The event is taking place tomorrow, 1 March, at The Studio, and is being presented bu Niel Bushnell, who runs award-winning Newcastle-based animation and VFX studio Qurios.

Niel will be sharing his experiences of establishing an animation business with practical tips on how to set up an animation studio from scratch.

There’ll be opportunity to ask questions at the end of the talk, plus the chance to chat with fellow animators in the fantastic surroundings of the The Studio’s city centre bar and restaurant.Directions to the venue can be found here.

For more information, take a look at the Facebook event page, or sign up via Eventbrite – it’s also free to attend, open to animators and designers of all levels, or anyone interested in establishing a studio-based business, and includes free drinks.

The event takes place on 13 January 2011 from 7.00pm at The Studio, Birmingham, and is the first in a series of joint events with BSeen aiming to help student and graduate animators find their way into the industry.

Open to animators of all levels, this event is free and includes refreshments and a Q&A with Curtis Jobling. For more information, take a look at the Facebook event page.

Today, the belief that human beings are special is distinctly out of fashion. Almost everyday we are presented with new revelations about how animals are so much more like us than we ever imagined. The argument is at its most powerful when it comes to our closest living relatives – the great apes.

They’ll be discussing issues including whether apes should have rights and how ape communications have been wrongly elevated to the status of human language.

Anyone up for some deep discussion and heavy debating is welcome, the group will meet from 6.30pm – 8.15pm.

Why is Birmingham investing in a new central library? Will it meet genuine needs or is it simply landmark architecture for the city and very little to do with library services?

On 22 September, The Birmingham Salon and CILIP West Midlands, a local librarian organisation, invite you to join them in raising these questions. They will be meeting at The Studio to debate the merits of the plans for the new Birmingham Central Library. The meeting is from 7.30pm – 9pm, with complimentary drinks before hand from 6.45pm.

To find out more about this, take a look at the full event details.

A public forum for debate where ideas are vigorously scrutinised and no topic is off limits

That’s Birmingham Salon, that is. Sponsored by the University of Birmingham (nice to see them get off their campus) and to be held regularly from January 2010 – the first event being on, um, Tues 9 Feb at thestudio* in the city centre.

The first topic up for debate will be ‘Is Childhood in Crisis?’ and will feature contributions from Dr Helene Guldberg.

I like the look of this (although can’t make this one) and it’ll be interesting to see what other topics come up.

Thanks to John Mostyn for forwarding me the link.

* their daft highlighting, not mine.

At 8pm on Friday 24 October, the Songwriter’s Cafe is making a return, featuring:

• Daniel Rachel
• Micky Greaney
• Sarah & Rod Demick
• Friends of The Stars
• Leo Altarelli
• Abie Budgen
• Fola

It’ll be at The (ex-Orange) Studio in the city centre and will be hosted by Paul Murphy & Gary O’Dea.

The Songwriter’s Cafe

started in the autumn of 1996 to encourage the art of song writing by establishing a regular dedicated high profile performance platform for local songwriters, a rare thing in those days

With the Hello World after party ending at 8pm there’s talk in certain quarters of trying to move things along here afterwards.  It may be worth reserving your free tickets now if you’re interested in going.