Young Stationers
Membership is open to all, and Young Stationers need not be members of the Stationers' Company.
The Young Stationers can be contacted through Pádraig Belton, at padraig.belton@gmail.com or on 07812 559 090. All upcoming events are listed on Facebook here, and Google Groups here.
Forthcoming events
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Sarah Hunt and the SYP Oxford are luring the Young Stationers to wine and a canter through the Oxford University Press archives, with OUP archivist Martin Maw and his collection of silent films.
Friday, 3 May 2013
City of London's Guildhall for a lunch at which the Managing Director of City AM newspaper will speak, and one of this year's Sheriffs will be present.
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
The Young Stationers will be coming out in force for Bobby Nayyar's Equality in Publishing conference at City University, and on the Wednesday, 15 May to cheer on their favourite from Booktrust's 2013 Kim Scott Walwyn Prize shortlist.
Friday, 18 October 2013
Speaker dinner in the Peers' Dining Room of the House of Lords, as grateful guests of Lord Laird of Artigarvan, and to which the Young Stationers are keen to invite an interesting leading journalist.
Do please contact Pádraig on the email address or telephone number above for more information.
Young Stationers' Recent Activites
Young Stationers take over Merton and Jesus - 16 April 2013
On Tuesday, 16 April, the Young Stationers went to Oxford, marking links between the Company and Oxford — as well as celebrating the Clerk's past year as High Sheriff of Oxfordshire!They began in Merton (the Clerk's college), with wine and cheese jointly with their friends in the Oxford Society of Young Publishers. There was also a presentation from Dr Giles Bergel about ongoing digitisation of the Stationers' Register and research delving into early British publishing history drawing on it (under the Stationers' Register Online project, funded by a Lyell Research Grant from the University's History Faculty).
After touring the 13th-century Upper Library, the Young Stationers moved on to Jesus College to receive a jovial address from the Clerk marking his High-Shrieval year, and to toast him with sherry. Bobby Nayyar (CEO of Limehouse Books and seen in the photo above with the Clerk) imparted the choicest gossip from London Book Fair, and took questions over port about his own career in publishing, and his top tips for those considering working in publishing or proposing book manuscripts.
Young Stationers' visit to St Bride's on 15 March 2013
On a wet Fleet Street Friday, a fortunate few Young Stationers were whisked (and wined) by St Bride's Claire Seaton, through a choral tour of St Bride's Church, and an inky one of the St Bride's Foundation next door.
Shown about in style and detail by a gowned Liveryman (and St Bride's Guildsman) Eric Davies, the Young Stationers were treated to the delights of Wren's architecture, and to the Roman pavements, charnel houses, and modernist treats of the Harmsworth family crypt in the belly of the church beneath.
Wending next door to the St Bride Foundation, director Glyn Farrow took the party on a romp through the world's largest print library, ending on the printing presses in its Print Workshop, where the Young Stationers had a personal tutorial from compositor and woodcut artist Mick Clayton - see photo.
Simon Greaves, a St Bride's Guildsman who covers finance and sailing for the Financial Times, noted afterwards that it was 'so good to see the craft side of printing again after years of digital publishing. Like Mick the printer, I just saw the end of hot metal, so to smell the ink and see the machines is really evocative.'
The evening ended in typical jovial faction, closing out the bar in the basement of the Foundation. Infinitely grateful for the hospitality they received at their patronal church and the Foundation next door, the Young Stationers are abuzz with thoughts of how they might contribute to St Bride's Inspire appeal - including thought of a Bride's to Brighton sponsored group cycle!
Young Stationers' visit to the KM Group
Lest it be thought the Young Stationers don't get out enough, an intrepid party recently voyaged to Kent, to visit the Kent Messenger Group and its executive chair, Court Assistant Geraldine Allinson. The KM Group was abuzz in anticipation of the release of ABC readership statistics, which were expected to show the group's local newspapers throughout Kent were actually gaining readers! (Partly through a sterling product, and in part through the withdrawal from several markets of their historic competition, which has closed some of its local newspapers, and moved others into a free advertiser format.)
Touring through the newsroom, the Young Stationers saw first-hand the battle to keep local journalism alive – hearing a political editor talk of his beat holding the Kent County Council and local police to account, work it's unlikely the nationals would do. The sales staff told of challenges presented by print adverts selling for more than online ones – and using a combination of online and relationship-tending tools to bring in pennies in a tight market.
The visit jogged along into the broadcast booth beside the drive-time DJ, with Young Stationers there for the playing of the mysterious 'Kent Sound' and witnessing how playlists are drawn up, and music downloaded from labels—all concluding with pizza and wine with their charming host in a nearby restaurant, to mark Italian elections day.
Lord Black of Brentwood speaks at Buck's on Leveson - Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Lord Black of Brentwood joined a bursting room of Young Stationers last night at Buck's to share his thoughts on life after Leveson.
In the rambunctious questions for which these dinners have been known, Lord Black suggested he was receiving more of a grilling than he had from Lord Justice Leveson! He noted the importance of a campaigning, investigating, boisterous printed press in setting the agenda for the broadcast news, and said the fact of the Inquiry had rooted out misbehaviour more than its likely policy recommendations would do.
Arguing it would pose a political headache for the Government now to attempt to introduce statutory regulation of the press, after not showing the Inquiry what a draft bill might look like, he instead favoured a son-of-PCC with teeth and serious financial penalties, established in contract law amongst publishers and broadcasters.
No stranger at all either to the Company or to younger journalists, Lord Black in June was both patron and judge of the Shine school media awards, which recognises very young newspaper makers!
The Company was well represented, with the Clerk, Master, and Registrar all in attendance, and the Rev'd Gregory Platten acting as the Young Stationers' chaplain.
Last night's dinner was the third in the Young Stationers' series of evenings featuring wise, interesting minds from the broader world of journalism and print, following on the heels of earlier dinners with Past Master Christopher McKane, and with Lord Inglewood on investigative journalism.
