For Online Media Brands & Marketing

If you’ve opened up the Metro paper today and came across the story on Birmingham being voted ‘least romantic and most boring city in Europe’, then I’m guessing if you’re from Birmingham or know Birmingham a lot more; you might not agree with the findings.

It’s fair to say that this decision comes after 3,500 tourists rated the city as the most ‘boring’ place on the continent, however it’s a shame that a lot of the exciting and creative activities that take place within the city are over-shadowed and ultimately ignored because of the city’s stigma as a ‘boring’ place. There are so many young, entrepreneurs, pioneering creative professionals within Birmingham who are working hard to develop and improve the city’s persona as well as take Birmingham to an international level by promoting what’s taking place within the city. There are too many to mention!

Over the last few years, there has been an increasing amount of young talent flourishing to make it by setting up their own enterprises; the city’s Universities- Birmingham City, Aston & University of Birmingham developing projects and enterprise programmes to continue encouraging their students and graduates from the city to think entrepreneurial in business or their jobs. Furthermore, the city has a buzzing network of creative led SME’s, just take a walk to Digbeth– visit the creative culture at Custard Factory, walk further down and locations such as; Fazeley Studios, The Bond, The Arch offer something more which is definitely not ‘boring’.  Birmingham has many organisations who have contributed their knowledge and expertise nationally & internationally.

Let’s not get started on the musical talent the city has to offer, it’s a shame because Birmingham always gets dismissed and clouded by other cities; just visit Access to Music studios and you’ll see the hidden gems waiting to make their impact in the music industry; not to mention the local colleges which are filled with aspiring artists, designers, engineers, digital professionals & more. Boring? Birmingham….we think not; we’ll shortly be opening the next Brit type school – Birmingham Ormiston Academy will be open this September 2011.

As a young company ourselves, we (YEP Media) continuously create and develop projects which in turn generate awareness and interest to Birmingham and the people who live here. Previously, we’ve ran a digital arts project called ‘Say it Online’ which was commissioned by Birmingham City Council & Arts Council England WM. Our work during this project created interest from various arts organisations in Birmingham and provided an online platform for local residents to express their opinions’/views on the city’s events/shows.  Increasing participation and encouraging community cohesion is important in meeting the city’s goal as a culturally diverse and creative hub which can be showcased internationally. Our next project will be a music event called ‘Above & Beyond: Live Music by YEP’ which will headline artists/bands from Access to Music; plus support acts from the local area.

Birmingham might not be Venice, or as chic as Paris, probably not as buzzing as London but there is more to this city than what meets the eye. Obviously as a tourist you’ll see what’s right in front of you but we think it’s important to actually discover some of the hidden talent, sites and scenes within the city. Hopefully, many young entrepreneurs pioneering like ourselves will continue to promote what the city has to offer and next year, Birmingham won’t be classed in the ‘boring’ box.

To contact us:

YEP Media- www.yepmedia.co.uk

E-mail: info@yepmedia.co.uk

For a tour or Birmingham- Just give us a bell and we’ll show you the places to go!