About 5 years ago a friend of mine decided that we needed a Funky Shirt Club.

I had little idea what that meant outside of the obvious, but it was something that sounded fun so I went along with it.

The first event was a small gathering of friends within the creative industries to create a space for networking and sharing.

Fast forward 5 years and this little event has been steadily growing and connecting me with some industry legends.

At the last event we had 2 John Altmans!

One was the mentor of legends such as Amy Winehouse and George Michael.

The other was one of the most well known soap opera characters that I grew up with: Nasty Nick Cotton from Eastenders.

I’ve not watched this for many years now but back in the day when over 30 million people tuned into the soap, he was providing the entertainment.

The man responsible for launching Pavarotti, Paul Lynton, also joined us, along with a host of other well-respected legends in the film and music industries.

So, how did we manage this?

The Funky Shirt Club was a result of one man’s passion for all things creative in film and music.

Richard Selwyn-Barnett has spent his life networking with creatives and building relationships with them.

What’s unique about Richard is that he does this for fun. There has been no commercial angle to this at all.

Consequently, he is liked and respected by those who get to know him.

And he has brought me along on the journey.

So, what insights can you take from this?

1. Focus on what you love and things will be much easier. 
2. Small, focussed, invite-only events create exclusivity and demand. 
3. Inviting good people will draw in other good people, because reputation matters.
4. Bigger opportunities will arise from such gatherings when quality people are the focus.
5. The fun aspect of events cannot be underestimated.

There are other aspects I could highlight but for the sake of brevity I will leave it at those 5 points.

In summary, less can be more with events when quality trumps quantity.

The evolution of The Funky Shirt Club has demonstrated this. Also, we always have a few potential rising stars in the room to meet these industry legends.

Adding value and having fun is at the heart of the event. This combination seems to work well in events.

And if you ever consider attending a Funky Shirt Club event, you will need to take the time to get to know me or Richard better as we only invite those who we know, like and trust.

Occasionally someone may get through the net, but our audience will always flush out the good from the bad.

All events start with an idea and The Funky Shirt Club is a great example of where it can lead.