I’ve been doing a lot of networking recently (I say a lot… I’ve been to three networking events in the past month… which is a lot for me!!). There are quite a few networking events out there in Manchester and I’m always on the look out for more (if anyone has any recommendations in the advertising, tv, video games world then please comment!). Some I have been to in the past include CING, GameDevNorth and Northern Soho. All of which have been good fun and I’ve met some really interesting people there.
I’ve particularly enjoyed the All Animated events. They basically work like a show and tell for animators to present their most recent projects and take questions on technique, working practices and experiences within the industry. There are breaks for networking every half hour or so. Even though my skills do not reside in animation I have found the events really interesting and entertaining with some very high quality work being showcased. It’s also been useful from the point of view of a music composer who is looking to work more with animation, particularly children’s tv.
Here’s some stuff I particularly enjoyed:
What if? Stop Motion Animation on Toilet Paper from Mark Beno on Vimeo.
The event takes an informal, loose and fun approach to proceedings (as opposed to some of the other more highly charged ‘sell sell sell’ networking events I’ve been to in the past, where you feel like you’ve just been teleported on to an episode of The Apprentice). If you have work to show, you can just get up and show it and take questions. I plucked up the courage to show some of my work at the last meeting and showed a work in progress reworking of The Corpse Bride opening sequence. The video should be up in a couple of weeks time.
You can find out more information about the All Animated events here: http://www.facebook.com/AllAnimated.
I’d also recommend CING, GameDevNorth and Northern Soho. Does anyone else have any recommendations?