I'm thinking of running an indie conference/convention/day next year and I'd like to hear your opinions.

It would be for:
* indie fans;
* musicians;
* zine writers;
* student djs;
* indie webmasters... etc.

Its aims would be:
* to get people meeting each other and collaborating;
* to hear lots of new music and recommend your favourite bands to other people;
* to swap, buy and sell CDs;
* to inspire and encourage people to get involved with indie stuff.

Throughout the day, there would be lots of merchandise stalls, lunch would be included, and you'd get a bag full of cool free stuff. I can picture a stall where you can make your own pin badge by drawing something and then pulling a big lever...

The day would include talks on things like:
* indie success stories (e.g. a label that had managed to keep afloat);
* how to get people to come to your indie club night;
* how to keep on the happy side of copyright law;

and hands-on workshops such as:
* digital sound editing;
* starting a website;
* songwriting;
* designing cool flyers.

Plus a fun activity to get people talking, for example:
* a pop quiz;
* a Juke Box Jury type session with demos.

Ending with either:
* a live band, or
* indie karaoke.

So... my questions are:

1. What would you call it? In my opinion, 'convention' sounds too geeky and 'conference' sounds too corporate.

2. How much would you expect to pay to go to something like this?

3. What sessions/speakers would make you think "I must go to this!"?

4. Is anyone else already doing this? I haven't found anything similar in the UK.

Let me know what you think. Thanks!

These are off-the-cuff answers, I'll give it some more detailed thought too.

1) Never mind convention/conference, I think 'indie' sounds mildly parochial. But that's a tough one... I'll think on it.

2) Got to be pretty inexpensive I think... would it attract people from outside London? It might be an idea for it to be part of something bigger, where this filled a hole in the planning of the event in question.

3) Tricky one. If it's a 'name' thing, I guess that means 'people from bands'. I don't know that, say, 'Head of Rough Trade' would drag in the crowds... although if you could get someone like Steve Lamacq involved that would certainly add some weight to it...

I'm not a name but I'm a decent speaker. If you wanted someone to talk about getting a band website up and running with minimal resources, I'd do it for free.

4) In The City, in Manchester? I think that probably covers some of these bases. You could possibly do worse than to contact the aforementioned Rough Trade to see if they think this has any precedent.

1. What would you call it? In my opinion, 'convention' sounds too geeky and 'conference' sounds too corporate.
that is a tough one! perhaps, "flat four's ...." but with something instead of dots there. It would be good to tie it into your station, wouldn't it?

2. How much would you expect to pay to go to something like this?
i would pay £5 but i expect i'm not really your target audience. I think it depends alot on what is happening, how big it is, and things. the idea of talks doesn't interest me, but the badge stall, hearing lots of new music, hands on workshops all interest me.

3. What sessions/speakers would make you think "I must go to this!"?
tom vek or the cakes mean i would be there, but, i think a dj like steve lamaq would get alot of people along.

4. Is anyone else already doing this? I haven't found anything similar in the UK.
not that i know of.

philonski, i would love to help organise this somehow! i could make flyers for the event or hand them out in manchester, or something. let me know if i can help :)

Oh, and if the event needs a DJ...

Steve Lamacq would be the one for me. Demonstrates excellent organisational skills in Punk Rock Karaoke every fortnight! (didn't even wince too much at my efforts)

You might like to consider someone from The Delgados, since they could cover things from the band angle as well as their experiences in running Chemikal Underground.

Sounds like I need to talk to Steve Lamacq before I do anything else then!

In the City... hadn't heard of it, but have looked it up, and it's definitely more industry-based, men in suits, grown-up, big record deals, major labels, mainstream... It wouldn't appeal to the people I'd be targetting. It's also significantly bigger and more expensive than what I had in mind - tickets start at £464! So if that's the nearest thing, then I've probably found a gap in the market.

Thanks for your offer of help, Jish - if it happens, I'll take you up on it!

Is anyone thinking "That's a terrible idea! She'll go bankrupt!"?

I should think that timing would be crucial - if it clashed with a big event (e.g. a festival) there could be trouble. Alternatively, if you could link it in with something else you'd get a much wider range of attendees (was going to say 'delegates' but that sounds too corporate!)

Count me in for assistance as well!

Not necessarily, but I am thinking 'don't do anything that puts your personal livelihood at risk'. Which isn't the same as 'do nothing', but it does mean that if an objective assessment says 'I could lose a lot of money', you might need to think carefully. But I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that.

As for In The City, yep, there's an industry/suit side of it, but I thought there were lots of events for fledgling bands/promoters/web designers and the like... I could be wrong.

Linking it in with another event is something I hadn't thought of - but as it's struck two of you as a good idea, I'll have a think about it. Thanks for the suggestion.

I had in mind mid-March next year. Because, as I've recently discovered, nothing happens in mid-March. (Does it?)

The Camden Crawl is in March - could link with that?

I didn't know that still existed!

Yep: http://www.virtualfestivals.com/festivals/...ction=eventhome

Never been, though.

Aha - NME says "a welcome return... after a seven-year absence". That explains it. Good suggestion, thanks - I've e-mailed them to see if they're planning on doing one next year.

Looks like the bill was good this year, too - dammit!

There was a Camden Crawl last year too.

i think tom vek's in that! woo!


i think it would be great to link it with that. because, lots of that sort of people will be everywhere around camden who would be interested.

Okay, off the top of my head...

1. What would you call it?

Indievention

2. How much would you expect to pay to go to something like this?

It depends on whether bands play, who is there etc...from £3-10ish...

3. What sessions/speakers would make you think "I must go to this!"?

The guy(s) who started Fierce Panda, Alan McGee, people from random indie bands who've had interesting (not always good experiences with a label), those who've been on a major and it hasn't worked out/or has...some sort of workshops/advice on setting up your own label & other music industry-related help...

4. Is anyone else already doing this? I haven't found anything similar in the UK.

I aren't aware of anything that hasn't been mentioned.

Now that's a name!

Thanks - I'm quickly realising the cost of top-quality speakers is going to necessitate a larger number of attendees than I'd been imagining. It's also difficult because the nature of the subject means that people are working to low budgets, and normal conference prices (hundreds of pounds) aren't going to be affordable. But there's no way I could run it for tickets in the region of £5-10. Will do some more thinking and research, but suspect if it happens it'll be the result of blagging some large aspect of it for free.

Um... you won't now be able to consider someone from the Delgados, as they've announced that they have split :( But Chemikal Underground will continue as a label, apparently.

In case anyone is interested...

Ladyfest (almost-all-female festival/gig organisers) are planning an event like this for October, so I'm happily abandoning the idea of doing one on my own. Dan and I are planning to run a workshop for them on the Saturday about internet radio - although apparently their committee have first got to decide whether it's OK for a boy to co-host a session!

That's a bit riot grrrl, which (at the risk of being controversial) I thought was one of the most self-defeating movements ever.

Tell them he's in touch with his feminine side!