Is it worth the £2,400 per person to attend the Do Lectures?
THERE is no easier way to get a conversation started with someone you’ve never met before than saying: “I’m writing a column for the Western Mail, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”
Being nosy and chopsy, I was in my element to be able to go along for a day to the 10th-anniversary Do Lectures in Cardigan at the end of June, armed with a notepad and pen.
I may even have omitted to mention to some of my interviewees that technically I’m a solicitor, not a journalist.
The Do Lectures were founded by David and Clare Hieatt, who also founded Hiut Denim. Hieatt and Hiut are pronounced the same way.
The Do Lectures describe themselves as “an encouragement network”.
“The idea is a simple one,” explains their website. “That people who Do things can inspire the rest of us to go and Do things too. So each year we invite a set of people to come and tell us what they Do.”
The three-day event is hosted at the Hieatts’ non-working farm, set high on a hill overlooking luscious green fields and, in the distance, a little peek of Poppit Sands.
The lecture hall is a disused cowshed and the dining area is a barn. Overgrown beds of cornflowers, poppies and sweet peas provide contrast to the greys and browns of the old, beautifully weathered walls of the farm. It is unbelievably pretty, especially in glorious sunshine like last weekend.
The lectures themselves are not dissimilar to TEDx talks.
The speakers are from a variety of backgrounds and many are international.
They give 30-minute talks about what they do and why. Topics include business, health, food, charity work and big life adventures.
Anyone can watch any of the previous years’ talks for free, as they are all available online.
However, the talks are only part of the story. Unlike TEDx events, which last a day or just an evening, the Do Lectures wrap a three-day wellbeing and networking festival around the talks.
Admission is by application, not just on payment of the fee.
Sleeping accommodation glamping in bell tents and tipis.
Food is simple but excellent, served and eaten cafeteria-style. There is a sauna with a view, in a field all on its own.
At night there are a couple of bars, including this year a gin bar and a Seedlip bar for those not wanting to drink alcohol, live music, wood fires and solar lights twinkling from the branches of apple trees.
Early morning, before the talks start, you can join in with yoga or a 5k run followed by a swim at Poppit Sands.
So what sort of people attend? Fateme is 40 and Italian, but lives in Switzerland now.
She came because of a specific phrase she had read about Do – “it’s a place for mavericks”. She said she was often called a maverick as an insult, but at Do it was a compliment.
Margaret, 30, had come from Colorado to attend.
She had stumbled upon it by googling the best creative conference to attend.
This was her first time in Wales and she had known nothing about the country before deciding to attend. In preparation for her visit had bought a number of books, including John Davies’ History of Wales.
She said conferences in Las Vegas were very expensive and didn’t include so much as a cup of coffee, whereas all food was included at Do.
Business is what had brought Simon, 38, from Preston to Do. A consultant advising farmers and is rural businesses, he was keen to see how disused farm buildings could be revitalised and given a new purpose.
Many of the people I spoke to were in creative services such as advertising, digital agencies and design, food and clothing.
Their route to Do was David Hieatt.
Either they knew David from his time working in advertising; they were fans of David and Clare’s previous business Howies or their current one Hiut Denim; or they had heard David speak at other events. David Hieatt has a large and loyal fan base who love him. People who hear him speak are smitten.
Rebecca, 42, from Guildford, is MD of a creative agency in London and was attending Do for the second time.
She said that it wasn’t just the content of the lectures that made Do special, but the connections made with other people attending.
“The talking in between the talks, that’s the value.”
Kirstie, 44, a change management consultant from Scotland originally but who has lived in London for years, was attending for the third time.
She said attending Do is like a re-set and that she thinks of it as anti-Google. “Google’s algorithms give you more of what you’ve already been looking at. Do gives you something different.”
“I love being around people who make me think,” was why Michael, 49, from Newcastle was attending.
He runs a clothing company and all his products are made in Britain, like Hiut Denim.
Hiut Denim is also what led Ian, 50, from Glasgow to Do. He works for a company that designs and manufactures cashmere.
He said Do was simply not comparable with business conferences