What struck me most by the end of the week was how much energy there is in Newcastle-under-Lyme when people, ideas and organisations are brought together with a shared purpose.

The festival itself was built around exactly that idea; community, collaboration and practical support, and you could feel that throughout the week. It did not feel like a token showcase.
It felt like an active attempt to bring people together, share knowledge and strengthen confidence in the borough’s future. 

The day focused on entrepreneurship, employment and growing businesses, with keynote and breakout content around leadership, business performance and student engagement. For us, it was a brilliant chance to talk to people about our DigitAll Newcastle-under-Lyme project and what that offer can mean for small businesses and start-ups in the area.

One of the things I’m most passionate about is making digital feel useful, accessible and relevant, not abstract, not overwhelming, and not reserved for people who already feel confident in that world.

Being there on the opening day gave us a chance to show that digital engagement can be practical, local and supportive. It was a chance to say: this is here for you, and this can help. That kind of visibility matters. Sometimes a stall, a conversation or a quick introduction is the first time someone realises support is available, or that digital tools and platforms are not out of reach. Monday felt like the start of lots of those small but important moments.

On Wednesday 18th March, the festival moved to Lymelight Boulevard for Business and Network Day, and this was the day I was most directly involved in supporting people one-to-one. 

The programme included free 121 digital consultations with myself (Ben McManus), alongside keynote speakers and practical workshops on networking, pitching and workforce skills. Those one-to-one sessions were incredibly valuable. I found myself acting almost as a kind of digital triage point, speaking to people about where they were, what they were trying to do, what challenges they were facing as a business or start-up, and then helping them understand what might be possible next. 

In some cases that meant introducing them to resources. In others, it meant helping them think more clearly about their needs. In many conversations, it meant showing them the DigitAll Newcastle-under-Lyme platform and how it could support them. What stayed with me most from that day was just how daunting digital can feel when you’re starting out.

If you’re a small business owner or founder, you are often carrying everything at once, the idea, the pressure, the finances, the branding, the visibility, the uncertainty.
Digital can sometimes be presented as though it is simple or second nature, but for a lot of people it is not. Sitting down with people face-to-face was a reminder that confidence is often the missing piece. People do not always need a huge intervention; sometimes they need reassurance, direction and a few good starting points.

The first was a panel conversation with Dave Edwards from the University of Staffordshire, where we discussed the role of digital within the creative industries and the skills young people need if they want to enter this kind of work.

It was one of those conversations where the 45 minutes disappears almost immediately because there is so much to say. The landscape is changing all the time, and that creates both real challenges and real opportunities.

What I found myself returning to was the importance of helping young people build not just technical confidence, but creative confidence too. The future of creative and digital work is not about choosing one or the other. It is about understanding how these worlds overlap and how skills like curiosity, communication, adaptability and imagination are just as important as knowing the tools.

The second part of the day had a real effect on me personally. 

I was asked to host the final panel discussion, which brought together Clare Wood, Director and CEO of the British Ceramics Biennial, Emily Turner from Artichoke, and Sud Basu from Third Version Creative. The session explored the role of the creative industries in placemaking, and it ended up running over time because the discussion was just that rich and engaging.

There was something powerful about sitting in that conversation and hearing people speak so clearly and passionately about the importance of art, culture and creativity in shaping places and bringing communities together.

Listening to Sud in particular talk about the importance of art now, more than ever, really landed with me. So much of my current work with Wavemaker is rooted in digital, even people-focused digital. I realised during that panel that I had, in some ways, drifted from my own arts upbringing. That conversation brought me back to it.
It reminded me that creativity is not an add-on.
It is not ornamental.

Community-focused art can help people feel seen, connected and involved in the place they live. It can spark pride.
It can challenge perceptions.
It can create belonging.
In a time where so many people feel fragmented or pulled apart, that feels incredibly important.

What the panel really helped me reflect on was that digital and art are not opposing forces. In fact, they can strengthen each other.

Digital can help widen access, amplify stories, invite participation and create new ways for people to engage. But the heart of it still has to be human. That was probably my biggest takeaway from the week: whether we are talking about digital support for businesses, creative opportunities for young people, or cultural placemaking across a town, the real question is always the same - how do we help people connect, contribute and feel part of something?