Scotland’s leading creative industries conference announces first digital edition with a stellar line up
As it enters its sixth year, XpoNorth, Scotland’s leading creative industries conference and support network, has been reimagined as an immersive digital edition, but while the set up has changed, the high calibre of speakers has not. Over the years the conference has attracted global talent including speakers from Paramount, Universal, Sony, NASA, The Louvre, The International Olympic Committee and Google and this year is no different as over 60 speakers take to the digital stage to discuss the key themes emerging across the creative industries, heritage and digital sectors.
Headlining the programme will be Edinburgh-born producer, Richard Brown. Brown, who was the driving force behind HBO’s globally successful anthology series, True Detective, and has served as executive producer on all three seasons of the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning show, will be giving the keynote speech on Thursday 25th June . Also from the world of film and television, delegates will have the opportunity to hear from American film producer, Diana Phillips, whose credits include Death at a Funeral, Wild Child, Smoke and Alfie.
Offering unparalleled experiences for delegates to join the conversation more directly, the digital programme also includes renowned voices in the music industry including the Senior Vice President of A&R at Concord Music Publishing, Jeremy Yohai. Jeremy will be joining the conference live from the United States where his role involves overseeing the label’s pop talent including artists and songwriters such as Mark Ronson, Jacob Collier, Denzel Curry, Noah Goldstein and Justin Parker.
This year, a particular focus for the conference is the heritage sector. The XpoNorth Heritage programme will support museums and heritage organisations through a curated programme of workshops, seminars and specialist creative advisors to help develop new ideas and find innovative solutions to challenges facing the industry. Delegates will have a chance to engage more on this through XpoNorth’s partnership with Cornwall Museums Partnership, which is being led by their Innovation Manager Amy Shakespeare.
XpoNorth, which usually sees over 1,500 delegates from around the world descend on Inverness for the two-day event has responded quickly to the current pandemic to reimagine the conference as a digital edition and in addition to the speaker programme the virtual delegate experience will include dedicated training spaces, networking opportunities, specialist advice sessions, showcasing hubs and social spaces.
Talking about XpoNorth 2020, Iain Hamilton, Head of Creative Industries, Highland and Islands Enterprise said:
“Now more than ever it’s imperative that our creative industries unite to discuss how, together, we can overcome the challenging times ahead so I am delighted that the hard work of the XpoNorth team has allowed the conference to go ahead virtually. The digital delivery has not hampered the outstanding quality of speakers on the bill and in-fact, has allowed us access to some international names who otherwise would have been unable to attend Inverness in person.
“This new digital platform will still offer participants the chance to connect with leading industry figures that they come to expect from attending XpoNorth and provide vital insights to help shape the future of the creative sector.”
XpoNorth 2020 Digital Edition takes place on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th June 2020. Delegates can register to attend for free here.
For more information and to view the full event programme please visit www.xponorth.co.uk