DanThornton

Tech, Geekery, Pop Culture, Miscellaneous

From Co-founder To Director At DPiP CiC In Just 15 Years

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I’m pleased to share that after a vote at the recent AGM, I’m now officially a Director at Digital People in Peterborough CiC (Community Interest Company) just 15 years after I originally suggested some internet nerds might want to meet up and hang out.

Things have changed a lot since then. Back in October 2010 it was an informal meeting in the pub. Now it’s a CiC with three existing Directors organising Peterborough STEM Festival and multiple related events throughout the year, along with our monthly DPiP meetups. Other local groups have come and gone, funding has become more challenging, and there’s been disruption due to a pandemic amongst other things.

From Co-founder to Director at DPiP CiC in just 15 years
From Co-founder to Director at DPiP CiC in just 15 years

In that time I’ve also moved from Peterborough and back again, watched my son grow from a small STEM Festival attendee to an enthusiastic volunteer, and watched some of the great things being done by the DPiP team of directors and volunteers both in my absence, and during my trips back to volunteer at every festival.

And since coming back to Peterborough I’ve been involved from the sidelines, partly due to other priorities, and also because my partner Liz has been chairperson for a while now, and I didn’t want to undermine her relentless hard work in any way. But I think we’ve found a way for it to work in a good way, and I have some ideas to help ensure it’s a positive step in the future both for DPiP, and for us.

So expect more updates about DPiP, Peterborough STEM Festival, and running a CiC in the future as I dive back into everything.

Returning to public speaking with a presentation at DPiP

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I was never a regular on the SEO/Marketing circuit, but I’ve been lucky enough to give a few presentations at various events over the years. Some were unconferences and small meetups, including Digital People in Peterborough (DPiP). Others were in front of fairly substantial audiences at larger venues.

That all came to a halt in 2020, for obvious reasons. And since then, my family has stayed cautious about large social events, due to the ongoing risks to both the healthier among us, and those who are immuno-suppressed and higher risk. But having gone along to a few smaller gatherings, including DPiP, I decided to volunteer to step in when speakers had to change dates at short notice and a gap in the schedule appeared.

Returning to public speaking with a presentation at DPiP
Returning to public speaking with a presentation at DPiP

Despite the relatively short notice, I still had a decent amount of time to prepare around my existing work commitments and deadlines. So obviously, I then decided to spend four days being ill, which meant cramming everything into the time left when I’d recovered enough to sit at a computer. Fortunately I managed to finish all my work and have a few hours to put together a presentation lasting 20-40 minutes on ‘the biggest SEO myths: fact or fiction’ (I still need to check it for correct image attribution etc before sharing it online).

That only added to the nerves about speaking in front of people for the first time in more than five years, and also the first time I’d tried presenting in a mask to minimise the risk of airborne infection (we also take a portable HEPA filter with us to lower the risk when eating or drinking, but it has a fairly small range and does make a low noise which might have been picked up by the PA system).

But despite all of that, the talk seemed to go pretty well – I was talking for more than an hour without any issues, had a load of great questions to answer, and I think my teenage son now understands what I do for the first time.

I’ve been reminded why speaking can be great fun as well as a useful way to introduce yourself to people. And also that DPiP is an amazing network and opportunity to try speaking and presenting if you’ve never done it before, get nervous in front of people, or just want to try something out in front of a really welcoming and supportive bunch.

If you’re in Peterborough or the surrounding area, and fancy speaking or just attending the next DPiP meetup on the first Thursday of each month, you can find all the details, here.

The Glorious Return Of Peterborough STEM Festival 2024

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I’ve been busy catching up on work due to health issues recently, so it’s taken me a little while to get around to sharing my thoughts on the glorious return of Peterborough STEM Festival 2024.

I’ve been variously involved as a volunteer, organiser, the co-founder of the DPiP CIC that runs the event, and the partner/support animal for Liz, who takes on all the boring and arduous project management tasks are essential, but that no-one else wants to do. And after the first event was launched by friend, inspiration and former DPiPer Tia in 2016, it’s been an integral part of the year for my family.

So a four year enforced break due to a global health crisis had a massive impact. But not only is STEM Festival back, it’s also as popular as ever, with a huge number of local families (more than 2,000 people) coming along to try out experiments, see exhibits and speakers, and hopefully be encouraged to explore the world of science, technology, engineering and maths.

The Glorious Return Of Peterborough STEM Festival 2024
The glorious return of Peterborough STEM Festival 2024 included SPOT the robot dog…

As a TL/DR, it was amazing to be back, seeing the enthusiasm of the hard-working volunteers and exhibitors reflected in the children, whether that was interacting with SPOT, the Boston Dynamics robots dog which was part of the Schools Aerospace Career Programme area alongside drone simulators and VR, or performing a simple experiment with crayons, paper and water, among a selection organised by Kinetic Adventure. And then there was GPUTC with F1 in Schools, Perkins, Anglian Water, Wandimo, Geology Rocks, talks by Dr Sam Gregson and Scott Steele and so much more.

Not only was the event at a new venue (the impressive ARU Peterborough campus), but I bumped into a surprising number of returning visitors considering how many children will have potentially moved into university or work since the first event.

It’s been a tough time for a lot of people for various reasons, and the challenges of putting on a free event, finding sponsors, exhibitors, and volunteers has never been more difficult. But seeing children open-mouthed at some of the exhibits, or wowing people with their own impressive knowledge certainly makes it worthwhile.

What makes it even more impactful for me has been seeing my son go from a relatively young volunteer largely following me around to try and get as much time on the retrogaming machines as possible, to watching him as a young man providing emergency cover for one of the short-staffed exhibitors. Definitely a proud dad moment, and I’m not sure I was up to his standards when I covered for his late lunch break.

It’s funny how a single day can re-energise everyone, and I know a lot more things are already being planned for both Peterborough STEM Festival and Digital People in Peterborough in the coming months, partly because I’m stepping up my involvement once again.

So if you have a young family of potential STEM adventurers, I’d definitely recommend keeping up with the Stem Festival website and social media accounts, and the same for DPiP if you’re involved in the digital and technology fields in the area.