The Creative Bridge Podcast Yasmin Sulaiman and Oli Littlejohn

This weeks episode features Paolo Ciarocca from Kin. He was on the very first cohort of Creative Bridge, and sits firmly in the tech camp of the creative industries. He’s been an invaluable mentor for non technical folks interested in scoping out building software, and mentored many Creative Bridge alumni. He has also retrained as a counsellor, and in this episode Oli and Paolo talk a lot about the impact of tech on mental health - how we can build better products that put the human first, and don’t create stress or anxiety for the user.

We love stories like Laura’s - a background in fashion and art, now finding herself in a startup that creates electronic skin. In this episode we hear how Laura ended up doing this - how hard work and throwing yourself into learning every day is crucial. There’s also discussion to the Scottish technology ecosystem, how welcoming everyone is, and how sometimes moving slower is better.

This week Oli is chatting with Rebecca Kaye from Ploterre. Becky’s work draws on both her maths and design backgrounds to create visual art using environmental data. They talk about the project, how it came into being and what the future holds. They then ramble off into a discussion of what community means to people in 2021 - how we’ve found our digital tribes and what that means for local ecosystems. They also talk about grant funding (and how to get it), and finding a true purpose in what you do.

To read more about Ploterre and see Becky’s work, head to https://www.ploterre.com.

Covid-19 has sent a shockwave through the world of theatre. As curtains have fallen and venues have closed their doors, the future looks uncertain for many in the industry. Craig Fleming was one of those people working in theatre who saw work disappear overnight. But the unexpected space has given him time to work on his other project: collaboration platform Centrline.

From his decades of experience working in Scottish theatre, Craig’s gained a deep understanding of many of the logistical and data-sharing problems facing the industry. Seeing the chance to fix a few longstanding issues, Centrline was born.

In this episode, Yasmin chats to Craig about his journey and the a-ha moments that led to Centrline. They also talk about entrepreneurship more broadly - what it means to found a company and be part of a community.

Many of us have spent much of our lives sharing a physical space for our work. Whether you’re in a startup balancing your laptop on a rickety IKEA desk, or at a corporate with brand identity dripping off every wall, your environment ends up influencing your culture. ArtThou asks: What if you could take what’s important to your company values, and create a space that is truly reflective of who you are? A space that invites the work of contemporary artists to make it something truly special, and provide a stable income for the artists who create that work.

In this episode we talk all about ArtThou, but also more broadly the role of tech in art, the proliferation of nocode tools that can help artists, and helping startups understand why art fits into their organisation.

From collapsing advertising models to siloed audiences, the publishing
industry has been flailing since long before Covid-19 came along. That’s
why Jennifer Crichton, founder of new women’s platform The Flock, is so
intent of finding a new business model for magazines that works for
journalists and audiences - in particular for smart, ethically-minded women
over 35, who are so underserved by the industry.

In this first episode of the Creative Bridge podcast, we chat to Jennifer
about the ups and downs of her journalism career in the UK and the UAE, and
what it was like starting up a new magazine at the beginning of the
pandemic.