Warwicks Brainstorm

 With so much happening at WPP, I thought it was about time for a recap so you can stay updated with what's been happening. So here's my summary of where WPP are now and where we hope to be this week.

Nothing is set in stone yet, although this week we will be forming our 'town team' and really pushing forward with our pilot proposal (it's not a bid). We'll be starting to workout the details, costings and implications of our plans. Such a busy week is ahead! I do hope you will be on board and I also hope to keep you all very much in the loop on this blog where it all started.

So here we are then. We're two weeks in. What have we achieved so far?

Media coverage has been great. I was very keen to get the word out in as many ways as possible. Twitter, Facebook and blogs are great resources but not everyone uses these platforms, so I've worked hard to get exposure elsewhere. Mainly so that as many people as possible knew of our intentions, and also to gain the extra support, ideas and skills needed to make this all work.

• Many thanks to Touch FM for their interview on Monday morning.
• Excellent work from Mercia FM for contacting me on Twitter after reading this blog; we aired during the 8am and 9am news on Thursday last week.
• As always, Jamie from the Warwick Courier has been following WarwickTweetup's moves and also came along to the first meeting on Tuesday. We had excellent front page exposure and a page 9 article. We hope for more coverage this week. Any TV contacts would be gratefully received. Please shout up if you can help.
• Mary Portas has supported us well too. This blog was shared via her Twitter and she has also been inspirational to Hatton & Harding. We hope to speak to her this week. Please contact us Mary!

Support so far as been amazing. The comments on here, Twitter, Facebook, email and on the streets of Warwick have been not only mind-blowing but very, very useful and indeed positive. The meeting last week included a great mix of people from different areas and backgrounds. Warwick has a wide demographic so this was very important to the WPP campaign.

• We are very pleased to have not only the support of the Mayor Trudy Offer, but also Chris White - MP for Warwick and Leamington. Many thanks to Chris White for the mention in the House of Commons  last week too. I nearly dropped my iPhone when I saw the tweet! (That's unheard of by the way.)
• I was very pleased to meet Tim Harrison-Jones (GM of Warwick Castle) on Saturday, along with Chris White, for a quick but productive meeting. Tim had some super ideas and his knowledge of tourism and business are invaluable. We are very hopeful that he will be joining our 'town team'. Chris White is busy working for our WPP campaign and we are very grateful to him for his continued support and guidance; it's fantastic to have such proactive people on board so quickly.
• We have the support of the organisers of the very successful Warwick Folk Festival. Their advice and knowledge is also invaluable and very much appreciated so far in the campaign. Many thanks to Dick Dixon for his offer this week.
• We also have had some super support from Warwick's Chamber of Trade. They're using their connections to seek out ideas and people for our 'town team'. Many thanks to David and the team for their ongoing support.

So, ideas and suggestions that have stood out so far;

• Traffic and parking. Yes, it's a problem. Is it innovative enough to win? Can we do anything about it with the limited time and money? So far we are moving towards no, but never say never.
• Market. Common theme this one. Such a great asset that is so under-used. Comments such as, "One potato seller is not a market" are common and we are concentrating on a pilot around the heart of Warwick.
• Smith Street. Under-valued and under-advertised. Smith Street may have been outside the castle wall once, but it's very much a part of Warwick town now. This is potentially at the forefront of our campaign.
• Customer journey. This is a term used in the shop trade and mostly by big chains. The experience of the shoppers and visitors to Warwick is also on our radar. Landing points and advertising of key parts of Warwick are also a trend on the feedback so far.
• Pop-up shops. This is a great idea and we are looking into how we can make this happen. Landlords are being sourced and recruited. Come forward if you are one. Our contact details are at the footer. Empty shops can be also be used as billboards to advertise open shops.

• Sunday Trading. This has had many of you talking. Visitors, non-visitors and traders alike. We are thinking that the advertising of Sunday events could be better, and also that they should be more regular, or follow a pattern. Continuity encourages people to do things. If they know there is something happening on the third Sunday of every month for example, they may be more likely to attend. We are aware that Warwick is not a shopping centre, but we are also aware of comments from shoppers who go to Leamington instead, as we're known to be closed as a town on Sunday.
• Evening Market? Back to the heart of Warwick, the Victorian and Folk Festival bring so many people and so much trade to Warwick in the evenings. Could this be a more frequent event?
• Warwick is 'zoned' with different parts not linked up. We are looking into an idea we had on Saturday that would get people following a route around Warwick. 'A trail' would be a great way to show off what Warwick has to offer.
• More events. Could we make Warwick a festival town? During our meeting we all agreed that if there was a really busy hub of activity then people would be attracted to it. Everyone loves to know what's going on, and this draws in the crowds.
• Warwick is historic and we need to play to these strengths. Promoting great 'hidden treasures' on a trail or tourist tour are brilliant ideas. Any historians free to chat?
• The train station needs to improve the 'call to action' that I talked about in the meeting. These landing pads for visitors to the town should promote and refer our guests to the places to see. Any help with contacts would be appreciated.
• Identity. Gaz at LiquidBlu felt that Warwick lacks identity. Some disagree, but many agree that re-branding Warwick should be on our short list.
• Restaurants in Warwick are such high quality and should be shouted about. I hear so many great comments, and also have experienced some great meals out in Warwick. We need to make people aware.
• The mop. We are hearing negative comments, and I'm not a fan myself either. It will feature in next meeting.
• Pedestrianisation of the market square. Interesting idea. We will look at this too.
• Concerts in the market square? Also an interesting idea.
• Also the idea of using the downstiars part of the Museum as a Market hall has been raised.
• Better signage around the town has been as an issue several times too.
• The ground floor of the musuem in Market square could be turned into a business start up hub for new and local businesses.

So there we have it. A 'not very short' list! Some other ideas are floating about too, but these are the big ones. If your idea is not here please send me an email now. This is a town initiative and we move forward as a town. £100,000 is potentially the start of something else. We've already gained more than that with the community spirit and team-building so far.

More to come... this ship has barely left the harbour, let alone sailed - so get your ideas in.

Thanks again for your support and encouragement. Your enthusiasm is my energy.

Please share this blog.

Cheers Todd.

warwicktweetup@gmail.com