Updates to the CNE website

Introduction

You may not have noticed, but the CONNECT North East website has this week undergone an evolution. This post is to point out the minor changes, and help get any feedback you might have.

Big Picture

CNE has recently partnered with bgroup to take our graphic design and website on to the next stage. As a result, there have been some technical tweaks and design changes, mainly to the RSS feeds and the Connect 4 / connected dots logo [which I think is rather good].

Details

RSS Feeds

There are now three sets of CNE RSS feeds:

• Events
• This blog
• News

You can sign up using an RSS reader.

Bridge Club credit

The updated site highlights the lead role that The Bridge Club has had in delivery CONNECT in North East England. The team is:

• Led by Caroline Theobald
• Project managed by John Sargent
• Operated by Toni Allen
• Inspired by Jane Reynolds, and
• Techno-kludged by me 😉

Other stuff

The Events calendar is smaller (but still perfectly formed), and the grey menu bar doesn’t have drop-downs any more – look for sub-pages under the ‘Elsewhere’ menu above the calendar, on the right-hand side. Thankfully we’ve been able to tidy up the Social Media News Room.

Wash up – please join in!

Getting you, our stakeholders, involved is what it’s all about. Please sign up for our newsletter (aka the grey “Register for Updates” box), follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our RSS feeds, check out our other online materials, maybe even call the office (0191 230 5742). We’re here to help. 😀

How we caught the eye on an Angel

A post to give you some feedback about the CONNECT North East event last Tuesday 13th October.

Introduction

As you’ll know if you read the post publicising the event, Andrew Burton is a successful investor – based in Yorkshire.

His presentation was basically a list of do’s and don’ts when trying to raise money through Business Angels; also what makes them tick, and how they operate.

I understand that Andrew had 30 phone calls the day after the event – showing clear demand in the North East for funding, and probably that Andrew’s call to action was effective! 😉

Hopefully by viewing the slides and the video together, you will gain most of the understanding garnered by participants.

Slides

Here is Andrew’s deck. Btw there’ll be some guesswork needed to match up Andrew’s slides with the video, as he doesn’t call out which slide he’s talking about, but I’m sure you’ll work this out for yourselves!:

Video

Andrew’s presentation

The video has a couple of moments where the footage skips a second or so, but I believe the message should still be undiluted.

Also, please let me know whether the sound is ok – when I did the initial .wmv file, the sound seemed rather faint, so I upped it & created a new file (the one I uploaded).

Reflections on a successful event

Thoughts of Caroline Theobald and John Sargent on the evening’s activities.

Photos

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Catching the eye of an Angel“, posted with vodpod

Wash-up

I hope Andrew’s presentation and video give you an insight in how to tap one route for funding.

If you would like to know more about CONNECT North East and our events, please visit our website.

Technorati Tags: business,business angels,connect north east,finance,investment,venture capital,how to,helpful,technology,small business

Bridge Club Limited to take forward CONNECT North East

Photo credit to Auntie P

I’m pleased to say that the bid submitted by Bridge Club Limited for the next phase of CONNECT North East development has been accepted by North East Finance.

With that in mind, and conscious of the work needed to take CNE forward, I visited Black Swan Court in Newcastle to meet with John Sargent of The Ideas Mine this morning.

Toni from Bridge Club Limited was also able to make the meeting, where we discussed high-level objectives, project plans, and where to go next.

There’s plenty to be getting on with, but we hope to involve you, our readers & stakeholders, more going forward. We’ll try to give you a head’s up about any thoughts & developments so as to get your feedback & steer about our way forward.

Thanks for tuning in, see you next time!

Interview with John Sargent

• A test post with the first of my interviews on the day, this one with John Sargent. [apologies for duff interviewing style! ;$]
• More to come probably next week – after Thinking Digital.