In the Club

Ep 44: IDS Spotlight Manchester

• ClassForKids

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Step into the vibrant world of dance education as we take you behind the scenes at IDS's Spotlight event in Manchester. This gathering brought together passionate dance school owners and teachers from across the UK for a day of learning, connection, and inspiration.

Through candid conversations with dance educators, we uncover the remarkable journeys that led them to careers in dance. What stands out is how many began dancing at just two or three years old, developing a lifelong passion that eventually became their livelihood. As one teacher beautifully expressed, "We wouldn't do it if we didn't love it" – a sentiment that captures the dedication permeating the dance education community.

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Speaker 1:

There's somebody new filming us. There is, yeah, somebody new behind the camera.

Speaker 2:

Who's that Feels silly? I don't know. I was asking you.

Speaker 1:

I thought you knew. Did he sign in? I don't know what's your name? Oh, he doesn't talk, he laughs. Though we have behind the camera today, cameron, which I think is great. You've come up with camera on, camera off. Yeah, camera on, camera off. Cameron is our new video artist. We'll try and get him in front of the camera at some point, but not quite yet, I'm afraid. But welcome to an episode of In the Club. It is Caitlin and I. Today.

Speaker 2:

They're doing the intro-outro, as we call it, and we're doing this podcast all about what We've just been to, spotlight, which is IDS's event, and this was in Manchester, so we got back the other night night it was night night it was train was delayed. Yeah, um, but you know it's done to stuff in life. We can expect the train to be delayed.

Speaker 1:

IDS international dance supplies. They're our partner, um, and they're our kind of dancewear supplier partner. It's been a great year with them so far. It really has, yeah, and they're great. If you guys which I'm sure you are, and if you're not, then why not? I'd touch it. But yeah, everything that's happened within this partnership, whether it be events or whether it be campaigns and initiatives we're running, they're great guys.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they are, they are very sound.

Speaker 1:

And you had a lot to do with not just the kind of organisation. I say the thing, but you'd done a talk in front of a whole room full of dance teachers and dance schoolers.

Speaker 2:

I did. Yes, I got them to run and find a costume. They felt summed up their dance school, which was a bit chaotic, but in the best way.

Speaker 1:

Go put a clap of it. Actually I'll do a clap and then they'll have seen it, because I'll give it to Mr Laughs-a-lot and everybody can see that. But yes, it went very well.

Speaker 2:

It did. Yeah, it was good. We had steps five, six, seven, eight. Who doesn't love that?

Speaker 1:

Or the music. Yeah, that was your choice as well. Yeah, just sort of knocking it out of the park this week, mm-hmm, thanks.

Speaker 2:

Your talk was all about social media. That was yeah, and content creation just a little bit about kind of how actionable steps they can take away and do now to help Be easy to find and easy to book. Yes, was the takeaway really which we like.

Speaker 1:

We do those things and also at the event we had Sarah Gittins who was doing a big day worth of sessions from the den. You should look her up and she was fantastic. We'd never met I From the den. She'd look her up and she was fantastic.

Speaker 2:

We'd never met. I'd never met Sarah. You'd met her before. I met her very briefly at Elevate a few weeks ago, which was another IDS event. She'd been all over the country recently. Well, you've been at Elevate in London. You've been how many times this year Since I started this job in January, I've been in London pretty much.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, that's a very important piece of content. Since I could just walk out the door, I'm in London. I'm out of London.

Speaker 2:

I'm in London. Oh no, she had to go to Chew. Poor her. What was that?

Speaker 1:

But yes, you were saying I can't remember what I was saying, I don't know.

Speaker 2:

I've distracted myself there. I feel it's not useful what Finn's talking about currently.

Speaker 1:

We've been there a lot actually, and probably a lot more to come.

Speaker 2:

But yes, I met Sarah at Alibait two weeks ago.

Speaker 1:

And we're hopefully going to catch up with Sarah soon. Yep, the event was great and one of the things we did at the event was we took the podcast down. We did, and we spoke to a number of dance school owners, dance school teachers, and I think we can just go into that now and listen to and watch IDS Spotlight event live. It's not live 2025. Live in 2025.

Speaker 2:

We don't get one in 2025. That's right, we know it's good, it's 2025. Okay, it's just becoming shambles. It's just something for our laces. It's rad here's the interviews.

Speaker 1:

We are here at IDids spotlight in manchester and I have here kat who is the organiser of this event is that correct?

Speaker 3:

it is yes.

Speaker 1:

We love having you here this is the second one we've been at this year.

Speaker 3:

The last one was london. It is yes, so this is our second ever spotlight event, so give it, to give the people listening and watching.

Speaker 1:

On some occasions we do get people watching our youtube channel um explain spotlight. So spotlight is the chance to come and see all watching our youtube channel and explain spotlight.

Speaker 3:

So spotlight is a chance to come and see all of our costumes, come and see us, come and see our dancewear. And then we also connect with the uk's three top leading dance business coaches deborah. Today we're joined by sarah and louise brough as well, and they provide a day of dance business coaching. So today we're all about getting ready for september, setting goals, I like that.

Speaker 1:

That's how you open. You said we're here for yet to get September ready. We are here to get.

Speaker 3:

September ready. Why?

Speaker 1:

is September important.

Speaker 3:

September's important because it's the start of the academic year. It's the start of the clean slate, the fresh page for a lot of our dance teachers and a lot of our school owners. So it's their chance to kind of mix things up if they want to focus on like up leveling and making their school bigger and better than ever before excellent.

Speaker 1:

Now you've got a showcase out there of lots and lots of different. I mean, you'll see this as well on our socials and on your socials, because I can't pan that camera, but yeah, there's so much out there because you guys basically everything, yeah, yeah yeah, everything.

Speaker 3:

We've got so much sparkle going on here. We've got everything from Jazz and Tap, we've got Dancewear, we've got the Lot. We've got a brand new 2026 collection which we're bringing live for the first time.

Speaker 1:

Oh, really, Is this exclusive? It is. Oh, we can get some shots of that. Add some footage of that now. Okay, we've seen some. That's the magic of editing Always sit the lad's on the list and see it all. And we've got today. We've got Sarah and we've got Caitlin from Classwork Kids. She's going to talk about social media as well. I was excited for social media.

Speaker 3:

She was down the elevator as well a few weeks ago. Yeah, fantastic talk there. And again it's getting those tangible systems in place where our dance teachers that come can go away with Planners can go away with planners can go away with their social media. You're mapped out and planned. It's immediately implemented. So it's a day full of everything that gets everything started for the year.

Speaker 1:

That's what I think. Class for kids and ideas. Kena, I hate this word, but I'm going to say it. The synergy yeah, I mean you're very concentrated as well as your product yeah, you want these dance schools and dance teachers and dance owners to be upskilled absolutely and to run their businesses as businesses yeah, definitely, and it's also quite.

Speaker 3:

It can be quite a lonely year to be in, like you can be quite isolated with your school, like you might have your teachers around you. But as a dance school owner in particular, you can often feel like you're on your own and it's events like this that bring you together. You're not on your own. You get your tribe, you get your people around you and you can kind of align with people that have similar value values to add your goals.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I said it again, there's so many levels. I won't keep you much longer because you've got a whole event to run and appreciate you coming on the podcast and I'm sure I'll see you again. Thanks so much. Thank you very much. Hello there. Hello, you're right, I am good. I'm'm good, you're Dan Skoulis. Extreme Dance.

Speaker 4:

Company and you're based in Liverpool. I would never have guessed by the accent.

Speaker 1:

I'd never have guessed at all and we had just lovely conversations over lunch and I won't bring it all into it because some of it was crazy, but you've been going for how long? Nearly 20 years now so it's 19 years yeah.

Speaker 4:

We are. We're out of Booth, so like 15 minutes from the city centre.

Speaker 1:

That's really good. I mean, I've said to you upstairs as well, but I absolutely love Liverpool and there's so much. It's a huge dance community.

Speaker 4:

It's ginormous. There's a dance school on every corner.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, I think that's why, Tom, Can you Dance?

Speaker 4:

know that well, because there's not much up north really, but we've got some great colleges I'm not sure.

Speaker 1:

I mean I would I probably know more about it. We call it down south and beyond the border down south, but although you wouldn't class yourself as down south, no, I'm not sure about up in scotland. There must be lots of colleges and um, there's just not as many of these events and things like that it's not called that anymore it's m&s, m&s.

Speaker 4:

M&S. Yeah, I think they've got the space and then I think, because we're close to Manchester as well, you've got the dancers who come from Manchester as well, so we can combine a lot of local teachers working in Manchester as well and kind of flip between the two.

Speaker 1:

And what sort of dance do you teach?

Speaker 4:

Everything I teach everything apart from commercial. Okay so tap, ballet, jazz, modern lyrical acro and in real, in musical theatre. How?

Speaker 1:

it's not just you, you've got other teachers.

Speaker 4:

How many are in the kind of company we have a commercial teacher, Paige, who's fabulous, and then myself and three others who teach everything else, so we all teach all the subjects.

Speaker 4:

Okay, brilliant, and if people are listening, watching and they're in the area and they want to join how, and if people are listening, watching and they're in the area and they want to join, how do you do it? I would find us on socials, so either on Instagram or I declare Extreme Dance Graham on Facebook, because I wasn't allowed to accompany one, and then it's just Extreme Dance Com on Instagram.

Speaker 1:

Easy. That was very, very informational and thank you very much. Thank you very much, that's all right and it was painless. Hello, how are you? I'm good. How are you? I am fantastic. Tell us the name of your dance school.

Speaker 5:

My dance school is Starlight Dance Studios. And where are you based? We're based in Shredford in Manchester.

Speaker 1:

You are not far from here then. No, about 20 minutes, 15 minutes down the road. We're talking to the guys that were quite local as well and things like that.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, you were late. I knew you were going to be late.

Speaker 1:

Oh, you were here last night. I was listen. I would have been great cack last night for a drink as well, but oh well, I arrived and had a pack of crisps and was asleep within about 2 hours. So how long has your?

Speaker 5:

dance group been going. My dance group's been going for just over a year, but I've been in the industry since birth, birth.

Speaker 1:

Okay, we've got a winner here in terms of longevity.

Speaker 5:

So I was dancing with my mum in her school and I've been qualified since the age of 15, so I've been qualified 25 years now.

Speaker 1:

That's brilliant. Yep 15?. Yep, how does that come about? Is that usual?

Speaker 5:

It's 15, 16 is the time that you can take like trainee teachers. But the exam board that I was doing it with were like come on, you've been co teaching for so long, do teachers? I was like, oh OK.

Speaker 1:

Brilliant, so it's your whole life. Yeah, yeah, I mean, that's what we always find. We work with football clubs, gymnastics clubs, all different ones.

Speaker 5:

Dan, we work with football clubs, gymnastics clubs, all different ones. Dancers are in it for the long haul. Yeah, I took the plunge 10 years ago, left full time employment and run the dance school full time maybe I'll do it.

Speaker 1:

You know I always think, working with all these different kids activity clubs, I do get very jealous. I've got two kids in my cell and I think it's dead.

Speaker 5:

Rewarding as well it is it just gives you the flexibility to go right. There's something on at my girls school okay. I've got staff they can cover it so I can go and do that part of life where you've got that work life balance. Yeah, of course I need to go and be with my little girl now, okay, and the little girl, my poster child.

Speaker 1:

I love it. That's the same. I've got two boys and both of them. They've been used in many marketing opportunities. They're trained up, they're media ready, they're good to go. So if people were going to get in touch with you right in the area that you're in and sign up, how can they do?

Speaker 5:

it. This is your chance. Okay, so you would go onto our website, starlightdancestudioscouk. Uh, we offer trial classes. Um, we have in-house uniform ready from ids from other companies, oh good, um, we do say give it a good six weeks before you buy uniform, because the last thing you want. Yeah, is you're coming through the door kitted out and your child goes?

Speaker 1:

no, this isn't for me well, that's a I mean, that's a nice, honest, upfront way of it as well, isn't it?

Speaker 5:

one thing about us as well that's probably slightly different from most schools is we're a family business right, okay, so my husband is my admin. I'm the face of the school. My daughter's there as well, so when people are coming in, they're seeing the family that's there every year, so they they stay with us. One of my teachers. She joined me many years ago at the age of two and a half. She's now 23 and is one of my teachers.

Speaker 1:

That is amazing and again, that's kind of the dance journey that we hear. They stick with it for life, absolutely. It's getting started back, so I'll let you go and thank you so much. Come on, hello there. Hello, what dance school are you from?

Speaker 7:

We're from Donnellan Wild School of Dance.

Speaker 1:

Excellent. Where's that?

Speaker 7:

based it's in Stretford.

Speaker 1:

Manchester. So not too far from here. Not too far from here. No, how long did it take for you guys to get here?

Speaker 7:

On the train this morning. 10 minutes, really, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I was seven hours from Glasgow last night because the train got delayed. It should have only been three and the guys all got down before me but I was like I'll be there soon. And then there was another delay and I'll be there soon, and half ten again.

Speaker 7:

The worst. You don't want that I hadn't eaten.

Speaker 1:

I like had crisps for my dinner. So yeah, I think yous have won the watch where distance is concerned.

Speaker 7:

Yeah, we're very lucky. When we saw it was in Manchester we thought 10 years, next year, yeah, that's brilliant.

Speaker 1:

And what sort of dance do you teach at the school?

Speaker 7:

We do ballet, tap and modern mainly.

Speaker 1:

Okay, ballet seems like. I mean there's a lot to ballet.

Speaker 7:

There is a lot to it, and there's a right and a wrong.

Speaker 1:

Right, okay.

Speaker 7:

It's the foundation for everything, though.

Speaker 1:

Give me an example of right and wrong.

Speaker 7:

Yeah, oh, feet will be turned out.

Speaker 1:

if they're turned out, they're turned out right, nothing is done in parallel or turned in, so as in the way that your feet are yes, right so there's certain people that can do it and can't do it everyone can do it.

Speaker 1:

There's more people that are natural than others okay everyone can do it, though, yeah it's the same in the gymnastics space that we do with a lot of gymnastics clubs as well. You can do it, you can push and push to be as best as you can, but you kind of need a body shape and the kind of strength in the legs.

Speaker 7:

Some people are more suited to certain styles than other people or everyone will always have a preference. Yeah, that's just the way it is.

Speaker 1:

What's your favourite to teach? Style-wise.

Speaker 7:

I like teaching modern, like jazz.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 7:

Same, really I think.

Speaker 1:

I just go to that school and do jazz. I'll just go to that school if it does, okay, and how many just kids you teach, or do you teach adults as well?

Speaker 7:

Just children? Yeah, we do like three to 18.

Speaker 1:

Right, okay, three to 18. How do they see after 18? Then they don't just want to stop dancing.

Speaker 7:

Well, some people don't. I mean it's different for me because of the school, I never did, but most people go to uni, so that's when they leave, because they move out.

Speaker 1:

So that's the natural. Okay, not to study dancing necessarily, but just as a kind of progression. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 7:

But some people do, Some people do carry on yeah.

Speaker 1:

And would they stay with you guys as well, so you might have ones that are older?

Speaker 7:

They'd always come back to us yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, it's not like 18 and then.

Speaker 1:

And where did your dancing start? Was it through the school? Yes, yes.

Speaker 7:

Okay, yes, we started when we were three. Maybe you were two.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think so, because I just joined in oh, we're going to say you are sisters, we are sisters. Yeah, we confirmed that over lunch, yeah.

Speaker 7:

Yes, yeah. So I just joined in, and it never stopped. Okay, we've not done any different, just dancing the whole life.

Speaker 1:

That's a fit life. Do you love it? We wouldn't do it if we didn't love it it's a silly thing, but you ask so many people if they like their job and they're like I don't like my job, it's just a tunnel, but it seems that we love this job that's brilliant. Are you enjoying it here today? Is it what you expected? Have you been before?

Speaker 7:

we've not been before. It's really good. It's much better than expected.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for talking to me.

Speaker 7:

Thank you.

Speaker 1:

Hello Sarah. I don't know how we've not come across each other. I said this to you when we met earlier on today. For years I've seen you in my feed everywhere and we've just never come. I think that you said that you met. Can you dance?

Speaker 6:

Can you dance and move it? We've both met up, but for some reason it's yeah yeah, I will.

Speaker 1:

Two ships in the night. They say Sarah Gittin, the dance den Gittins.

Speaker 6:

Gittins, and it's just now the den, not the dance den oh, I like it I quite like it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it becomes a bit more intimate it does become more intimate.

Speaker 6:

It also means that you know, because I work not just with dance school but I work with you know, music school, drama theatre, all that sort of things. It just means that sometimes the dance bit was limiting people. Yeah yeah. I can't go to her because she's just dance well, that's interesting, whereas a lot of the systems and the processes that I teach are applicable to to anything you know, anything within creative arts.

Speaker 1:

So explain to the people listening. I mean, 90% of the people listening will know anyway. But a bit about the Den A bit about the Den.

Speaker 6:

It started eight years ago. I retrained. I did my postgrad in mentoring and entrepreneurial practice Try and say that I'm going to be drinking. And I wanted to. After a difficult time in my own dance school, I reworked my own dance school to make it work for me, so it was 350 strong, multi-venue and realistically I was running it on one day a week.

Speaker 6:

I got it down to that point and I was very happy with it and I was like I need to be able to help others and show them how to get this done one day a week yeah, how they can get through this and realise that you know, running a dance school that is our passion and our vocation doesn't have to completely tear you apart from the inside, and that's where it came about.

Speaker 1:

When you got it down to that one day, were you like I don't mean to say comfortable in your skin. What am I trying to say? Well, because I'm a warrior right, and I'm like I think that if I had something quite all-encompassing and I started letting go a bit, did it feel like you were letting go, or were you quite comfortable?

Speaker 6:

um the first time I started delegating yeah or letting go. Uh, extremely challenging okay extremely challenging. I was very much like oh my god, I can't do this, what if they don't get it? What if they don't do it my way?

Speaker 6:

and it's that classic saying of well, by the time I've explained it to someone, I could have done it myself and it's all of that but, realistically, when you, when you step back and you start seeing your business as a business and not just something that you do and you're passionate about. It is something that you do that you're passionate about, but it's also your business we spend half our time talking to people about exactly that quite a lot in the dance space and the football space.

Speaker 1:

Gymnastics seem to. They're a bit different. They're a bit of a different monster when it comes to football and dance you can be talking to and they're making a living. Yeah, you go, you take a few tweaks, you turn this up. You know you've got a viable business here that actually, like it's just there for the picking. So I mean hats off to you for doing it. I think that like it's amazing, to be honest, because you've taken it down to, as you say, that one day and then you've went, I've learned how to do this and got the T-shirt in every colour going and I made mistakes along the way, and that's totally okay, because I always say that you never fail, you learn.

Speaker 6:

There is a process and I went through that process and for me, it took me six years to get there. I teach my members now that it doesn't take that long because they've got me guiding them, but I was finding my own way and I was like, well, how do I improve this? And it just really starts with one step and I would just say to anyone if you're, if you're at that point where I know you're stressed, you're juggling, got all these plates in the air, then just one thing, yeah, and sometimes it's easy to take what I call the low-hanging fruit. You know, go. What's the easiest thing that I can give away right now to build your confidence and your belief that you can actually do this, and it can be given to someone who's good at it.

Speaker 6:

And if you choose the right person, nine times out of ten they can do it better than you or quicker than you, you know, particularly when it comes to things like, maybe tech, if that's not your strong point, then go to someone where tech is their strong point, because then they'll be able to go oh, it's this, this and that, and you'd be like, well, I would have tried spending eight hours on youtube trying to learn it myself yeah it's not. It's not. You just value your time and where you place that effort and that's really really important. But just take one small step yep, absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

What about? Right, let's go back in time. Yes, young Sarah, not that you're not young now. Super young Sarah, you, obviously you're getting to dance. I did learn to dance, yes, what was your journey into dance and what I mean. Like we're in a room today where, obviously, we're still at the Idea Spotlight event, which is now just wrapping up around us. After a lovely talk, a whole day of talks from you.

Speaker 1:

I enjoyed it it was great, rewinding, as I say, on the old VHS tapes right back to, you know, when you first started. Nobody will get that reference.

Speaker 6:

I do when did that journey start for you? Really? I was a painfully shy child, okay, and I didn't talk much, and to the point where that is really hard to believe it is considering I spend my life talking now. But yeah, I didn't talk much and they seemed to think that I had a hearing problem because my speech was so delayed and, yeah, I just couldn't put sentences together. What it turned out was my sister was doing an awful lot of the talking for me.

Speaker 6:

She was older than me, but she had gone to ballet school yeah and, um, I was a bit like I'm not going there. I was so introverted and my mother was just like she's always had this well, if your sister's done it, you try it, you don't stick to it. And for months she was pushing me into this ballet school. She said come on, sarah, keep trying, keep trying. And was like I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this.

Speaker 1:

What age were you then? What age were you?

Speaker 6:

I was three.

Speaker 1:

Oh right, ok, I was three, but you're really good back in time.

Speaker 6:

Ok yeah, and one day the dance teacher just saw something and she put me in a performance. My mum, there's no way there's no way that she's going to do it and it's like. It's like a penny dropped in me and I did it and I just flew, flew, absolutely flew.

Speaker 1:

Did you like the performance side of it? Like my son is, um, he's 11 now, very, very shy, um, and quite introverted and things like that as well. But he came home three years ago saying he was like like, oh, I'm in the school play and I was like, oh great, that's going to go. And I'm like, oh, as a dad, like dead worried, thinking he was amazing at it, and he actually, like he came back going. I like the applause and you're like, oh cool, let's feed into that.

Speaker 6:

But you like the Now when I do things like Encore, which is my retreat, where I teach people how to put on a showstopping production and make money from it and get less stress and all the rest of it. It's an area I'm extremely passionate about, because in my school, shows were everything, because they were so important to me and I saw just like me, little me I saw so many children gain confidence just through going. It's that first step on stage, or it's the 10th step?

Speaker 6:

on stage or the 50th step on stage and each time they just grew and it was just amazing.

Speaker 1:

Three or four people have spoke to you just about today a couple when we were interviewing them earlier on as well, but they started at the same age. It is like, you see, dance seems to get if it's in you it hooks into you early on. Yeah it does. So tell us a little bit about Encore then.

Speaker 6:

Encore is a two-day retreat. I mean you can come and just do the training if you live local, but you know, or you can just come and actually stay in the hotel with us.

Speaker 6:

And it's very much about breaking down what makes your production wow, because there are ways and means of elevating the performance and when you do what happens, it's like a trifactor effect. What happens is you sell more tickets because people get to know that you produce a good show and they're excited to come and watch. So they're like, oh, she does a good show, I'm going there. You get the students who are already in there are all going on the next show.

Speaker 6:

I want to do more dances, so you've got the upsell of more people doing it and then you've got the ripple effects that come out of that afterwards that come from either people seeing the social media or the buzz that comes afterwards, where you actually gain a lot more students from actually having a very good production because they look at it and they go. I want to be involved in that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 6:

So it's like the trifecta of it, and when you get it right it can literally change your business.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I think what you offer in the den is just, and I wasn't fully aware until listening today, this was really about dance today. Yeah, until listening today, this was really about dance today. Yeah, I wasn't fully aware. It was across so many kind of spaces and you've got, you've got a good, you've got good business and a good product. I think absolutely. Thank you very much. And, yeah, I don't know why our paths haven't crossed before, but let us make sure they cross again absolutely, and we'll get we need to leave for the train fairly soon.

Speaker 1:

I want to catch up with you about AI.

Speaker 6:

What's that?

Speaker 1:

AI.

Speaker 6:

Oh AI.

Speaker 1:

So if you're up for it and we'll get this on camera, we can get a little call, maybe next week. I would love that. And we can discuss certain points that we can maybe do something together with it.

Speaker 6:

I would love that because my membership that I have is CPD accredited and it is actually closing end of September, not forever, but it is closing because the roadmap it is actually closing end of September, not forever, yeah, but it is closing because the roadmap that is within it. So there is a marketing challenge within it and then there is a CBD accredited roadmap that's within it. That is actually being completely and utterly revamped. Heard it first, guys. Oh did it. Exclusive Exclusive.

Speaker 6:

Oh, I could hit the button that was claps that it is going to have AI integrated into it. Right okay, so I'm closing new people new, you know, customers coming in, because I'm using that time to develop and we'll be testing strategies within the den for everyone that's currently in the den.

Speaker 1:

I think it's so clever, so clever I mean, if you're not at our company, obviously we're Class for Kids, our parent company access group. They're going through this whole kind of swathe of upskilling just now. It's quite interesting with a tech company and what they're not doing. I think that other tech companies Microsoft can tend to be they're downsizing quite a bit At the moment. What they're trying to do to get ahead of the curve here is get on board with the AI Right across every one of the products. They're trying to. They call it the on-the-bus moment, but I'm very much there I mean, I've been doing this now for about three years and right across video images, when we put out our AI things for Class for Kids to get a really big response, and I'm kind of like we need to do more of these.

Speaker 6:

Oh, 100%, and I think there's a lot of people out there who are a bit scary and they're using AI in top level which is fine for you to just go in and test the water, but there is ways to do it ethically, and I've been updating all my legal policies to include in AI legal policies for full, because I'm very much a let's do things by the book. Do you know?

Speaker 7:

what.

Speaker 6:

I mean sort of person. So all of this is sort of going on in the background. But when you're doing it top level and the thing is because AI is moving so fast, you're going at top level and a month later you're already behind the curve. But I would say, don't be scared by it. I was very much scared and quite overwhelmed by it at the beginning and then, as I sort of started learning and going in and trying different things, I was like oh, now I really see the power of what it can do it can just enhance the creativity you've already got.

Speaker 1:

I mean the people that use it correctly. You see it getting used a lot, and I don't mean silly videos on TikTok and things like that. I just mean even in business and things like they can use it in silly ways to get. You're writing things that are obviously, yes, you can write 30 social media posts in one click, but you're going to be able to tell you need to train these models and things like that. Well, no, there's a conversation for another day. Oh, 100% and things like that. So, well, no, there's a conversation for another day. But I'll get your number and thanks so much for coming on the podcast.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for having me, those guys were great to catch up with from right across, right across, mostly England.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Midlands, I was from Wales, I think.

Speaker 1:

Yes, wales. Well, sarah's from Wales, I think that was also her from Wales, yep, and good to catch up with Kat as well, from IDS. Kat's brilliant. She's been working with us. Great. Caitlin has developed a social series that we do at each of these events, now called Quick Change, which is just it's ideal. Let people know Quick Change.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so Quick Change. If you've not seen it, go and look. Instagram class for Kids, uk or IDS stamps, thank you, just got to plug it in there where essentially, essentially give them 30 seconds on the clock on a theme, because these events, spotlight especially has all of these wardrobes that they bring with the all of their costumes, um, so you can kind of shop while you're there, see what they have on offer, um, as well as kind of have this great day of learning, um, so I give them a theme and 30 seconds and they have to run and find costumes that would. I'll give an example Wicked, we did, we've done, just did Great Gatsby, taylor Swift, but actually that inspired the kind of idea for the talk. We got the schools to go and run, because I just think it's sometimes as well when you've got a day full of learning, it's nice to get up and run and move about.

Speaker 1:

It was the most energetic part of the whole day. Again, we showed the video at the beginning, but everybody I also- absolutely mortified myself because I could have. Oh no, can I tell this story Please? And do we have a picture? I do have a picture. I do have a picture. We do, don't we? Yeah Right, and we're going to put this in after this as well.

Speaker 2:

Right, so Well right so, caitlin, it's just a podcast episode where we're all roasting Caitlin.

Speaker 1:

Right, we're roasting Caitlin. Caitlin, as she said before, she told everybody OK, go and pick a costume that best reflects your dance skill, right? And she said, and I'm going to do it too, right? So Caitlin walked in, everybody brought their costumes back, and then Caitlin had people come up and hold the costume up and say why does this best reflect your dance skill? Well, well, it's, it's a, it's elegant, it's colorful. And then caitlin was trying to explain herself. Now, before it seemed he started saying what it's right.

Speaker 2:

My takeaway was it was there was geometric. I was just I packed. To be honest, I panicked because I said I'll get one as well. And then I was so busy like enjoying the music and watching people running in the dancing I was like, oh, I need to pick one. So I ran and I was like, right, geometric pattern. I can say, you know, we offer structure, stability, all of that so you can focus on running. And then I shouted from the crowd no, from my perspective. I held it up and everybody was looking at me that like what's going on here? And I was. I felt like I was like the button. Oh, did you already think? Yeah, did you already know? I didn't realise why everyone was looking at me. Really funny.

Speaker 1:

Okay, the outfit that she picked from the rack of dance outfits was identical to the clothes she was wearing, like almost exactly. It was black with this kind of geometric pattern. She was holding up with that and us on the floor were looking at her going you've essentially picked it up.

Speaker 2:

I forgot that I was wearing that I. I forgot that I was wearing that. I genuinely did. I promise it was not deliberate. It looks deliberate.

Speaker 1:

We'll put the picture up here.

Speaker 2:

So my takeaway is that I'm class for kids. Class for kids is me. Yeah, okay, Thank you very much.

Speaker 1:

I suppose that's that, but it went great. We've got lots more coming with IDS in the future, potentially in our spotlight before the end of the year. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, it looks like it, and we hope you enjoyed the interviews and the absolute roasting of Caitlin, because more of that is going to come. I'm going to just see myself out now. Yeah, I think you should. But thanks so much. You know what we do at the end of these, don't you?

Speaker 2:

I actually have tears in my eyes from that.

Speaker 1:

It's okay, it's fine. Big thought I'm going.

Speaker 2:

No, because you always are fine. Okay, bye. No, this is a countdown. Oh Well, you just didn't get on board with me.

Speaker 1:

One, two, three bye.

People on this episode

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Steven Young

Host
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Rebecca Forsyth

Co-host