The second North East Culture Collective (NECC) project sharing event brought over 50 people together to explore, share and talk about being a freelance creative practitioner and artist. The event was in response to ongoing  discussions that the creative practitioners, who are part of the  NECC project, have been having  around sustaining a career as a creative practitioner.

The main themes we looked to explore during the day were:

• Being a business and what does that mean and what support is there. This covered a lot of areas including finance, grants, payment, tax, contracts,  marketing and promotion of your self. We shared possible resources to support creatives, and talked about how peer support could also play a role. 
• Accessibility as an artist, and also responsibitlies for when leading creative activities. This covered a broad range of subjects and areas where specific requests could be made. Again access to support information and networks was shared.
• We also had practical self-care sessions that delivered practical tools to help with the challenges of creating and sustaining a portfolio of work.   

We were also keen that there was plenty of time for people just to meet each other, share their journeys a creatives, and learn more about the skills and talents that are here in the North East that can be tapped into. We had asked everyone to come with an offer and an ask and these were then displayed. This rich material sparked conversations, connections and hopefully, down the line, collaborations. 

The event certainly had lots of high quality input from people, both North East based, and further afield. It also had lots of time for people to ask questions of each other, and explore the project work of NECC. The day also enabled us to continue the conversation about how the freelance cultural community can be better supported, and opportunities to network, access training and be part of creative projects can happen more regularly. 

In summing up the main emphasis was, other than thanking everyone for their participation and openness, that these were the start of conversations. The next steps and ideas will involve those who wish to step forward and be part of this process, supported by the wider Culture Aberdeen network.