The Guardian Leeds

With 2010 coming to a close, the team here at Hebe have been discussing some of our favourite projects and conversations from the past year. Without doubt one of the best projects we have seen this year is the Guardian Leeds. We wanted to use this post primarily to highlight the amazing work being done by John Baron but also to give a big "thank you" on behalf of all the people and projects he and the Guardian have helped this year.

Before the Guardian Leeds project had officially launched I had spoken with them about possible link ups and collaborations. We had the first opportunity to do this during the 'Leeds in Barcelona' project when I wrote a series of guest blog posts during my time over in Barcelona and then again when our Barcelona guests visited Leeds. I can tell you from first-hand experience that the trend researchers and bloggers were very impressed that Guardian Leeds supported the project and it gave a lot of energy and excitement to the interviews and photo-shoots we carried out. I am sure there are a lot of projects in Leeds that have benefited from the support and exposure that the Guardian Leeds has given. I know recently during the Leeds in Vancouver project, the help and exposure on the Guardian Leeds blog really helped showcase what was happening to the people back in Leeds. 

Another massive way the Guardian Leeds helped out was with the recent explosion in popularity for the UK Observing Diary project. The project has been featured all over newspapers and television in Asia and the girls are about to sign their first book deal. All this coverage started with the Guardian Leeds post focusing on the project, it sowed the seed that grew into something amazing and I am sure there will be more examples of which this can be said.

The projects and examples we have mentioned here are obviously close to Hebe hearts because they are fashion-based but the amount of different community groups, charities, independents the Guardian Leeds has helped is amazing. The project has also stimulated heated debates on things like the Leeds Arena, Trinity, Kirkgate Market and much more.

I recently sat down with John and we spoke about the impact the project has had on the Leeds community and some of his personal highlights and challenges so far. I asked him a few questions:

What were the original aims of the 'Guardian Leeds' project?

The original aims, which are still valid today, were to provide Leeds with a collaborative blog which reflects the issues people in Leeds are talking about. We've followed a number of local community campaigns, such as the campaign to transform the abandoned Royal Park School in Hyde Park into a community hub, the traders' calls to halt the decline at Leeds Kirkgate Market, the successful campaign to stop City of Leeds School in Woodhouse from closing and the community's bid to take over South Leeds Sports Centre to name a few.

My aim is to look at community activism, but also to have an eye on council accountability, so we look very closely at the decisions that are made at the Civic Hall and cover the debates between councillors in-depth.

What we've also aimed to do is raise the profile of bloggers in Leeds. There's a massive online community in Leeds which is just starting to find its voice. These are exciting times, and I've tried to provide a platform for as many voices as I can through the daily morning 'Leeds today' posts and through our 'blogosphere' section which we're currently adding more bloggers to. We also encourage guest bloggers to submit posts and cover different subjects and events - ultimately it's a blog written by the people of Leeds for the people of Leeds.

Why did you personally become involved?

Saw the job advertised and thought 'that sounds right up my street'. I'd previously had 16 years in local weekly papers and was increasingly aware that the industry was changing rapidly. I saw the Guardian Local project - which is an innovative pilot scheme - as being a bold experiment and at the forefront of what journalism could be in the future.

What have been the most challenging parts of the job 

Balancing 20,000 different jobs at once. Managing your time effectively is an important part of this job and you have to learn that as much as the journalist in you wants to cover everything, you really can't!

What has been the most rewarding aspect?

Undoubtedly supporting some of the community campaigns we've been following. That's what really motivates me personally and professionally - making a difference to people's lives by giving them a voice and then shining a light onto the council's response.

What are the plans for the future? 

I'm keen to get more people writing guest posts and coming on the site and posting their comments, adding their pictures to the Flickr group and generally getting the poeple of Leeds to take ownership of what is their blog!

Lets hope that this is just the beginning for this project and it continues to grow in reach and importance to the Leeds community. There is still some massive untapped potential for the Guardian Leeds and we hope to help John and the project as much as we can in 2011. In the new year we will be collaborating in a new way with the Guardian Leeds and our own Leeds Online community working together which is exciting; we will have much more information on this in early 2011.

For now though we would just like to give a huge thank you to the Guardian for creating Guardian Leeds and to the tireless work done by John Baron. Well done :)

Oki-Ni 2011 collections is announced in epic style

We love Oki-Ni. Indeed, hardly a week goes by where someone in the team isn't caught slacking in order to scan their online gallery / store in order to find an addition to the weekend's wardrobe.

Last week Oki-Ni released this video as a way of introducing the spring-summer 2011 collection. Stunning film work and a gorgeous slab of CFCF's new EP The River makes this, for my money, one of the best bits of video released online during 2010... not that I've seen it all!?

Oki-Ni, which Shang Ting informs me is Japanese for "with appreciation", made its name producing limited edition fashion items born from collaborations between established brands and up-and-coming designers. It all began in 2001, and since then the brand has stayed firm to a set of values that have seen it evolve into an online destination for connoisseurs of style.

This year Oki-Ni also launched the Mix Series, which has allowed the brand to collaborate with musicians and DJs, and to showcase the outcome via a free monthly podcast. They commission sleeve art for each edition, and the artwork is used for a limited edition run of t-shirts. 

A look back at Hebe's 2010

As we head towards Christmas, we have been looking back at 2010: what an amazing first year for Hebe Media! We have done a lot this year and perhaps more importantly we have identified people, brands and cities with similar values who we are going to collaborate with in 2011.

Our Team 

Our team has more then doubled in size during the year and we have more people ready to roll with us in early 2011. Simon has joined us to put energy behind the team's interest in the arts; Stacey has her ear to the ground for all things music; and Shang Ting heads up our Fashion and Trends squad. We have new people joining and collaborating with each of these departments early next year so things are only going to get more interesting in every area. Although we have separate 'titles' and areas of expertise, Hebe is very much a team and collaborative movement. Every fashion related project we create will incorporate music and art. Every music project includes fashion and art.

Before joining the team on a permanent basis, Simon had been working with people in all corners of the culture under his own brand, Roomman. In recent weeks we have decided to merge Roomman with Hebe, and we look forward to taking advantage of the opportunities this will create to work with artists, curators, galleries and museums, performance companies and more.

Some of the projects we have been involved with in 2010 have been really interesting. Leeds in Barcelona was a great example of stimulating international relations and collaborations. In a word... has resulted in a series of projects supporting experiments in writing, including a major exhibition at Shandy Hall, Coxwold that attracted the attention of audiences and critics alike. Hyper Island have arrived in the UK and early next year are opening their first international 'school' in Manchester. Leeds Online has developed into an amazing network with more then 43,000+ people now engaged. These are just a few of the projects we have loved getting up to our eyeballs in during 2010. We have also worked with Global PLCs, consumer brands and non-for-profit organisations. It has been a crazy mix but we have enjoyed every bit of it for different reasons.

Some of the people we have collaborated with in 2010

Individually Shang Ting has the amazing UK Observing Diary and is about to sign her first book deal. Simon helped The Independent pick its 50 Best museums and galleries and got married! Stacey has been spearheading our Spanish communication with the launch of Hebe Espanyol on Twitter and here on the blog. I have written guest blogs for The Guardian Leeds and helped as much as possible with projects like Leeds Digital Festival and the Social Media Surgeries. 

All in all it has been a busy year. But speaking speaking personally, one I have really enjoyed. The same applies for the rest of the team. It has been a year of change for Simon:

"2010 has been a year of big changes, both in the world as a whole (economic, political, ecological) and for each of the team (weddings, migrations, job changes). In many ways it feels like all the change created the right conditions for us to start afresh, think differently, and do some truly special things. It's added up to be a year I for one won't forget, and has put much in place to help us grow further in 2011."

Shang Ting has also seen a lot of changes both personally and for the Hebe team in general:

"2010 has been an incredible year for me and for our team. I'm very grateful to be given the opportunities I've received this year, all thanks to Hebe. I'm also proud of myself  for a few little things I achieved this year since I just graduated in 2009. Hebe as a creative group is so different now than a year ago, I'm looking forward to what will happen next."

Our newest team member Stacey is looking forward to what 2011 will bring:

"I haven’t been at Hebe for the whole of 2010 as I graduated University in June but from the minute I started I have been constantly learning. I promised myself that I would join a company where I can keep being creative and keep learning. I love the fun stuff Hebe brings, I love the necessary stuff that keeps us grounded and I love my team. Lee and Simon had a vision and it has continued to come to fruition every day. I am so glad I am a part of it and that I can help Hebe grow as it helps me grow everyday. Who knows where we will be in 5 years time, I just know it’s going to be somewhere good. I have so much faith in all of us and what we have to offer."

Looking towards 2011

Next Year we will be presenting some cool new projects. We cannot say too much at this stage, but we are really excited by some of the things we will be announcing after Christmas. We will be putting on more events, creating more interesting content and will also begin telling our own story. Although the Hebe Media brand is only 14 months old, our company is now more then 10 years old and we have done a lot of different things and worked with some of the world's biggest brands. We feel it is important to begin telling this story to add some context and 'back-up' to some of the projects coming in 2011.

Hebe TV will be launched early next year and will give a much greater insight into things we are doing here. Content will include interviews and insights from some of the people we work with, introductions to team members, diaries from our interns, exclusive music videos and loads more. 

I hope this post has given a little more information to those of you not directly involved in some of our projects and we hope that next year we can share even more in terms of case studies and 'behind the scenes' stuff. 

STP's Far East Feature: Kung Fu

Today I was kicked in the back of the chair by someone here in the Hebe Media office. It made me want to get my Kung Fu on! It also got me thinking of some of the great Kung Fu movies I used to watch as a kid. 

Kung Fu, played such an important role in the Far East movie movement. In 1949, a of bunch of martial arts academies put together a fund to shoot a film about a legendary hero Wong Fei-Hung with not just acting, but actual kung fu fights in it. Since then, Kung Fu movies grew in popularity. Every decade, there were new Kung Fu stars to take the genre to the next level. The greatest star of all was Bruce Lee, his brand new performing style attracted global attention. After he died, all the studios tried to create a different Kung Fu star to fill his spot, including Jackie Chan. But people weren't buying it, no one can replace Bruce Lee.

"After Bruce Lee passed away, the whole movie industry went down. Everyone thinks he is the best, no one wanted to watch other Kung Fu movies, I was very disappointed at the time." - Jackie Chan

Luckily, a few years later they found back into people's hearts: Kung Fu comedy. And finally, Jackie Chan's career took off from this point. In the 80s, Kung Fu became a great support for action films, a few action directors even made it to the Hollywood and are still playing important roles there like Yuen Woo-ping for Matrix, Charlie's Angel, etc. Jet Li became famous afterwards in the 90s by playing the legend Wong Fei-Hung. 

Some people think that one of the popular themes in Kung Fu movies, you know the one, where the Kung Fu master beats some foreigner, are a comfort for the memories of the Chinese being invaded by foreign intruders. For kids (like me!), Kung Fu characters were just like Superman for us, giving us the feeling of knowing someone out there with great power, is fighting the big man and protecting us. And also it is just a lot of fun to learn from the tv how to Kick people in the face with style ;)

The Music Scene in Madrid

Indras playing in the James Joyce pub near Plaza Cibeles, Madrid

I lived in Madrid for almost 3 years. I was an 18 year old girl in a new city. I quickly got into the music scene, which back in 2003 was awesome. Almost every bar and nightclub had live bands and so much fresh new talent. The bar I worked in, Oneills, played host to some of the best new bands from all over Europe.

I soon became a 'groupie', following loads of Spanish bands. Although it's hard to pick the best bands I followed around Madrid, my favourite bands were Sexy Sadie, a Spanish band who sing in English but who are no longer together, Indras, a great band who aim to have a similar musical style Beatles but Spanish and Los Reyes del KO, a soulful band with amazing rhythm.

The best music venues over in Madrid include Bourbon Café, a country music style saloon bar which is home to Jazz, country and reggae music and had live beats flowing along with the dance tunes late night, the then Chesterfield Café, which is named the Orange Café, which is home to a very popular Erasmus night and Honky Tonk another popular music venue used by semi famous bands who are popular on the Madrid music scene. There is also Moby Dick Club up near the Bernabeu Stadium, where I had the pleasure of discovering one of my favourite Spanish bands Sexy Sadie.

A lot of the venues I used to hang out at are still popular now in 2010. The Sala Arena club still holds top gigs and La Riviera, where I saw Travis woo the crowd and sing Flowers with just an acoustic guitar and nothing else, is an amazing venue where MGMT and Motorhead are both performing there this month.

Although there are so many areas in Madrid, the most popular include the Calle Huertas close to the centre of Madrid, which has some live music venues as well as open plazas, nightclubs and small disco bars.

I have to say though one of my favourite places to hang out was Malasaña, an area that was the centre of the cultural movement of reinvention and freedom of expression, La Movida. It's a place full of retro bars, gothic bars and plazas where you would stand out in high heels as everyone is just in converse, jeans and t-shirts. The range of music in this area is amazing, ranging from Punk Rock and heavy mental to Indie and the 80’s, the 80’s being my all time favourite musical era.

My music

One of the funniest experiences of my life was sitting in a bar in Madrid and hearing myself come on the radio! I featured on the track Bottle; from the album Forever Living Young, by Spanish band Blue Child recorded in Mallorca a couple of years earlier. I was a bit shocked to say the least when it came on the radio but it was fun. The band made a video too and apparently as I was 'absent' they replaced me with a mannequin… not sure if there is a hidden meaning there or not ;-)

The one thing I learned about the Spanish music scene while living in Madrid, Mallorca, Granada, Barcelona and Albacete (phew!) is that it is VERY hard for a Spanish band to made it big singing in English. Sexy Sadie are one of the very few Spanish groups who have made it singing in English. So I leave you with a video from them recorded at the Sala Arena, Madrid in 2004. I am pretty sure you can hearing me singing from the crowd. It was one of the best concerts ever. Enjoy!