I spent a few days earlier this month at my first ‘pure’ training conference for a while. Thinking Digital “brings together people curious about how technology is shaping our future”. That means it’s a day of great talks by interesting people about tech, arts and the future. Having run successfully for eight years in Gateshead, the organisers decided to hold an offshoot event in Manchester and I went along for the first time on Tuesday.
Some of the things I learned included:
- the concept of digital “dieting” to focus on better communication and thinking.
- How to Talk – a fascinating guide to effective public speaking.
- what ‘Tech North’ is really all about during a slightly heated panel discussion.
There are many videos from previous talks already available.
The previous day, I took part in an afternoon workshop about vlogging — producing short video, primarily on mobile. According to the workshop trainer, the human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text! Clearly, useful & engaging visual content is something that could be massively useful to our community & I’d like to find ways of using it effectively.
As proof of what I learned, I produced the video at the start of this post from the main conference day which took “only” 2-3 hours of editing on unfamiliar software. Hopefully that will become a lot quicker as I develop ability – and style!
Unsurprisingly, I also met all sorts of interesting people at Thinking Digital — from technologists, to creative makers and those who were simply curious about the future.
Do go along to Thinking Digital the next time it’s near you — even if it doesn’t seem directly relevant to your work, it’ll be an inspiring day with plenty to take away and consider in your day to day life.