What Happened at RewireLondon
We were running the co-creation area where people could come with their problem and we tried to solve it collectively and creatively. In total we solved three problems, had brilliant discussions and made important connections. So here are the problems and a brief note on their solution.
Problem #1: How can I make money out of online content (e.g. magazine) without looking like it's "sold out"?
This problem came from a person that has an online magazine that combined literature knowledge and technology. Although the content of the magazine is very well researched and helpful, there was no strategy for revenue. To solve the problem we started drawing out what the site is and what the target audience is. Instantly we moved to looking at what's the value of the magazine and understanding that the person running it was the most valuable asset. Having identified that, we looked at how revenue could be generated from different streams (premium content on the site, ads, consultation to publishers, education/seminars to publishers). Having an open discussion and people with different views and backgrounds we then moved to how value can be generated by creating a community around the site.
Problem #2: Accommodating diversification and niche. How do we not spread ourselves too thinly, whilst trying new things?
Deciding to go niche or not is always the problem for people starting up in business. To solve the problem we started looking at how diversity and niches interact. The turning point of the discussion was when we looked at the definition of niche. In ecology, niche is "the position or function of an organism in a community of plants and animals". Taking this definition and translating it to business we understood that being niche helps you be part of a wider community and in order to do that you need to engage in collaborations. The discussion then moved on to analysing collaboration and thinking about how collaboration works and how it can evolve. This is a topic that was brought up consistently throughout the day and I will talk a bit about it at the end of this post.
Problem #3: Well-being (Physical). Often exercise is an independent affair. What ways can it be combined for public/social good? (e.g. The Good Gym)
Last problem of the day was on the subject of well-being. We started looking at well-being and fitness in every imaginable way and focused more on identifying what well-being really is. Most of the times well-being is associated with "fitness" as promoted by certain stereotypes, instead of that we looked at what makes people happy and promotes not only physical but also mental well-being. Our discussion moved to looking at which social causes can be empowered and at the same time increase the well-being of the individual.
Bonus topic: Collaboration
Throughout the day the subject of collaboration kept coming up on every discussion. We are avid supporters of collaboration and we work closely with various companies and individuals (see partner list on our website). The barriers of collaboration is definitely a difficult topic that cannot be solved in an hour. We are experimenting with other collaborators on this and more stories will be posted soon.
To sum up, RewireLondon was a big success and received great reviews from people attending (look for#rewirelondon on twitter). We also want to thank Sinead and Alison for organising everything and we look forward to the next one!
