Hello Digital

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  • Hello Digital, the Midlands' first digital media festival, ran from 23-26 October 2008 at venues across the West Midlands, with the festival’s main showcase and industry conference, Hello World, taking place at Millennium Point in Birmingham
  • Supported by a partnership board including Birmingham City Council, Advantage West Midlands, Arts Council England West Midlands, Screen WM, Business Link and Marketing Birmingham, Hello Digital aimed to put Birmingham and the region at the heart of digital media in the eyes of the rest of the UK and beyond
  • Rewired's Managing Director, Ruth Ward, was appointed as project manager, and later Festival Director, to oversee the delivery of Hello Digital in its first year

 

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  • Ruth's role saw her heading up a consortium of companies to oversee all aspects of the festival's delivery, from brand development, online presence, marketing, PR and event management
  • The festival showcase delivered Hello Digital projects across Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Hereford
  • Ruth programmed the industry conference, Hello World, which featured speakers from global digital leaders including Flickr, Pixar, myspace.com, Channel 4, BBC, Cicso and Cadbury
  • Ruth worked on behalf of the board to secure public and private sector funds to support Hello Digital in its first year
  • Working alongside the festival's PR team, Big Cat Group, Ruth was an active spokesperson for Hello Digital, carrying out interviews across press and broadcast media
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  • From a standing start, Hello Digital generated an audience of over 5,000 people in its first year
  • The varied programme meant that Hello Digital suceeded in attracting a broad audience, from industry delegates to families and children
  • Visitors attended Hello Digital from across the UK, and internationally
  • Channel 4 chose to hold its regional launch of 4iP at Hello World, to an audience of over 260 regional businesses
  • Ian Austin MP supported the festival by addressing the conference shortly after taking up his new position as Minster for the West Midlands
  • “I was very happy and honoured to be able to join in. It seems like you have a good thing going on here. I hope it grows and gets better every year.”
    Michal Makarewicz, Pixar Animation Studios
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