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Leeds Digital Festival: The Next Generation of Digital

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Leeds Digital Festival is an annual social event that takes place every year between April and May (23rd April to 3rd May this year) in Leeds. It consists of a variety of social events hosted by companies or institutions from different industries, which allows you to build your network and learn the latest industrial insights. The University of Leeds is one of the premier sponsors of the festival, students are encouraged to participate in any of the events that interested them.

I attended 'The Next Generation of Digital' that was held by Accenture, a Fortune Global 500 management consulting company. It was presented in the form of a lively discussion, covering topics on the next generation of digital, addressing upcoming trends that will not only impact consumers, but also design, business and society in 2019 and beyond.

The event was held at Lamberts Yard, a modern, edgy venue in the city center. After registering at the front desk, I took some drinks from the bar, and started some conversations with other guests. Under an informal atmosphere, the enlightening discussion was given by three directors from Accenture about their work and their latest research about digital impact and where this may leads us in the future. For example, from a survey they conducted, more than 70% of UK teenagers wish that the Internet did not existing although they are now addicted to it. And the company all agreed that social media is the most important communication tool to interact with their customer. As a communications and PR graduate, knowing these insights will definitely help me understand my priority of work in the near future better. Learning from these studies first hand from the company is something you won't receive in the lecture. After the speech, we were free to enjoy a few more networking drinks and canapes, and ask questions to the speakers and other participants that you found interesting.

The meaning of attending these social events is to meet with new people and gain new insights that you cannot get from the traditional classroom setting. I've always enjoyed every networking event that I have attended at Leeds because I always learn something new, I hope you will also find it as interesting when you're in Leeds!