Written March 19th, 2013 |
So what are the benefits of meeting other writers? Once I would have found it difficult to make a very long list. That was until I was invited to the Ragan Executive Communications conference in Washington DC in 2008.
As a freelance speechwriter in the UK I considered myself a rare breed, permanently on the brink of extinction.
I paid my own fare and turned up in Washington DC. I found myself in a hotel with over 200 speechwriters. Chatting to them, I discovered they were all struggling with the same problems.
How do you get access to the person you?re writing for? How do you stop CEOs hiding behind dry?corporate nonsense? How do you keep your self respect, when every Tom, Dick and Harry in an organisation feels qualified to tamper with your work?
Up to then my quest had been to wrestle with these problems on my own, Brian contra mundum. The Ragan conference felt like going to heaven and discovering I was right all along, and ?all the saved were just like me.
It really shakes you up to be around your own kind.
My trip to Washington not only banished stale middle-aged work-related resentments, it changed the way I did my job.
I found fresh confidence ? I knew I did a job that was important because so many others were employed doing it.
I picked up expertise ? distinctive American perspectives from experts like Drew Westen, who wrote The Political Brain.
I made friends ? I?m still in touch with half-a-dozen of the delegates who I met there and several of them have come to the UK.
Taking a leaf from many of the best British entrepreneurs, I decided to transplant an idea that was ahead of its time in the US, and bring it to the UK.
As Rory Sutherland said, in a recent column in The Spectator,??Nothing fully replaces face-to-face contact. And many of the most important interactions between employees are serendipitous. Electronic contact needs to be interspersed with personal contact.?
I found a European tribe of speechwriters, and, since 2009, we?ve been hosting UK Speechwriters? Guild conferences.
Last year we also decided to extend the franchise and create a conference for copywriters, too.
The conference, which took place at Bournemouth University Media School, worked along the same lines.
We got a selection of the country?s best speakers and we divide the day up with keynotes and breakouts. We do some social stuff before and after. And we ?built bridges, which we maintain afterwards.
We?re planning a second more ambitious conference on the theme Who Needs Copywriters? on Friday 19 April 2013 at Bournemouth University Media School.
The conference will be hosted by Andy Maslen, who wrote the book?Write to Sell: the Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting.?He is also the?Managing Director of?Sunfish Ltd, a?copywriting agency.
We?ve recruited a full-time professional tweet writer to speak called David Levin. He?s previously spoken at??Powered by Tweets?,?Twitter?s official UK creative conference.
Ben Locker will bring his wit ?to the conference. He?s an Essex-based copywriter and co-founder (with Tom Albrighton) of the Professional Copywriters? Network, the association for all agency and freelance copywriters in the UK.
Carol Bentley is a direct response copywriter. She?s written four books giving advice on how to write compelling sales letters and use direct marketing strategies. In her keynote, Carol will share insights from her new book: I Want To Buy Your Product? Have You Sent Me A Sales Message Yet?
Roger Horberry?has written on writing itself in titles such as:?Brilliant Copywriting.?He?also runs copy workshops and lectures at the University of Lincoln.
Andy York?is a verbal identity consultant and writer, helping brands define and express themselves through tone of voice. These include Dell, Nissan, Aviva, the iconic Deloitte rebrand, the Centre for World Culture and the groundbreaking Ericsson storytelling project.
BAFTA-nominee and Jerwood Film Prize-winner,?Tim Clague,?has scripted over 100 corporate videos as well as films and documentaries. He will be speaking on?Writing for Video.
Ros Sinclair, winner of a?Cannes Gold, One Show Silver and rare D&AD silver for copy,?will be running a breakout session: How To Break Creative Deadlock.
Claire Falcon set up her own writing agency, Falcon Windsor, in 2004. Her ?breakout session will is titled:?Why Bother If No One?s Going To Read It???- The truth behind annual reports, why they really are worth the money you spend on them.
If you?re really keen, you can also do an intensive workshop the day before, and spend two days in Bournemouth in May.
Please tell us now if you?re going to join us at?http://copywritersconference.eventbrite.co.uk/
Source: http://www.ukspeechwritersguild.co.uk/2013/03/writers-come-out-from-behind-your-screen/
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