While Sydney showed that it can do a proper winter (8C and an icy wind that bit fingers hard), Limehouse showed that it really knows how to bring people together. The Creative Circle launch party defied the cold to collect a capacity crowd at Misfits in Sydney. More importantly, the idea of Creative Circle – “a series of casual industry events where everyone in creative and production is welcome. We’re not planning to change the world, but we hope to open some discussions that might make the industry a better place for all” – was received with undiluted enthusiasm.

The launch was certainly a testament to Limehouse’s passion for detail. Even the absolute minutiae were worried about, fiddled with and fine-tuned. It was also a testament to patience. Finding a time when Covid wasn’t an unwelcome guest was a challenge. The idea for Creative Circle was born early in 2021.

There is certainly no shortage of topics for Creative Circle discussions. It seems that the industry people love could be more lovable. Needless to say – but perhaps more obvious if you’re not a bloke – is that the question, “Why do we still need to talk about gender equality?” came up a lot. It seems that old habits die hard and now that the industry isn’t talking about the value of women, women are the lesser gender again. “How can agencies get the best from production companies?” was also put up for consideration. So too were, “How can we win back the value and importance of craft?”, “Can we make it easier to use songs in advertising?”, “We need to get the layers under the CMO working together again,” and “How can we make the industry see that age isn’t a deficit?” The next Creative Circle events should be crackers too. Limehouse is working on a brilliant idea. More info to come when it’s set in stone.

“What happened tonight hasn’t happened in years – these are not my words,” Duncan Harriss, Limehouse managing director, said. “The conversation was easy, the evening was relaxed and they were committed to the future events, people told me. It’s a really great reward for an idea that we worked hard to get right.”

The next Creative Circle will be held in three months. Register your interest in going – and/or tell us your ideas for the event or what you’d like to discuss – here.