The crowd economy offers new and exciting opportunities for regional businesses, organisations, and networks operating across the creative and cultural sectors. By involving the crowd, businesses can find new ways to develop ideas, reach wider audiences, access alternative funding, and improve efficiency—all while staying true to their unique identity and ambitions.

Many organisations face challenges in growing, funding, and sustaining their work. This two-part workshop series introduces the basics of crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and open innovation while also exploring more advanced strategies. It provides a starting point for businesses and networks new to these approaches, as well as deeper insights for those looking to refine and expand their crowd engagement strategies.

Across two online sessions, Crowd Economy specialist Tim Wright will share his expert knowledge, offering real-world examples, key strategies, and practical tools for implementing crowd-driven approaches.

Part One: Understanding the Crowd Economy

This session provides an introduction to the crowd economy, explaining its core concepts and why it is becoming such an important model for businesses and organisations. Participants will explore how crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and collective intelligence can drive innovation, growth, and efficiency.

Key Themes:

What is the crowd economy, and why does it matter?
How different industries are using crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and open innovation
The potential benefits and challenges of engaging the crowd
Case studies of businesses and organisations successfully using crowd-driven approaches
How crowd engagement can help test ideas, build communities, and drive new opportunities

Participants will take part in an interactive discussion and leave with a clearer understanding of how the crowd economy could apply to their business, network, organisation or practice.This workshop series is designed for businesses, organisations, and networks working across the creative, cultural, and heritage sectors, however, it will also be of real interest to those from wider commercial and non-profit backgrounds. Whether you're exploring crowd engagement for the first time or looking to deepen your understanding, this series will provide valuable insights and practical strategies to help you more effectively harness the power of the crowd.

Who Is This For? This workshop series is designed for businesses, organisations, and networks working across the creative, cultural, and heritage sectors, however, it will also be of real interest to those from wider commercial and non-profit backgrounds. Whether you're exploring crowd engagement for the first time or looking to deepen your understanding, this series will provide valuable insights and practical strategies to help you more effectively harness the power of the crowd.

Presenter:

Tim Wright, Co-founder, Director, Twintangibles

Tim Wright is a management consultant, published author, and sought-after speaker.

He is the Co-founder and Director of Twintangibles, a management consultancy that helps organisations create value and drive innovation through the opportunities presented by the crowd economy. His expertise spans strategic guidance on crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, knowledge management and transfer, collaboration, and the use of collaborative technologies.

A recognised thought leader in his field, Tim is a published author and a highly regarded speaker, presenter, chair, and commentator at international events curated by organisations such as the OECD, Nesta, and others.

He has worked as a consultant, practitioner, and senior manager with global commercial organisations, including Egon Zehnder International and McKinsey & Co. For five years, he was part of the Executive Management team of ITI Scotland, a £500M innovation programme based on a highly collaborative open innovation model.

Tim is a graduate of Durham University and Robert Gordon University and holds an MBA with Distinction from ULSM. He is also a past winner of the Ashridge/Guardian MBA Essay of the Year. He also serves as a Board Member of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, where he is also a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Service Delivery Committee.

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Introduction to the Crowd Economy - Part 1 Understanding the Crowd Economy