll please) *Fotodocument *

FotoDocument is a unique not-for-profit arts education organisation that brings visibility to positive environmental initiatives around the world through the powerful medium of world-class documentary photography installed in high-profile public spaces.

See the full brief at the bottom of the page.

We've got lunch from the awesome Higgidy Pies and tea, coffee & biscuits provided by our GfN alumni hiSbe.

Date/Time/Place:

4pm - 10pm Friday 21st March - Sallis Benny at University of Brighton - Grand Parade

(if you can't make this don't worry too much!)

9.30 for 10 am - 5pm ish Saturday 22nd March - Seven Bees at St George's Cafe in St George's Church

Get in touch if you've got any questions, but in the mean time don't forget to spread the word!

Really looking forward to seeing you all.

Zoe & Adam.

X

Ps. Mark is really looking forward to seeing you all but he's busy that weekend calling the wild in on the dartmouth moors... reckon we'll get a howl of solidarity sent our way though AND you can always meet him at the next one!

The brief:

FotoDocument commissions professional photographers at home and around the world to produce extended photo essays which specifically showcase solutions to key social orenvironmental issues in order to inspire, engage and effect behaviour change in a large and diverse audience.

Alongside the exhibition programme, FotoDocument has produced an innovative photo-based educational resource, FotoSchools, in partnership with environmental educationalists Resource Futures, with whom we co-lead workshops in schools across the city.

We run a photography agency, FotoAgency, which includes a talented pool of photographers who specialise inevents, portraits, products & interiors, fashion, theatre and documentary. 25% of our commission feeis reinvested to support our educational work.

Further we have set up aservice for corporates and public services to be able to tell their positive social and environmental stories through commissioning us to produce bespoke photo essays. This service is called FotoStory.

***Why do we need help now?*

We are a small and relatively new organisation with a very big mission. We know we could have even greater impact if the messages through our photography could reach a bigger audience more quickly. Most funding received thus farhas been project-based and so we haven’t been able to invest in core costs like marketing and improvements to our website.

2. Where you can help:

a. Website

We need help to develop our website. We use WordPress and whilst its basic functionality is good, we would love more technical input so that we maximise the potential of the platform to spread our message. We’d also love some design work to make sure the site makes the most of our photography assets and brings our mission to life.

We’ve also been exploring the idea of developing a FotoDocument app – a thing of beauty and functionality - to promote our projects and services get our message into the hands of more people, more regularly.

So if you could help us with things like content, navigation, user experience, functionality, impactful design, mailchimp sign up, interactivity, SEO, mobile app building, e-commerce, photo galleries & donations we’d love work with you.

b. Marketing, Press & PR

We also need help with marketing, press and PR – to spread the word about what we do, to express our key messages clearly and to promote our services, such as FotoAgency and FotoStory, through a variety of means including website, social media,newsletters, targeted emails, contacts, leaflets etc. We would also like to promote the selling of our prints on-line (once they are all uploaded) and also the hiring of our exhibitions.

We would equally like to encourage the press to take an interest in what we do – promoting positive stories and publishing our work.

c. Officespace collaboration & funding/pro bono work

We currently work out of home,which is great to keep overheads down, but we would like to be able to find free office space within Brighton & Hove, which would help with storage (of our work) and interaction with other creative people and organisations.

We also need support with raising core unrestricted funding as well as working with more people/organisations willing to contribute their services pro bono at these early stages of development and growth.

Any help, introductions, planning and support would be awesome.

In 2012, FotoDocument entered its operational phase, with receipt of funding from Arts Council England, Brighton & Hove City Council and sponsors. FotoDocument commissioned and curated eight international photo essays through 2012/13 on environmental themes including renewable energy, sustainable food, recycling and waste. FotoDocument partnered Southern Railway to display the exhibitions in train stations across the south-east rail network, launching under Brighton Fringe 2012. Our work featured in the Brighton Photo Biennial 2012 and was published in Photoworks magazine issue 19, among other publications. We held four successful launch events to packed, engaged audiences with high-profile speakers. Additional exhibitions showcased at EXCel London, Eco Technology ShowBrighton and Bristol Green Week. FotoDocument exhibitions have since been selected for display at the House of Commons gallery in March 2014. We have just received another grant from Arts Council England to fund our next project on One Planet Living which starts later in March 2014.