It gives me great pleasure to report that my home town of Huddersfield is today hosting We Love Technology '07, programmed by Blink, compered by Channel 4's Matt Locke, supported by the University of Huddersfield, Screen Yorkshire, Digital Research Unit and hosted at the Media Centre in Huddersfield Town Centre:
Led by pioneering technologists and artists working in areas such as interactive architecture, sound and games, WLT07 presents the latest adventures in the creative use and misuse of technology.
WLT07 presents a range of informal presentations, workshops and performances. With a packed programme led by audio, interactive architecture and games pioneers, WLT07 offers an antidote to the conventional conference format.
Guest speakers include 'The Secret Life of Machines' guru Tim Hunkin, Sky Ear designer Usman Haque, urban screens expert *Mirjam Struppek*, Digital WellBeing Labs' Alex Grunsteidl, who will be reviewing technology for the ideal home, and Bitfall designer Julius Popp who creates displays from droplets of water.
I was in HD1, the recording studio connected to the Media Centre, a couple of weeks ago and can report the quality of the facilities and professional manner of the staff. The Media Centre is housed in a collection of buildings at the bottom end of town, including the new, very handsome and environmentally sustainable Friendly Street Building, and I'm thrilled Huddersfield has an institution that encourages the arts so commitedly. I could reel off a whole ream of artists who have emerged from the town and its environs, (please email for a full list: frankly I can get very boring on the subject!) - at a grass roots level, there is a massive belief that the arts are fundamental to how you live a full life, from the umpteen brass bands scattered around the area, the plethora of amateur dramatic societies, The Poetry Business - set up by Peter Sansom and Janet Fisher to promote the reading and writing of poetry in the area. On top of that, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the Mrs Sunderland Music Festival, the Huddersfield Choral Society, the Lawrence Batley Theatre provide a benchmark of what talent and application can achieve. And not that anyone ever needed their efforts sanctioned by the council, but the Media Centre is the town putting that commitment to the arts in writing, as it were, in bricks and mortar, providing an infrastructure to help the people of Huddersfield make the most of their creative abilities. And I'm quite sure there is a similar commitment in every town in Britain, in every town on the planet for that matter, but because I grew up there, I'm a little more aware of what the town has produced, and I'm proud that they can attract such an impressive cast of international speakers.