It’s a cliché, but when Samuel Johnson said “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”, he was on to something. London has everything – and everyone.
After Chloe Nicholls launched us in London town 18 months ago, we were wondering who would be amazing enough to pick up where she left off. So, I couldn’t be happier to welcome Louise Potter as our new curator in London. She’ll be kicking us off on our first Fetch back in September after the summer break. Louise must not sleep! By day, she’s a strategist at agency Inferno and in the evenings she’s a teaching assistant at General Assemb.ly. She’s also a graduate of Google’s Squared program. Yes, it’s ironic and that’s a pic of Louise in Berlin above. Check out our welcome interview with her below:
How did you end up where you are today?
I read history at university and, after I worked out that everything I’d spent the past four years learning was just stuff that had already happened, I decided to always focus my future attention on the things that still yet to happen. It means I spend most days thinking about innovation and tech; during my day job working in an advertising agency and by night, when I work after hours as a teaching assistant at General Assembly. I was also lucky enough to spend three months on secondment at Google’s Squared program. Life’s better when it’s filled with the unknown – it leaves more room for surprises.
Why did you want to get involved with The Fetch?
Because it’s brilliant! I’m an avid reader of The Fetch, and so the chance to get involved was incredibly exciting. I love the fusion of tech, creativity and business, especially because I think they’re the three most exciting areas in London at the moment. Plus, it always manages to shock me with how much happens around the city every week. I’m a magpie of this kind of stuff, so I see being able to help curate it is an opportunity to make use of all those shiny, stored things – and to find out about some brilliant new ones, too.
What things excite you about our community right now?
How interested and enthusiastic everyone seems to be about what we’re doing – it’s infectious. A reader recently compared missing The Fetch to missing a dose of crack. You know you’re doing something right when you’re being compared to a highly-addictive, highly-illegal drug.
What events do you recommend in LDN?
I love the eclectic mix of the Lost Lectures. They’re always such a strange mix of speakers, but when paired with beautiful, unusual locations it really works. It’s Nice That have started hosting ‘Nicer Tuesday’, which are similarly great – the subject matter has ranged from failure to erotica so far, and it looks like there’s plenty more obscurity yet to come. On more tech subject matters, there’s a raft of brilliant events coming out of all of the incubators that have popped up around the city recently – my favourites right now are probably Wayra and Level 39. Oh and The School of Life is perpetually magnificent, too.
What’s your favourite thing about your city?
That it’s a million different cities in one. Every street you walk down is different from the next – foods, smells, architecture, shops, people. It’s a cliché, but when Samuel Johnson said “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”, he was on to something. London has everything – and everyone.
What’s unique about London?
The attitude of Londoners. They’re unlike any other species – in the UK or indeed the world. They moan about the city all of the time, but nobody else is allowed to say a bad word about it. There’s a unique mixture of sarcasm, lager and eccentric dress that everyone who lives here seems to possess.
Where can we find you in LDN?
I’ve worked in Covent Garden for the past three years, so I’m usually to be found around there and Soho. The choice of restaurants and cafes is wonderful and completely overwhelming in the best possible way – I’m addicted to Monmouth Coffee, Salt and Polpo at the moment. I’m also in love with the Southbank. No matter how long you’ve lived in London, it always makes you feel like a tourist.
How can we connect with you?
I’m quite digitally-promiscuous, so there’s a plenty of different places. I’m most active on Twitter, but I can also be found on Instagram, LinkedIn, Flickr and pulling together a ramshackle blog every now and again, called Other Plans, as well.
If you didn’t live in London, where would you be?
I lived in Toronto for a summer a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed it – the magical panorama of the city that you get from Toronto Island is unlike anything else. But the winters are far too cold – so I’d probably choose Melbourne. It’s an amazing maze of a city; the culture, dim sum and quality of life there rivals anywhere else in the world. [It’s also the original home of The Fetch!]
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