The Future is TMRW

In May 2015, along with my colleague Jack Hunter, I attended the very first TMRW Conference at Manchester Central. Below is a write-up of the conference, that I penned for DQ Magazine.

DQ magazine doesn’t really do early mornings (coffee is an office essential). But there are times when you can make an exception. Wednesday 20th May 2015 was one of those times.

Arriving in Manchester Central for the TMRW Conference, we were greeted by the familiar cloudy Mancunian weather. Thankfully with a superb line-up of speakers, headlined by Professor Brian Cox “things could only get better”.

And get better they did.

DQ collected our conference pass, which also allowed us access to IPExpo Manchester, we passed through the main hall to listen to Sir Richard Leese welcome the gathered press and delegates in the Keynote theatre.

Following the Leader of Manchester City Council’s welcome our host for the day TV presenter Tim Lovejoy, introduced us to our first keynote speaker, the American Samy Kamkar.

To say Samy’s presentation was brilliant would be an understatement. He took us on a journey from his first experience of being hacked and culminated in a run in with the US Authorities. Him managing to hack MySpace so anyone who visited his profile would automatically add the words “Samy is my hero” to their profile, was a particular highlight in this fascinating story.

We could go on more about Samy but there was much more to see at the conference, including panel discussions on ‘The Digital Realm’ and ‘The Physical Realm’. A great and knowledgeable bunch of speakers and presenters hosted these discussion and everyone who attended would have been able to take something away.

But then the moment most people were there for arrived. The keynote from the Rock and Roll Physics professor. The once keyboard player for D:Ream is pretty much now a household name thanks to his ability to convey Rocket Science into something that most people can understand. For a moment or two DQ was convinced they could give up the print media business and get a job at CERN, but somehow we don’t think that will happen.

With spellbinding images to accompany his presentation Professor Cox took us on a journey to the far reaches of the Cosmos and even back to the Big Bang itself. To say our mind was blown would be an understatement, a thought that was echoed by many in the room.

But as Brian explained that the universe will one day end, so too did the TMRW conference.

All that was left was to indulge in a few post conference drinks and endure the long journey back to Liverpool Lime Street.

A massive well done to Tom Cheesewright and his staff who managed to pull off an extraordinary event, and DQ for one are already looking forward to returning next year.

And remember “Samy is my hero”!

You can find the original article here.