Despite the chill winds blowing through the economy, and at plenty of times at the Armouries (!), there was a mood of positivity and determination to actually crack on with initiatives from the places we talked with.
We had over 40 proactive conversations about how we could support places with their specific opportunities or challenges. Having done our research on the places and people we met with it was great to see that those we met with had also clearly done their research on us! The team reflected on some hugely interesting and varied discussions and are now rested and fully immersed in getting back to everyone with the follow up as promised.
Local Government Re-organisation is still an anchor on activity for many local authorities, delaying decision making and eating up capacity although some are rightly (in our view) seeing it as an opportunity and are moving forward with place led programmes to improve competitiveness and stimulate growth of their destinations.
As ever it was great to catch up with old friends, especially a coming together of everyone from thinkingplace and Chesterfield who have worked together over the last 15 years (an emotional one!) and new friends, our colleagues from Chichester and the team from Milligan who are creatively and uniquely bringing narratives to life.
The Magic of Place event at the Lamb and Flag was spellbinding and stupendous with the sorcerer of place himself Jason Rea who enchanted our guests with an array of magic that defied description, especially the levitating phone! We had a record attendance of nearly 200 and it makes us quite emotional to see their enjoyment, friendship and relationship with thinkingplace, many people making sure that whatever else was on they fitted the Magic of Place into their itinerary. Needless to say we’re booked in for 2027!
We’re excited about taking the conversations forward and if you’d like to chat with us about your place possibilities we’d love to hear from you!
