Manchester Wire

What do you want to do today?

Submitted by manchesterwire.

/// Our Proposal ///

Inspired by vibrant cultural listings websites such as Le Cool (http://london.lecool.com), Flavorpill (http://flavorpill.com) and Gothamist (http://gothamist.com/), plus our own Creative Tourist, we seek to give the citizens of Manchester a fabulous resource; a place to find out what’s good and what’s happening right now. Since the collapse of City Life magazine and Metro’s regional content, we are left with Chimp and the MEN, which has laid off more than half its staff in the past few years. For those sitting at desks, at home, or in the student’s union, there is nowhere to find out what’s on, and our cultural industries – which are what drew many of us to the city in the first place - are suffering. We want to highlight the good, the bold and the brave; the best new restaurants, the unmissable show, the hot live gig, the DJ in town for the first time, the places to go for a first date and where to kiss and make up. Don’t you want to know what’s going on outside?

/// Our main objectives ///

To get ‘in to’ Manchester, people need somewhere to start, and in a year that sees the return of the International Festival and the launch of the National Football Museum, there has never been a better opportunity to spread the word. Our focus will be ‘underground’ events; the city’s ‘supper club’ scene, food wagons and one-off events at pop up venues like Autobahn and Kraak, gigs and art shows in people’s houses. There will be no reviews, only short previews (120-200 wd) and features (300 wds) written by local specialists and as many ‘top 3s’ - sandwiches, noise bands, ales - as we can think of. One of the models for ‘publishing’ in an interactive market is hyper-local news and content, which we aim to address from a cultural perspective, linking up with bloggers to feature content on themed areas (food, fashion, music, art) as well as covering the city’s suburban arts scenes in Chorlton, Didsbury, Prestwich and Levenshulme. Guest ‘editors’ will giving their perspective on the ‘week ahead’ in five bullet points.

/// How will we used the money ///

With 10k we can promote around 1000 individual events, promoters and so on. This will cover design and branding, site build and the wage of an editor for 12 months, as well as fees for contributors. In the current climate, it’s hard to know how to spend your hard-earned cash so we hope to give a sense of priority to what’s on. We want to do the filtering for you as well as building ties with possible long-term sponsors and sponsors in kind, such as the University of Salford journalism department and the University of Manchester student writers.

/// Who we are ///

Drawing on grassroots talent from across the city (bloggers, tweeters and enthusiasts galore), our team is managed by Ruth Allan (print) and Chris Horkan (web). Ruth edited the Manchester cultural content for Metro, was staff writer at City Life magazine and currently works as a freelancer writer and editor for clients such as the Guardian, The Telegraph, Manchester Confidential, Big Issue, Taste of Manchester and more. Chris Horkan is an experienced arts and culture journalist, award-winning blogger, and web developer; director of OH Digital, he currently works with the likes of Cornerhouse, Manchester Literature Festival, Big Issue in the North, Manchester Museums Consortium and the Royal Exchange.

/// Why us? ///

As a team, Ruth and Chris have the ability to bring this project to fruition and to work the site towards self-sustenance through advertising and offer revenue. We’ve worked with websites, copy, images and contributors for more than 10 years each. We are integrated in the city’s cultural scene (Chris as a web developer, blogger and gig promoter; Ruth as a DJ, journalist and PR for promoters such as Now Wave and Sounds from the Other City). Having worked with budgets both small and large, we understand how to make the very most of our resources. We aspire to pay all contributors and work closely to develop enduring ties with the local blogging community in order to make a resource which lasts, and which offers both a platform for local talent, a resource for residents and visitors to the city and a ‘first step’ for those looking to get into cultural journalism.

Amount Applied For: 10000

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