Kernow DAT. What an adventure!

Friday. July 09, 2021 - 2 mins

If you’re reading this, chances are you were a part of the Kernow DAT adventure in some way. Perhaps you attended one of the events, spoke at one, supported them through sponsorship, loaned us a venue, or maybe you cheered on from afar. Wherever you sit on that spectrum, thank you for the support. If this is your first look at the group, you’ll never know what you missed out on!

Kernow DAT was originally conceived after seeing the cool stuff Digital Plymouth were doing in the city through their events and conferences. I was inspired. They looked fun to organise, even more fun to attend and, best of all, they brought people together to share ideas and meet new friends. I wanted a piece of the action… but with a Cornish twist.

The idea was to run a series of smaller events, building up to a larger conference which eventually came to life as Future Sync (which itself was intended to lead onto a South West wide distributed digital festival). All whilst studying for what would become a record breaking degree in Web Application Development at Plymouth University. Running a successful conference is a big job, and practice was needed. With zero experience, I (with the support of a lot of people) turned the idea into a successful reality, with a total of 6 events.

The in person outings in Penzance, Truro, Falmouth, Newquay and Redruth are some of the happiest memories I have from time spent on the event circuit. Whether it was the preview of theatre performances, the laser displays, or the smorgasbord of tech related talk’s that floated your boat, I’m sure you’ll agree that each was simply awesome in their own way. The brief foray into online events via our partnership with the Book Sniffing club feels like the perfect kooky ending for a gathering that always prided itself on being a bit different… and proudly Cornish.

If you were one the speakers, sponsors, attendees or a supporter in any other way, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have had the awesome opportunities come my way that I’ve been blessed with in recent years.

With the next adventure that life has in store on the horizon, it’s time to draw a line under Kernow DAT. We might not have another gathering to look forward to under this brand name again, but we have some sweet collective memories. One thing is for certain. My better half is glad she doesn’t have to make 100+ pasties for us all any more!

Thank you for being a part of this little life adventure. It was fun. I hope we’ll cross paths at a future event across the South West and beyond.