On May 31st 2013 Lunchworks welcomed Ruth Daniel - music pioneer, global event producer and economic activist. Ruth turned Un-Convention - a collective of Salford based independant music projects - into an international movement in under 3 years. Ruth opened up to our audience of socially minded organisation representatives, music industry workers and inspired young musicians.
What people have said:
"Every time I come to Lunchworks I am inspired" - Nick Clifford, Senior Fellow, Public Policy and Management: Manchester Business School
“Ruth was incredibly inspiring – made me feel inadequate. Fantastic energy and ‘can-do’ attitude x 100!”
“Lunchworks – always a winner”
“Fantastic – absolutely awe-inspiring. Couldn’t agree more with everything she said.”
@misshollykeogh:"The bigger the challenge the more worthwhile it is to do it,nothing is impossible!" #lunchworks” listening to @ruthdaniel
@miriamok: Inspiring stuff from @ruthdaniel about new models for music influencing social change #lunchworks
Media expert and Gaydio broadcaster Emma Goswell attended the Lunchworks event and wrote her own blog of the event:
Ruth Daniel is a woman who travelled to Cairo alone and watched as tear gas was deployed as she joined a huge protest as the only Westerner. She is a woman who turned a Salford music project into an international movement in under three years. She is a woman who has just returned from Sao Paolo where she has been living in a commune.
In short, Ruth Daniel is the sort of woman you'd like to have lunch with. So I did.
To be fair it wasn't an exclusive date - there were about 50 movers and shakers from Third Sector organisations in Manchester there too, because this was the 8th Lunchworks - an inspirational and tasty way to spend your lunch hour thanks to Dovetail Together and Reason Digital. As well as eating exquisite quiche supplied by the Barbican Deli, there was a chance to network with likeminded people, eat more quiche, listen to a keynote speech from Rith and probe her with some thought provoking questions.
In a sector where money isn't just too tight to mention its almost non-existent, there's an increasing need to think differently and act effectively. Ruth was asked to speak about her uniquely creative approach to achieving great things while working on a shoestring - and she didn't disappoint. As well as running 'In Place of War' - an award winning project with Manchester University which develops arts events in war zones, she's best known for her work in the music industry. After setting up 'Fat Northern Records' she then went on to co-found 'Un-Convention', a grass roots music platform / project based in Salford. It's now empowering musicians and artists across the globe with over 50 events across 6 continents and 22 countries. Not bad for any company - but a small miracle when you consider it's run on a voluntary basis and they haven't received a penny of funding.
Gina Frost from 3MT Theatre in Manchester was first to ask her - "HOW?" - and this is where Lunchworks comes into it's own - it's your chance to ask the leaders in the sector just how they've achieved what they have. Ruth revealed that she cried the first few times she was rejected for funding by the Arts Council but then admitted "I'm now really quite glad we didn't get any money - we don't feel tied or obligated to a funder now!"
For Ruth it's all been about sticking to her manifesto of "Do it Together." Sje certainly hasn't achieved what she has on her own - she's a master networker who thinks globally. In conversation with Dovetail director Julia Brosnan she said "We think we're progressive in this country - we're really not. There's so much we need to learn about differemt ways of doing things. In Latin America everyone's programmed to think about what WE can do rthaer than what can I do? People are so much more selfish here." She tells the audience, who are hanging on every word, about a cooperative of young musicians in Brazil who now run a multi-million dollar business, own a university, influence government policy and even have their own currency. It's mind blowing stuff.
Another question comes from Darren Knight from the Lesbian and Gay Foundation who wants to know how to get more LGBT people taking part in online campaigns. Straight away she's mentally left the confines of Manchester as she encourages him to join up with similar campaigns abroad: "You'll have so much more power when you join the dots internationally. People don't feel so isolated then."
Key to her talk today is the importance of social media - whether she's talking about a music event in Salford or a theatre performance in Columbia, she's very much rooted in the digital age. "Everything happens online," she says. "Digital tools are incredible for allowing interaction on a global scale."
So how much does she believe her mantra of "do it together?" Enough to have it tattooed on her back! It would be hard to find a social entrepreneur with more passion, bravery and determination than Ruth and it was a privilege to spend a lunch hour listening to her. At the start of her talk she slipped into conversation that she was hoping to organise an event one day in Palestine. "It will happen at some point - nothing is impossible." As I munched another plate of quiche after the talk I thought, "I bet she only goes and does it." She won't be on her own of course. We'll Do It Together!