"I′m a sucker for projects where interactive media meets the real world and inspires or makes a difference. Tribe Wanted is just such an initiative. It brings people together on-line and on-the-ground - including on a remote island - to tackle the biggest issues of our day in a totally immersed, committed, fun, human way. How the project is run and presented online shows a very thoughtful, skillful approach to networked media"
- Adam Gee (New Media
Commissioner, Channel 4)

Sep

11

Help from ‘Down Under’ for the people’s Culture Cafe

Filed Under The ramblings of a creative consultant

AMBITIOUS plans to create a People’s Culture Café in Liverpool have been given a boost from ‘Down Under’ thanks to the internet.

An Australian advertising company has created a brand new web site for the Liverpool Cultural Café after hearing about the project through the social networking site, Facebook.

Word has spread across the internet about the café project which is being led by a group of local people, ranging from admin officers to health workers, mechanics and students.

25,000 people are being encouraged to sign up and register their support on the new site at www.liverpoolculturecafe.com by pledging a donation of £20 each. They will then be able to help develop the Culture Café, which will be a showcase for Liverpool culture and a platform for local talent – providing space for musicians, actors, poets, painters, comedians and other artists.

The campaigners also want to recruit 12 unemployed people from Liverpool to permanently run the non-profit making cafe.

Kate Burke, the owner of the Australian advertising company, Woot! Creative, (www.wootcreative.com,) based in Brisbane, got in touch with the mastermind behind the scheme, Mark Bowness, to say she loved the idea and volunteering her company’s services for free.

Mark, 28, a creative consultant from the Wirral, said:” We have found a huge amount of goodwill for Liverpool – the Culture Café seems to be capturing people’s imagination all over the world.

“We want to create a people-led, non-profit making project which will be a first for Liverpool, showcase the city’s rich culture, provide jobs for local people and leave a lasting legacy.

“Our Australian cousins have been very generous and supportive – just like many others who are getting behind the project and have offered their help in practical ways. The new web site is really bright, eye-catching and professional – it is just the first of many more initiatives we will be launching in the next few weeks to help us spread the message all around the world.”

Business supporter Mat Ong, added: “A lot of people are worried about Capital of Culture. “We have this one chance to make 2008 a unique and important year for Liverpool and its people. It would be a lot easier just to sit on the sidelines and moan at what has happened, but we feel it is up to the people who love Liverpool to do something about it. Our love for Liverpool clearly reaches as far as Australia and beyond.”