Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refresh your brand, a ‘brand sprint’ is a fantastic way to explore ways to differentiate your organisation and stand out amongst your competitors.

Philip Johnson, Programme Director of Locate East Sussex, said: ‘‘Branding is more than just a logo; your brand underpins your whole business, and when managed properly it can add genuine value to everything you do. Brand Sprint is a health check, to refresh and refocus your priorities with design thinking at its core.’

Who is it for?
It’s primarily targeted towards CEOs, business owners, marketing managers and entrepreneurs who want to understand more about branding and master simple techniques that can help them grow their business. The workshop is suitable for companies selling to both other businesses and the general public in East Sussex who would like to:

• Stand out from the competition
• Take their business to the next level and drive growth
• Attract more customers or better employees
• Out-think rather than outspend the competition
• Increase profits and charge a price-premium
• See better returns on their marketing budget

If you’re struggling with how to make your business stand out and compete in an overcrowded market, this workshop is for you.

Content of the workshop: 
• What branding is and why it’s your most important business asset
• Simple exercises and tools for unlocking and building your brand
• An effective process for uncovering your competitive advantage
• Problem-solving techniques to help your brand evolve, grow and compete

All attendees will also receive a free copy of a branding book full of thought-provoking articles on how your organisation can innovate, create value, improve profitability and even make the world a better place.

The Hastings Workshop will be taking place on 11th March at the Hastings Contemporary. Places are limited, so interested businesses should register here as soon as possible. bit.ly/hastingsbrandsprint 

• If you cannot make the Hastings workshop, the workshop will also be run at the following other local venues. 

27th February
De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill
bit.ly/bexhillbrandsprint

4th March
Eastbourne Towner, Eastbourne
bit.ly/eastbournebrandsprint 

6th March
Lewes Depot, Lewes 
bit.ly/lewesbrandsprint 

7th April
Ashdown Park Hotel, Forest Row
bit.ly/forestrowbrandsprint 

Andrew Myers checks out music for dining in the Hastings environs.
The Jazz Organization @ NUR – MillerHutch @Lewes Depot

In this era of stadium gigs, multi-millionaire stars and global streaming, it’s easy to forget that for many working musicians, life revolves around smaller gigs where the music is very often relegated to a background status. 

Yet somehow musicians rise above their surroundings, enter their own world and produce music of the highest quality – for themselves if not always for the audience.

Drummer Tony MacDonnell has been running the Jazz Organization at Nur Restaurant and Lounge in Robertson Street every Thursday for a number of years now. His trio, with Andrew Winterborn on piano and Alistair Franklin on bass, features a different guest soloist every week, very much in the time-honoured tradition of the standard blowing session. 

Last Thursday, it was the turn of tenor saxist Greg Heath. Readers will be familiar with Greg’s work with Hexagonal – high energy music that’s very much the centre of attention whenever they play. It was a joy to hear him in this smaller, more intimate context, a beautiful rendition of the ballad You Don’t Know what Love Is being a particular highlight. Marvellous, spontaneous music-making, fantastic food and no entry charge – this is a great evening that deserves our support.

On Sunday morning, it was over to the Depot in Lewes for a delightful brunch gig from St Leonards-based duo, Vladimir Miller on piano and Hutch Demouilpied on trumpet, flute and a remarkable instrument called the baritone horn. Soulful treatments of standards such as: Just Friends, Jordu and Lonnie’s Lament rubbed shoulders with inventive original compositions from both musicians, which to my ear sounded less like jazz and more like film music – entirely appropriate in a cinema, of course. I was bowled over by Vlad’s arrangement of The Castle from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Some of the more conservative listeners present were briefly startled when the duo cheekily snuck in a couple of pieces of avant-garde free improvisation. But normality was soon restored – this was
a perfectly-judged balance of challenge and familiarity.

Two very different gigs that admirably performed the function of providing ear-tickling sonic ambience for those whose priorities were of a culinary nature, but also provided rich musical nutrition for more attentive listeners. So next time you’re in a venue with musicians playing what seems to be background music, take a moment to tune in to what they’re doing. You never know what you might hear.