Vision and Dragons Den

At Vision we are always very proud of the individuals and Organisations who achieve success whilst working with us. Below you will find an article from one of our clients and how she has achieved.

Hello and welcome to Storyshaping. I am Julia Damassa and I am the owner of Storyshapes Limited, the company that makes and sells the tools of Storyshaping and delivers training in the techniques of Storyshaping. Storyshaping supports children and families in creating stories orally. It's a great way to develop communication skills through talk. It is also a great way for us as parents and teachers to actively engage in our children's creative thinking and learning. Storyshapes serve as prompts and visual tactile reminders of the key features of story structure. The collaborative approach is supportive and inclusive, and we may be storyshaping in any spoken or signed language. All ideas are valued equally, and children and families have a real sense of ownership as the authors of their story.

I developed the concept of Storyshaping to help my own family with their Speaking and Listening skills. As a parent and teacher, I want my family to be confident, articulate communicators. Now I extend my skills as the Storyshaper, helping other parents, practitioners, trainees and professionals, to become positive role models in communication for their children.

I love my work and I firmly believe in the far-reaching and life-enhancing benefits of Storyshaping. I feel proud to have shaped the idea into a viable business, which now two years old, is investor-ready and has received several national awards.

I am very grateful to Sharon and Brendan of VISION who are my EMDA Business Champions. Their mentoring and support over the past six months has significantly contributed to my applying for the Dragons Den. Although I am not yet able to mention the outcome of my experience, my raw pitch as part of the application process can currently be viewed on the BBC Dragons Den website.

Brendan, EMDA and City Arts; a case study

Case Study

City Arts enter the commercial world - August 2009

Enterprise & Innovation

East Midlands Business Champion Brendan Blewitt has worked closely with Nottingham City Arts to help them develop a greater awareness of the needs of commercial operations and facilitate their approach to business organisations.

As Gillian Bates, Communications Manager at City Arts, explains: ?City Arts receives funding from the Arts Council, Nottingham City Council and various trusts. In the present economic climate we felt that it was vital to broaden the organisation?s appeal and identify additional sources of funding within the commercial world.?

Business Champions - a programme created and funded by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) which recruits high-calibre proactive business figures. Working with voluntary and educational organisations, Business Champions support projects where a commercial perspective is needed. For City Arts, involvement with Business Champions would, they felt, help them to bridge the gap between Public Sector Arts and Private Sector Business.

It?s easy to see why Business Champion Brendan Blewett was attracted to this particular project. Now a principal of training organisation Vision Development Consultants, Brendan has a varied background, including two years working as an artist in the heady New York art scene and a further period exhibiting his art in Spain. Add to that his ten years heading a college art department and more recent history in business and you have an individual with a unique insight into the operations of both ?worlds?.

Brendan identifies one of his key skills as an ability to probe the inner workings of an organisation, to ask the right questions. After some initial discussion, he started work with City Arts with a full day session, looking at the way that City Arts functions. Together with staff he identified key words that expressed their mission and explored how well they are communicating both internally and externally.

His contribution has been invaluable, says Gillian Bates. ?Brendan has been brilliant. He has been able to understand the way we work, and has made us look much more coolly and dispassionately at City Arts and appreciate how we can make real improvements?

Brendan found that the structure of the organisation made it difficult for City Arts to be flexible, and got in the way of effective communications. As he said: ?City Arts draws on the skills of people from mental health professionals to community artists. Communication and clear identification of responsibilities and areas of influence among such a disparate group has been a challenge?.

This first session was followed up by a second where they looked more at how communications could be improved through a clear definition of individuals? roles and responsibilities throughout, and they also identified projects which they felt had a commercial dimension, or would be attractive to businesses. Brendan has also been able to identify and facilitate funding for the project through the Government programme, Train To Gain.

Gillian Bates made the point: ?We didn?t really know how to go about approaching commercial businesses and whether we would share the same values.?

Brendan has been able to demystify much of the business world for City Arts, providing a language and an approach for them to base their presentations on.

As Brendan put it: ?Many organisations are aware of their Corporate Social Responsibility obligations and are looking for ways to give back to the community, either through participation or sponsorship. We have been able to identify transferable skills and opportunities where City Arts can work alongside the business community?.

Vision judges Postgraduate Research

On Thursday 26th June, I was asked to be a judge at the Postgraduate Research exhibition at Leicester University; as part of the East Midlands Business Champions. The event was absolutely wonderful and i enjoyed it so much that i indicated that Vision would be willing to sponsor the event next year.
I was asked to judge 4 of the PHD students exhibitions and these included research into 'Is India banking for a greener future', 'Foreign currency derivatives: the role of accounting standards', 'EMDA and the East Midlands' and finaly 'When is a bin bag not a bin bag'.
I would like to thank the students and staff at Leicester University and commend them on an excellent job well done. I have also noted below the winners of the various categories.

The Tangible Results Master Prize for Best Presentation was won by:
Sam Illingworth for "The Importance of Carbon Monoxide in the Atmosphere"

The Student Employment Services Prize for Best Presentation in Arts, Law and Social Sciences was won by:
Sophie Hadfield-Hill for "Is India Banking for a Greener Future?"

The Adamson Jones Prize for Best Presentation in Medical and Biological Sciences was won by:
Carla Lopes for "Connecting the Cell's Antenna to Human Disease: Oral-facial-digital Syndrome Type 1"

The Tessella Support Services Ltd Prize for Best Presentation in Science and Engineering was won by:
Sara Rafice for "What Turns Food into Fuel?"

The Press Office Media Prize was won by:
Andrew Shore for "Oxygen: the Miracle Molecule" (which was released to the media as: "Toxic to Aliens - but key to health of planet"

Students? Union Peer Recommendation Prize was also won by:
Sara Rafice for "What Turns Food into Fuel?"

The BioKneX Highly Commended Prize was won by:
Edward Green for "Flies 'Party On'!"

The Graduate School Highly Commended Prize was won by:
James Borderick for "The Importance of Ground Based Solar-Terrestrial Physics"

Researchers in Residence Highly Commended Prize was also won by:
Andrew Shore for "Oxygen: the Miracle Molecule"

Enterprise and Business Development Highly Commended Prize was won by:
Jenny Watts for "Work and Wellbeing: Burnout in Academic Staff"

Business Champions

Vision is proud to announce that on 16th July 2008 we will be hosting the East Midlands Business Champions event at our Head office in Nottingham.

Yours truly will be giving a small speech about being a Business champion and Caroline Shutter, Head of Communications, East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) will relate how the Business champions form an integral part of EMDA's development strategy for the East Midlands.

The event promises to be not only informative but an excellent networking opportunity for all attendees.

If you would like to attend, simply call Lucy at our Head office and reserve your place (0115 9418242). You do not need to be a Business Champion to attend but places are limited so hurry.

Additionally; if you would be interested in becoming a Business Champion and feel you would like to apply; then go to www.businesschampions.org.uk and for more information have a look at http://www.emda.org.uk/supportingbusiness/businesschampions

Agenda for Wednesday 16th July 2008 1:00pm ? 2:30pm

Vision Development Consultants, 2nd Floor 63-67 Mansfield Road, Nottingham NG1 3FN


Agenda

1:00pm till 1:05pm: Welcome, Coffee and Registration

1:05pm till 1:10pm: Welcome from Brendan Blewett, Vision Development Consultants

1:10pm till 1:20pm: Speech from Caroline Shutter, Head of Communications, East Midlands Development Agency.

1:20pm till 1:25pm: Speech from Business Champion Brendan Blewett, Vision Development Consultants

1:25pm till 1:35pm: Spotlight speeches from representatives from ??????.

1:35pm till 2:30pm: Lunch, networking and chance to look at exhibitions.

2:30pm: Close

I hope to see you there.

Another feather

An additional advantage to our clients is that Brendan has now been approved as a Business Champion. This will ensure that the value added Business support Vision offers will continue.
For more information of how this could benefit you, please call 0044 0115 9418242