On Thursday 26th October 2023, we attended the latest Creative X Business event in Southampton. This event is always packed full of leaders and creatives all building business in and around Southampton. The team behind it also host Community Leaders dinners and other Creative X Business events in London.
Autumn Live’s founder and MD, Jan Carlyle, was asked to host the event, as Pete Heslop, the MD of Steadfast Collective and founder of the Creative X Business event was speaking. This was a perfect follow on from us collaborating with Steadfast Collective on the Digital Community Leaders Report earlier in the year.
We met up with familiar faces from Seen and South Downs Social, alongside new people working in film making, photography and video production. We’re always pleased to see the solo attendees ‘place to meet’ sign at Creative X Business which, in case you don’t know, is a reassuring place to connect with people who are attending the event by themselves. A friendly face to get you started when meeting others.
Jan opened the event explaining CXB is a place to share stories, not business cards, and the ethos of gathering. She then introduced Pete who gave a thoroughly in-depth talk about the value of community to business growth.
Pete talked passionately about community and it was clear he lives and breathes community.
Pete pulled key data out from the Digital Community Leaders Report. Many people picked up one of the printed copies afterwards. Some key takeaways from the “Building Community First” talk for us were:
- Community marketing, when done well, generates positive outcomes
- Create shared experiences around a table with food, laughter and conversation
- It’s not rocket science, but it is effort
Consistency is key in building community and we cannot wait to join for the next event.
