This is when and where the Visual Media Conference will take place

A creative and digital conference is set to go ahead online after seeing latent demand from industry figures looking for advice on charting choppier economic waters as a result of the pandemic.
Robert McClements, right, says it would have been “too easy” to postpone the event until next year and would have been a "missed opportunity".Robert McClements, right, says it would have been “too easy” to postpone the event until next year and would have been a "missed opportunity".
Robert McClements, right, says it would have been “too easy” to postpone the event until next year and would have been a "missed opportunity".

The Visual Media Conference (VMC), hosted by the Creative Digital Industries (CDI), usually takes place in spring. However, due to coronavirus the event had to be postponed.

The event is now due to return next week. The conference has a theme of ‘Future Focus’ and will bring together leading experts from the communications industry for panel discussions, talks and even exhibitions.

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Robert McClements, president of the CDI, told The Yorkshire Post that it would have been “too easy” to postpone it until next year and doing so would have been a “missed opportunity”.

Despite the switch to an online event, the sponsors and speakers have stood by the annual conference.

Mr McClements said that interest in the event has been really strong with over 100 registrations in the first 48 hours.

“I believe that we’ve tapped into a latent demand where people are looking for information, advice, international best practice and to know what support is being given to them,” he added.

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The move to an online conference has liberated the VMC from geographical constraints, with the event usually being held in Leeds, and enabled it to attract speakers from across the world.

Mr McClements said: “We’ve got the best across the world being able to contribute and that’s what we’re able to offer to the audience.

“It’s taking the basics that we have spent the last seven years developing but now with the freedom of technology and without geographic boundaries.”

Speakers will include James Sommerville, former VP of global design at The Coca-Cola Company, Jonathan Geldart, director general at the Institute of Directors (IoD), and Felicity Burch, director of innovation and digital at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). There will also be a panel discussion called ‘Digital Re-imagining’.

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It will feature the likes of Roger Marsh, chairman of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Mehjabeen Patrick, chief financial and operations officer at Creative England, Nicola Greenan, the lead for cultural partnerships at Bradford City Council, and Eve Roodhouse, lead on economic development at Leeds City Council.

The one-day conference, taking place on September 16, is free to attend and the event is looking to substantially grow its previous 335-delegate audience.

VMC will also have an online expo element. Organisers are using digital platform Hopin to deliver the conference.

Mr McClements said: “Hopin is a bit like Zoom but it has some additional features that we felt were essential.

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“It has an area called the Expo, where companies will be able to have their logo and behind the logo will be a newly created pre-recorded video that will introduce those companies.

“It provides the opportunity of setting up one-to-one discussions and meetings.

“There’s also a networking facility where the platform connects people who have indicated similar interest and it suggests the possibility of a one-to-one meeting. Then you can decide if you are to accept that suggestion or not.”

The VMC will run alongside the Leaders of the Future conference and the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) Annual Members’ Day.

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“Where we’ve got keynote speakers, who have got international experience and expertise, those sessions will run across all three streams,” Mr McClements said.

An opportunity to collaborate

The Visual Media Conference is now in its seventh year. It was originally due to take place on April 7 before the Covid-19 crisis.

Robert McClements says there is a sense of collaboration around the industry.

It is a mixed picture for businesses in the sector with some being reliant on Government support to get them through the coronavirus disruption while others have never been busier.

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Mr McClements said: “Nobody is going to underestimate the impact of a recession. Nobody is going to underestimate the impact of people working from home that will be felt in the city centres.”

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