Glug London is a monthly event for creative types from various disciplines to get together and have a few drinks. The ‘more Notworking than networking’ strapline makes it clear that the aim of the night is more about having a catch up and a laugh than it is about schmoozing and business card collecting. The most recent event, held last week at The Queen Of Hoxton on Curtain Road and was a huge success. There were some great talks and showcases from D&AD vice president Sanky, Merlin, Studio Output and GDR.

In the aftermath of the event I had a chat with the founders, Ian Hambleton of Studio Output and Nick Clement of Made Studio, to ask them about their thoughts on how Glug was going and what the future might hold for upcoming events…

So Together was your biggest Glug so far in terms of attendance. How did you find it? Highpoints? Lowpoints?

IH: Busy, but that was a good thing. Thank god, the weather was so good and we were able to keep people on the roof till later on, otherwise it would have been a bit cramped.

Also technically it went really well. After the last talks event we did with Glue London where there were a few hitches I was glad it all went smoothly. I thought the Lyrical Theatre was really cool too.

NC: It most certainly was, a lot of effort went in to this one, taking over the whole pub was always going to be exciting and after seeing the ticket sales up to the last week we were a bit concerned that we may have sold too many, but we crammed the Gluggers in!

It’s all worth the stress, we’re lucky to have a crack team from the Studio Output staff and the Digital Guru’s chaps were a great help too, we’re always after volunteers though.

There seemed to be a lot of interest in the talks. Have you had much feedback from them? Which were the particular successes?

IH: I thought all the talks were really strong actually. Great speakers and some good work shown. Merlin’s film was great, Sanky does talks all the time so you know he’ll be good. I was told by my wife that I need to speak louder and more, but really I was just backing Rob up on Thursday.

NC: The talks were great, Adobe were of great interest to the more digital savvy crowd, Sanky of course is a veteran of the on-stage chitter so great to start with such a fluid performance, Merlin’s work was tip-top, and Mandy from GRD gave a great insight into trends. I was chuffed to see the lads from Studio Output up there delivering a sterling performance, good work to all.

The music kept the night flowing well and the roof top shenanigans went on nicely over the allotted time which kept people enjoying their cigs, beer and chat upstairs.

I think the whole mood was spot on with the music, the screenprinting and the Output lads doing the live graphic design too went down a treat.

All the feedback on the www.meetup.com/gluglondon page and on Twitter has been excellent. The only people whinging were the ones that didn’t get there in time for the chilli.

You mentioned downsizing the venue for the next event? What’s the reason for this decision?

IH: We just want to try something different I suppose. To be honest it might be nice to do something smaller and a bit more exclusive. Also Laura in my office wants to try it at the Russion Club Studios. I just want to not have to organise one for a change!

NC: We aim to keep all the Glug’s different each time, it’s a first-come-first-served event so you’ve got to be quick – variety is the spice of life and the creative crowd is a toughy, I think we’ve got the formula right though.

Can you reveal any info about the forthcoming event in Dalston? Who’s involved in the ‘Street Art’ event? Are any talks confirmed yet?

IH: I don’t really know enough about it yet, you’ll have to check out the meetup.

NC: All top secret I’m afraid.

Do you have any further plans for Glug in terms of venues? merchandise? collaborations? giveaways? competitions? A Glug Bar??

IH: The Christmas one should be a very cool. We’re hoping to do this with Barnados and sell tickets again. It will probably be over in the West End. No doubt I’ll get the info together in the next few weeks. Lot’s of giveaways and cool line-up hopefully.

We’re going to bill it as the first Christmas party of the year (last Thursday in November) so save the date!

NC: Easy tiger, haven’t you had enough freebies yet? We’re looking all over, meeting new people all the time and have a good few months worth of ideas in us, it’s just making it all tie in logistically. What I can tell you is that it won’t be East London centric, we need to get over to the West End to grab the Soho Gluggers! Also we are looking at doing a ‘Game Glug’, more info soon. If anyone wants to get in touch from any creative discipline then please do at the blog, www.glugevents.com.

The next Glug event will be held at Russian Club Studios in Dalston. Stay tuned to Glug London for more info…

Look forward to seeing you there.

Mat