With zero budget, the challenge was to create a new interactive event to stimulate and celebrate the city of Manchester’s intellectual curiosity as well as engage people from all walks of life. The design solution had to really resonate: the brand, tone of voice, website, emails and social media were all critical to attracting an audience and securing venues, speakers and sponsors.
'Discuss' has been a resounding success. Audience numbers are averaging 160 people, with a record 250 turning up to one event. Sponsors and seed funding were attracted before the first event had taken place and sponsorship of £44,000 was raised against a target of £24,000 in year one. High quality speakers have been secured and audience members from diverse demographics attend the events. The city’s Central Library has provided a larger venue free of charge for the growing audience numbers, providing further proof of the solutions success.
