How are we going to conquer the world from the Gallery in Kenilworth? Simple. We're going to go Through the Looking Glass and Feed the Trolls. That probably doesn't make sense yet but it will do by the end of the night. It's a session about networking and exploring what ‘networking’ means in today's world where the online and offline merge. We'll encourage to push the boundaries on who you interact with (imagine networking with someone who doesn’t share the same beliefs as you) and how you do it (we’ll look at the skills you need to do this).
Food and drink will be supplied.
Bring a business card.
We’ll have artists on hand to live capture images during the session and these will be shared afterwards.
Speakers
lan Heap - Purple Monster
Alan loves an audience, not just to perform to, but to create an experience with. His early career was in community theatre in Birmingham and then he jumped at the chance of a lifetime: an open audition, held at the London Palladium, to join the West End production of Barnum starring Michael Crawford. Proper showbiz job secured, he met his wife Jo, made many lifelong friends and learnt how to be catapulted 20ft in the air on a big see-saw. Following a stint in a touring circus, he formed a comedy partnership with Mime, Mick Wall (clearly Alan did most of the talking) and they went on to have their own BBC Children’s series, Dizzy Heights.
Another change of direction saw Alan co-found a drama-based training company in 1995, along with his friend and fellow performer, Nick Cursi. This foray into business coincided with Alan and Jo starting a family and their two children are now embarking on careers of their own. When Nick moved to South Africa, Alan bought the business just in time for the recession. He’s always had great comedy timing. Alan is a committed member of the Leamington Spa community and sits on a whole host of panels and forums determined to continually improve the town for its citizens. 22 years since it began, Alan is still relishing the challenges Purple Monster provides and still laughing his way through most of them.
Howard Karloff - Purple Monster
Howard has never had a plan. He became an actor by accidentally applying for, and getting into the Drama Department at Birmingham University when he couldn’t find a course in Anglo-Saxon. He did twelve years on the comedy circuit because he needed an Equity card, made an art-house film that no-one understood, got an agent and made a lot of TV commercials. None of it was planned. His entire 25 years as an actor was justified by 30 seconds of being Mr Muscle. He’s practically impossible to find on YouTube but buy him a drink and he’ll tell you where to look.
He fell into, and fell off riding a skateboard when he was a kid, and still carries three boards in the boot of his classic Honda Civic. If you call him into a meeting next to a big hill expect him to be late and turn up with scrubbed knees. Without ever meaning to, he was taught to ride a snowboard by the fourth best female rider in the world, and only stays at Purple Monster because he’s convinced that one day Alan will organise a company trip to the Alps.
Somehow, he has become quite good at designing and facilitating events for global companies and writing nonsense in elegantly crafted sentences.