Thursday 29 October 2009

Digital Week 09 - events are happening across Yorkshire from 9th - 14th November

Should have blogged about this ages ago but better late than never!

So it's nearly digital week, with events this year being held not just in Leeds but also Huddersfield, Scarborough, Bradford and Sheffield. You can find all the info including an online calendar of events on their website:


Highlights from the many, many events taking place include:

An official launch event on Monday 9th in Leeds by way of a knowledge auction - chocolate money is somehow involved so who could resist!

The Bradford Animation Festival on Tuesday 10th at the National Media Museum, the UK's longest running and biggest animation festival.

Wednesday 11th sees an unusual event called Musical Chairs: Fun and Games with Cool Pink which will debate the effectiveness of digital games development for tangible return on investment.

Thursday 12th has quite a few things that caught my eye including a 3D Cinema Workshop in Sheffield and a Digital Ghost Hunt in Scarborough!

Friday 13th sees the return of the Drum Awards for Digital Industries, or DADIs, to Leeds, with the keynote address given by Tom Loosemore from 4iP.

And last, but definitely by no means least as i've raved about these events on this blog before, will be a Barcamp on Saturday 14th. Barcamp Bradford will be held at the WOW Academy in the morning and the National Media Museum in the afternoon.

All in all an exciting week!

Monday 19 October 2009

This month's Creative Networks event - How do artists contribute to Innovation?


Thursday 29th October 2009

For this month’s ‘Creative Networks’ – the largest and most well attended professional network in Yorkshire for the Creative, Digital and Cultural Industry sectors – attention is turned to the “worth” of artists and the wider creative community.

In the 21st century, the UK’s economic competitiveness and social wellbeing will increasingly depend on our ability to innovate. A significant part of the innovation process revolves around ‘creativity’ – the ability to generate new ideas, or to restructure and redeploy old ones.

Presenting the facts and leading the debate will be Kate Oakley, respected writer and policy analyst, who specialises in the creative industries, cultural policy and regional development.

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Leeds College of Art
Blenheim Walk, Leeds, LS2 9AQ
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18.00 – 19.00 Hot Food and Registration
19.00 – 19.30 Welcome and opening pitches
19.30 – 20.30 How do artists contribute to innovation?
20.30 till late Networking in the Mosaic Bar

This event is free to creative, digital and cultural industry professionals.

If you would like to join, please contact Creative Networks on 01422 399444 or email Bridget March at bridgetm@leeds-art.ac.uk

Friday 9 October 2009

Microsoft's "Get on the Bus tour" hosted by the University of York IT Academy

Microsoft's "Get on the Bus tour" is making a stop in York on October 29th 2009 from 6pm - 9pm at the National Science Learning Centre at the University of York. Doors open at 5pm for informal networking.

The tour, which goes to 11 locations across Europe, starts in Milan and finishes in Berlin with York being the only UK location for the tour - a real coup!

The event is free and worth attending if you're interested in:

Finding out how IT Skills are critical to business development and how Micorsoft is driving IT Skills.
Learning how to improve and develop the IT systems in your business.
Finding IT training from a range of specialised IT providers.
Witness top technology leaders present on the latest releases.
Networking with sector professionals.
Feedback your ideas and comments on learning and certification directly to Microsoft Learning.
Grab exclusive Microsoft giveaways.

Seats are dissapearing fast so if you're interested get yourself signed up:


Thursday 8 October 2009

Event: The Cultural Evolution, Creative York Symposium Part of the Illuminating York Festival

I'm told The Cultural Evolution is The Biggest Event of the Year :-)

The Symposium contains a huge selection of excellent speakers from all over the UK and Europe, and the event is crammed full of interesting and inspiring presentations and demonstrations. Cost is £40 for the day, (£26 of which is the catering cost per individual and includes a fabulous lunch and drinks reception).

This is a real chance to bring together the experts in new technologies, inventors, innovators, electrical, lighting and sound specialists, mobile, touch-screen and GPS developers, as well as digital and social media technologists, communicators, tourism industries, heritage centres, planners, city strategists, developers and architects, councillors, creative practitioners and students to name a few.

The Symposium aims to provide a unique opportunity to bring together the movers and shakers as well as the enablers, specialists, informers and supporters, inspiring those people to act together in catalysing progress in Yorkshire.

The symposium has three main sections:
‘New interpretation of City and Culture,’
‘New Interpretation of Heritage and Culture’ and
‘Age of interactivity – Engage with the Target Audience.’

Each session will have three speakers from various organisations talking about the topic, followed by plenty of time to ask questions, comment and discuss the content during Q&A sessions.

Speakers include
* Simon Smith of LUCI (Lighting Urban Community International)
* Belinda Kidd and Arthur Stafford of Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium
* Julia Unwin of Joseph Rowntree Foundation
* Jane Field of BEAM
* Mairi Robertson of New Media Partners
* Lucy Wurstlin of 4IP
* Mat Lazenby of LazenbyBrown
* Marcus Romer and Kit Monkman of Pilot Theatre and KMA who will be exhibiting their 5Circles installation as part of the previously mentioned Illuminating York Festival.
* Ben Stern and Markus Dorninger of Gaia Nova and OMA International who will be exhibiting their ‘Tagtool’ technology during Illuminating York
* Chris Walker of BrightWhite LTD who will be exhibiting ‘Vespertine,’ also as part of Illuminating York.

Full details can be found online at:
www.creativedigitalyork.wordpress.com

Or if you want to book a place register at:
https://www.yorktheatreroyal.purchase-tickets-online.co.uk/public/auto_choose_ga.asp?area=275