Good Morning Friends,
Welcome to the latest Soapbox Newsletter!
Our next gathering is on August 22nd at Sierra Metro (one week today!) where you can come and meet like minded folk who freelance or are employed in culture, creative, tech & digital, for a morning of blethering and sharing news and opportunities over a cuppa. Soapbox events are free and you’re invited to pop along any time between 8am and 10am. Whether you stay for 10 minutes or the full 2 hour duration is totally up to you!
You may have noticed that our event this month is a week earlier than our usual last Tuesday of the month slot, and that’s because we’re doing something a little special this month and collaborating with SCAN! It also means that you’ll have the opportunity to check out new works by visual artist Haein Kim who is exhibiting PAIN 2 POWER at the Sierra Metro Gallery as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival!
We’d love to see you there!
Updates:
As I write this newsletter we’re having our first sunny day in Edinburgh, in what feels like forever, and it’s glorious! We’re in the thick of Festival Season; Bookfringe; a 17 day book festival organised by Typewronger, Augonut Books and Lighthouse Books had it’s inaugural event at the weekend; as did Edinburgh Book Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival began it’s programme of events last Friday, and both The Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival have now been running for a few weeks. Our city has been transformed and is currently dedicated to the arts: music, drama, dance, comedy, poetry, spoken word, music and so much more is taking place on our doorstep! If you’ve seen any shows that you’d like to recommend please do reply and we’ll share them on our socials!
I have a few personal recommendations of shows if you’re looking:
Black Is The Colour Of My Voice by Apphia Campbell (I saw this last year and it was amazing. This year it’s only on from the 14th-19th so grab your tickets quick!)
Sponsor News:
We have some more great news! We have a brand-new sponsor; The Edinburgh Minute Newsletter is a quick summary of local news, events and community vibes that lands daily at 7am. The daily newsletter is free but has bonus add-ons including the weekly Edinburgh Culture Minute, containing local creative industry jobs, funding opportunities and grants. To celebrate our new partnership, founder Michael is giving all Soapbox Newsletter subscribers three months of subscription for free! That includes 12 editions of The Edinburgh Culture Minute, which normally costs £5 per week. The offer is open for Soapbox Subscribers only so be sure to sign up using this special link: https://edinburghguardian.substack.com/soapbox
(you can cancel at any time)
With Jack:
This month our sponsor With Jack is highlighting ‘what to do when you’re accused of copyright infringement’. Not something that can only affect designers, there have been many freelancers who have accidentally used an image or asset without the correct permissions. It can feel quite scary if you’re handling it on your own. Have a read of this blog post which lays out ways to avoid accusations of copyright infringement.
If you’re a freelancer and keen to get insurance check out With Jack, they make it simple; it’s about one solid policy and the personal touch. But don’t just take their word for it; Sarah from HEY Pear has some great things to say too!
We shared this on our Instagram this week but it’s been a hotly debated topic recently ‘why you should raise your prices’
Something inspirational to end our August 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.
Until next time,
Ellie & Janine