Online magazine and network community Creative Boom is celebrating two years of supporting and inspiring the creative industries across the UK this weekend (Sunday 24 July 2011).
Founded by Cheshire businesswoman Katy Cowan (32), the site was launched on 24 July 2009 and is run on a voluntary basis to help other creative freelancers and businesses.
Creative Boom includes a national focus but also has 12 regional ‘Hubs’, including all the regions of England as well as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It has its own free jobs board and directory, allowing people to find work, network and connect with other companies.
Speaking of the site’s two year anniversary, Katy said: “The original idea behind Creative Boom was to give creatives across the UK a place to ‘virtually’ get together and share their talents, along with news updates and opportunities. At the time of its launch, I felt there wasn’t enough support out there and many people were struggling, particularly during the recession. That’s why I decided to do something about it and create my own support network – even if it meant I had to volunteer my own time and skills to achieve something.”
Katy’s husband Tom, a software engineer, developed Creative Boom and continues to add improvements whenever he can. During working hours, the pair run their own marketing firm in Cheshire called Boomerang.
Since its launch, Creative Boom has gone through five re-designs and has evolved to meet the needs of its growing community. It has become a phenomenal success and now gets more than 50,000 visitors per month while Katy also has a substantial following on Twitter with nearly 22,000 followers. It has even attracted the attention of the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, The Arts Council and a wealth of big brands, international agencies and UK universities and colleges.
Katy added: “I can’t quite believe it’s been two years since we started Creative Boom. We don’t actually make any money from the site as anything we do make gets pumped straight back into running and developing it.
“It’s certainly lots of hard work and there’s been many a lost weekend and evening along the way. But we’ve met so many fantastic people and had so much support and encouragement to keep us going. I really want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for supporting Creative Boom. Here’s to another two years of supporting the creative industries!”
For more information about Creative Boom, read Creative Boom's About page. Or you can follow Katy Cowan on Twitter @Creative_Boom.
