2012 Prospects

I recently went to a British Library event at Goodenough College called 2012 PROSPECTS.

Here is some blurb:
A valuable seminar for cultural venues and organisations that run cultural programmes. A panel of speakers will:
talk through the concept of the Cultural Olympiad and the Inspire Mark;
Demystify the process and identify opportunities for participation in the cultural countdown; Look at the impact of 2012 on cultural tourism in Camden and Islington.

There was also free tea and cake, which, in the current economic climate, shouldn't be scoffed at.

Below are my key findings:

Sarah, Cultural Opportunities Manager, London Development Agency

• 'Locog lawyers are fierce'
  
• Excellence respect and friendship
  
• Empower achieve inspire involve!
  
• Inspire mark is logo *without rings*
  
• 'There is no monetary value attached to the inspire mark'
  
• 'No commercial support allowed, so as not to compromise sponsorship packages'
• 'Bottom smacked'
  
• 'Can encompass almost any art'
  
• 'Generate a positive legacy'
  
• Animating and humanizing public spaces
  
• 'My Sky Plus is red hot'
  
• Creative industries fastest growing revenue generator
  
• 'Especially now the banks aren't doing too well'
  
• 'Second lastly'
  
• 'What do we want to use the park for after the games?'

John, Olympic Officer, Islington Council

• 'Team of one'
  
• Looks like Billy-Bob Thornton
  
• Boxing in the Business Design Centre!
  
• 'O-Space' project, one of ten Camden projects.
  
• O-face
  
• Camden will be journalistic hub, operating out of Senate House and Goodenough College. 90 countries represented across 600 people.
• Cultural Bloomsbury!
  

Amy, Strategic Olympic Officer, Camden Council

• 'I do tend to use the word opportunity a lot'
  
• 'We like to think, and I think we do'
  
• 'Just to break it down'
  
• Maximize economic benefits!
  
• Because this is all a bit high level, just to break it down'
  
• Cross-sector partnerships.
  
• 'Building aspirations into our core activity'
  
• 'How can we make existing events 2012 related?'
  
• 'To capture excitement'
  
• 'Mapping out key milestones'
  
• Forecasting
  
• 'E-alerts'
  
• Central London arts partnership making it east to cooperate across boroughs
• 'There's almost no new money!'
  
• 'Certain people in the borough are going to be feeling a bit negative about it'

***ENDS***

After some more cake, my ears pricked up when they mentioned 12 regional Arts Council England awards of £500,000 for individual projects, the open call for which is supposedly this month.

There's another Olympic event coming up, How London Works: London 2012, on Thursday February the 26th.

I can't guarantee the quality of the refreshments, but if anyone fancies making notes, here's the invitation, draft programme, and booking form.