Intersections blog

Thank you

It goes without saying that a conference as professionally produced as Intersections only comes together through the work and commitment of a big team. The first to thank are the conference backers Northumbria University School of Design, Design Council and Dott 07, who initiated the conference. Other critical partners include: The Baltic, Bibliothèque, Highlights, Media Arts, SpaceCraft and Universal Pixel. Finally I would like to thank our media partners Blueprint and Core77, and Adrem for their sponsorship.

Canny eats

Here are few ideas on where to eat. Folks with more local knowledge please add more ideas as comments:

Quayside

• Big Mussel - nice frites

• Bob Trollops - good veggie options

Italian

• Uno's - standard pizza

• Sabatini's, 25 King St (nearly under the Tyne Bridge)

• Est Est Est, Near the Malmaison hotel and Pitcher and Piano

Indian

• Simla, 39 The Side - good food and prices

• Saffron, 27 Sandhill, Quayside – Contemporary Indian

• Vujon – a better class of curry

Swanky

• Malmaison

• Café 21

Bottom of Dean St area

(under the Tyne Bridge and up the hill):

• El Torero, The Side - cheap and cheerful tapas and delicious meatballs

• The Pricky Pear, 5-7 The Side – plum spot with healthy bites

• Coco'Mos, 26 The Side – big and lively Italian

• Pizza Express, Dean St – you know the score

Conference 'Sting'

Here's what I believe those in the know call a 'Sting'.
Artfully put together by Bibliothèque and Moving Brands.

Programme available

Here is the conference programme booklet (1.6MB),
containing session details, speaker biographies and delegate list.

Conference update

That the conference sold out two months in advance is a testament to the quality and breadth of our list of speakers. While only half are trained and practicing designers, all are leaders in their fields.

We’ve added a number of speakers since the conference was announced, including: Matthew Collings, the art critic, who will join the ‘But is it art?’ breakout session; and Stefan Stern from the FT, who will reflect on the wider changes in the knowledge economy and chair the ‘What can design bring to strategy?’ breakout session.

By the look of the delegate list the speakers can expect a lively and vocal audience. It’s made up of a healthy mix of design consultants, academics, and corporate design managers from the likes of: Intel, Microsoft, NCR, Nokia, Orange, Samsung, and Sony.

I’m also pleased to report that Intersections will very much look the part. The boys at Bibliothèque have articulated the concept of intersections beautifully across every touch-point.

For the slow writers out there or those who can’t make it, the conference will be documented in a number of forms. Hopefully, we will get some ‘live’ commentary on the blog during the conference and definitely immediately after. Northumbria University School of Design is aiming to publish edited summaries of each session within weeks of the conference; and conference chair Jeremy Myerson is lined up to edit and present a conference highlights podcast on the Design Council’s website a month or so.

Finally, a note on attire. Who knows what the weather holds, but on my last trip to the ‘Toon’, there was a definite nip in the air. Just because the locals wear T-shirts all the year around, it doesn’t mean you should