Social impact designers who've failed & thrived

We collaborated with Impact Hub King's Cross, to put on a fundraising event with a difference. 'Social Impact Designers Who've Failed & Thrived' - a mashup of global campaigns, FuckUp Nights and #GivingTuesday - allowed us to breakdown the stigmas surrounding failure. It was a lesson in learning from mistakes, sharing and humility.

Five outstanding speakers, from the world of social impact, took the stage to present their stories. We exhibited photographs of our sanitation project in Bangladesh and held a raffle to raise vital funds for the next project phase. The energy in the room was infectious.

It was a sell-out event, and you helped us raise £1078 for Jogen Babu Maath slum. Thank you to everyone who supported, and to our speakers - Peter Murray, Jo Ashbridge, Jonty Sharples, Jack Graham, Finn Williams and Lauren Currie.

Read our thoughts on the event.

View our event welcome pack >>

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“... a dynamic event full of interesting people with a lot to take away - thank you.”

— Simon-Joe Portal, Arup

“It made me think a lot about the positives which can be found in my own failures.”

— Ruth Baker, Ryder

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How do you feel about your own failures? Why were you interested in our event? Did it change your opinion about failure?

We asked our audience - here's what you told us:

• At the start of the event, only 9% felt at peace with failure

• 55% believe your failures are due to a lack of experience

• 75% said our event changed your perspective on failure

• The amazing lineup of speakers was the main reason you came

• Over half made new connections on the night

Check out the animation, by our friends at Voist, for more insights >>

This limited edition tote could be yours!

We're constantly trying to improve what we do here at AzuKo, and we're keen to hear feedback from our amazing supporters.

• What information do you enjoy receiving from us?

• What would you like to hear more about?

• What type of content do you find engaging?

Take two minutes to fill out our survey and a beautiful AzuKo tote bag could be winging its way to you. We'll be announcing the winner in August.

UPDATE: THE SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO RESPONDED AND CONGRATULATIONS TO HANNAH B... YOUR TOTE IS ON ITS WAY!

Workshop success

Last night we held part 2 of our Photoshop and InDesign workshop - 1:1 tutorials. We partnered individuals with Adobe experts to work on specific projects relevant to their work.

When designing this course, we discussed goals at length. What was achievable in a relatively short timeframe (4 hours) for those with little or no software experience? What content would be most appropriate for this user group (young startups)? What activities would keep people engaged?

Feedback is vital to ensure we answer these questions correctly and can continue to improve our services. With this in mind we decided to focus on four measurable outputs / outcomes:

1. CONFIDENCE: It was important for us that participants felt increasingly comfortable using the software, so that at the end of the workshop they would continue to develop their skills. In Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, all participants recorded an increase in confidence, reaching as high as 70%.

2. IMPACT: We wanted to go beyond the theory and ensure participants could put it into practice - using their new found skills for live projects and future work.

“Not only have I learnt tools, tips and tricks to retouch images and create posters, I am re-examining our brand style guide. I’ll be presenting my thoughts back to our team to make things simpler, clearer and more effective.”

— Workshop participant

3. EXPERIENCE: As a relative beginner, learning a new skill can be a little nerve wracking, especially when you're surrounded by experts. We hoped to create an environment where people felt able to ask questions, where they could make mistakes and learn from them. Ultimately we wanted it to be fun... a place to network. In fact, last night one of our lovely facilitators presented her new cereal brand startup, handing out samples and a link to her latest market research study.

4. SATISFACTION: A great indicator to assess how well the course was received, is to calculate your Net Promoter Score (NPS) by asking one simple question. Respondents are grouped into three categories:

• Promoters (score 9-10) are loyal enthusiasts who will keep coming back and refer others

• Passives (score 7-8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic users

• Detractors (score 0-6) are unhappy users who could damage brand and growth through negative word of mouth

On a scale of 0-10 we received a whopping average score of 9.5, with the Net Promoter Score calculated at +75. Such great feedback means our workshop responds to real needs within the nonprofit and startup community.

With a waiting list and increased interest from the Echo marketplace, we're hoping to host more workshops, including offering an 'intermediate' course for those wanting to test their skills.

If you're interested in getting to grips with these design tools, and would like us to run a workshop for your organisation or within your community, please drop us a line.

Read about workshop one.

Author: J. Ashbridge