successful home working
Jelly
Jelly is a free, casual get-together for home workers
Home workers celebrate Jellyweek
21
Further to my post about the necessity for home workers to keep connected in order to stay positive, I should mention that this week is Worldwide Jellyweek, in which this unique business event is being celebrated all over the globe.
Fortuitously, yesterday just happened to be the day on which Frome Jelly falls, and here is an artist’s impression of a couple of the attendees in a (rare?) moment of concentration between laughter and cake eating. The artist is Sarah Godsill, who is usually to be found capturing much grander events like weddings.
Jelly brings together random groups of people from many industries and professions. As well as Sarah, yesterday’s Frome Jelly at The Old Church School consisted of a trainer and coach, two IT specialists, a legal consultant, a PR expert, and an international development and human rights professional. Wow! I highly recommend Jelly as a unique way of:
- getting out of the house
- meeting new people you’d otherwise never run into
- picking up bits of advice, particularly on those aggravating IT glitches that can hold you up
- helping out other people and realising that they respect and value the experience and knowledge you possess, which you probably normally dismiss as obvious and commonplace
- clearing up some boring old jobs that have been pushed down the to do list for weeks
- catching up on local gossip
- having a good laugh
- gaining a whole new perspective on your life and work
- eating cake (often homemade, yum)
All this with no requirement to stand up and talk about your business or listen to other people boring on about theirs. I’m pleased to see there’s lots of buzz on Twitter about new groups starting up in places all over the UK. To find out more and for help in setting up your own Jelly, check out my Jelly guide.
I know lots of readers are already committed Jelly-goers. Have I missed out any other Jelly benefits?
A thank you to Jan Minihane, home workers’ Jelly champion
0
So this morning it’s yet another case of ‘pass Jelly forward’ as Jan Minihane announces she is passing the reins of UK Jelly to Jim Drew, the host of Norfolk Jelly at The King’s Centre in Norwich.
I’d like to say a big thank you to Jan for all of her tireless work for Jelly, both in Shropshire, which she has made the most vibrant Jelly county in the UK, and also in helping people set up Jellys all over the UK and in France.
The BIG Jelly was Jan’s idea and although as a co-organiser I’m entirely biased, I know I’m not alone in thinking it the most extraordinary business event I’ve ever been to, not only in terms of efficient organisation and high quality content, but in its welcome for every attendee and dedication to giving them a good day.
Jan built the UK Jelly website out of her enthusiasm for Jelly and her determination that every home worker and freelancer in the UK should have a free local coworking group within reach. She has kept the Jelly map up to date with all the new groups setting up, organisers in touch with each other through starting the UK Jelly Linkedin group, and the Jelly message going round the world with the UKJelly Twitter account. All this on a voluntary basis and in her own time while also growing her social media business and looking after her young family.
Many home workers and small business owners have benefited directly from Jan’s efforts, and I’m sure many more will do so now that Jim has taken over. I hope that those who may be wondering about taking on the role of Jelly organiser will recognise how effectively Jelly spreads good PR with no need for selling or self-promotion, and be encouraged to take part!
PS I’m not giving Jelly up completely!
96 months ago
Just a quick postscript to my previous post about passing on the organisation of Frome Jelly to someone else. I should have made it clearer that although I can’t continue as organiser – and often I’m not even in Frome on Jelly days, which makes hosting a little difficult! – I’m still just as interested as ever in coworking, mobile and flexible working and so on.
In fact the more I get out and about, the more I’m meeting people involved in those fields, such as Richard Leyland of WorkSnug, the app that lets you find not only your nearest place to work, but now also places where you can do printing. Clare Flynn Levy, flexible working champion, was our special guest at How to Work from Home at Central last week.
And I’m thrilled to have just secured two more guests for future How to Work from Home meetups. San Sharma, Community Manager for both Bitsy and WorkSnug, will be leading a discussion on the Top 10 Tech Tools to Save Time on Thursday 29 September.
On Thursday 27 October, Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation and Bitsy, and the person the Government consults about home business, will be the guest at our session on organisation. I’m still working on details of the event for 25 August, but that should be finalised very soon!
All the Jelly information will be freely available on my site, and I’ll continue to post articles on my Work from Home Wisdom Facebook page and to retweet details of new Jellys. (I stopped RTing existing Jellys some time ago, as there are now so many and UK Jelly does an excellent job of that!) I’m happy to keep answering enquiries, like the two emails I’ve received this week about setting up new Jellys, and I’ll be continuing to spread the word about Jelly at my own and other events and to whoever I meet.
Oh, and I’ve just had a tweet about Fiona no longer organising Jelly at Monk’s Yard near Ilminster in Somerset, so perhaps a piece about finding a replacement organiser is called for – Jelly never sleeps!
Anyone for Jelly?
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A while ago I reported that Lee Cottier, who did so much to introduce Jelly to the UK, had stepped down from his duties as organiser in Bristol due to business commitments and was passing the Jelly mantle forward.
I now find myself in the same position, having organised Frome Jelly for over 18 months, and I’m looking for someone to take over the voluntary organisation and hosting duties from August. Who might it suit?
Well, a start-up business or anyone wishing to make widespread contacts with forward-thinking people across all industries. Here in Frome we are very fortunate in not only having a workhub of superb quality like The Old Church School, but also its owner, Gavin Eddy, who instantly understood the concept of Jelly and offered a monthly space before I even had to ask! He and Rebecca Krzyzosiak, the Office Manager, are very keen for Jelly to continue uninterrupted after the August Jelly, which is a week earlier than usual in order to be part of Old School Start-ups, the small business festival being hosted by The Old Church School.
Already having a venue and the systems I’ve put in place for organising each Jelly means you’ll have much less to do than the 70 or so other organisers who have set up Jelly from scratch!
You’ll need to appreciate that Jelly is not about selling, but about likeminded people getting together to work for a day away from their usual surroundings, to exchange help and advice and catch up on the local news. Because nobody is required to pitch their business, Jelly has a uniquely laidback and friendly atmosphere.
You’ll not only meet local home workers and freelancers, but through Twitter immediately be in touch with many Jelly organisers and attendees from all over the UK and further afield, who are a rich source of friendly help and information.
Who knows what opportunities might arise? I was lucky enough to be asked to help organise The BIG Jelly in March this year. Working with Jan Minihane, founder of Shropshire Jelly, and Fay Easton of Enterprise HQ taught me so much, and has definitely helped me to develop my business to the point where it demands all my commitment and energy. I’m organising monthly meet-ups for home workers in London and planning a programme to launch in the autumn to support women who want to start their own business from home, and of course I’ll keep in touch with all my Jelly friends through Twitter.
So it’s time to pass Frome Jelly over to someone who can benefit as I have from the positive connections it brings. Do get in touch if you find the prospect intriguing and would like to know more.
The BIG Jelly – we did it!
1110 months ago
What a day! Here are my impressions of last Friday:
Blue sky and sunshine at 7.30 am, what a start, hope it’s an omen. Jelly green banners going up, badges to sort, muffins laid out next to coffee for arrivals, trade stands to explore.
The doors open to the soundtrack of the Shropshire Jelly video filmed last week at Enterprise HQ – ‘It ain’t about the money, money..we just want to make the world dance…’
Jelly beans to munch, Emma Jones in a great pair of boots, down-to-earth and inspirational at the same time.
Louise Findlay-Wilson, aptly named PrPro, that new haircut and colour fooled us completely, we were expecting a longhaired blonde, how shameful not to recognise your own speaker. People scribbling notes with fat green BIG Jelly pens.
‘Move in together. Bit more. A bit to the left. Big smile please.’
12 o’clock and Brown Bags lined up, actually I’m hungry, ploughmans sounds just the job. You’ve got a banana, I’ve got a pear, mm, chocolate roll, nice.
The Jelly session, oh my goodness that’s Caroline from Wales and…Verity from Edinburgh, lovely to meet you at last. And Judy, all the way from Normandy to pick up tips on starting Jelly en France.
And here’s Daniel, our third speaker, here despite train strikes and late taxis, better feed the man and find him a quiet place to work before his talk.
Back to the Main Hall for the Q&A, Gavin chairs it with his usual humour and aplomb. Introducing Daniel, stealing one of his own introductions – ‘He’ll share his knowledge in direct proportion to the applause he receives’ – much clapping.
Daniel has the audience in the palm of his hand. I’ve heard the content of the talk several times before, but I’m still gripped and realise he’s down walking about in front of the tables and I’d never even noticed him leave the stage.
But better close it down now, only 5 minutes after the schedule, although people seem happy to keep asking questions and he to answer them. After Fay’s closing remarks she comes down from the stage and gives us both a hug. We’ve done it and it was great!
Happy, excited people clutching Key Person of Influence books and a bag of jelly beans to fuel the journey home. ‘What a fantastic day. When’s the next one?’
Packing of boxes and cloths taken off tables. Poor Rob, the AV man is the first to arrive and the last to leave. A large glass of white wine in the bar – thanks, Jan!
Maybe not the world, but today we made part of Shropshire dance and that’s good enough for me 
Thank you!
711 months ago
Before launching into today’s post, I just want to say a heartfelt thank you for the amazing response to my recent message about The BIG Jelly. When I told Fay, one of the other organisers, that I was blogging about it, she said, ‘Excellent, we’ll cover the UK by teatime!’ but so many of you RTed my tweets that I’m sure we actually went global!
The Jelly team are very grateful for all the help we’re being given in so many practical ways. We’re now only five weeks away from the day, so any blogs, newsletters, events listings etc you can include us in will really add to the buzz. There is plenty of information on the UK Jelly site and do let me know if you’d like a copy of the press release or our lovely green eflyers.
Twice a day we’re adding to The BIG Jelly Facebook page tips and snippets of interest to small business, so pop over for a look and to like us! Or the tips come straight to you if you follow @UKJelly on Twitter.
I’ve just been told by A that I can post events on both Linkedin and Facebook, so I need to investigate how to do that. I find both sites a bit mystifying so this is the push I need to explore them further.
I’m looking forward to putting faces to names when The BIG Jelly rolls around at the end of March!
