Last night we were in a very wet Manchester city centre managing event activities for the digital switchover on behalf of the wonderful Smith & Smith PR and their client Digital UK. Strictly's Tess Daly was in town to flick the switch and herald the region's transition from analogue to digital TV with a major piece of digital art by Rob and Matt Vale which was beamed onto the city's iconic Urbis building.

The five minute light and sound projection illuminated the exhibition centre's glass tower with a compact history of television which encompassed testcards,wave pulses and over 700 TV's descending the frontage each displaying landmark small screen moments. As it moved from early black and white analogue signals into high definition colour it was a proud moment to see the late, great Tony Wilson in his Seventies Granada heyday. He was a big fan of progress.

Huge thanks go out to Next who allowed us to project from the balcony of their flagship store and to everyone at Urbis who were a dream to work with. In a lovely bit of synchronicity the venue was also holding the launch of a brand new exhibition on the rich history of TV in our region entitled 'Manchester, Television & The City: Ghosts of WInter Hill'. It runs until April next year and admission is free, do check it out...

Here's Manchester's finest transmitting from the BBC in 1979.

Social media has now truly entered the mainstream and organisations and businesses are embracing the very real benefits that platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and blogs provide to inform, listen and converse with audiences old and new.

The internet has revolutionised the way we all seek and share information and has acted as a catalyst for wide ranging social interaction and potential communication opportunities with individuals, niche audiences and mass markets. In a few short years we’ve seen the rise of social networking, hugely popular user generated sites and bloggers with the influence to make or break brands and reputations.

Strategic Social Media is the follow on conference to the highly successful Don’t Panic Guide To Social Media and features an all-new line up of expert speakers. The conference is aimed at senior communicators and will examine best practice in integrating social media into your communications strategy.

Delegates will hear inspirational case studies of successful online strategies from the public sector, politics, media and some of the hottest communications agencies in the UK. Speakers include -

Alex Aiken, Director of Communications and Strategy, Westminster City Council

Robin Wilson, Director Of Digital PR and Social Media, McCann Erickson

The conference takes place at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and refreshments, lunch and access to presentations are included in the ticket price of £195 + VAT charities rate and early booking before 16 November / £250 + VAT thereafter.

View the full conference PDF