WORKSHOP (not talkie): Proto Norwich - the prototype city.

Dear Hot Sourcers

Thank you for your support in 2015. We had planned to run four talkies in 2016 but we've changed our mind. Our first event will now be a WORKSHOP (which means you will need to be willing to get involved).

• WORKSHOP - Thursday 10 March 2016 at 5:45pm (IDEAS FACTORY)

Our theme will be: Norwich - the prototype city. This is based on an idea that was pitched at SyncTheCity in November 2015. (http://syncthecity.com/) The idea comes from the fact that Norwich is a great place to start-up and scale-up your business - particularly if it is a tech or digital creative enterprise.

We want more people to know this - and we want to build a welcoming community that will support entrepreneurs (in any sector) who set up businesses here. One way to do this is to make it easier for them to find real world testers of their products and services.

There are plenty of survey sites but it is much harder to find volunteers who will actually turn up in person to test your new app, website, wearable tech or even (in view of the agri-tech and food science businesses on Norwich Research Park (http://www.norwichresearchpark.com/aboutnorwichresearchpark.aspx)) your new super-food.

The Proto Norwich team at SyncTheCity developed a (prototype) website that acted like a dating agency between volunteer testers and local businesses looking to try out ideas. You can see the rough demo site built for the competition here: http://protocity.meteor.com/ . And you can see the 'slick' pitch to the judges here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2OzGV8h-Lc .

We did not win the competition but we did get a lot of support from the local community - so we think this is an idea worth pursuing (in some form).

NOTE: Because this is a workshop and because we will hold it in the Ideas Factory (http://www.business-writers.co.uk/ideas-ux-digital-creative-startups-norwich/) - places are limited to about 42 people.

Please only book if you a) will definitely make it and b) are genuinely interested in the project (and preferably have experience of running a business or working on product/service development).

PLEASE UPDATE your RSVP - yes or no (sorry - no guests, please ask them to register individually).

Remember to follow @HSNorwich on twitter for updates - and join our LinkedIn group for discussions.

Kind regards

Your Hot Source team

PS: If you are already a member of the SyncNorwich SLACK group you can join the ProtoCity channel here https://syncnorwich.slack.com/messages/protocity/