Category: Latest News

A NEW FEU Training workshop, ‘Managing Your Business’ will take place on July 23.

As part of a programme of workshops to help creative freelances improve the essential business skills that facilitate career progression, the workshop focuses on two key areas:

• Time management – the eternal challenge for freelances
• Social media – a more in depth look at how to market yourself through the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

For more information, go to 'Training Courses' above.

Hurry to book

To book a place on the day workshop, send an email to [email protected] by 29 June 2011.

You must provide the following information in your email for your application to be accepted:

• Your name
• Which union you are a member of
• Union membership number
• Email and phone contact

Places will be allocated after the 29 June deadline. You will be informed if you have a place in the week after this.

From previous workshops, we are expecting a high response, so hurry to book as places are limited.

FEU Training is thrilled to announce that it has secured funding for a further year from April 2011 to March 2012. It is also pleased to welcome the Writers' Guild as a partner union, replacing BECTU.

The next year's funding will be used to build on the success of the last two years of the Business Skills for Freelances project. A further series of free one-day workshops will be rolled out around the country and the website will be further developed as an online hub and resource for freelance creatives from the entertainment unions.

These workshops will be business focused and will build on the content of the previous workshops, Make Impact and Maintain Momentum, which were held in London, Manchester and Birmingham last year. See video snippets and previous posts.

Look out for further details on how to sign up for these workshops in the next couple of weeks. Please note: There will be a limited number of places, however, places will be evenly distributed across the collaborating unions so that all union members have a fair chance to apply.

WITH THE aim of helping freelances improve the essential business skills needed to support their career in the creative industries, a new FEU Training workshop - ‘Maintain Momentum’ - was held recently in London.

Full to capacity, the day consisted of three sessions including:

• Positive Presentation
• Motivation and Success
• Marketing through Social Media.

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Part 1 Maintain Momentum: What are the biggest challenges for freelancers?

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Part 2 Maintain Momentum: What did freelancers get from the workshop?

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Part 3 - Frances Dredge explains "Maintain Momentum"

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In the pipeline

Due to the success of the series of workshops and courses that FEU Training has delivered in the last year, the team are now working on developing a number of new blended-learning opportunities in response to demand.

Who can attend?

Unions involved in the project include the NUJ, Equity, the Musicians’ Union and the Writers’ Guild. Where appropriate these unions work together to maximise resources under the banner of the Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU).

All workshops and courses are open to members of the above unions and are usually available at highly discounted rates and sometimes, where possible, free of charge.

Over 25 free short courses to union members, family and friends online

Unionlearn has launched a major campaign called “Go On: Get Online, Get a Lifeline” to put trade unions right at the heart of a unified movement to ensure that every adult in the country can use a computer and the internet with confidence.

If you want to improve your computer and internet skills or help your family and friends get on line, you can do this through the new unionlearn 'myguide' courses by registering free at www.unionlearn.org.uk/onlinebasics.

This newly launched website provides everything you need to know about helping someone get the best from myguide so help someone sign up today!

What is myguide?

The myguide online courses take learners through the first steps of getting to grips with computers and the internet and open up a world of online opportunities from shopping to finding a new job. As well as this, the courses give people the confidence and skills to move on and use the internet for everything from e-learning to online campaigning.

Over 9 million adults in the UK do not use the internet. These adults - young and old, in work and unemployed - face growing disadvantages in a world that increasingly uses online tools to offer support services or ways to save money.

All they may need is a helping hand and Trade Unions have committed to help by doing all they can to support 10,000 of those adults with their first steps online.

How can you help?

Let your colleagues, friends and family know that there are simple and cost-effective ways to learn how to use the internet and signpost them to www.unionlearn.org.uk/onlinebasics.

Application to FEU Training's 'Make Impact' workshop in Manchester and Birmingham on February 24 and 25 respectively has been huge.

The cut-off date to apply for a place at the workshop is January 31st. After which, we will be allocating places randomly and then proportionately distributing them to freelance members of each of the four unions taking part in this project - the NUJ, BECTU, Equity and MU. This method is to ensure fairness of allocation.

We will let members know if they have been successful or not in the week following the cut off date.

Under the banner of the Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU), the four participating unions mentioned above have been working together to address common skills gaps - in this case, business skills.

Freelances need to acquire dual skills to maximise career potential, that is, they need to be adept at their core 'on the job' skills such as writing, acting or playing an instrument as well as getting business savvy, for example, marketing work to clients and potential clients is crucial to acquire new work and secure work continuity.

To help freelances acquire such business acumen, FEU training has been running courses, workshops and events around the country as well as providing a variety of IAG through this website.

We'll keep you posted as to what's coming up next.

For more information, email: [email protected]

A new FEU workshop aiming to help freelances (from the NUJ, BECTU, Equity and the Musicians’ Union) market and promote their work will be held in Manchester and Birmingham on February 24 and 25 respectively.

The workshop, already piloted in London to excellent reviews, is a FREE event for members of the participating unions.

As well as providing the opportunity to learn key marketing skills, freelances will also benefit from meeting industry peers to network, swap ideas and problem-solve.

FEU representatives and tutors will also be on hand to answer questions and provide advice.

For more information and booking, go to 'Make Impact'.