The BBC has been confirmed as one of a number of high-profile sponsors of this year’s first-ever Manchester Tech Festival.
The corporation joins Brambles and Zuhlke on the roster of headline sponsors for the event, which runs from 17th to 21st October. Many other companies including Indiespring, Mattillion, Naimuri have taken on track sponsorships, for mobile, diversity and inclusion, cloud and devops respectively. Just IT have also been named as track sponsors of the festival.
The festival is the first event for the tech community by the tech community. It dedicates itself to helping tech people learn, create, thrive and will shape Manchester’s tech scene in 2022. Its aim is to highlight the diverse talent and showcase the innovative businesses in the eco-system.
Tickets are now available from the festival’s website, which also carries the full agenda and speakers list.
“The BBC’s move to MediaCityUK has been a real success thanks to the local community. But we want to go further. That’s why we’ve recently outlined plans to do even more in the North, growing our creative and digital teams here, providing more jobs, investment and helping support our local creative and tech communities,” said Sara Bowley, Head of Delivery at BBC Product Group.
“The Manchester Tech Festival is committed to providing an inclusive, community-led festival accessible which is to all. These values that very much align with our own. We’re delighted to be a sponsor and looking forward to it developing this year and in the future,” Sara added.
Adam Cole, Business Development Director at Zuhlke, said: “The Manchester Tech Festival is an exciting platform for igniting discovery, making new connections and contributing directly to the local tech community, which is why we’re thrilled to be a sponsor of the inaugural event.”
“Manchester’s reputation as a hub for technology and innovation made it an ideal place for us to establish an office and we’re looking forward to an inspiring week, as we help to bring together the tech community to learn and share ideas,” he added.
At the festival’s core will be a two-day event at the iconic Victoria Baths, which will include the Main Stage, Technical Stage, Start-Up/ Scale-Up Area, Mental Health Space, and Exhibition Hall with each hosting a range of different talks.
Alongside this, a range of other events hosted at other locations around the city will cover pathways into tech, women in tech, retail applications of tech, a hackathon, cyber, data and the cloud and diversity and inclusion in tech.
More than 100 speakers, ranging from students to tech leads at FTSE250 companies, will be presenting their ideas in seven different spaces.
“Our ultimate mission is to establish an annual festival that represents Manchester’s true tech self,” said festival founder, Amy Newton.
“We want attendees to come away from the festival with a real sense of what it’s like to work in the UK’s most vibrant regional tech sector. The festival is for everyone; the next generation of tech professionals will have a chance to hear from speakers and network with some of the region’s biggest names in tech who will be there,” she added.
