Dear friends,
In 2014, on 29th of March Mike and I organised our very first event. We invited podcasters to come and join us for an evening at the CitizenM in London where we shared our thoughts, lessons learnt and hopes for the future of podcasting.
Podcasting Event in London
We have not in a million years imagined that this first meeting will take us to where we are today. We have met many incredible people along the way, made friendships and partnerships we would have not imagined were possible. Yet here we are in 2017. 3 full years later, 3 full conferences later. We are faced with a question – what is next?
What’s Next for New Media Europe
How can we possibly build on what we have created? How can we give value to all of the people who form the New Media Europe community today?
In order to answer this question we went back in time to September of 2015 in Manchester, UK. Our friend Cliff Ravenscraft delivered one of the most powerful keynotes that the #NMEU stage has seen to date. “How to change the world with the content you create.”
Inspiration from Cliff Ravenscraft
Cliff said… “I probably should not be here today, over the years people told me “you are not good enough””. If anyone wonders how much passion is worth. Cliff went from $87k income to $11k just to pursue his podcasting passion. This dramatic decrease happened to a man with a family of 5! It takes more than guts to take this step. Yet, he wanted this so much that despite all the negatives and a salary drop he made it! His business now makes over $500k annually – I am sure he will tell you it was more than worth it!
Cliff played this clip during his keynote:
He then went on to say: “I have a mission to make a world a better place. I am a crazy person!”
This single keynote reminded us of something that is easy to lose sight along the way. The purpose.
In 60 years if I am lucky I will be in my 90s and likely incapable of lifting my own spoon. Together with my luck for genes and predisposition to get Alzheimer’s at some point in my life I will be in fact lucky to remember any of this. In fact one thing that perhaps is lucky in this rather unlucky draw is that both Mike and I share this predisposition. We often laugh that at least we will forget together.
Making The World a Better Place
We do what we do because we want others to remember and carry on what we started. We want to create more than just a community of entrepreneurs. We want to bring together people who want their work to count beyond their own bank balances and beyond their own ego. People like Cliff who want to make this world a better place.
We have met those people over the last 3 years. Many of them. Why do people come to our events and say that there is a unique sense of purpose and community? That’s exactly why! People who come to our events are good humans. Those that develop the world we live in and hope that their work will make a dent in the niche they are passionate about.
Creating Purpose
We contemplated for a very long time on what 2017 should mean to us and to the community.
A friend of mine from another lifetime in Poland reached out to me the other day and said. “Izabela – please explain to me the whole “social media” business. I am finally following my passion, building a business with my husband, but I don’t know where I should even start?”. We have all asked that question before – haven’t we?
Why is this significant? This particular friend of mine was in my eyes the very last person that would ever, I mean EVER ask that question. People like her, people who valued “security” that the employment brings, trust the state to make good decisions for the whole nation, people who don’t ask questions and don’t question daily life. Humans like her, they finally are ready.
This is important because this means that our work with New Media Europe can have purpose! It can help people like her to build firm foundations, to make friendships and connections that don’t have borders or walls. Foundations that can last more than one lifetime. This matters because there are people out there who do not realise that this is possible. They are chained to believe that their passions and dreams matter only as much as somebody is willing to pay for it. We would like to believe that New Media Europe can help and change that.
2017 and Beyond
#NMEU 2017
2017 is going to be a significant year for New Media Europe. We are expanding from just “another annual conference” to a platform. A platform where all voices can be heard. Where we share news and information related to failure and success, entrepreneurship, business, startups, social media, podcasting, blogging and anything else in between. Those fundamental elements that make us who we are and make our dreams possible. A platform where people like you have a voice. Where it matters that you are a self made success and you are willing to share it with others. Where it matters that you care.
Our focus in 2017 will be on the growth of that platform. We will not have any major events in 2017. We may however organise smaller meetups and speaker focused workshops.
Our aim is to build a platform and offer access to events that offer life changing advice.
We will invite our past attendees to share their stories, both failure and success stories as both are equally important and we should not forget about that. How did things change for you? What did you do that made a big impact?
How Can You Get Involved?
We are currently looking for New Media Europe correspondents who will be on the lookout for stories and events around them. People who will be interested to provide timely nuggets of information in any of the areas we will be covering.
If you are considered an expert in any of the categories featured on our site or have life experience that is worth sharing and most importantly you are willing to do so for free then please get in touch.
Past Attendees – Are You The Action Taker?
How did your life change since the first New Media Europe? What is your story? Where were you then and where are you today? What had most impact to your actions in the last few years?
We would like to share your stories over the next few months and choose one “Action Taker” who will win a free pass to our next full event. We will organise a full competition with nominees and online voting. You will get a separate notification about this in the coming weeks!
UK Podcasters
This has been at the core of everything we do. Podcasters are some of the nicest people you will ever have the pleasure of meeting! We have in the past organised events for podcasters specifically and held award ceremonies to recognise some of the best podcasts in the UK and in the world. We will be looking to revitalise and grow the podcasting community as part of our #NMEU endeavours. We believe that podcasting has the power to make a real difference and podcasters are the next generation of journalists and experts.
Do you have any questions or ideas? Don’t hesitate to contact us – we are very open and would love to hear from you.
Here is to the crazy ones! Here is to you!
Izabela and Mike
Founders of the New Media Europe
