Wednesday 8 March is Budget day, and Policy@Manchester are hosting a day-long Budget “Hack” for people to think, talk, tweet and blog their thoughts on this great political event.

All welcome

The Budget Hack is our attempt to do something a little different – on Budget Day (Weds 8 March), we have hired Club Academy at the Students’ Union and will be turning it into an all-day creative space for students, academic and professionals to:

• watch the Budget,
• take in some short expert talks and, for anyone who feels like it,
• to write (or film!) some Budget-related blog pieces

The content created by participants will be published on a dedicated stream of our official Manchester Policy Blogs site in real-time throughout Budget day and promoted across social media, ensuring that contributors play a prominent role in the University’s Budget coverage and the national conversation.

Budget Hack – How it works

• The venue (Club Academy, Students’ Union, Oxford Rd) will be open from 10am, with free teas, coffees and biscuits throughout and a sandwich-and-cupcakes lunch after the Budget itself.

• Our speakers will be delivering short (10 min) talks at 10:30, 11:00, and 11:30 – these will be streamed live on Periscope, uploaded to our website, and we will publish reaction blogs as a priority after every talk.

• The Budget will be streamed live on a big screen 12:30-1:30pm, accompanied by ‘Budget Bingo’ and followed by sandwiches (…and cupcakes).

• Attendance is on a ‘drop-in’ basis, people are welcome to come and go throughout the day, but we’d particularly like our speakers to have a good audience, so anyone who can be around from just before 10:30 would really help us set the scene for the rest of the day.

• Anyone who wants to write or film a blog piece can submit it to Policy@Manchester staff at the venue, who will then upload it to the Manchester Policy Blogs website and promote on social media as part of our official Budget coverage – our officers will also be on hand to assist with any questions, help find relevant information, and advise on good blogging formats/practice if needed.

• It will make it easier for us to order in our refreshments and catering if attendees could sign up via our Eventbrite page.

• Please bring your own laptops – we have a small number of charging points available for recharging throughout the day.

• Did we mention the cupcakes?

We hope to see you there!