Developments within thinkARK and ARK LAB

After celebrating our first birthday and in the end zone of our first Professional project we have been looking into how we can develop the group and how we can bring new people with great projects to ARK. A few months ago there was a post about how ARK was envisaged working you can see that article here.

Even in this short time this has been changing and evolving. For us though because of the nature of the group and how it works it was always going to happen. So last night we had a discussion about how we could work in the future and also how this would tie in with a new website. The drawings above and below try to express some of the items we discussed. But in basic terms we have divided the company up into ARK LAB which effectively uses social design within organisations and companies. these projects are hoped to help the thinkARK group with development capital for experimental projects that would not be possible without help from the thinkARK as a group and potentially through a bit of financial support.

We have been looking at a number of schemes that have a similar feel to what we are trying to get to:
openIDEO
wefund



We would really love to hear what everyone else thinks about the idea and what they would want from such a thing. You can see the website in it's current state here (ARK LAB) and the thinkARK section here

To recap on what was thought during the chat:

- We should look at the projects we have already done to look at process
- We need to be clear what we are offering
- We want people to feel like they can develop projects and ideas with us. they don't need to have something finished
- I'll let you decide the rest

CAN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES LEAD US TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE?

This was the question we were faced with yesterday, at Creative Industries ktn's event, near Tower Bridge, London yesterday. With the question itself being so important to a number of ARK members Wednesday club was a split affair. There was the usual 7pm meeting at Cardiff Arts Institute and then a satellite group of us attending the London event. The picture below is of the talkaoke table which is an interesting way of controlling this type of event. I have attached a video of the system.



The event's running order had some great names which you can find more information here The event itself was well run and I personally learnt a few new things. But as always I feel the real feeling about these events leaves me with is, helplessness and also a lack of action. Indeed for us at ARK we started it up to try and involve, engage and do. To the extent that we try and get people to make commitments to do and interact.

Creative Networks - second stage

original mapping process

Along with the empty shop project we have been working on the Creative Network project which has been slowly progressing over the last few weeks. It's taken a while but the two graphics hopefully sum up the evening. On the graph below there are a few misc that if people could sum that would be great. The second graph also looks at some the names cover both being an event as well as a network.

We have a number next steps if you like to go to the next step. Firstly we would like to develop the mapping process further and include other events networks etc to the graphs. We would also like to look into the assets of each group to see if we can cross connect groups that maybe strong in one area and weak in another so they may pool resources. We have also go the wish list that was also started during the first chat but we would further like to develop this to see if there are things collaborative tools to increase overall strength of the mapped areas. Ideas such as a group calendar for example.

Finally this is an open project and we hope people will both be able to increase the knowledge of the mapping and also suggest other ways forward. Hope everyone has some great ideas and plans.


grouped with some notes doing more than one thing. Event also covers performance


ideas and suggestions for future development. We would love more.


Thanks again for the help and we hope we can use this way of working together in the future to highlight that there is a flexibility of working and living in Wales that can have great advantages.

The week that was - Empty shop ideas meeting

So what a week. We have been busy and busy and a bit more busy. I think this is the week we will look back and realise that it was the week that tipped. Monday was a meeting with everyone at Cardiff Design Festival and it's first planning meeting for 2010. On the same night and at the same time (ish), Igloo regeneration held an open invitation to investigate the wants for a Digital media centre at Roath Basin next to the newly announced BBC studio's.

Tuesday came quickly on Monday's heals with the empty shop ideas meeting. The turn out was great with about 20 people or so. There were loads of ideas and we will be developing these more over the next week or so. Then Wednesday our traditional club night was a bit of a quiet one but we did sign our lives away by registering as a limited company (by guarantee). We are then hoping to apply for Community Interest Company (CIC), which after many months of debate seems to sum us up now and where we want to go in the future. Charity didn't seem to fit neither did just a basic business. Time will tell whether we have to change it again, but for now we are all very excited about what's going on, if not a wee bit tired.


ideas session on Tuesday nights empty shop evening


No room to put anymore ideas down at the empty shop meeting

Recent Press for ARK

Over the last few weeks we have had a number of pieces of press relating to ARK's recent projects including the empty shop project and the ongoing work with the creative network project. Thank you to Andrew from Hoffi for putting the above video together of my interview at 6am!! with BBC Radio Wales. Below are a few other pieces that have been written about us. It's great to get the coverage as without it we definitely wouldn't have had the interest in people getting involved without it. So thank you for all the support.

Media Wales

http://yourcardiff.walesonline.co.uk/2010/05/20/empty-arcade-shops-to-get-creative-streak/

http://yourcardiff.walesonline.co.uk/2010/05/11/making-use-of-cardiffs-empty-shops/

http://yourcardiff.walesonline.co.uk/2010/05/11/thinkark-cardiff-empty-shops/

CAI

http://cardiffartsinstitute.org/2010/05/zeitgeist/wednesday-club-with-ark/

Guardian Cardiff

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cardiff/2010/may/10/cardiff-creative-network

Dilemma monday

Last night was a busy evening. Cardiff Design Festival held their first public planning meeting of the year in Chapter's newly refurbished media point, and Igloo regeneration along with WAG held an ideas workshop about the new Digital Media Centre based in the Roath Basin area of Cardiff. The development is been developed alongside the new BBC buildings in the area.

So which one to attend? Well luckily we managed to get to both. I got to the Roath Basin project and Simon and Lynsey went to the Cardiff Design Festival. I had a great session with the Architect who will be designing the building Robert Sakula, mainly discussing what a Digital Media Centre means and what creative industries may need in a building. There was a great turn out during the evening with a number of familiar faces and others that I need to get to know. What the evening brought for me was the question of digital and what it is? In the context of a Digital Media Centre next to the BBC should it be just for direct businesses within the broadcast sector? but then what is that if not film producers, directors, sound recordists AND website designers, graphic designers, costume designers? There are so many areas that use digital stuff/technologies to create or help them with working that where is the line drawn? there was also discussion on quality of businesses and so output. I wonder how this can be measured and also if it should be measured?

Why should we be?

A few weeks ago we posted a question about what we should be. After a few weeks we are now getting nearer to the answer and thank you for all the help and advice everyone has given us in helping us making a decision. The video above seemed appropriate to post in response. The lucky thing with ARK is that we know why we are doing ARK and have always discussed in terms of belief and the overall plan. In contrast we have struggled to explain our setup to others because they want to know what and how. Hope you enjoy the video, which is taken from a TEDx conference with Simon Sinek speaking.

Empty Shop date announced and first meeting date set

Project 3 - Dead spaces - empty shop

Perhaps you have noticed how many empty shops there are in Cardiff city centre at the moment? We have.

The first empty shop project will take place in an empty shop in Castle Arcade, Cardiff on the 2nd and 3rd of July. We are looking for people to contribute their ideas, skills and knowledge to help make this project happen. We would love you to get involved.

There will be a meeting in Y Tair Pluen (part of Owain Glyndwr on St. John St, opposite St Nicholas church) on Tuesday the 18th of May at 6.30pm to start developing ideas. We are asking anyone interested in taking part in the project to come along. You might already have an idea of something you’d like to do or want to meet people you can exchange ideas with. Or you might just want to find out what's happening - we don’t mind, we want you to come anyway!

ARK- Creative Network event at CAI

The response was fantastic last night. We had a great turnout considering we only arranged the evening about a week or so ago, and there were some really interesting conversations centered around networks / events / venues in Cardiff and Wales. We are going to be looking at this over the next few weeks and coming to some insights to be able to take the project forward. For the first time there also seems to be a number of people that are really interested in being involved and to help out.

Secondly we are also really happy to announce the dates for our empty shops project which will take place from the 2-3 July which is the friday and saturday. So now that you have the dates there is no excuses to get in contact if you feel you want to help out or even put something on during the two days.

What should we be?

Having now been now up and running for almost a year we have been looking into our status in terms of a company and it's structure. Last night we had a meeting about the possibilities and what pros and cons there are depending on what you choose.

A few months ago I think it is fair to say limited by guarantee was the way we were going, or becoming a full blown charity. However recently with the introduction of 'community interest' company we are reconsidering what we may become. If anyone has any thoughts comments or experiences on either of these we would love to hear from you.

One down many more to go

As some of the previous blogs have articulated. We have managed to get our train proposal in for Assembly Wales and we are working on the Shop project as an ongoing project. I personally am also trying to raise ARK's profile within the design community at large so am trying to find new networks to join and plug into any suggestions welcome. Also thinking about producing some kind of urban psychology type advertising if that sounds interesting to people would love to hear from you.

Wednesday Club and the evolving face of ARK

We have been looking into the formation of ARK for a number of months now. ARK is an unusual beast as it is many things to many different people. With everyone getting something out of ARK's various guises we are trying to sum up ARK and it's activities, these are the very first steps.



Please comment below

Shop project

Provisional invitation for Happy Spaces / Dead Spaces. Work in Progress.

Facebook discussion on Train Stations

We have been working hard on a train inquiry for Assembly for Wales, to broaden the discussion we have started a chat on facebook which you can see here Also if you are interested in any other social design ventures we hold get togethers every Wednesday at Cardiff Arts Institute from around 7pm.

We have a mascot

Laura came across this on the weekend and it is totally perfect for ARK. Just needs a lick of paint and I think it will be our very own cow, which will hopefully aid people finding us on the night.



Going pink

Language, openess and journeys

Over the last few months we have steadily built up new ARKies, many have come to the Wednesday meetings others kept in touch through email and online media. What seems to come up more and more often recently is why not as many people as we would like come to chat and discuss on Wednesday. To this end we have had a bit of feedback that ARK is a bit intimidating and possibly the language used is confusing. Also there is a small issue of knowing who the ARK group is and so who to approach on the evening. With all of this feedback in mind we have come up with a few ideas to help:

FINDING ARK:
1. ARK endeavors to be in the Common Room of Cardiff Arts Institute from 7pm every Wednesday (This is only a start time and even if you can't make it at that time come later as we regularly are still talking well into the evening). If for any reason the room is closed (this week for example CAI were putting up an exhibition), then we will be down stairs generally about 5 or 6 of us some with laptops, others with notepads straining to hear each other :-)

2. Social design is a huge topic and can potentially touch a huge variety of people through there interests. With this in mind instead of just reading mine and Lynsey's Blog's we have decided to add other authors to the blog so you can get a feel for the variety of interested ARKies have. For me personally I think that everyone has something they are particularly interested in exploring, ARK is just a place to explore this further.

3. Following on our cow/bull theme. We are looking to bring a pink toy bull as a mascot. So look out for this when in CAI.

4. If you see me at the bar on a wednesday and I am looking through some coins. I'll have an SA Gold or Cranberry Juice (depends how late it is )

5. Think that is it but if someone else has any experience of setting up groups or wishes to feedback their thoughts let us know by commenting below.

Wednesday Club - 10/02/10 - Next big night

The 10th of February is a really important day for us We are going to be doing another Academy and also going to be working on an ideas generation workshop of one of the projects. So if any of you are in Cardiff on the 10th at around 7pm, you are more than welcome to come along to Cardiff Arts Institute and help us out.

In the ideas workshop we will be looking into:

Retail
Art
Theatre
and Business

while this is a broad selection of subjects we hope that this will interest as many people as possible to co-create ideas for a project we are working on.

Snow ARK

Well i am determined to make it to wednesdays ARK meeting tonight in the CAI, although i am going to head in early and leave early just to make sure i don't get stuck in town. So if anyone wants to join me before the usual 7pm meet up i will there from 5pm probably with a lovely hot chocolate in my hands to warm me up!

Happy New Year - ARK this Wednesday

Just a quick blog to wish everyone a happy new year, hope they had a great time away. Also this week will be our first meeting this decade. We will be meeting this Wednesday around 7pm at CAI. Hope to see you all there. Topics this week will be Dead/happy spaces projects and lost & found.

ARK Academy

With all the christmas festivities there were a few less of us last night at Cardiff Arts Institute, but the Happy Spaces experiment was a great success. The object workshop worked really well with a bit of visual note taking. I will post a few images on a flickr account in the next few days but for now. Heres two of my favourites.