Mark is the co-founder of Blue Balls
And will be talking about More Than a Scroll: Why the Blue Ballers’ Stories Needed a Magazine with his colleague Vaughan Statham
About Marc and Vaughan’s talk
We started with the realisation that the stories coming from Blue Ballers were becoming too important, honest and relevant to simply live on Instagram and Facebook. Social media is great for getting people’s attention, but it’s built around scrolling, short attention spans and moving on to the next thing.
We wanted to create something that asked people to stop instead, to sit down with a coffee, take their time and properly read the stories of the people behind Blue Balls. We’ll talk about how the Blue Balls annual came about, why telling those stories matters, and what happens when a community gets the space to tell its own story.
About Marc, Vaughan and Edinburgh Blue Balls
Edinburgh Blue Balls started in 2021 with a few men getting into the sea and has grown into a community built around connection, conversation, cold water and looking out for each other. Five years and well over 700 dips later, it’s still, if we’re honest, mostly about dipping, but it’s the people and the stories behind it that make it special.
Marc is the man behind the lens, capturing the majority of our dips and keeping the regular swims happening week after week. Vaughan helps bring the bigger social side to life, from Loch Tay weekends and Hot Box adventures to annual celebrations and trips away. We’re both also Trustees of the independent Edinburgh Blue Balls charity, supporting wider work around men’s mental health and wellbeing.
Over the years, men have shared incredibly honest and personal experiences of mental health, recovery, grief, relationships, identity and simply getting through life. The community gives people a space to be themselves without judgement, while the annual gives those stories something social media never really can: time, space and a place to be properly heard.
Connect with Marc
LinkedIn: Marc Millar
Instagram: Mark Millar
Instagram: Edinburgh Blue Balls