Schmooze and Booze

sub-editor Helen Lewis in 2006, it is run on a not-for-profit basis and is held at various venues across the city. Growing from an initial base of around twenty people, Schmooze and Booze has gradually grown to a consistently oversubscribed event with a turnout of 200-250 people.

Beginnings

Schmooze and Booze's founding came about to encourage the development of cross-newspaper social networks, which was traditionally much simpler before the move of several newspapers from central locations to Canary Wharf. As founder Helen Lewis remarked in an interview with The Guardian [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/audio/2008/may/15/media.talk.podcast Guardian Media Talk Podcast, May 15 2008] ] :

The seed of more organized development of Schmooze and Booze as a networking event was sowed at an informal gathering of around twenty friends writing for various newspapers and magazines, many of whom were friends from Oxford University, at the Southwark Tavern near London Bridge in the summer of 2006. Several commented how difficult it was to meet people in other media organizations, and how well-connected older journalists appeared to be in comparison. It was suggested that the group make an effort to connect their respective 'work networks'.

In August, the first Schmooze and Booze was held at the Commercial Tavern in Shoreditch with the attendance of 'forty or so young hacks, politicos, meeja types and assorted hangers-on' [ [http://www.schmoozeandbooze.co.uk Schmooze and Booze website] ] .

Establishment on London Media Scene

Thereafter Schmooze and Booze became a frequent occurence, taking place every two or three months. It started to gain exposure on media websites such as [http://www.gorkana.com/ Gorkana] and Press Gazette [ [http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=38645 Press Gazette article, August 2007] ] [ [http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=37956 Press Gazette article, June 2007] ] . Numbers quickly grew to over a hundred attendees, with demand for more frequent events leading to the establishment of Schmooze and Booze nights almost monthly by the end of the year. By the fourth event, in January 2007, all 190 available places were booked up in advance.

No money is spent on advertising the events or booking venues - invitations are sent out and returned via Gmail and Facebook, with numbers growing organically through word-of-mouth advertising and the Schmooze and Booze [http://www.schmoozeandbooze.co.uk website] .

Although there is no 'formal' age limit or target age group, the upper age of the events are usually around 35. This is largely due to the intention of Schmooze and Booze to build networks for 'entry level', i.e. younger, journalists. The split of attendees is usually approximately 50% journalists, 30% PR, 15% documentary / TV writers and 5% non-media. At all events from the very start, all attendees wear name-tags to speed up introductions and allow people to find common conversation topics. These were originally handwritten, but with the advent of event sponsorship they have been upgraded to more professional-looking printed name-tags. All events feature a 'survivors photo' of the people remaining to the very end of the evening.

The following is a full list of Schmooze and Booze events:

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June 2007's Schmooze and Booze became known as 'Queues and Booze' due to its huge queues for food, resulting from the overwhelming popularity of the venue's barbecue.

Future Developments

In a recent interview conducted at Schmooze and Twos in Paddington and published on YouTube [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lmUpcAQ8fg Short interview with Helen Lewis] ] , Lewis admitted that the rapid growth of Schmooze and Booze had taken her by surprise, describing it as a 'beast' that had 'almost spiralled out of control'.

However, she revealed that she planned no future changes to the present format and had no intention of changing its not-for-profit nature, refusing to consider charging for entry to the events.

References