Category: #MicroBizMattersDay

#MicroBizMatters Day 2018 (12th January)

9th January 2018

The 4th #MicroBizMatters Day event took place on Friday 12th January and this year not only did we help run it as usual, we sponsored the breakfast for our fellow ‘Head Roadies’ and guests!

The annual event is all about ‘micro businesses’ (0-9 employees) coming together with their friends and supporters to celebrate the unique and vital contribution they make to the UK economy and in countries all around the world.

We do this by using ‘Google Hangouts On Air’ to broadcast a 7hr+ livestream of micro business owners sharing tips & advice from a temporary studio and various locations around the UK (& other countries too).

Watch the Hangout

To see who else was involved, download the event programme by clicking on the image below.

#MicroBizMattersDay 2017

9th January 2017

On 13 January 2017 I helped ‘The Enterprise Rockers’ (aka Tina Boden and Tony Robinson OBE) run the 3rd annual #MicroBizMattersDay event in the form of an 8hr continuous broadcast of live Google Hangouts On Air interviews between 7am-3pm GMT.

The first time we did this in 2015 I was an employee of Sage (who have sponsored all 3 years) and in 2016 I was working for the UK Government at Tech North (part of Tech City UK) but this year I’m taking part as a micro business (0-9 employee) owner myself having started my business development and marketing consultancy in April 2016!

Of all the things I have ever done in my professional career to date, #MicroBizMattersDay 2015 is possibly the thing I am most proud of because:

  • From a content marketing point of view, 8hrs of live Google Hangouts featuring amazing micro business owners offering genuinely useful and practical advice is a truly epic achievement (watch them all here)
  • From a technical point of view, I was already a big fan of Google Hangouts having done several great interviews during my time at Sage but #MicroBizMattersDay proved just what a wonderful tool they can be for connecting people around the world both in real time and after the event. (It was very cool to be broadcasting them live from the Google Apps for Business office in London too)
  • From a partnership and CSR point of view, #MicroBizMattersDay 2015 was a fantastic example of how big business (like Sage, Google and ScanSnap/Fujitsu) can support micro businesses (their primary audience) in a way that makes sense for everyone involved, doesn’t feel forced or fake and was fun and creative too

https://youtu.be/Ws8iiLO2tgk?list=PL4RZcXcp7aaVilRh0Keh2SyCsUH0CpLS7

In 2016, we switched from Google Hangouts to a new platform called ‘Blab’ which seemed to provide an easier way for interviewees to join remotely via a single URL instead of 8 different ones for each hour and also had the added benefit of automatically emailing us the video file and audio file so we could share them on YouTube and as a podcast.

Although this was another fantastic day, Blab didn’t work for everyone and has recently been ‘retired’ by the founders so we reverted back to Google Hangouts which people could either watch live between or after the event via the #MicroBizMattersDay YouTube Channel or by clicking on the YouTube videos below:

#MicroBizMattersDay 2017 Live Stream

https://youtu.be/2VYGGTT2Hzw

https://youtu.be/3dCb-T-d-5k

You can also watch lots of behind-the-scenes Facebook Live videos at on the #MicroBizMattersDay Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/pg/microbizmattersday/videos/ including this one of the amazing 19yr singer/songwriter Murdo Mitchell who I saw busking on Leicester Square two days earlier and invited to perform at the event!