Culture city gets creative with national conference

by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S creative sector is to win even more national recognition this year as a major sector conference comes to Liverpool for the first time.

The National Creative Industries Conference 2008, which aims to debate just what makes a truly “Creative City”, will be held at FACT on December 11.

The city’s Capital of Culture status will be at the top of the agenda as delegates discuss how such events affect cities’ creative industries. They will discuss whether any lessons from Liverpool’s successful 2008 can be shared with other cities hosting major events, including London in 2012.

Speakers will include Urban Splash founder Tom Bloxham, Work Foundation chief executive Will Hutton, and National Film and Television School chief executive Nik Powell.

The event aims to bring key figures in the creative industries together with local and national government policymakers who can help the sector develop.

The event will be chaired by Jo Burns, director of London consultancy Burns Owens Partnership.

In the last decade, the creative sector has become increasingly important in the eyes of Government, which wants the UK to become the world’s creative hub and attract global investment.

Ms Burns said: “The success of the creative industries is a key issue for this country. It’s about global competitiveness and how we’ll sell ourselves, get jobs and earn money in the next century.”

The event is in Liverpool at the end of the city’s Capital of Culture year but Claire Walker, freelance sector development manager at support agency Merseyside ACME, said it would focus on the future as well as the successes of the past 12 months.

She said: “It’s an opportunity to get the message out about how Capital of Culture year has gone and what the sector sees happening post-08. It’s important Liverpool gets the message across that there’s a lot happening post-2008.”