The beginning of October 2020 marked an important milestone in Digi-Cluster history: we hosted our first live, virtual event. We loved every second of the evening and it was so lovely to catch up with all the brilliant people in our community. We may not be able to meet face-to-face just yet, but the event was the perfect boost to keep us going throughout the next stages of lockdown.
By using Remo, we were able to bring digital networking, expert speakers and insightful 90-second pitches to the comfort of our sofas. This month’s event was hosted in partnership with Watford Chamber of Commerce as part of Watford Business Festival, making it an extra special moment in our collective’s history so far.
Here’s some highlights in case you missed it!
Following an intro from our wonderful co-host and CEO of Clock, Syd Nadim, and some casual networking, we kicked off the event in true Digi-Cluster style with our 90-second pitches.
This part of the session gives a selection of attendees the chance to showcase a brilliant digital idea or concept which both inspires the crowd and gives us some talking points for later discussion.
A big thank you to the brilliant pitchers this time, who were all fantastic:
- Ian Port – Think about it Films
- Chris Bantock – Agency Local
- Ameira Yanni – Copy Writer. Actor. Creative
Following the excitement of the pitching session, we then dived straight into our speaker talks. First up was Oliver Thompson. With over 25 years’ experience, Oliver is a celebrated Keynote speaker, author, corporate trainer and executive coach who works with leaders and organisations creating measurable results through a combination of neuro-linguistics, behavioural psychology and other cutting-edge learning techniques.
“Educate, empower, inspire the team”
Very topical to the times we’re living in, Oliver gave us some food for thought in his presentation about smart working. This concept is all about maximising productivity and considering the ways in which people excel with different styles of work and varying environments.
“With smart working it’s about a blended approach”
Despite this Digi-Cluster being opened up to our friends up and down the country, we usually host our events in Watford. To remind us of that and provide some positivity for our Watford-dwelling attendees, next up was Peter Taylor, Mayor of Watford. He took time out of his busy schedule to fill us in on what’s been going on locally and say hello to our guests, both new and familiar.
We were also treated to a brilliant introduction from VWV’s Chris Knight. VWV are a leading law firm, as well as the key sponsors of our Digi-Cluster events.
Chris spoke to us about B Corp Certification, a marker of businesses that balance purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on workers, customers, suppliers, the community and our environment.
“It will include a change of focus and you have to be prepared for that”
Next up we took a short break to relive one of our very essential and very important Digi-Cluster traditions: the ordering of the pizza. No event could be a Digi-Cluster event without it!
Once the pizza orders were successfully made, Chris Luff from Watford Chamber of Commerce introduced our next speaker, Sol Rogers.
Sol Rogers is the CEO and founder of REWIND. The studio combines creativity with deep expertise in real-time 3D and spatial technologies to design and build immersive experiences, platforms, and tools for future-facing companies.
“We’re going to step forward into the idea of mixed reality”
He dived straight into his presentation on immersive technology and the future of work. 2020 has seen huge changes for businesses across the world, and has potentially changed and influenced the way we work forever. Sol gave us some brilliant, expert insights on how we can embrace change and work smarter in the future.
“We will be replaced by artificial intelligence in years to come”
A great feature of Remo allowed us to group into tables (named appropriately after pizza flavours of course) as we tucked into our food, allowing the chance for some productive networking and discussion of the event’s insights so far.
We’d like to say a huge thank you again to everyone involved in creating this event, as well as our speakers, 90-second pitchers, sponsors at VWV and all of our attendees.
The event was such a roaring success and we can’t wait for the next one! If you attended the event and have any feedback on how we can make the next one even better, we’d love you to get in touch.
If you missed our event, not to worry! You can now watch the event here.
Keep your eyes peeled for the next one…