TDC = Togetherness + Development + Community

One of the things I’m most proud of from my time at Sage is securing sponsorship of the Thinking Digital Conference in Gateshead for 3 years in a row.

In 2013 we sponsored the Thinking Digital Startup Competition (which I also helped judge), in 2014 we hosted the opening party and delegate dinner and introduced the ‘Sage One Street Team‘ as a way of giving budding bloggers, vloggers and podcasters the chance to attend who otherwise couldn’t, and in 2015 we were headline sponsors with another awesome Sage One Street Team along for the ride.

Although the reasons for sponsoring and supporting such a fantastic conference were obvious to me, I’ll admit it wasn’t easy to persuade the budget holders at Sage to release the money at first. However, after summoning up all my powers of persuasion, Geoff Phillips (Head of Marketing at Sage) deserves special thanks for appreciating the value of being associated with TDC and for underwriting the sponsorship each time.

Thinking Differently

I’ve been fortunate to attend many great events over the years but in my opinion, Thinking Digital is the very best. Not only are the speakers consistently outstanding but the feeling of community and ‘togetherness’ you experience with your fellow delegates is something I’ve not experienced anywhere else. I also always feel slightly changed after each event through the talks I hear, the people I meet, the conversations I have and the ideas they spark off in my brain!

2015 threw up another pleasant surprise for me when Herb Kim (conference organiser, curator and host) name checked me from the stage for my support of TDC (thank you Herb!) which was followed immediately after by Stephen Kelly (CEO, Sage Group plc) mentioning me in his video message to the delegates (see video below). Wow!

TDC2015

If you’ve not been to Thinking Digital before, please consider attending either the Gateshead event in May (www.thinkingdigital.co.uk) or the one in Manchester in November (www.thinkingdigital.co.uk/mcr/). I guarantee you’ll love it and will be changed for the better :o)

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