Paul Britton and the team at Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce put on a Technology Conference to remember at Microsoft today.

Let me tell you about how my day rolled out…

Started early, hate sitting in traffic, pulled up outside Building 3 at 7:40am and bumped into Adam Clark from GROW who was dropping off some bits for Ken & Stephanie from AroundThen. We sorted out a few of the world’s problems before those lazy tykes at Microsoft opened the doors at 8am… Oh to have a part time job 😉

Doors opened, Adam skedaddled over to GROW leaving me with a fist full of flyers… that meant I found myself setting up AroundThen’s stand since I was “AroundThen”.

As the people started to arrive and network, I found myself leafleting the attendees about the AroundThen app which is gearing up around connecting people in corporations who are in the same building but don’t have time to talk to each other! The conference gave them an opportunity to shine… unfortunately Microsoft’s internal kit was getting confused by all the nudging the app was doing and so fell over or I guess, refused to play properly after the first networking session.

From a conference point of view, the app allows you to connect to the others in the room via LinkedIn easily… so a dozen more connects made with the flick of a wrist… allowing even more time to network in real time… check me out multi tasking!

The speakers came thick and fast, sharing a ton of information…

09.45 Welcome & Opening remarks
Chris Parker, Microsoft Ltd

10.00 Keynote: Disruptive Technologies worth talking about
Bryan Glick, Computer Weekly

Bryan Glick, Editor in Chief of Computer Weekly returns to cut through the 2015 buzzwords and shares what needs to happen for the latest products and services to get into the mainstream this year.

10.30 The big deal about big data
Dr Chris Moore, UK Trade and Investment
Amber Lewis, Pitmans LLP
Dr. Laurie Miles, SAS UK
Jason O’Conaill, Client Partner, Infinity SDC

Dr. Laurie Miles, thought leader in data analytics will share his experience to set the scene about the growth, trends and predictions for the future of the Big Data industry. Panellists Chris Moore, Tech Specialist, UKTI and Jason O’Conail of Infinity SDC will join Dr. Miles to debate the commercial applications data which are predicted to continue to grow through 2015 and beyond.

11.20 A Tale of Two Valleys
Tudor Aw, KPMG LLP
Todd O’Brien, Co-founder, DELL for Entrepreneurs, DELL
Derek Goodwin, UKTI – Deputy Director, Global Entrepreneurship

Tudor Aw, author of KMPG Tech Monitor UK will share how the latest report highlights the Thames Valley is the lifeblood of tech sector enterprise concentration, especially for larger firms. Tudor will join a panel to debate how the Thames Valley can learn lessons from the Silicon Valleys culture of innovation and enterprise and build on its success with the rising demand for technology in traditionally non-technical areas of business.

12.00 The Big Pitch for Small Tech
Chris Parker, Microsoft Ltd
Timothy Brownstone – Founder and CEO, KYMIRA
Louize Clark, ConnectTVT – co- founder
Luis Novella, Invyctus – Managing Partner

Chris Parker, Microsoft announces the winner of the 2015 Connect TVT Big Pitch competition before a panel of the Thames Valley regions aspiring and established tech start-ups bring to life the successes and failures, highs and lows of a serial tech entrepreneur.

12.30 Break: Buffet Lunch – wish I’d taken a picture of this sandwich fest… needs attention for next year… more people are healthy eating and there was nothing healthy on the table!

13.15 Keynote: A global future perspective on technology
Rohit Talwar, Futurist, Author and Keynote Speaker, Fast Future

Global Futures Global futurist and award winning speaker Rohit Talwar shares insights into the speed of change in the technology sector, and the need for winners in business to anticipate and plan for the future. With examples of Innovation and transformation across industry sectors. This session will help our audiences make sense of and respond to a constantly changing reality and a hyper connected world.

What was a bit annoying, talking to Rohit in the break later on and a woman comes over and butts in the conversation and he deferred to her… bloody rude.

13.45 Disruptive technology spotlight: 3D printing
Graham Bennett, Technologist, 3D Systems Europe
Tim Bowen, Executive Director – Corporate Development, Costain Group

Already there have been major 3-D printing inroads in fields ranging from automotive to aerospace to education and even health care. But the possibilities of 3-D printing really lie in the future. One of the largest 3-D printing companies in the world join panellists from the construction and motorsport sector to discuss why 3-D printing is so potentially disruptive.

14.30 Machine-to-Machine (M2M) into the mainstream
Cyril Deschanel, Head of M2M Northern Europe, Vodafone
Ollie Smith, Business Development Director, Telegesis (UK) Ltd
Charles (Tony) McDonach, Director of Operations, MDA Corporation

Vodafone machine to machine lead Cyril Deschanel presents on how the Internet of Things has caught the public’s imagination and machine-to-machine technology has moved into the mainstream. A panel representing cutting edge technology in automation and satellite communications will discuss the role of machine-to-machine (M2M) technology in improving internal processes and bringing cost savings to business operations.

15.15 Break: networking and refreshments

15.45 The Future of Security Technology
Neil Clark, Chief Information Officer, Heathrow Airport
Keith Chapman, Vision-Box, Vision-Box
Chris Rothwell, Microsoft UK

Chris Rothwell of Microsoft will share insights into how technological change presents new threats in an increasingly digital and mobile world before joining a panel including Neil Clark, CIO of Heathrow and Keith Chapman of Vision Box an international technology businesses at the forefront of delivering the latest counter-measure solutions to business and government

Great networking, loads of learning, just needs some fresh fruit and veg for lunch and we’re onto a winner.

Thank you.

Jon