Well what a day! Around two thousand visitors, expert speakers and exhibitors crammed into The Point, Old Trafford for the inaugural Prolific North Live event. They arrived hoping to be inspired and leave a lot more knowledgeable and connected than when they arrived. Judging from the feedback we heard during the day from the majority of attendees, job done Mr Jaspan et al!

When we first heard  of the vision for the event  some time last year, we had faith the power, reach and respect of the Prolific North brand would ensure its success. Add to that Dunstan’s doggedness and the excellent event partner Don’t Panic and it was teed up nicely.
As such we had no hesitation on signing up as the exhibition’s first Event Partner.

 

So what was it all about?

As its website states ‘A one-day expo … showcasing the very best in digital, broadcasting, marketing, PR, publishing and advertising from across the North.’
The aim was to be ‘the biggest ever gathering of media, marketing and creative industries professionals outside of London’ and with the numbers on show today, I’m sure that’s been achieved.
Everyone will have their own take on the highlights, but with a great variety of exhibitors from the BBC to Mustard Research (and its delicious ice cream parlour), drone cameras suppliers to virtually every marketing discipline under the sun, added to top notch speakers running all day in the various lecture rooms, there really was something for everyone.
As well as the hats off to the aforementioned organisers, I thought Havas Village did a fantastic job of running the social newsroom, having the event trending on the Twitter-sphere not only in Manchester and London, but also, I believe, in LA for a time.
First year teething niggles were kept to a minimum and one thing my team and myself all agreed on was the buzzy nature and friendly vibe that was sustained throughout the day. I didn’t see or hear of any tension or pettiness in a place filled with many potentially competing businesses. All hail the spirit of collaboration!
There will be lots of tired legs and feet tonight and already thoughts will be racing to the next event. Will it be longer, or even in Leeds? Who knows but the fact that the speculations was rife as to the next event  before this one had even finished suggests a bright future.