Oliver Ker Design

HuddsDigitals

So after more than 6 months since the first meet up I thought I’d better write about HuddsDigitals hows and whys.

I had attended a few web conferences where I’ve met lots of great and interesting people, but these were in Bristol, Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester, Leeds etc, as good as these were the travel time and cost to some, taking time from work were all factors sometimes not to go.

I had been on a couple of conferences with one half of Speak The Web organiser Dan Donald who lets be fair pestered me to organise something in the Huddersfield area, and one sunday evening I sent a tweet asking if anyone in and around Huddersfield wanted to meet up over a beer one night to talk about web design, development, print… anything digital/creative.

I remember getting quite a few replies which proved there must be a need for something like this, and it also helped bring alot of events to my attention going on in Huddersfield, there were a few that might have been similar, but none that were exactly what I envisaged.

First meet up

The first meet up was arranged for the end of November, and the turn out was staggering! About 30± people turned up, all different industry types – It was exactly what I wanted to achieve.

I decided to take a break for December and the christmas break and return in January. The turn was still great, not as many as the first meet up, but I expected that.

The turn out is growing and still fluctuates to amount of attendees, but with a growing group we are seeing a regular turn out of about 20/30 people each month.

Where now?

We have a few ideas with in the group as to what we can do, there has been a mention of a Hack day, and some group projects.

We also started a football group, which was born from a discussion on one of the nights, so those interested came along to play, we have promises from more to come a play so hopefully the team will grow.

We still want your ideas – send them to me – This is your group, so please help it grow.

What Have I learnt?

That if you organise it and tell people about it people will come! If you don’t have a date set then people don’t know where and when, make sure you have all the details displayed clearly. Sounds quite basic but if you spend too much time trying please everyone asking for the best time for everyone then you’ll never arrange anything – Set a date and time and let people decide if they can make it or make alternative plans to make it.

The People

There is no coincidence that it is a certain type of person that will make the effort to come and socialise away from the computer, they are not necessarily the most out going people, but those who can build up the courage in the first place to come down and meet new people. Some need dragging along, but when they do, I hope they enjoy them selves, offload all their working problems and realise they are not alone, and come back to make good friends.

A fantastic informal and enjoyable evening that also happens at the end of the month in Zephyr Bar, Huddersfield. …this is really the type of creative event that should be encouraged and attended!
Alex @ Orchard

Collaboration

We are stating to see some nice working relationships come to fruition now, with people who have either met at HuddsDigitals or before and talking more on a more casual level and helping each other or passing work on when they are too busy. If nothing it is a great way to increase your contacts!

Join Us

HuddsDigitals.com
Facebook HuddsDigitals
Twitter HuddsDigitals