The Soapbox Newsletter
May 2024 Edition: Seeking storytellers, an Edinburgh Minute perk, and community updates 🫧
Good Morning pals,
Welcome to The Soapbox Newsletter! Our next gather and blether is taking place on Wednesday May 29th (that’s one week today!) at Sierra Metro between 8am and 10am.
We’d love to see you there!
Updates:
May has been blooming glorious so far: the blossom was out, the flowers are blooming, there’s wild garlic around, BBQs on the meadows are back, and the Swan in the Water of Leith had two cygnets last time I walked past! Spring is finally here, and I am ready for it.
It feels like the season of new beginnings. And speaking of new, we have a brand new event: The Story Sessions.
I’ve mentioned it in the past, but we now have a date (June 28th), a time (5:30pm – 7:30pm), a venue (Tribe Porty, who are also our collaborators), and a theme (Love).
June is Pride month, and The Story Sessions inaugural event is taking place over Porty Pride. Which feels like a glorious way to begin something new.
We’re currently looking for storytellers, so if you’re looking to inspire, to share, to connect; we’d love to hear from you.
For more information you can subscribe to our sister publication: The Story Sessions Newsletter. You can also email soapboxforcreatives@gmail.com if you’d like to sign up to be a storyteller.
Looking forward to seeing you all there, pals!
A Few Things From Our Community:
Bots and Beings is an exhibition of watercolours and collages on paper by artist Beverley Hood. Taking place at Sierra Metro from May 5th until June 2nd, Tuesday–Sunday 10am–2pm or by appointment.
Tribe Porty has hidden five tickets in five of their favourite shops and cafe’s in Portobello. If you find one, you win a free co-working day pass! Check out this instagram post for more info and some helpful clues. Happy searching, pals!
DbyDfest is taking place between June 14th to June 24th at Custom Lane and is a dynamic exploration of what it means to live and thrive with a chronic condition.
Featuring an immersive exhibition and diabetes-themed panels & events, all curated to elevate awareness of type 1 diabetes and spark innovation in how we support those affected by it.
Diabetes By Design’s mission is to help provide anyone living with (or alongside) type 1 diabetes the tools and mindset needed to reach acceptance faster, healthier and happier.
Whether you're directly affected by T1D, a healthcare professional, or simply interested in learning more, this exhibition and event series promises to inspire and ignite new conversations about this often misunderstood condition.
Looking for desk space? Sierra Metro has a co-working desk available from May (£180 pcm). These spaces would suit fellow creatives who are looking to be part of the community. For more information, or to check out the spaces, email Janine hello@sierrametro.org
Sponsor Section:
With Jack
In the past year or so, With Jack has seen an increase in panicked freelancers contacting them after receiving an unauthorised use of image letter from image theft protection sites.
“Accusations of copyright infringement are incredibly common. We should know—copyright infringement is one of the most common claims we see freelancers contend with. Unauthorised use of image warnings are on the rise because of image theft protection websites, which help artists recover compensation if their work is illegally distributed”
Check out more information here: So you’ve received an ‘unauthorised use of image’ letter…
Along with this blog post here: What happens next when you are accused of copyright infringement?
FreeAgent:
FreeAgent is award-winning online accounting software designed specifically for UK small businesses - and based here in Edinburgh. The folks at FreeAgent are all about making business owners and freelancers happier and more successful by putting them in control of their finances.
FreeAgent is back again to deliver three handy resources to help you, our community, with all your business and accounting questions:
Ever wondered what cashflow means and why it’s so important to businesses? Find the answers in this helpful blog
Once you’ve covered the cashflow basics, you can predict your business’s future with cashflow forecasting - join a free and fast webinar on 23rd May to find out how
Big news for Amazon sellers! You can now connect your Amazon UK Marketplace account to FreeAgent to save you time and streamline your admin - plus it’s free until 1st September 2024 (T&Cs apply)
Everyone in our Soapbox community can give FreeAgent a go with a 30-day free trial and get 50% off their first six months. Click here!
The Edinburgh Minute:
The Edinburgh Minute Newsletter is a free daily roundup of links to local news and happenings.
The Edinburgh Minute now has more than 10,000 subscribers. That’s more readers than the local papers!
To celebrate, founder Michael is giving all Soapbox readers 3 months of free access to everything the Minute publishes - including the weekly Culture Minute newsletter.
You can claim your free perks here: https://edinburghminute.substack.com/soapbox
Something Interesting To End Our May Newsletter:
If you would like to stay up to date with more events, jobs and opportunities, do consider following us on Instagram!
If you have something you would like to share with the community please feel free to message us!
We hope to see you at our next event if you’re local, and in the meantime please feel free to share The Soapbox Newsletter if you enjoyed it.
Thanks for reading,
Ellie & Janine