Although the attendees still have an awards ceremony and some networking to get through, for me this is my last post from bTWEEN.
This afternoon, I got to learn from Bill Tidy the life of a 60-year old, which I have to confess scares the creeps out of me.
Whilst I’m finishing bTWEEN, later today and over the weekend I have plenty more articles to get posted!
Contributor to Punch and Private Eye, cartoonist Bill eschewed the technology on offer in the main arena and instead stood in front of a large pad of paper with a pen (a technology he admitted was ‘prehistoric’), and explained to us aspects of being a certain age.
To a 60+ human it seems the World is a strange place, full of teenagers in need of trainers being surgically removed and junk mail being the only mail that arrives on time to the right place. He went on to observe that to him you can tell a man’s character from how he eats a fried egg along perhaps with their reaction to the sight of Lady Godiva riding naked through the streets.
He wondered about how Musketeer d’Artagnan was handicapped (he could only fence whilst on a table top, much like how Robin Hood only seems to have been able to fight the Sheriff of Nottingham on spiral staircases), the pointless nature of hookless coat hangers in hotels, and the World at large.
He suggested to the audience that old people only have two fears, constipation and being mugged (in that order), and that young hoodies were clearly brainless, not least because they wear trainers, but also because if they just walked around offering enema kits old people would simply hand over their money immediately.
In other words, life as a 60-year old seems full of comedic potential. Or maybe that’s just him.
It has to be said, it was the strangest session of bTWEEN so far, but highly enjoyable for a fan of his cartoons like me. I have no idea what its relevance to this audience was, but I’m glad it was there.
Overall the whole event has been a mixed bag for most people. Some sessions have felt like showcases for speakers which seemed poor value, other sessions inspirational and thought-provoking. All of the participants seem to have left with something of value and that ultimately has to be the main thing.
A few lucky participants are going to be winning some prizes for pitches, networking and “being inspirational”, so watch the main site for updates on that front, and I believe there may be recorded snippets of video uploaded so you can watch these sessions yourself. Watch this space.
Next!
Right now I’m getting ready to head over to the University to attend the Kilburn lecture which I’ll be writing up later.
I just found out a few hours ago that tomorrow I have been granted entry to the Tony Wilson Experience in Cathedral Gardens so will be blogging that as well. Word is that there is something going on for members of the pubic in the gardens outside the main event (which is alas invite-only), so if you’re heading down leave a comment on one of my posts and I’ll come out and say hello.
It’s been a busy week at Mancunian Way towers, and it looks as though the weekend is about to be just as hectic. The words march on…
Dim Sum Digital 