Tuttle runs from 10am to midday. It always has, that’s always been the deal – I had people today trying to tell me it used to be different. Nope, but I understand why that belief has come about.
In all of our previous venues, apart from our beloved #sexfactory, there was some form of catering, we had the space set aside for Tuttle and at 12 o’clock those who wanted to stick around and eat and drink could do so and at both the Coach & Horses and the ICA I just asked people to move to another part of the venue.
Now that we’re at the Centre for Creative Collaboration, we have a slightly different deal – it’s not a public space and there is no catering or serving staff. In addition I personally get overwhelmed by the number and variety of conversations I have at Tuttle. It was rare in the past for me to stick around – I always need some space after Tuttle and since there’s nobody employed here to keep the place open and look after people if I want to disappear I’ve had to chuck people out.
This is particularly difficult when people turn up just before 12 with the assumption that something will be continuing. At the ICA you could do that because the place was open and none of us *had* to stay to lock up and look after the space.
You don’t like this abrupt ending and neither do I.
So I’d like to suggest a different way – a smoother transition from “loads of people” to “everybody’s gone home”. We will have tables and a space set aside for people to have lunch that they bring with them if they want to. We will also make sure that someone from the Centre with a key will be around. At different times this may be me or Brian or one of the other keyholding project people like the Accidental Festival team. I will announce at 12 o’clock something like: “Tuttle proper is over for another week, but some people like to stick around for lunch so please help us clear away the coffees and tea stuff and set up for lunch”
This maintains a boundary around Tuttle but gives some flexibility for people who want to extend their tuttle time. It restores, I hope, the vibe around Tuttle that we used to have. I would then feel able to go away for a bit and get my head back on straight or do stuff I need to do.
Does this work better? What have I missed?
