The Bristol Media Mentors web site is a brand new initiative that has brought together a group of the city’s leading creative entrepreneurs and business people who work across the digital, design, animation, TV and film production and publishing sectors to offer virtual mentoring support to members.

To access the free service, members simply log on and post a sector specific or general business question. The question is then automatically sent to all mentors and the response then shared by being posted on the site, allowing any Bristol Media member to contribute and share their experiences too.

A running archive of all the answers will also be available for members to refer to at any time, giving them access to a whole host of business support that they can refer to as and when they need it.

Mike Bennett, CEO, Bristol Media said:

“We want to help our members grow their businesses and become even more successful. Getting access to advice and support from experienced, successful mentors who understand the creative industry inside out can be invaluable. Because Bristol Media is uniquely placed, we were able to draw people, companies and experience together in one place and have been able to offer a service that supports each other and importantly allows us all share collective business experiences with the wider creative community “.

He continued:

“The value of being able to call on someone and tap into their extensive experience can be hugely beneficial when you are faced with a whole host of daily business challenges. That may be as simple as getting a different point of view from people who’ve been there and done that or simply reaffirmation of something you already know. Support like that can be immensely powerful when you’re working so hard to take your business forward…by giving all members access to the mentoring service, we’re confident that the advice will help give our members a competitive edge.”

One of the mentors involved in the scheme, Dave Sproxton, executive chairman and founder of Aardman Animations said about the service:

“This initiative from Bristol Media demonstrates yet again the collaborative nature of companies in Bristol. Sharing knowledge and experience has got be a good thing and if we can help accelerate the development and growth of the creative sector by using this on-line mentoring project the city and region have a lot to gain.”

In addition to the web-based service, Bristol Media will also be running face to face mentoring sessions and organising roundtable sessions to talk about specific business challenges over the next few months too.

Commenting on the new service, Pete Williams, MD of digital Start Up, Gibe Digital. Pete believes the scheme will help them accelerate their growth as a business:

He said: “As a new digital company with ambitious plans for the future it’s great to be part of something that gives our business access to this kind of support. Being able to tap into the collective wisdom of some of the industry’s leading figureheads about any business challenge or dilemma that may raise its head will be worth its weight in gold to us over the coming months and years”

Wayne Bryant, co-founder of design consultancy, Bob Design & Marketing, commented:

“When you’ve got your head down driving your business forward, you can often be faced with lots of different challenges, dilemmas and decisions to make. Finding out which way to turn and what path to follow can be difficult. A scheme like this will enable us to seek support and advice to ensure we’re on the right track and not at risk of making costly mistakes.”

Members will need their Bristol Media log in details to access the site to post questions and comments.

Bristol Media Mentors

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