Good bye 2009 and hello to a new decade!

Happy New Year from Best Believe!

xxxxx

RIP MJ

Who am I? And What am I (Best Believe) on about?…here is what I came up with..

CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development.  The term is said to have been coined by Richard Gardner, who was in charge of professional development for the building professions at York University in the mid-1970s.  It was chosen because it did not differentiate between learning from courses, and learning ‘on the job’. CPD embraces the idea that individuals aim for continuous improvement in their professional skills and knowledge, beyond the basic training initially required to carry out the job.

CPD has never been more necessary than for those of us who work within the cultural and creative industries. For the purpose of Best Believe I would like to call it Continuous Creative Professional Development. CCPD can take on many forms; from seeing work, to attending seminars or workshops, to social networking, to going out, to reading a book/blog/magazine or to finding out about other creative types and their work. CCPD is as unique and bespoke as you are, an activity that makes you feel more informed or that gets your creative juices flowing.

Best Believe strives to reflect the interests of the hugely diverse creative community in Birmingham by highlighting the most exciting and valuable opportunities, news and events that are going on. Endorsing independent arts, culture and creativity in the city.

Author

My name is Amy Martin and I am a freelance creative consultant, project manager & event coordinator. I also am a DJ and promoter for Mama Feel Good! In 2004 I graduated from City University in London with a Post Graduate Diploma in Cultural Management. I studied all aspects of Arts Management including Cultural Policy & Framework, Finance & Fundraising, Arts Management, Arts Marketing and Education in the Arts.

I have a working knowledge of current cultural and creative trends in arts education and have worked within the creative sector, specifically in theatre and dance development roles for a number of years. This year as a freelance project manager I have coordinated, facilitated and managed creative projects & events for BBC Blast, Find Your Talent, Centre for Advanced Training, Sampad, Breakin’ Convention, DanceXchange, Birmingham Hippodrome, Bass Festival, Arts Award, Stan’s Cafe, Cultural Olympiad and Birmingham City Council’s Arts Education team. I am currently training as a life coach to individuals and small businesses in the creative industries and working with Bright Space as a Creative Agent.

From this blog you will get a flavour of what I am into but in short it is collecting Soul/Funk/Latin/Roots records & black music (pre 1995), fashion, design, what some might call ‘youth culture’, food, blogging, knitting, carboot sales, creativity and I would give away all my toes to own an original Miss Van and a pair of Christian Louboutin Malokos.

If you have anything that you would like me to feature please holler via the comments box. You can also follow me on twitter at either Sister45 or Bestbelievebrum if that kind of thing tickles your social networking fancy.