Remember, remember the 5th of November - Hampshire & IOW Social Enterprise Network relaunches

Occupy the economy!

Hampshire & IOW Social Enterprise Network (or HIOWSEN as it became known because we all love an acronym that means nothing as opposed to a description that tells people what something is) ground to a halt some time in the last couple of years.  None of us is quite sure when because it was moving so slowly anyway!

Our friends over at Social Enterprise Link (Wessex) Cooperative CIC have dug up some treasure with which to give our local social enterprise network a boost and the first session is taking place on 5th November.  Put away those barrels of gunpowder, we're going to change capitalism by creating a new economy.

I was involved in some of the early discussions and I set out a blue print for meetings that are worth attending because we walk away with business contacts or possibly even sales.  From my point of view, that way it will be worth me being there rather than yet another unpaid event I have to be at instead of earning money to pay the bills! Although my suggestion that we run sessions along the lines of co-operative business referral networking (a la Principle Six) was not adopted, I still have hopes for our network.

I would really like to see the re-launched network owned and controlled by actual social enterprises - rather than infrastructure bodies and people who are paid to sit in meetings.  The only way this will happen is if we are there, so please do get involved if you are a co-operative, social enterprise, development trust, environmentally focused business, business with a social purpose, trading charity or campaign group with a trading arm or thinking about establishing something like that. 

You can get more details of dates etc from http://www.socialenterpriselink.co.uk/course.html#SOCIAL_ENTERPRISE_LINK_and_HIOWSEN_2014

#socent #coops