The Creative Showcase at Fort William, Lochaber, took place on the 18th and 19th of February. aimhi, HIAL, the Musicians' Union, Channel4 Ideasfactory, Careers Scotland, and Highlands & Islands Enterprise were on hand to join the residents and visitors of the UK's Outdoor Capital in a hands-on experience of what it takes to make it in the creative industries.

The evening of the 18th was headlined by a big music showcase, featuring a half dozen of the most promising bands from the Highlands & Islands such as Spindrift and Dionyssus. Free beer was on tap the whole night, as the party...ah-hem, networking session, stretched into the wee hours of the morning.

aimhi presented an 'insider's' seminar in the afternoon of the 19th titled 'Standard Media, New Media: 101 Ways to Make a Fun Living in the Creative Industries.' Publisher, photographer and film-maker Norrie MacLaren of Plantagenet Films led a film and television workshop based on his past experiences working with Stanley Kubrick, Iggy Pop, The Clash, and the early years of Channel4. It was enlightening for the audience to see what worked and what didn't in the screen industries, and how film ideas that were rejected a decade are resurrected with double the budgets. Following that, Gordon Ross of Genuine Games, a nationally known games designer who have worked on world famous projects such as Grand Theft Auto, spoke about the need to seek and carve out lucrative niches in the gaming industry, developing a proper business strategy to approach the runaway successes of MMORPG franchises, as well as the design and programming trends for the next 5-10 years.  

In addition to being two of the best speakers to feature at an aimhi event, Gordon and Norrie also generously offered to give advice to any aimhi members interested in starting in the film or games industry.