4 Good Reasons to Leave the House This Week if You Live in Edinburgh

I’ve not been getting out of the house much since I’ve been self-employed and stopped drinking  – and yet every week there is an interesting gathering of some sort which I’m missing out on.

So I thought maybe if I start listing some of the events that are on in Edinburgh for the creative and tech community I might feel more inclined to get out and about.

Plus hopefully it will be helpful to others (I know how easy it is to lose track of what’s going on).  Even people who don’t live in Auld Reekie seem to be interested in what’s happening here judging by some of the emails I get.

All Week

Hotdesking at TechCube 1 Summerhall Place, Mon-Fri 8am -6:30pm

Hotdesking at TechCube Edinburgh is a new space “for freelancers, designers, developers, students and startups in which to work, be creative and engage with the TechCube Community.” It launches on Monday with a special offer for the first month of £60 a month or £5 a day, which makes it an affordable option for working somewhere other than the kitchen table.

Monday 2nd June 2013

Edbooktweetup, Looking Glass Books,  36 Simpson Loan

Edbooktweetup is “A bookish tweet up for book lovers in Edinburgh! Brought to you by @EdinCityofLit and @Lookingglassbks. Here in the world’s first City of Literature, we love getting together and talking books, words and ideas. And we love our Twitter and Facebook communities and the people we find there, and we love our local bookshops. So we’re combining all of the above in the splendid environs of Looking Glass Books, to meet each other in 3D and continue the natter offline.”

Tuesday 3rd June 2013

Creative Circles @brewlab 6-8 South College Street 8.30-10.30am

“Creative Circles is a casual monthly meetup for creatives & tech folks where you can pop along for a coffee and a chat, exchange creative ideas, share stories and hang yer hat for a couple of hours. Creative Edinburgh’s freelance directors Lynsey and Janine will be there getting their caffeine kick for the day, so come and join us.” I’m not normally feeling very sociable at this time in the morning but the coffee should help with that!

Edinburgh Social Media Surgery, MacDonald Road Library, Leith 5:30 -7:30pm.

Social Media Surgeries are informal gatherings of “people who want to learn how to use the web to communicate, campaign or collaborate. Surgeries are deliberately relaxed. No presentations, no jargon, no-one telling people what they think they should know.

Instead you will sit next to someone who understands good ways to use the internet, someone who will listen to what you do, and then show you free, useful tools. If you like what you see they can also help you set up your blog, Facebook page or Twitter account.”

I’ve volunteered at a few of these in the past and am intending to go along on Tuesday as well so maybe I’ll see you there – you can sign up here as a volunteer “surgeon” or as a “patient” if you need a little help with something social media related.

Let me know if there’s anything else on this week in Auld Reekie that I’ve missed!