Digi-Cluster - The Future of Technology

On arrival introductions were made and drinks started flowing. The theme was ‘Looking ahead at 2019 and the trends & predictions within digital innovation’. Keen to hear what other like minded folk are predicting, we displayed a flipchart and an honesty box so these could be noted and put away to be revealed this time next year!

Josh Bolland, CEO of Bolland & Co kicked off proceedings with an introduction to Digi-Cluster and what we could expect throughout the evening.

First up – Our fabulous sponsors – Nimbus Hosting

Tom (Kingham) spoke of who Nimbus Hosting are and how they are able to help businesses. ‘Nimbus Hosting are a dedicated team providing high quality web hosting. Their in-house built Hosting Platform STORM, has been specifically designed for agencies and freelancers to streamline their workflow and manage their client’s hosting needs.’

90 second pitches

We had four brilliant 90 second pitches from a variety of businesses.

How they work …

Josh introduces you / your company and a little about what you do, then you get 90 seconds on the clock to pitch whatever you like.

Emma Cameron, VWV was first up. Emma’s personal area of expertise is helping clients in the tech sector at various stages of their lifecycle whether that is setting up a business, funding a venture, growing a business through acquisition or exiting a specific role.

Mahlon Prince, DMLK Video explained how DMLK can help businesses. Mahlon runs DMLK Video, with the company specialising in producing video content for inbound marketing campaigns.

Kay Carnell, Hertfordshire Domestic Abuse Helpline. Kay gave us a really eye-opening insight into this amazing charity and the work they do. HDAH is the only dedicated helpline in Hertfordshire providing a free and confidential service for anyone affected by Domestic Abuse. It is an independent charity with 18 years’ experience of referring callers to over 170 support agencies. Operating seven days a week, the helpline is staffed by a team of highly trained volunteers. Kay explained that they are really keen to get more of a web / social presence so if anyone would like to contact Kay to discuss this please do so.

Last but by no means least, Ryan French, Rubber Cheese shared his thoughts on the importance of taking a break from your work during the day. He explained the importance of deep work, no distractions, no notifications and how in turn that will make you work smarter.

A fireside chat with our panellists

The scene was set with a roaring fire in the background, a sofa one side and an arm chair the other. Syd Nadim, Clock, opened the ‘fireside chat’ by referencing the fact that 2019 was the year that Bladerunner was set. He explained that interestingly, the recent sequel is based in 2049, the year that futurologist, Ray Kurzveil, predicts the Singularity will occur. This is when, Kurt predicts, humans and technology will become indistinguishable.

The other side of the fire sat our amazing panel:

Tim Dunton is the founder of Nimbus Hosting based in Hertfordshire. Tim has been in the hosting industry for over 20 years. Nimbus Hosting focus on providing digital agencies with reliable, easy to use hosting solutions through their easy to use product STORM.

Kelly Molson is the co-founder of Rubber Cheese, a web design and development agency specialising in digital solutions for the visitor attraction industry.

Kelly recently founded Mob Happy organising peer-to-peer events for women agency owners. Helping to increase the percentage of women in digital by supporting existing founders, inspiring up and coming leaders and investing in creative and confidence building activities in primary and secondary schools.

Jess Gregson has 20 years experience leading teams in a range of disciplines including transformation, customer experience, digital, growth, experiential, advertising, content, social media and the creation and use of technology. Jess is a partner at Subsector. Subsector help you focus on critical initiatives for growth & change.

Syd asked the panels thoughts on trends and predictions for 2019 and opened up the floor for them to discuss. The panel were fantastic and there was a wide range of predictions which was great! Amongst other things they discussed; Interactive Technology, 5G rollout & the implications and Voice Search.

Food time

After the panel, food arrived so the evening continued with lots pizza, drinks and networking. We saw a real mixture of new and familiar faces at this Digi-Cluster so it was great to see new relationships being formed as well as longer standing ones catching up.

A few thank you’s to …

Clock, our fantastic co-organisers
DMLK for filming the panel for us
All of the amazing 90 second pitches
Our wonderful panel
Rod Wynne Powell for taking lots of great photographs
And once again our fabulous sponsors Nimbus Hosting