Make/Share is Creative Dundee’s free regular event on the second Tuesday of each month, from 7pm – 8.30pm at The Beer Kitchen Dundee. This event brings people together to gain a behind the scenes insight into the work of people from a mix of creative, science, social and technology backgrounds. See previous speakers here.

We’ve been running our monthly Make/Share event for two years and a half, and it has been a blast! Over one hundred speakers have taken the microphone to share about their creative process, always with passion and humility as they unveil their challenges, questions, trials and errors – the messy part of their work that we don’t often have the chance to see.

There is no doubt that this event is a great opportunity to profile your work and self-promote in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, but there is more to that. The speakers are invited to not only share about their work but also explain it. Speaking aloud about what they do and how they do it to an audience has given the speakers this wee push of confidence that their work is valued and inspiring to others, and also that it’s okay to question our processes and reflect on our failures.

The best thing about the night was the opportunity to spark up conversations around my work with other people and exchange ideas on what I’m doing and how I can develop it and move it forward in future – Make/Share speaker.

Talking about my work helped me realize how far I have come in this journey and how far I have to go. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on my work – Make/Share speaker.

Although the event is called Make/Share – which implies that it only profiles the ‘makers’ who produce physical objects – the ‘doers’ who make things happen are also represented. It’s actually the diversity of our speakers that makes for an inspiring event. You’d be surprised about how many crossovers there are between apparently different disciplines. Themes like self-care, sustainability or even procrastination are common to every maker, doer, thinker and designer, whatever the title you use to call yourself.

This is why it’s really important to make sure we have a safe and friendly place to be able to share our successes and hopes but also our defeats and fears, so we can learn from them together, across disciplines and stages of life. The informality of the set-up (event happening in a bar) and the format of the talks (short, engaging and opportunity to ask questions) also allows for everyone to get constructive criticism from their peers.

Overall, the event was very thought provoking; it was one of the first times I realised that design is a very important part of my life and I should be surrounding myself and listening to makers/thinkers/designers more often as it’s very inspiring. This event showed me once again how important it is to get yourself out there. Although this blog is for my Change By Design module, using social media isn’t going to end after I finish this semester. This isn’t just for a grade in class, this is part of showing myself, my processes and my work to the world. I’m not just a university student, I’m a designer – Make/Share attendee.

The great thing about Make/Share is that it’s not necessarily for people who call themselves designers or artists by trade. It was great to hear from people from different professional backgrounds and hear their point of view when they’re approaching issues in their day-to-day process. It just goes to show that no matter who we are or what we do, creative thinking can still be embedded into our work and lifestyles – Make/Share speaker.

Designed as an informal platform to talk about your work, share inspiration, develop new ideas and get friendly feedback from your peers, these regular nights are also the chance to meet people and find new collaborators.

Make/Share has been an amazing opportunity to touch base with the creative community in Dundee on a regular basis. We had so many interesting conversation as the event matures, that we decided to (re-)introduce themes in the programme. Each night is dedicated to a different topic which help spark questions and group discussions after the talks. The next one is around sustainability on Feb 13th. See all future dates and topics here.

If you’d like to talk about a project you’ve been working on at a future Make/Share, just get in touch with Claire at claire@creativedundee.com. If you want to hear the talks and take part in the after discussions, just come along! You can also check Creative Dundee’s new original feature: Two Minutes With… which show-case creative processes in two-minute video, or read our spotlights where artists, designers and makers in Dundee discuss their process, influences, projects and what it is like to make the work in the city.

I had a very good time, it’s fantastic to see what other people are up to in Dundee and it makes you think of ways you could collaborate – Make/Share speaker.

Creative Dundee really is a great little organisation to get your voice heard, make a difference and see what others are doing in Dundee. I never expected  everyone to be so close, friendly and positive. I will definitely be attending the next one! – Make/Share attendee.

MAKE/SHARE
7pm – 8.30pm: Second TUESDAY of the month
The Beer Kitchen by Innis & Gunn
10 South Tay Street
Dundee
DD1 1PA
Free

You don’t need to sign up, just come along!