Category: Free Workshops

Free workshop for members

 The date and time

18 Aug, 10.30am to 4.30pm

The venue
Equity
Guild House
Upper St Martin's Lane
London
WC2H 9EG

Whether you work in the field of performance, music, journalism or other forms of writing, many freelances have written - or intend to write - a book. It may be non-fiction, based on your expertise, skills and experience. Or, it could be a fiction title: that novel you’ve always wanted to write. Getting a book published has a reputation for being difficult and this puts people off trying. The truth is that it is challenging but thousands of books are published each year. Why can't one of them be yours?

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Apply online by 8 August

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Workshop Content

This one-day workshop aims to give you a realistic idea of how to go about writing your first book, and how and where to sell it. It covers:

• What’s your idea? Will it make a book?
• Your markets – know them and exploit them
• The writing plan – discipline and practice to get the book written
• Networks and networking – being part of a writing community
• Selling you the writer – who you are and what you offer
• Selling the idea – the synopsis
• Who’s buying? - Agents, publishers, self-publishing and e-publishing

Who should attend?

Anyone who has written, is writing, or wants to write a book and sell it (you should have at least a basic idea of the book that you want to write).

Learning outcomes

You should expect to leave this workshop understanding where better to focus your book/book idea; how to fit the writing around your lifestyle; how to present and prepare you and your book for market.

Tutor: Sue Walker

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POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place on this workshop and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know asap because we have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these workshops to all members including yourself.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this workshop due to unforeseen circumstances (this has happened only twice in five years due to tutor illness and a tube strike), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the workshop asap.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand.

All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a couple of days of this date.

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Further enquiries
e: [email protected]
t: 07580 348726

Free workshop for creative freelance members

The date and time: 12 Aug, 10.30am-4.30pm

The venue:
Musicians' Union
60-62 Clapham Road
London
SW9 OJJ

Everybody tells you that you must have a website and you must have a blog but nobody tells you how – or why. In this workshop you will learn the key steps to creating your blog but, more importantly, what you can use one for and how it will become an important part of your creative work.

That’s true whether you’re a writer, journalist, musician or actor: you are already creating work that blogs can showcase and you will benefit from reaching audiences through a well constructed, targeted blog. This workshop will tell you how.

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Apply Online by 3 Aug

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Workshop Content

Filled with practical advice and time-saving tips, this workshop covers:

• the choices you need to make before setting up your blog
• what exactly to blog about
• how to reach an audience that matters for all your creative work
• what to do with that audience – how to engage with them
• using your blog to make your website fresh
• creating new material and reasons to contact your clients.

Who should attend?

Those who have thought about writing a blog but are not sure how or really certain why it will help and those who have already started blogging but need help in making their blogs more focused and effective.

Expected learning outcomes

• a better understanding of what blogs can and cannot do for you
• knowledge of how to quickly create and regularly update blogs
• a better understanding of how to exploit your blog and build your audience
• specific computer knowledge about what tools will help you and how to use them.

Tutor: William Gallagher

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POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place on this workshop and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know asap because we have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these workshops to all members including yourself. NOTE: 1. If we were to postpone or cancel this workshop due to unforeseen circumstances (this has happened only twice in five years due to tutor illness and a tube strike), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the workshop asap. 2. At the workshop, we are required to undertake a short equality & diversity survey. The information provided will be treated in the strictest of confidence and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and will help in our commitment to E & D.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand. All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a couple of days of this date.

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Further enquiries
e: [email protected]
t: 07580 348726

Free workshop for members

The date and time
10 Aug, 10.30-1pm

The venue

Equity
Guild House
Upper St Martin’s Lane
WC2H 9EG

This session examines popular strategies and tips that successful people use to achieve what they want in life with the aim of helping you to think about how you can learn from these to support your career progress and gain greater satisfaction from what you do.

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Apply online by 1 Aug

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Workshop content

In this workshop, we’ll discuss key strategies that successful people use to turn aspirations into reality and examine how you can apply this in practice to achieve your creative goals including:

• Exploring the definition of success
• Long-term development strategy
• Actions that count
• Creating helpful habits
• Learning from experience
• Self-maintenance.

Expected outcomes

• A clearer idea of what success means to you
• Increased awareness of how people achieve their goals
• A clearer understanding of how you can use your own experience and the experience of others to become more successful
• Increased focus on what you want to achieve.

Who should attend

Those freelances who want to examine what they are doing now (and how they are doing it) and look at ways of maximising their career potential.

Qualifications

No formal qualifications are necessary, just a desire to gain awareness of techniques that support your career progress.

Tutor: Muriel McClymont

POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place to this event and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know ASAP because we may have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these events to all young members.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this event due to unforeseen circumstances (this is very unlikely and has not happened before), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the session ASAP.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand. All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a few days of this date.

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Further enquiries
e: [email protected]
t: 07580 348726

 

Free workshop for members -
Make an impact through non-verbal communication

Time: 10.30am – 4.30pm

Venue
Musicians’ Union
60-62 Clapham Road
London
SW9 OJJ

Getting your message across and making the right impression relies on both what you say and how you say it. In this one-day workshop, you will learn how thoughts, intentions and feelings are expressed through physical behaviours and how to ensure that the non-verbal messages you convey create the right impact.

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Apply online by 25 July

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Content

Clear communication is key to building successful working relationships. This workshop aims to help you learn about the non-verbal messages that are conveyed through physical behaviour, i.e., body language, so that you can communicate more effectively and achieve better results in any given circumstance whether it’s making a positive impression when meeting new colleagues or being more convincing when pitching ideas. It includes:

• Why body language matters
• Methods of conveying non-verbal messages
• How our body language can affect the way we think, feel and behave
• Methods of improving non-verbal communication
• Practise on how to improve body language.

Expected learning outcomes

• Increased awareness of non-verbal communication methods
• Increased awareness of specific areas in which body language creates impact
• Greater ability to communicate non-verbally
• Greater confidence in using non-verbal communication techniques.

Who should attend

Those freelances who wish to improve their ability to communicate to achieve better all round results.

Qualifications

No formal qualifications are required, just a desire to improve the skills that will help your work and social life.

Tutor: Nicholas Cass-Beggs

POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place on this workshop and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know asap because we have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these workshops to all members including yourself.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this workshop due to unforeseen circumstances (this has happened only twice in five years due to tutor illness and a tube strike), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the workshop asap.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand. All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a few days of this date.

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Further enquiries

e: [email protected]
t: 07914 397243

Free workshop for members

Time: 10.30am to 4.30pm

Venue:
Equity
Guild House
Upper St Martin's Lane
WC2H 9EG

Staying motivated can be challenging at the best of times. But when you are a creative freelance working in such competitive industries, especially when you've hit a rough patch, it's all too easy to plummet into a downward spiral.

This one-day workshop will help you get and stay motivated in the long term.

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Apply online by 12 July

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Content

Lack of motivation leads to less work output which leads to other problems, like money worries and stress leading to even less motivation, less organisation, less confidence, panic, and so on.

While most people have been to the ‘dark side’ at one time or another, the good news is that there are ways to keep motivated and create positive spirals that will help you succeed and deal with problems. This course looks at some of the practical elements of doing just this. It includes:

• What is motivation and why do freelances especially need to keep motivated?
• Goal setting as a way to keep motivated
• Taking responsibility for your success
• Reviewing your priorities and what you want to achieve
• Setting high yet realistic challenges and deadlines
• Planning and organisation
• Finding resources (including peers and mentors) that can you keep motivated.
• Replacing negative thought patterns with positive ones
• Uncovering barriers to motivation and success
• Is the recession a reason to be de-motivated?
• Action plan to get and stay motivated.

Who should attend

Those freelances working in the creative industries who wish to raise their motivation levels and keep motivated in the long term.

(The day’s format is set out to be enjoyable, so you should also attend if you want some light relief in your schedule and reassurance that you’re not the only one who has ever felt de-motivated).

Qualifications

No formal qualifications are required, just a desire to learn new ways of adding to your career and every day life.

Expected learning outcomes

• An understanding of what motivates and de-motivates each individual and the impact it has on your career
• An overview of the methods of keeping motivated
• A clearer idea of which issues need to be addressed to stay motivated.

POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place on this workshop and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know asap because we have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these workshops to all members including yourself.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this workshop due to unforeseen circumstances (this has happened only twice in five years due to tutor illness and a tube strike), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the workshop asap.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand. All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a few days of this date.

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Further enquiries

e: [email protected]
t: 07580 348726

Free workshop for members

Time: 10.30am to 4.30pm

Venue:
Unite
Tony Benn House
Victoria Street
Bristol
BS1 6AY

Social media can be a powerful means of getting your message across and raise awareness of what you do. This one-day workshop will take you step-by-step through running a successful campaign.

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Apply online by 7 July

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Workshop content

If you are promoting your work or an event, fundraising for a project, or highlighting an important issue, social media provides a powerful means of getting your message across and can be especially useful for freelances who want to try new ways to raise awareness of their work and related issues on a limited budget.

Who should attend

This workshop is aimed at those with experience of using social media but who feel they haven’t exploited its full potential.

Expected learning outcomes

The day will follow three simple steps:

Plan it

• How to establish a foundation for social media engagement
• How to identify the right social media channel for the right message
• How to establish the objectives, branding and key messages for your campaign
• How to plan and schedule engaging content for your campaign

Do it

• How to manage your social media updates across Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms
• How to monitor activity and respond to community reaction
• How to be ready for any negative feedback
• How to maintain momentum beyond the official end of the campaign

Review it

• How to measure the results of your campaign using simple tools and metrics

What should I bring?

You will need to bring a laptop, tablet or smartphone. Computers are not provided. The workshop focuses on tutoring, discussion and group-based exercises.

POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place on this workshop and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know asap because we have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these workshops to all members including yourself.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this workshop due to unforeseen circumstances (this has happened only twice in five years due to tutor illness and a tube strike), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the workshop asap.

Tutor: Dan Mason

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand. All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a few days of this date.

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Further enquiries

e: [email protected]
t: 07580 348726

Free workshop for members

Time
10.30am – 4.30pm

Venue
Unite
Tony Benn House
Victoria Street
Bristol
BS1 6AY

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APPLY ONLINE BY 7 July

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Workshop content

To maximise your website potential as an online marketing tool, it’s essential that you do everything possible to ensure that your audience can easily find and access it.

This one-day workshop quickly goes beyond the usual focus on search engines (though they are still covered) to understand the growing importance of social optimisation…creating stories and links that stand the best chance of being shared through social channels to build your online presence. It includes:

• Reviewing basic optimisation skills to ensure your words, images and videos stand the best chance of being found online
• Understanding how search engines work; the difference between on-page and off-page search engine optimisation
• Exploring the tricks and techniques used by growing websites and blogs for encouraging greater levels of engagement
• Understanding what kind of content does – and doesn’t – get promoted on Facebook’s newsfeed and on Twitter
• Exploring how to encourage sharing through the use of email
• Creating a schedule of shareable content for your own website or blog
• Understanding how to measure your success

Who should attend?

Only those freelances who have a website, are familiar with social media and are now looking to build their web presence and improve their ability to draw more traffic to their website.

Expected learning outcomes

• A greater knowledge of how to get found online
• A greater awareness of what content works to engage your audience
• An understanding of key online tools available to create shareable content
• A greater ability to build your online presence.

Workshop format

Computers are not provided and are not a requisite as this workshop focuses on tutoring, discussion and group-based exercises. However you are welcome to bring laptops, tablets or iPhones if you wish to try out the methods discussed in realtime.

Tutor: Dan Mason

POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place on this workshop and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know asap because we have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these workshops to all members including yourself.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this workshop due to unforeseen circumstances (this has happened only twice in five years due to tutor illness and a tube strike), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the workshop asap.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand. All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a few days after the deadline.

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Further enquiries

e: [email protected]
t: 07580 348726

Free workshop for members

Date and time
6 July 2016, 10.30-4.30

Venue
Musicians' Union
60 - 62 Clapham Road
London
SW9 OJJ

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Apply online by 26 June

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Workshop content

Using social media effectively can help you get better and more work as well as to engage with like minded professionals. This workshop looks at how you get started and how to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter as a valuable business tool rather than a means of sharing photos of your cat!

Who should attend?

This course is for people who've not started on social media (Facebook and Twitter particularly) or who have signed up but done little else or don’t really see the point of it. We look at:

• what is meant by social media
• differences between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others
• what it can do for you
• how to get set up
• how to construct a profile
• how to be time-efficient
• tips and tricks.

Note: This workshop includes tutor demonstration, instruction and group interaction. You will not be expected to go online at the session but you will need to follow up post session to implement what you have learnt.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will:

• have a better understanding of how to use social media to support your work
• have greater knowledge of popular social media platforms and which ones would work best for you
• be able to plan in social media activities to suit your work and time limitations
• Be more confident and able at communicating through social media to meet your objectives.

Tutor: David Thomas

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POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place on this workshop and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know asap because we have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these workshops to all members including yourself.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this workshop due to unforeseen circumstances (this has happened only twice in five years due to tutor illness and a tube strike), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the workshop asap.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand.

All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a couple of days of this date.

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Further enquiries

e: [email protected]
t: 07580 348726

Learning event for young members

The date and time
22 Jun, 10.30am – 2pm (includes lunch)

The venue
Musicians’ Union
60 – 62 Clapham Road
London
SW9 OJJ

For young members aged 30 and under, this session examines popular strategies and tips that successful people use to achieve what they want in life with the aim of helping you think about how you can learn from these to support your career progress.

We’ll also spend a short time looking at how you can benefit from the various learning opportunities available as well as the advantages of becoming more involved with FEU Training activities if you so wish.

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Apply online by 15 June

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The session will include:

10.30 – 12.30pm
5 strategies for success: we’ll discuss some key strategies that successful people use to turn their aspirations into reality and examine how you can apply these in practice to achieve your creative goals.

12.30 – 1.00 pm
Young member learning champions: as part of our aim to ensure that as many young members as possible take advantage of FEU Training’s free learning and communications programme, we’re looking to recruit ‘learning champions’ to spread the word. We’d like to take a short amount of time to tell you more about this and how becoming a ‘learning champion’ can benefit you.

1pm
Lunch: over a buffet lunch, you’ll have the opportunity to meet your peers - many people find that they form advantageous working relationships at our events. Also, you’ll be able to find out more about individual issues that your union can help you with.

POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place to this event and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know ASAP because we may have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these events to all young members.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this event due to unforeseen circumstances (this is very unlikely and has not happened before), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the session ASAP.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand. All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a few days of this date.

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Further enquiries
e: [email protected]
t: 07580 348726

 

Free workshop for members

Time: 10.30am to 4.30pm

Venue
Equity
Guild House
Upper St Martin’s Lane
WC2H 9EG

Instagram is one of the fastest growing social media platforms and an effective platform for creative freelances who want to showcase their work to new/wider audiences. This workshop is ideally suited to beginners who want to learn more about and develop their skills to use this increasingly popular social networking app.

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Apply online by 9 June

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Workshop content

Focusing on tutoring, discussion and group-based exercises, this workshop includes:

• An overview of Instagram and why it is relevant to creative freelances
• Tips and tools to get you started
• Feedback on how to maximise the potential of your account
• Advice on how best to integrate Instagram into your existing social media presence. 

Who should attend

This workshop is aimed at those who already use social media and who would like to find out more about how to use this platform to showcase their work.

Note: Successful applicants will need to have created an Instagram account prior to the workshop.

Expected learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will:

• Have a clearer understanding of how to use Instagram for work purposes
• Be more confident in using this platform
• Have a better understanding of how to enhance your presence on social media.

What should I bring?

You will need to bring an Android/Apple device with the Instagram app already installed on it. Please ensure that your device is fully charged and that its memory is not full.

Tutor Kate Willoughby

POLITE REQUEST: if you are successful in obtaining a place on this workshop and, due to unforeseen circumstances, you are unable to attend, please let us know asap because we have others on the waiting list who we can allocate your place to. If you do not let us know this will disadvantage another member. Also, we may lose the funds that enable us to provide these workshops to all members including yourself.

NOTE: if we were to postpone or cancel this workshop due to unforeseen circumstances (this has happened only twice in five years due to tutor illness and a tube strike), we will be unable to reimburse any costs such as pre-booked travel expenses. If this were to happen in the future, we will email and telephone you as soon as we know that there is a cancellation and attempt to re-schedule the workshop asap.

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Apply online

To apply for a place on this free, one-day workshop, please fill in the short application form below. You will need to login or register if you have not done so already so have your Union number to hand. All events have been over-subscribed to date so successful applicants will be chosen randomly after the cut-off date. We will let you know if your application has been successful within a few days of this date.

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Further enquiries
e: [email protected]
t: 07710 240585