We’re casting our memory back to the dawn of lockdown, when we relied on the spirit of our community more than ever. On the 3rd of April 2020, we had our first TechSwindon online event, a re-imagined planned to be in person interview with Alex Barker which became the beginning of our hastily planned communication trilogy as the world found itself in lockdown
We decided to have a different approach to online events, while other providers focussed on negatives, we took the decision to use it to start new conversations, reflect and engage.
We knew our founders were still busy and wanted to offer practical support as well to connect and continue to build their network. When we started TechSwindon it felt that we needed a different energy – we’re not cool like Bristol or pretty like Bath, but we have an amazing community, lots going on and so much potential.
Having read Be More Pirate upon publication in 2018 an idea had formed that Bristol was the navy and Swindon could be the pirates – doing it our way, challenging convention, and creating our own culture. So of course we were very excited when Alex agreed to come and be interviewed in Swindon as a part of our founder’s conversations, it was a speculative LinkedIn message as a genuine fan.
How can you change your business culture, ask better questions, and make good trouble for a creative rebellion – and build a fairer, more open and resilient organisation?
So many founders are pirates in their approach to business – they want to run their own ship, make their own rules, and build a crew who represent their values, goals and ambitions. How can corporates add pirate jeopardy to their boardroom and how can we call learn from pirates, the real ones, not the Disney parodies.
What does a KFC mutiny look like – listen to our interview to find out! And what should HR look like – maybe start with a point of trust?
Watch our conversation here and read Alex’s practical application of the vision of the Be More Pirate ideology in her follow up book – How To Be More Pirate, where we even get a mention!
They also have a fantastic Podcast series.
Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
She also oversees TechSPARK's social media, sharing the latest updates on everything from investment news to green tech meetups and inspirational stories.
