They say that all good things must come to an end. Today we’re announcing that after six wonderful years, Jam is closing down.
To this day, we have thoroughly enjoyed everything we’ve done together. Our events were fun, different, and a pleasure to organise and run. You brought them to life and we couldn't be more grateful for all the great moments we enjoyed in your company.
In this announcement, we’d like to share the rationale behind this decision.
2020 has had a disastrous impact on society and the economy as a whole. From a business standpoint, companies operating in the events industry have been hit particularly hard.
Our revenues crashed, and we lost a considerable amount of money in deposits paid to venues – including Hawker House, who we were saddened to hear, are also in the process of closing down.
We successfully ran several online events throughout the year, but it quickly became clear to us that it was going to be impossible to recreate the experiences we'd created in the past, online.
But we didn't throw in the towel. At the end of the year, we attempted a pivot, and launched – Jam Club – an online community for our most committed members.
Our vision was to build a thriving space for growth-minded product leaders, offering intimate virtual workshops every month.
Pivoting from an in-person events company to an online community has proven significantly harder than we’d originally hoped, and the losses we accumulated in 2020 have proven too significant for us to overcome. And so now we’d rather stop here, celebrate the journey, and say a proper goodbye.
We’ll keep Jam Club open for the next six months. We won’t be moderating it or running any workshops, but you'll be able to access all workshop recordings, discussions, and member profiles. We hope you’ll be able to use it to reconnect with friends made at past events.
To claim your free invite just drop us a note at hello@makingjam.io.
You can also find all past talk videos on our YouTube channel.
A huge thank you to our amazing team of staff and volunteers; Marta, Sunil, Jessie, Maria, Francesca, Stephen, Joan, Monica, Ecem, Steve, David, Michael, Mahtab, Eva, Gizem, Antoine, Jeff and all those that helped run our events every year. We’re deeply grateful for the friendship, shared memories, and support you’ve shown us over the years. We couldn’t have achieved everything we did without you.
Thank you to Doug and Chris at Intelligent People. You supported us from day one, and have always been a pleasure to work with.
Thank you to all our speakers and workshop instructors for all the brilliant content you’ve delivered over the years.
And thank you, for the good times we created together.
Seb & Mathilde
Talking to people about design might seem like a basic skill, but it can be difficult to do efficiently and well. And, in many cases, how you communicate with designers, stakeholders, clients, and other non-designers is more critical than the designs themselves – simply because the most articulate person usually wins.
Based on the best-selling book from O'Reilly, this practical and fun workshop focuses on principles, tactics, and actionable methods for presenting design.
We will:
Anyone who needs to talk about design! While most attendees will be designers, many developers, product owners, researchers, and business people also benefit from the ideas and best practices. Regardless of your role in the design process, everyone needs to be better at articulating design decisions.
At the end of this workshop, you’ll be more confident in your ability to help stakeholders understand the design you recommend. Articulating Design Decisions will equip you to communicate with stakeholders, keep your sanity, and still deliver the best user experience.
Walk through the process of preparing for and presenting design.
Understand stakeholder perspectives, and learn how to empathize with them.
Cultivate both implicit and explicit listening skills.
Learn tactics and formulas for expressing the most effective response to feedback.
Discover why the way you follow through is just as crucial as the meeting itself.
Tom Greever has been designing interfaces and leading design teams for 20 years. His experience as a UX designer, executive design leader, and consultant has given him a broad perspective on how better communication yields great design. He has coached and mentored teams on design practices and communication at both large enterprises and small start-ups all over the world. He lives in Illinois in the US with his wife and five kids. He is probably cleaning up the house right now.