Thames Valley: Henley Business School partners with ConnectTVT

The Henley Business School through its Centre for Entrepreneurship is set to partner with ConnectTVT, the initiative joining the tech and digital dots across the Thames Valley.Bringing together their shared mission to connect the entrepreneurial eco-system, the two organisations will collaborate on a series of key events, including ConnectTVT’s flagship 50 Game Changers platform and November’s Festival of Digital Disruption (FoDD).

A true town-centre tech takeover
Now in its third year, the Festival of Digital Disruption is a three-day programme of diverse events celebrating innovation and creativity in Reading, via a true town-centre tech takeover. Events include the Ethical Digital Conference, a night of Digital Disasters and a next gen “fashoff”. The festival culminates in the 50 Game Changers Awards ceremony, recognising the region’s brightest and most pioneering tech talent, start-ups and scale-ups. It will run November 21-23.

Connecting with Reading’s thriving independent retailers

With the aim to open up the festival, ConnectTVT is launching a bespoke app to connect festival goers to Reading’s thriving independent retailers. Through gamification, shoppers will be encouraged and rewarded for supporting a host of participating local cafes, shops and bars throughout FoDD.

Augmented reality comes to town

It also sees the launch of five exciting new augmented reality manga characters, to be unveiled later this summer. Each character represents a different technology personality within the Thames Valley community – from the hard-core developer who loves nothing more than coding and has an unhealthy interest in crypto currency through to the re-launcher, the stay at home dad who’s looking to build his digital confidence and get back into the world of work.

Jurek Sikorski, executive director at Henley Business School Centre for Entrepreneurship commented: “ConnectTVT has been the trailblazer for the tech community in the region. We share a purpose in building a supportive environment for the tech businesses of tomorrow – from creative talent through to funding. Programmes like the Festival of Digital Disruption are key to this. We’re really looking forward to taking our partnership with ConnectTVT to the next level.”

Louize Clarke, founder of ConnectTVT added: “This year’s Festival of Digital Disruption is shifting up a gear in terms of ambition and scale. It’s about injecting the spark and creativity that’s going to get national eyes on our town and it’s potential.  Collaborating with regional leaders like Henley Business School is the only we can make this happen, so we’re very excited to be partnering with the team.”