Anywhere Working Week 2013 - London [Live blog]
By Janey
It’s the final day of Anywhere Working Week 2013, the finale of a fantastic week meeting some fantastic flexible workers - we’ve had a ball, so let’s go out with a bang today!
Morning briefing
8am - we’ve kicked off the morning in the London Transport Museum after an early start, the speakers have begun to arrive and we’re just waiting for the guests (and the coffee)
8.30am - our guests have arrived, the coffee and the pastries have arrived, we have connected to WiFi, so now we can relax and enjoy the morning
8.50am - we make our way into the Cubic Theatre to begin the morning of speeches. First up is Steve Tassell from Anywhere Working to introduce the morning
8.55am - Iain Macbeth from TFL is next on the stage talking about how flexible working helps our travel system to become more efficient and sustainable. Iain tells us how 62 million journeys were made during The Games, 35% more than normal. He tells us how a small change in how we travel and work can make a huge change to our travel network
9.05am - Dave Coplin from Microsoft is on stage talking about the future world of work and technology. Dave tells us that we need to stop thinking of work as a destination but instead think of it as a thing we do. We need to ask ourselves everyday, ‘where is the best place for me to work today? What tasks to I have today and where is the best place for me to complete them?’. Dave tells us that we need to stop focusing on the process and start looking at the outcomes
9.13am - Rachel McGuinness, Founder of Zest Lifestyle now on the stage. Rachel is going to try and mend broken Britain in 10 minutes. She is teaching us how being healthy can help benefit our economy. Did you know that less than 30% of men and women eat their 5 a day? If we don’t mend our ways we are going to bankrupt the NHS, we are the third laziest country in the Europe. Rachel tells us to get healthy because our economy needs us to be healthy!
9.25am - Mandy Garner from Working Mums stands up to tell us about how she flexibly works. Mandy turned to flexible working after one to many late charges from the nursery and after missing a train to a meeting, phoning her husband to say ‘if I continue like this I’ll die’. Mandy tells us how flexible working is fantastic for individuals (particularly parents) but also holds many opportunities for businesses
9.35am - well we couldn’t give all the limelight to our speakers, our very own David Clare hops on the stage to tell our guests (those who don’t already know) all about Anywhere Working and what we’re up to this year
9.45am - we conclude the morning speeches, we head to our flexible working space for a cup of coffee, to plug in and begin practising what we preach by flexibly working together
10am - we’re flexible working and offering social media and content workshops from the Anywhere Working team in a drop-in clinic style
12 - We’re impressed at how hard everyone’s working but we’re taking a break for lunch
3.30pm - we’ve had a great day flexibly working in the transport museum, a few people are still working away whilst others have gone to make good use of their free museum passes
4.00pm - the Anywhere Working Team have arrived at Aldwych dis-used tube station to set-up for the evening event. Brr it’s chilly in here but we hope that once the bar is set-up and our guests arrive it will warm up
5.45pm - our speakers have arrived, we’ve set-up our stage, the bar and we’re ready to go
6.05pm - the guests are arriving and the station is warming up
6.40pm - After a few drinks and interesting conversations, Steve Tassell from Anywhere Working kicks off the Ignite talks by introducing the evening
6.50pm - first on the stage is Kerstin Sailer a Lecturer in Complex Buildings at UCL and a Workplace Consultant. Kerstin talks about the importance of space and how flexible working can infact happen within the office by utilising different spaces. Kerstin tells us that space gives us a scene to act out our daily tasks and to work anywhere
6.55pm - Sam Farmer a Cosmetic Scientist and a homeworker takes to the stage to share his working from home experiences. Sam tells his story with great charisma and humour explaining how he works from his farm with his ‘collys’ (not colleagues) and in his dressing gown
7.00pm - Alex Butler from Kindred HQ is next up. Alex’s Ignite introduces us to the Kindred network from freelancers and independent workers. Alex explains how the network saves freelancers from going crazy, she tells us that as a freelancer there are days where you think ‘what the hell am I doing? and no one understands me’ - the Kindred network is validation that you’re not going crazy
7.10pm - we take a break from the Ignite talks for a couple of drinks and to chat to our guests
7.35pm - Ziona Strelitz the Founder of ZZA Responsive User Environments introduces us to the evening’s second set of Ignite talks. Ziona explains the importance of space and the difference types of space: home, the office and the third space. Ziona tells us that people want community, buzz and a place, she believes that productivity = convenience + mindset
7.40pm - Luke Palmer a local Farmer has a different kind of a flexible working story, he takes to the stage to explain. Luke tells us how technology makes him more productive at his job on the farm. Luke uses excel sheets to input field data and geo-tags photos from problem spots on the farm so he know exactly where re-visit and check-up on
7.45pm - Mauli Arora from University of Westminster takes to the stage to tell us how the University uses Office 365 to bring students and lecturers together
7.50pm - Our very own Anywhere Worker David Clare (unknown to turn down a chance in the spotlight) takes to the stage to introduce everyone to the Anywhere Working team, what we’re all about and to recap on Anywhere Working Week 2013
8.00pm - that’s the end of our Anywhere Working Week Ignite talks - the Anywhere Working team can now relax and unwind over some drinks with our guests 
9.30pm - the Anywhere Working team pack-up the kit for the very last time this year! We raise a glass to a fantastic week and head home to be re-united with our beloved beds
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