The thing about innovation is that doing it for the second time is often harder than the first – less of a buzz and more people with an opinion to deal with. It’s yet another reason why it’s great to see CityCamp Brighton back for a second year (only the second CityCamp to have so far reached a second anniversary).
All the heavy lifting has been done by the Democratic Society – who have done a brilliant job – with a little help from Public-i and others. Part of our contribution is streaming this afternoons’ event – which you can see here.
What’s happening and what’s different
We have the same basic format from last year: some talks and facts on Friday followed by two days with no agenda to be filled with pitches and projects on the day. We’ve got a prize fund again and the idea this year is to give a number of smaller grants rather than one large one (we will be getting an update from last year’s winners My Urban Angel). The funding has come from the Brighton and Hove City Council and NHS Sussex and you can get more details here.
We have also done more work to encourage participation from the community and voluntary sector and it’s brilliant to see that this group now makes up the majority – something that we really wanted to improve from last year.
The emphasis on community groups means that we should see some really practical innovations that can make a real difference to participation and volunteering in the City.
So – if you are in the City then come along. We are at the AMEX stadium over the weekend, which is a great venue – and all the details are here. There will be a few of us Public-i folks there so please come and say hello if you do.
If you can’t make it then you can contribute online #ccbtn or via the webcast, where there’ll be live interactive chat facility as well.
Just one final thought: if you are wavering about whether or not to sign up then just do it. Yes – we are asking for part of your weekend – but in return you will be inspired, energised and connected to a group of nearly 200 fantastic people who are going to make the City an even better place.
