The Talking Shop on Tour
The Talking Shop on Tour is an outdoor mobile version of The Talking Shop which is home to The Democracy Box and can arrive on a beach, a housing estate, a village green, park or public patch of grass and become The Talking Shop ‘without walls’ for the day. The touring version uses the same design, creative approach and main key ingredients of The Talking Shop including:
- The Talking Shop hosts
- Lounge/Talking Circle area
- Kitchen Tables Creative area
- Tea trolley and tea station area
- Questions on the walls (the van becomes The Talking Shop walls)
- Inside van area – a special cosy weather proof area for conversation, information and deliberation
- Question(s) of the day
- The Democracy Box Story and Democracy Box content
- Democratic and cultural information
- Creative conversations and activities facilitated by professional artists and creatives which act as an engagement tool and creative approach to conversation, information and democratic deliberation
The Talking Shop on Tour was researched and developed in two stages in August 2024 and March/April 2025 and trialled successfully in three outdoor locations in the South Wales Valleys in April 2025.
This is not consultation.
This is creative conversations, democratic & cultural participation & democratic deliberation.
This is The Talking Shop.
On Tour.
www.the-talking-shop.co.uk
#OneConversationAtATime
#EveryonesInvited
To Book
Please read the all the information below.
Once you have read about The Talking Shop on Tour timings, cost and additional information and you happy that you can secure an outdoor location which meets the requirements please email omidaze@outlook.com to arrange a time to discuss your booking.
In your email please tell us:
– WHO you are. Tell us a little bit about your organisation.
– WHEN your preferred dates are and some alternative options
– WHERE you would like TTS on Tour to visit
– WHAT other organisations you are partnering with to book TTS on Tour
– WHY you would like to book TTS on Tour
Please share at least three options for dates and times when you are available to meet online to discuss your booking. Many thanks.
Tour Requirements
- 30m sq. flat grass covered area
- An outdoor location
- Access for a long wheel based van onto or to the side of the grassed area
- Toilet and water point within 5 minute walk
- The location must be outdoors and needs to be a place where people naturally congregate in the summer months and which has high footfall.
- The Talking Shop can also be booked to be part of existing events e.g. festivals, summer fayres etc. or ‘piggy back’ onto events in the area.
What to expect
The set up includes
- 3 white gazebos which house 3 areas
- lounge/talking circle complete with sofa, armchairs, rug, coffee table and lamp
- kitchen/dining room table creative area
- Tea & Information Station complete with camping gas cookers and everything required to make all visitors a cup of tea.
- The van disguise – upon arrival large canvas sheets are erected around the van which become The Talking Shop walls
- Inside the van – a 4th weather proof area is created inside the van for cosy conversations with a cuppa
- Crew of 3 professional freelance creatives and artists who will assemble the Talking Shop on Tour and then host the space for the day and creative conversations using a range of creative activities.
- An optimum installation and layout has been created to maximise flow, accessibility, visibility and impact of this touring version. However we appreciate that each outdoor location which will come with its own unique challenges and opportunities and we will be flexible with the set up to ensure maximum impact and benefit.
Cost
Daily and weekly fees includes producing, event organisation and liaison including pre-meetings, promotion, publicity, print, a crew of three creative hosts, all set-up and take down and creative activities and materials and access to raw data.
The cost also includes 100 Democracy Box Story Booklets which are available in English and Welsh.
The Talking Shop on Tour costs £810 a day or £3,500 a week (5 consecutive days) to visit locations within a 30 mile radius of Blackwood.
Locations further afield will incur additional travel/accommodation/subsistence charges.
Timings
Arrival 8.45 – 0900
Set up complete 1100
Crew Break 1100 – 1115
The Talking Shop Opens 1115
Lunch breaks on rotation 12pm/1pm/2pm
(Hosts to take 2 x 30 mins if preferred)
Talking Shop Closes 1545 – 1615 (Depending on distance from base)
Pack up 1545 – 1715
Leave Site 1645 – 1715
Branding
The Talking Shop and The Talking Shop on Tour exists with its own branding. No additional branding can be displayed in the shop or on tour.
Additional Important Information
This is not consultation.
This is creative conversations, democratic & cultural participation & democratic deliberation.
We look forward to working with organisations booking The Talking Shop on Tour to formulate the question(s) of the day. These are open questions used as provocations for conversation and democratic deliberation.
We strongly recommend that several organisations partner/collaborate to book The Talking Shop on Tour.
Just like The Talking Shop, this outdoor mobile version has been created for multiple stakeholders, including public bodies, local authorities, devolved and UK governments, cultural organisations, and additional partners and collaborators, to come together in true partnership and involvement working in line with the Well-being of Future Generations Act seven goals and five ways of working.
We encourage organisations who book The Talking Shop on Tour to actively contribute and be involved in the creative activities programming and help to co-host the space. This is not mandatory however this is by far the best way for organisations to benefit from and understand the conversations taking place.
The cost does not include a written report. This can be arranged upon request.
It is important to note that The Talking Shop on Tour is not a cheap alternative to The Talking Shop. The Talking Shop on Tour during the summer months will have lasting impact and legacy if there is a permanent Talking Shop nearby where people can then visit and continue their conversations. The ultimate vision is that there is a Talking Shop in each of the 22 local authorities across Wales and a touring version during the summer months which increases engagement to the fixed, year round, shop sites and enables those who cannot mobile to one of the sites to be involved.
Intellectual Property
The Democracy Box©, The Talking Shop© and The Talking Shop on Tour© and all associated content and materials, including this tour pack are copyright © Yvonne Murphy/Omidaze Productions Ltd 2020.
Creative content produced and data collected during any specific Talking Shop on Tour days can be openly accessed, utilised and reused (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium by the organisations who have booked that specific day. If re-used, the re-use must be accurate and must not be in a misleading context. The Talking Shop© must be acknowledged as Omidaze Productions Ltd copyright. Where we have identified any third party copyright material you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned before re-use.
For further information about The Talking Shop please email omidaze@outlook.com and visit www.the-talking-shop.co.uk and The Talking Shop playlist on The Democracy Box You Tube Channel.
We look forward to hearing from you.
“Every town should have a Talking Shop.” – Talking Shop visitor 2019
Photographs by Claire Cousins
