Tell us about the Raising the Bar?
Raising the Bar London is a global educational initiative, aimed at making education part of a city’s popular culture. We believe in attracting a young audience to enjoy learning and debate, with a pint of beer.
We want to show that higher education is not only a means for the privileged to pursue a career, but also a way to stimulate and enrich the general population.
Raising the Bar started in New York in 2014, and brought over 6,000 New Yorkers to attend lectures in 50 different bars throughout the city.
In London, Raising the Bar recognize the wide cultural stage and bringing this great idea to live in our opening event on September 16. In the opening event we will be offering our audience 30 notable speakers, who will share knowledge and ideas in 20 different bars around London.
In London, we expect to make Raising the Bar a once a month concept, which every socially active Londoner will be familiar with.
What did inspire this project? What is unique about the project?
Raising the Bar was created by group of enterprising students from New York City in 2014, a mixed group of actors, doctors, economists, writers, and bankers. They were united in their passion for constant innovation and desire to learn, inside and outside of the classroom. That brought the idea of bringing the city’s brightest minds to the last place you would expect them: in your neighborhood bar.
In London we fell in love with the idea, recognizing the huge potential of holding this exciting, enlightening event in the greatest cultural city in the world. Raising the Bar London is unique by its wide variety of topics covering different fields to reach multiple audiences, and all absolutely free!
What kind of topics will be discussed and how do you select the speakers for the talks?
Finding the speakers was the most time intensive process of all in our preparations for the event. We carefully selected speakers, professors and researchers with unique knowledge and ideas. Some were found through independent research, some through students’ recommendations, and others through our great partners in Specialist Speakers agency.
As mentioned before, the idea of Raising the Bar is to touch variety of completely different topics. In our list you can find Fashion next to brain science, an ex MP next to an art critic, and many more. For the full speakers list you will have to visit our website!
Why this event should be interesting to the regular people as opposed to just academics?
Using the bars as a stage for the talks makes the whole difference. This fun, informal environment provides the platform for unusual topics by charismatic speakers, delivering a vibrant social experience that couldn’t be further from the university library.
How to become a part of Raising the Bar?
The only thing that you have to do is to go to our website, choose a talk that you like and to sign in for free. We will keep take care of the rest and will keep you posted for future events as well!
Why did you choose Shoreditch to run this festival?
The event is not happening only in Shoreditch, but mainly in Shoreditch area and the City. We believe that this kind of event is suitable and attractive for the artistic crowd of this area, as well as big part of the topics that we offer.
What does the future has in store for Raising the Bar?
Raising the Bar London is aim to create this great idea on a monthly base. Obviously, we won’t target 30 speakers each month, but will definitely keep it going in a slightly different concept. We hope to reach the point where Raising the Bar events are part of the city’s night-life schedule and something that every socially active Londoner is familiar with it.
Social links:
Website: http://www.rtbevent.com/london-1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RTBL_London
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/882881271765920/
