Commercial strategist and entrepreneur Fred Bassett first became an RSA Fellow in 2001 after advising on an RSA conference about the internet’s impact on creative industries and facilitating one of its sessions.
Two decades later, and following a move to Southampton, Fred rediscovered the ability of RSA Fellowship to build a local network that inspires and generates action. What began as a local Fellows’ drinks gathering soon became a mission to create a thriving local community of RSA Fellows in his new home city.
While Fred enjoyed the benefits of being a Fellow for many years – attending the occasional event when he could and reading his copy of RSA Journal – he admits that the demands of running his digital media consultancy in London meant he was not a particularly active member of the RSA.
That all changed when, after selling his business and moving to Southampton in 2019, he found himself without a local network.
When Jess McMorrow, Fellowship Areas & Engagement Manager for South East England, invited him to organise a casual networking event for Fellows in the area, Fred saw an opportunity to build on it and bring people who were invested in the city’s future together.
You get out of this network what you put in. If you engage actively – attending events, contributing ideas – you’ll find the RSA gives back more than you invest.
Working alongside other similarly energised local RSA Fellows, Fred’s efforts have had a real impact. During 2024, RSA Southampton hosted ten events that welcomed both Fellows and non-Fellows, including the South-East Fellows Festival.
These events encouraged a diverse group of people to engage in an open dialogue on pressing civic issues, including youth engagement, placemaking, and devolution.
Fred recognised a new community taking shape, full of energised, talented individuals from all professions and backgrounds, united by a shared commitment to improving the lived experience of people in Southampton.
This activity saw a 25% increase in local Fellowship, adding 60 new members, and the development of an RSA Southampton LinkedIn newsletter, which has more than 250 subscribers, as well as a local mailing list of 150.
Fred recognises that it’s about more than simply the numbers: “I’m actually quite an introvert, so organising these events gave me a mechanism or approach for building a network of colleagues, and friends, really.” Bolstered by the momentum in the city, Fred and other RSA Southampton Fellows are now looking to host similar networking events for people working in commercial creative businesses in other locations in the region, including Winchester and Bournemouth.
Join the RSA Fellowship today and connect with like-minded individuals who share your passion for driving positive change.
Fred Bassett is a leader in life sciences innovation, with a career spanning consultancy, digital transformation and leadership development. As co-founder of Blue Latitude, later acquired by Fishawack, he built a pioneering agency that advanced healthcare through science, marketing and digital insight. He now heads Lateral Edge, advising high-growth companies and mentoring senior leaders to commercialise scientific and engineering breakthroughs with social impact.
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